CompuServe Thread

HPGL Driver

3 messages in this thread
#57232From: Seppi EvansMay 19, 1993 4:15 AM
Dear Mark, I have been having problems using PgS with the HPGL driver V2.2.1 The plotter is a HP7475A – quite old as used an Apple ][. I can not print directly to the SER: to the plotter, the error lamp on the plotter flashes indicating data error. Perhaps it was never intended to work directly and only by copying the plot file directly. If a plot file is created on disk and then copied to the plotter this then works correctly. Of the options "color" "fill" and "stroke" only the "colour" option works correclty and changes the pens. The "fill" and "stroke" options cause very varied results, from no plot to a page of what can only be described as scrible. I could send you the printed results if required. I am only using PS fonts and vector drawings created in PgS. Any ideas from yourself or any other PgS users woudl be appreciated. Seppi Evans, George Thompson Services.
#57327From: Rob ZijlstraMay 20, 1993 3:34 PM
dear Seppi, The following might be of interest to you (& others): after using ps2.x for more then a year (daily more then 2 hours) , without any problems on a regular A500 with a Nec P6Plus printer, suddenly the skies fell in… Anything I did in ps became a lot of rubbish when I printed it. The first thing I thought of, was that my printer had broken down. But I could print from Word Perfect, make screen dumps in high resolution etc etc. No problems at all. The culprit seemed to be ps itself. But: the problem was that I (dutifully) had disconnected pin 14 of the printer cable as stated in the Amiga user guide. Now that little loose wire of pin 14 decided to travel a bit in my printer cable connector and I suppose made advantages to pin 13 or something like that. I isolated that wire and suddenly ps worked flawlessly again. Now I still don't understand why only ps reacted on that loose wire. Again, a screendump worked flawlessly, any text file printed out without any trouble at all. Only ps gave problems with it. Maybe Soft Logic has an idea, but if anyone has trouble (unexpected & suddenly), it would be a very good idea to check the connector(s). I mean, I didn't have any trouble at all in the beginning, but (I suppose, after all somebody needs to be blamed…) when my wife decided to dust under the Amiga, she pushed the comp a little and the loose wire started to become troublesome. Again, after correcting it, no problems at all. I still use ps about two hours a day for flyers in my shop and I'm perfectly happy with it. I hope your problem is something like this, check the hardware connections! Greetings from Rob Zijlstra, Driehuis, The Netherlands.
#57370From: BILL LEACHMay 21, 1993 9:19 AM
Rob; The most important lesson there is that don't assume anything but especially don't assume that there have been no changes only because you did not make any. Thanks for sharing that, many of us tend not to even think of those little "innocent" occurances that happen all the time. -bill