Checking in on everyone’s experience regarding the best scenario for running two longmills with one computer. Using gsender and Windows 11…
Update: After installing a second gsender in a different file directory, It erased the older copy off the computer… any suggestions on how to get two gsenders on the same machine???
Hello Wayne! Nice to see you stuck with the LongMill as a hobby.
My first though was that it shouldn’t be a problem as long as the PC is fast enough to run two instances of gSender. The machines would be on different com ports so why not.
Then I tried to open a second instance of gSender and I wasn’t able to. I tried the Linux appimage and the windows installer versions and neither let me open a second instance of gSender.
Might have to get some input from Sienci on whether there is a way to do it. It might also work if the second gSender was run in a Virtual Machine or a Docker container if your familiar with either of those technologies. I haven’t had a need for Docker but I have used VirtualBox in the past.
An alternative if you just don’t want two keyboards and two monitors cluttering up your workspace - set up two pi5’s with a KVM switch. One monitor, one keyboard running two pi5’s that each run their own instance of gSender.
I have never tried using a pi5 to run gSender but I keep hearing that gSender has a very low computational requirement.
Update: After installing a second gsender in a different file directory, It erased the older copy off the computer… any suggestions on how to get two gsenders on the same Windows 11 Computer???
You can have one instance with the “Standard” GSender and the other instance with the “Edge” GSender, since they can co-exist in their independant folders, but that may not be what you want…
No I don’t know how to make a second install without using a Virtual Machine. I was hoping it would be as easy as shift clicking the icon on the taskbar when gSender was already running. Some programs let you do that, for example you can have ten file browsers or command prompts.
If you don’t mind using edge for one of them that might be the easiest option like @webbit_NJ suggested.
If your worried about the stability of running edge you can get an older version from gSender’s GitHub releases page. You can scroll down and get a previous version of Edge if you have any problems with the current one that just came out last week.
EDIT: I just wanted to say be careful running two machines if you get it working. Moving the wrong one accidentally might be bad news. I think which machine gets which port would depend on which one is turned on first. With that in mind I’d try to get into a routine when using two machines where things are done in the same order to try and avoid surprises.
I renamed the first directory and did another install in a new one, then returned to the first directory and returned it to the previous name… But gsender is still using common files and still won’t start a second program…
I’ve had a longmill for a few years now and have just finished assembling my new Altmill. I want to use the same PC to run either machine (not at the same time, of course). I know when you install gSender it has to be setup for a specific machine. Is there a way to have a second gSender app setup on the PC so I can get the Altmill running and dialed in without loosing all my settings for the Longmill? Eventually I will be selling the Longmill and want to be able to show a potential buyer that it works etc.
How about setting up a different folder to a second copy of gsender in, and run it from there.
If you are up to it, you could create a couple of powershell scripts that copy your machine-specific gSender config files into and out of the common gSender location before running the app
Looking at the gSender docs, we see that
gSender settings are stored in a file named
.sender_rc
A folder named.sienci-sessionscontains other information.
.sender_rc file:
C:\Users\ {your username} \AppData\Roaming\gSender. or C:/users/ {your username} /.sender_rc.~/.sender_rcHere’s what I would experiment with:
sender.rc and .sienci_sessions to the new longmill foldergSenderLongMill.ps1 and gSenderAltmill.ps1) instead of using gSender directlyHere’s an example powershell script named CouldBeGsender.ps1 that you can glean ideas from:
Note: I’m a Mac/Linux person, so the code below is an untried inspiration source that won’t work without changes. As with anything that can potentially overwrite files, please make sure you have backups of the .sender.rc and .sienci_sessions files BEFORE playing with these scripts!
# Define source and destination paths for the files to copy
# one copy of this script will use the longmill folder as source, the other will use the altmill
$SourcePath = "C:\Path\To\SourceFiles" # Replace with the actual path to your source files
$DestinationPath = "C:\Path\To\Destination" # Replace with the actual path where files should be copied
# Define the path to the application executable
$AppPath = "C:\Path\To\YourApplication.exe" # Replace with the actual path to your application
$RCFile = "$SourcePath\.sender.rc"
$GSFile = "$DestinationPath\.sender.rc"
$SessionsDir = "$SourcePath\.sienci_sessions"
$GSSessions = "$DestinationPath\.sienci_sessions"
# Copy files from source to destination
try {
Copy-Item -Path $RCFile -Destination $GSFile -Force -ErrorAction Stop
If (Test-Path -Path $SessionsDir) {
# if there is a sessions dir, copy it too
Copy-Item -Path $SessionsDir -Destination $DestinationPath -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction Stop
}
} catch {
Write-Host "Error copying files in: $($_.Exception.Message)"
}
# Start the application
try {
Start-Process -FilePath $AppPath -ErrorAction Stop
Write-Host "Application started successfully: $AppPath"
} catch {
Write-Host "Error starting $AppPath : $($_.Exception.Message)"
}
# Copy files back from destination to source
try {
Copy-Item -Path $GSFile -Destination $RCFile -Force -ErrorAction Stop
If (Test-Path -Path $SessionsDir) {
# if there is a sessions dir, copy it too
Copy-Item -Path $GSSessions -Destination $SourcePath -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction Stop
}
} catch {
Write-Host "Error copying files back: $($_.Exception.Message)"
}
Wow! thanks for the detailed reply. This is over my head. Couldn’t I create a new local account on my PC and install the gSender app under that user account and run my Altmill from there?
yup, this is why you don’t ask an engineer to solve a problem - we will always gravitate to the most complex answer possible and ignore the obvious one. We call this the shrugged shoulder/flat forehead syndrome 
This method doesn’t work. Even with another user account gSender app Won’t let two instances to be downloaded.
You are able to have a normal and an edge install on the same account and run, ableit not simultaniously.
Atleast, if my memory suits me right.
Hello. You can use Gsender on 2 CNCs without (almost any problem), as the main informations (size, speed…) are in the Gcode, so specific to each machine. The only “problem” is that some features, like the probe setting provided by Gsender, have only one parameter stored. But you can surround this by creating your owm macros. For example a Z probe macro for each CNC. This is what I did…