Plotmaker Settings & Printer Drivers

[Anonymous]

I am having a tough time trying to PLOT from Plotmaker to my HP DesignJet 500.
I can send the document but on the plotter its showing me an error indication.
However I can PRINT to my LaserJet printer from Plotmaker fine.

Any suggestions on what the problem might be or any solutions?

thanks

[Anonymous]

Got it, thanks.
BTW, how much did you spend for the card, and where'd you get it from?

Brad

[aahatimo]

Brad wrote:
Got it, thanks.
BTW, how much did you spend for the card, and where'd you get it from?
Brad

the hpgl2 card i purchased from the cad store. (hp part #c7772a#aba) was $415 + shipping. http://www.thecadstore.com/tcs_products_info.asp?id=740
i ran it thru nextag, lowest price today was $411.
the memory i purchased from hp. it was a kingston 128mb chip for the dj 500/800. it was $50, instead of $325 for hp memory. worksw fine!
hth

[Anonymous]

I got the HPGL2 card, but cannot plot: the plotter options only allow a TCP/IP printer connection, while I am connected via usb.

Anyone plotting from OS X to a DesignJet 500 with HPGL2 card via a USB connection?

If so, what drivers are you using, and did you need to purchase XRIP?

Thanks
Brad

[aahatimo]

Brad wrote:
I got the HPGL2 card, but cannot plot: the plotter options only allow a TCP/IP printer connection, while I am connected via usb.
Anyone plotting from OS X to a DesignJet 500 with HPGL2 card via a USB connection?
If so, what drivers are you using, and did you need to purchase XRIP?
Thanks
Brad

brad,
sorry that did not work for you!
maybe try using your w2k machine as a plot server. then you may be able to use plotflow from your osx machine. you still would need some sort of network setup though...
we tried to hook up don's osx notebook to the dj500 w/ hpgl2 card. guess it is only possible w/ tcp/ip.
what's up w/ hp anyway? do they just not want to deal w/ mac folks?

[MSotero]

I use a DJ500PS with the HPGL2 card over a Ethernet network connected together with a Netgear FS108 Switch (purchased at Circuit City). I use several Macs with OS 10.2 (classic to run HP’s horrible PS solution) but at times my in-house consultants work on their Pcs. The network makes it all flow as the PC and Macs are happy on the network. My dsl modem plugs into the switch too.

You may wish to reconsider how you’re connected before spending more time or money on software. You’ll be able to put the noisy plotter in another room too. With the most current Graphisoft software (8.1) and OS 10.2, I’m able to plot with AC, PM and PF.

As a side note, the following steps worked for me to setup everything for plotting on my network. So don’t ask me questions, as I can’t answer them.

Plug everything together:
1) My Network is set to use the DHCP option in the computers.
2) Download and install HP’s most current driver for your plotter.
3) Once updated, I had to get the plotters IP address off its panel.
4) Start PlotFlow. Choose File/Configure. Click Setup and put in the IP address from the plotter panel. Somehow PF generated the “Port” number (or this how I remember it) so write this number down. At this point PF was able to plot. By the way, my port number turned out to be 9100 (so maybe you can try that).

However, to get Plotmaker/AC plotting:
1) Open Plotmaker and set the DJ500 as the plotter. Choose File/Plot Setup and click Setup under TCP/IP.
2) Enter the IP and the Port number you wrote down. At this point I could plot using whatever software of choice.

As a further consideration, I wonder if you could simply buy an Ethernet cable and plug it directly into the plotter and use TCP/IP?