PM32 Setup

May 30, 2012 at 10:08 pm  |   Service,

Plotmaster32 (PM32) was in final release in 2002-2003.  It was the plotmaster/control software version from 1998-2003.  Registered legacy users can download PM32 here:  https://carlsondesign.com/software/updates-and-downloads/pm32
The following are detailed instructions for running PM32 on a Windows XP, 32bit PC.
  1. Use the PM32 Installer, making sure to install in c:\nest.  Then paste the contents of the Update file into your installation directory
  2. Make sure your parallel port is in EPP mode, by entering your BIOS setup.  This process will vary by computer model, so you may need to consult your computer’s manual
  3. Install Direct I/O shareware available here or on the Direct I/O Website.
  4. Open the Direct IO Control Panel.
    1. Find the IO range of your parallel port:
      1. Right click My Computer, click Manage, and then click Device Manager.
      2. Navigate to Ports, and find your parallel port, normally LPT1
      3. right click the port, and go to Properties
      4. go to the Resources tab, and make a note of the I/O Range
    2. On the first tab labeled IO Ports, input the value you noted for I/O Range in the step above, and click add.
    3. In the tab labeled Security, add the paths you see below.  If you installed PM32 or Direct I/O to different paths, your configuration may differ from the image.
    4. Click OK.
    5. (Optional) If you would like a test to verify that you set up Direct I/O properly, use the following procedure
      1. Start TestIo32 by executing Start->Programs->Direct IO->Samples->TestIo
      2. From this command line shell execute TESTIO32 /O /T 0x378 0x37f  (once again, your values may vary.  Use the value from I/O Range a few steps back)
      3. The output should look like
        C:\Program Files\Direct IO>testio32 /O /T 0x378 0x37f
        _inp(0x378) =3D 0xFF
        _inp(0x379) =3D 0xDF
        _inp(0x37A) =3D 0xC4
        _inp(0x37B) =3D 0xFF
        _inp(0x37C) =3D 0xFF
        _inp(0x37D) =3D 0xFF
        _inp(0x37E) =3D 0xFF
        _inp(0x37F) =3D 0xFF
      4. Your output may be slightly different than above.  If you get an output that says Failed, something is wrong with your configuration.  Go back and make sure you went through every step carefully.
  5. Make sure that you have the correct ports selected in the PM32 configuration screen.
  6. At this point, you should be up and working.  If not, go back through the steps and make sure you did everything correctly.

More instructions for Direct I/O LPT usage are located here.