Black Cat Cougar - troubles making it work

Black Cat Cougar - troubles making it work

Postby TN_Explorer » April 4th, 2016, 12:22 pm

I have a Cougar using SCAL4 and Windows 7. I cannot get it to print.

I go through the setup and everything works normally. I do a test connection and the machine responds. I hit "cut" and nothing happens. If I go through the print & cut routine, I will get the message "data sent to cutter" and the machine will go into Pause state. Pressing the pause key (or any others) does nothing. I power it off & restart and get the same result.

I have tried to check comm ports per another thread, but my menu does not list any comm ports; only the USB ports.

Has anyone had this experience where the machine simply does not respond to the cut command? I'm sure I'm overlooking something simple and will consider myself a total idiot when I finally get it to work.

Thanks,
Mike
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Re: Black Cat Cougar - troubles making it work

Postby Gigi » April 4th, 2016, 2:28 pm

Your machine responds to the test connection so the com port is working. You can verify that by going to device manager. If you do that you will see a COM & LPT) and if you open that up you should see USB serial port and then a number. That is the machine connection. When you talk about going into the menu, I can't tell if you mean the menu on the software of the menu in device manager. The more information you can give us the better.

I am confused because you talk about not being able to make it print and then you talk about cut. So I am not sure what you are trying to do in order to get results. If it's the print then cut I would answer this differently than if you just want it to cut.

Assuming you have your image and trace image on the screen in the software, if you haven't done that part correctly the machine will go into pause because there is nothing to cut that it "sees".

See if you can be a little clearer on the problem so we aren't all jumping around the place trying to help. Are you trying to print to the printer or cut to the cutter or what? Thank you.
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Re: Black Cat Cougar - troubles making it work

Postby TN_Explorer » April 5th, 2016, 6:32 pm

Thanks, Gigi.

I got this Cougar in 2014 and I did use it one time, so I don't think the problem is with the cutter. Surgery and other things have kept me from it until now. In the interim, I have moved from Win XP to Windows 7 and upgraded the SCAL to the latest edition. I have just gotten it set back up and trying to work through the setup process.

I went through the quick start process. I open SCAL and select a template from the library. Then to the menu in SCAL and cut with Cougar. Nothing happens.

So I go back to the print & cut menu, because it gives more of a step-by-step approach.

The test connection works, so I proceed, skipping the print part. Setting the cutter head on the page works with the arrows in SCAL, so I move it around, hit next, etc. Then when I get to "cut," I get a message that the "data has been sent to the cutter" but nothing happens.

I appreciate your thoughts. I know I'm missing something and will eventually get it; it's just that computer stuff can get so frustrating. . . .

Thanks,
Mike
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Re: Black Cat Cougar - troubles making it work

Postby Gigi » April 5th, 2016, 7:32 pm

When you installed the drivers, did you install them from SCAL?

When you go into device manager in your computer (under Control Panel), can you the serial port showing? I asked you that last time too and didn't get a reply. Just trying to trouble shoot.

Are you cutting origin or WYSIWYG?

I think by going back and forth between regular cutting and print and cut, you are just complicating the issue. Let's stay with basic cutting and then if it won't work in print and cut we can address that.

Would really like to know if your device manager information is the same port that you have selected in the software cutting menu.

Are you sure everything is lined up correctly? I can't see it - all I can do is ask questions...

If all of what I have suggested matches, you may want to try a fresh usb cord. Sometimes it is as simple as that...
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Re: Black Cat Cougar - troubles making it work

Postby TN_Explorer » April 5th, 2016, 8:24 pm

When you installed the drivers, did you install them from SCAL? Yes, I installed the drivers from SCAL. It says they are the up to date drivers.

When you go into device manager in your computer (under Control Panel), can you the serial port showing? I asked you that last time too and didn't get a reply. Just trying to trouble shoot. I've tried to answer this - my control panel does not show any comm/LPT ports. It only shows USB ports.

Would really like to know if your device manager information is the same port that you have selected in the software cutting menu. I am going to take the computer to someone who understands these things and see if they can show me where serial comm/lpt ports are shown. It sounds like this must be the issue. I will let you know what I find.

Thanks!
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Re: Black Cat Cougar - troubles making it work

Postby Gigi » April 5th, 2016, 8:30 pm

I don't know if it is the issue or not. When you go into Device Manager, click on View at the top and then see what is checked. Have it show you hidden items - it may be under there. I have mine selected to show by type under that same tab - View. If you don't see a Port category, then try the show hidden items option - grasping at straws. At least we can rule that out once we know and move forward.

Thanks.
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Re: Black Cat Cougar - troubles making it work

Postby TN_Explorer » April 5th, 2016, 8:55 pm

A Google search "COM Port missing in device manager Win 7" shows that my USB drivers have replaced the old COM ports. The COM ports are not hidden; they are just not there.

When I used the cutter before, it was on an older machine that had serial port connections and used WinXP.

Is this issue something I should take up with the SCAL folks?
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Re: Black Cat Cougar - troubles making it work

Postby Gigi » April 5th, 2016, 9:38 pm

Maybe someone with Windows 7 can help. It's been too long since I have used that version. There are com ports in Windows 8 and 10 so I didn't remember that 7 didn't have them. If you open up your USB ports did you find the connection there? Just curious.

Going to check on something in the meantime as it has to install somewhere...
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Re: Black Cat Cougar - troubles making it work

Postby Gigi » April 5th, 2016, 9:42 pm

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Re: Black Cat Cougar - troubles making it work

Postby MeFlick » April 6th, 2016, 6:41 am

Just wanted to add one quick thought for something to check - I noticed that you said you are now using a machine with Windows 7 on it. There were often issues for many users of Windows 7 where the drivers for hardware (including the cutters) were not loaded correctly. As I recall, Windows 7 would "block" the drivers download and installation but would not tell you that it had blocked them. As a result, the user would think that they had installed when they had not. This has been talked about here before several times on the forum so if you will search, you should find additional information and discussion. Seems like you had to go into the device manager and "allow" the installation in some way but don't recall the exact steps right now.

On a side note - Mike - I see your forum "name" is "TN Explorer" - where in TN are you (I am assuming that means you are in TN.) I am in East TN in the Knoxville area.
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Re: Black Cat Cougar - troubles making it work

Postby TN_Explorer » April 6th, 2016, 5:33 pm

I contacted the SCAL folks and there is a way inside SCAL to print the information. It turns out the cutter thinks it is connected to COM port 4. I am going to do a little more looking and check the links GIGI sent & search some more. I think I'm close to success - good for a guy whose first computer was an abacus!

MeFlick - I am in Manchester. You are in some pretty country. No complaints about where I live.
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Re: Black Cat Cougar - troubles making it work

Postby MeFlick » April 6th, 2016, 8:42 pm

Yep, I know where Manchester is. We spent 10 years in Middle Tennessee but have been back in East TN for many more. I worked for a time in Murfreesboro and my brother was Stationed for a bit at the AF base in Tullahoma. Hoping for a good year for our Vols!

Hopefully you can get it all worked out and cutting soon. If not, let us know and we can see what else we can figure out.
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Re: Black Cat Cougar - troubles making it work

Postby TN_Explorer » April 8th, 2016, 8:11 am

OK -

The Craft Edge folks are very supportive and sent me updated software and drivers to try. Same result.

Gigi - I am getting close. Device manager does not show any com ports, but the cutter properties show that it is seeing the usb connection as COM 4. It is defaulted to 19,200 baud rate and although the selection for 38,400 shows, the computer will not allow me to reset it. I am all over google trying to figure this out. It seems I have to change it in the registry, so I need to be sure of what I'm doing before I go there.

I am going to get a serial cable and see if that will work. If not, I will try reinstalling the software on WIN XP with an older stand-alone computer. If I get this working and figure out the USB issue, I will post detailed results in case anyone else has this issue.
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It's ALIVE

Postby TN_Explorer » April 8th, 2016, 5:34 pm

Yay - the Cougar works!

I wish I could tell you the solution, but unfortunately, I was never able to sort out the connection issues with the Windows 7 laptop.

I dug my vintage Dell desktop out of the garage, cleaned out most of the leaves and other debris and fired it up. It is running WinXP. I connected it to the Cougar using the same USB cord. It worked the very first try!

Thanks for all the input. I'm so glad to have the Cougar working and now will see if I can learn how to use it.

Mike
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Re: Black Cat Cougar - troubles making it work

Postby Gigi » April 8th, 2016, 5:54 pm

Glad to hear you are up and running, Mike, and glad that you had another computer to fall back on.

Good luck with the learning. Sure it will be much more rewarding than what you have been through with Windows 7! Look forward to hearing how things are progressing as you finally get to use your machine!
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