Gonna leave it here because someone might find it useful and my googling didn't come up with the answers that I liked.

So. I successfully switched my TerraMaster D2-310 from RAID1 to SINGLE mode, where each physical drive corresponds to a distinct logical one. Despite multiple sources stating that such a switch requires wiping the drives, I found a method that worked for me. Keep in mind that results may vary, and this might not apply to all enclosures.

Here are the steps:

1. Power down the enclosure, disconnect it from your PC, and remove Drive 2 from the enclosure.

2. Connect Drive 2 to your PC motherboard using a SATA cable.

3. Turn on your PC and ensure Drive 2 functions properly, allowing you to read and write data.

4. With the enclosure powered off, switch the MODE setting on the back of the device to SINGLE mode. WARNING: Do not, DO NOT press the Reset button, as it will most likely wipe your drive!

5. Power on the enclosure with Drive 1 inside and connect it to the same PC where Drive 2 is already connected.

6. Windows cannot mount Drive 1 due to its signature matching that of Drive 2, which is desired.

7. Open Disk Management, locate your "Offline Disk," right-click on it, and select "Online." This action changes the signature of Drive 1, effectively removing it from RAID.

8. You can now navigate to the root of each disk and delete any hidden folders containing RAID information. I removed the 2 folders starting with a "." (dot).

That's it. Aside from other obvious benefits of NOT having to tie 2 drives together, I believe I will get better longevity of my second drive now because I will use it to back up only the important stuff once a day.

Ever since getting my benchtop CNC running, I have not been very happy with the lack of manual control over overrides and buttons.

This DIY Engineering video gave me a great idea: build one myself.

I wanted the smooth speed and feed overrides, so I decided to not go with HID device, but instead with a full serial control paired with a custom plugin on the UCCNC side.

Here is the Fusion design of the enclosure:

And here it is 3D-Printed.
Acrylic face engraved from the back side and painted.
And all buttons and controls mounted:

All I have to do now is wire the Arduino board, program the plugin, and test it!

Update:

Here is the video of the pendant in action:

1. PCB Design

Design notes:

• All resistors used were 10K
• Speed and Feed potentiometers are 10K
  Their pinout goes Wiper->ground = 0%, Wiper -> +5V = 200%
• Axis and Handwheel Increment rotary switches are 4-position and their pinout goes like this:
  Axis select 1-X, 2-Y, 3-Z, 4-A, C-Common (+5V)
  Handwheel Increment 1-0.0001, 2-0.0010, 3-0.0100, 4-0.1000, C-Common (+5V)
• All function buttons such as Jog +/-, M1, M2, etc are sending +5V signals to the digital pins D2-D12
• D13 digital pin is connected to a LED indicator and is used to tell the user that the Pendant is allowed to send signals to the plugin.

Design files:

• Electronics Design: https://a360.co/3NGWRTP
• https://a360.co/3NLhfDk
• https://a360.co/3JObaVh 

2. Enclosure Design

https://a360.co/3fG3jgI 

If you don't have a 3D printer and/or a CNC Mill, please contact me and I will send you a 3d-printed enclosure and the 3d-printed or milled acrylic face plate:

• 3D-Printed Black PLA Enclosure (shown in pictures): 30$ + shipping
• 3D-Printed Black PLA Face Plate (optional): 15$ + shipping
• CNC Milled and Engraved unpainted (clear) acrylic Face Plate (shown in pictures): 30$ + shipping

3. Arduino Setup

• Install the Full Firmata library onto your Arduino Nano (Or any other Ardiono that supports USB Serial Communication): StandardFirmata sketch used for Arduino NANO is also added to the release package

• Please note that you might need to install Arduino USB Driver in order for your Arduino to work on the target computer!

4. UCCNC Setup

• Download the latest LEETArduinoPendant from the releases and extract it to your PC.
  https://github.com/swindex/LEETArduinoPendant/releases
• Copy the LEETArduinoPendant.dll plugin file to the C:\UCCNC\Plugins directory!
• Copy the Solid.Arduino.dll file from the Solid.Arduino release folder to the C:\UCCNC directory.
• Please note that you might need to install Arduino USB Driver in order for your Arduino to work on the target computer!
• Launch UCCNC.exe, go to Settings->Configure Plugins, and mark the LEET Arduino Pendant plugin as Enabled and Call startup
• After everything is installed, Arduino is connected and UCCNC is running, press the "Enable" (+5v to D2-B-ENABLE ) button that will tell the plugin that the pendant is ready to send signals! D13 (LED+) will then have a continuous +3.3V signal alerting you of that!

Hardware Acquisition (Amazon)

Fusion F360 desing files Size:2.55 MB

Since my garage/shop has a limited workspace, I have long wanted to upgrade the big and clumsy computer I used to drive my little Prolight desktop CNC to something more elegant and convenient.

TL;DR: You can read about the printing settings and download files on Thingiverse: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4754968
Here is the shared Fusion Project: https://a360.co/36UhI15

After quite a bit of googling, and testing the UCCNC control software that i already have I decided to re-use my old Z83 mini-PC with Intel Atom processor.

Then I ordered a SunFounter 10.1" touchscreen monitor with a nice resolution of 1200x800 from amazon.

Since the display does not come with an enclosure I decided to design one myself.
A good opportunity to dust off my 3d modeling skills:

FSWizard: Online now has Service workers!

It is a cool new technology that allows otherwise online applications to run completely offline.

From now on FSWizard will be able to cache all of its files on your mobile or PC device.

Also a reminder: you can "Install" FSWizard right from your browser by going to menu and hitting "Add to Home Screen"
Then FSWizard will be able to run in full-screen mode.

Depending on your usage, Chrome may actually prompt you to do that automatically.

Cheers!

I have just uploaded the HSMAdvisor hook for MasterCAM 2018.

That calls for a drink!

The C++/CRL interop that runs on the back end has been developed over 2 years ago and i have not opened it much since.
Because there were some breaking changes in 2018, i had to reopen the can of worms and ... whew! That was not eazy to remember all the horrible things i have done so long ago ago!

Any way. Now we have a nice lineup of HSMAdvisor plugins for 3 latest MasterCam versions (X9, 2017 and 2018). 

Read More 

This website has recently become a target of relentless spam attacks.
Some dumbasses (probably bots or worse Russian hackers) post unrelated messages and such. Possibly looking for exploits in the security system.

I pride my self in openness to any meaningful content and do not want to pre-moderate comments or make registration (with email verification) mandatory.
So I subscribed to https://www.abuseipdb.com free API service that checks user's IP address before allowing to post any comments.

If you by any chance are wrongfully denied access, just let me know and i will clear the block.

On my part i will ban and report spammers with extreme prejudice. Let's make internet spam free one IP at a time!

For webmasters here is plain PHP code i used to enable IP checking and reporting:

Read More 

Check this out, guys.

Been working on this for the past couple of weeks:

New FSWizard Speeds and Feeds Calc will have not only modern improved design. But latest tools and materials.
Special attention is being paid to have it produce EXACTLY the same results as our HSMAdvisor desktop app.

It is not complete yet, but it is almost there - making it catch up to the latest HSMAdvisor code is a big job.

The new calculator will replace our online calculator as well.....

Yes, you heard that right! You will be able to run exactly the same FSWizard Speed and Feed calc on your mobile phone, desktop and even Windows Mobile.

Heck, it will even work on Mac!

Best of all, it will be published as an update to our existing apps, so our existing customers will not have to buy an upgrade, unlike what some other "Machinist Calculator" has done in the past.

I will keep you posted.

Cheers!

Have you ever wondered how much tool life can deteriorate when using coolant with High-Speed Machining (HSM)?
Or maybe you never really saw the boost in tool life when using HSM techniques because you had to use coolant?

Well, here is a test result I just got from running the same tool at the same Speed and Feed with and without coolant.

Read More 

Look for the HSM machining of the round central pocket in the beginning.
Here we have a 12mm 6 flute Coated hi-performance endmill, cutting 1" deep at 0.047" (10%) rWOC.
at 10000 RPM and 300 ipm feedrate. the chipload works out to be 0.005". Material is 4140 pre-hardened steel.

Impressive isn't it?
Those results have been achieved with uber-expensive BlueSwarf tap-test technology.

This is one video that caught the eye of one of my HSMAdvisor trial users:

Being a geek and wanting to help the user make the right decision I immediately punched the numbers into my HSMAdvisor app.

Here is what I've got:Read More 

There has been changes to HSMAdvisor CNC Machinist Speed and Feed Calculator Licensing Options!

From now on All new HSMAdvisor license purchases include access to FSWizard PRO for your mobile devices.

When a 1 or 3 year HSMA Subscription License is purchased, the FSWizard License will be issued for the same 1 or 3 year length of time.

When a Permanent HSMA license is purchased, your FSWizard PRO will be a permanent type as well and will never expire.

Happy Upcoming Holidays!!!!

Cheers from the whole Zero-Divide Family!