emkim

This is getting off the original topic of OSX compatible 11x17 printers, but I just wanted to get something clarified since we are also thinking about upgrading our printers... I'm looking at the specs for the HP 5000n and it states that it supports "PostScript? Level 2 emulation". Now I believe this is different than software postscript RIP (which we are well aware of since we painfully have to deal with it with our HP Designjet 488CA.) The GCC XL 20/600 specs indicate "PostScript? Level 2 compatible". Correct me if I'm wrong since I'm not an expert, but I believe that both the GCC XL20/600 and the HP 5000n both have hardware postscript RIP. I think both these companies have simply decided not to license Adobe's Postscript technology, and have licensed emulators that are compatible with that technology instead. I would, however, like to know what Postscript 3 has to offer over Postscript 2. Anyone out there know?

Absolutely frustrated with HP: We are having tremendous problems with plotting our Vectorworks files on our HP 488CA plotter. After sending a few plots, the HP Designjet Software (print spooler) will freeze or just stop plotting with all plots "Ready" but not spooling, even when we hit the plot button. Sometimes we are able to get it going again for a few more plots if we close the spooler application and relaunch it. Most other times, the entire computer will crash and we have to restart the computer. Happens every time. We are so very frustrated. The plots themselves look beautiful when they plot. We'd like to be able to stick with the HP software and Laserwriter 8 instead of having to go out and get Macplot or Powerplot if possible. The postscript plots look very good. This is becoming an intolerable situation in our office. Most of our plotting is done under a deadline and to have these issues every time is completely maddening. I have called HP on this and the tech guy told me it was "a known issue" with the driver. So I asked him when the next release of the driver for the Mac would come out and he said he didn't know of any in development. Then I ask him "so potentially I could have this problem for as long as I own and use the plotter" and he says "yes, potentially." Completely maddening. To promote this product as "Mac compatible" right out of the box is downright fraudulent. We may never buy an HP product again if this is how they support Mac users. We feel that they have sold us a product that does not perform. We're so upset, there's talk of a class action lawsuit in our office. Anyone else have these issues? Are there any solutions possible? Will we be forced to get MacPlot and switch to RTL? I've posted elsewhere on this issue, but for those who are interested, our setup is as follows: HP488CA with JetDirect connected to an ethernet network. Plots are sent to the "plot server" which is an iMac, original 233 Bondi Blue with 96MB of RAM. Virtual Memory is used - 150MB total RAM. HP Print Spooler has 25MB RAM allocated, PE Engine has 60MB RAM allocated. We use Laserwriter 8 to send the plots to the plot server. We are going to try upgrading the plot server to a better, faster computer with more RAM (350 MHz, 320MB real RAM), but I suspect we will still have the same issues. [This message has been edited by EmmaKim (edited 02-09-2001).] [This message has been edited by EmmaKim (edited 02-09-2001).]

ah hah!!! got it. Thanks so much. Worked terrifically and was so simple. When I called the Vectorworks support about it, they said it was a known bug. I know troubleshooting can be tough but that was so easy. Thanks a lot!

I too am having problems with the HP488CA and it's driving our office mad! With our setup, our HP488CA w/ JetDirect is networked to a couple Macs and we send all plots to the "Plot Server" (G3-233 w/ 96MB real RAM - 150MB total RAM w/ Virtual Memory) which spools the files to the HP488CA. The HP Print Spooler has 25MB RAM allocated and the PE Engine has 50MB allocated. We at first used the Adobe PS 8.6 driver but now we just use Laserwriter8 with equal results (or non-results). My feelings are that the problem lies not with the Laserwriter 8 or Adobe PS, because plots are sent to the plot server with almost total success (beyond a few crashes for rather large files), but with the HP Print Spooler at the plot server. Every time we send multiple files to the Print Spooler, the first few plots will plot fine, and then the Print Spooler will just stop responding with the rest of the files "Ready" but not plotting even when we hit the plot button. Occasionally, we are able to get a few more plots by closing the Print Spooler and then reopening it, but more often than not, the entire computer will crash and we will have to restart. Drives us up the wall, especially since most plotting is done under the pressure of a deadline. Any ideas? Does this sound familiar? We'd like to stick with the PS output since the plots themselves look great, but we need to desperately figure something out.

thanks for the tip. the "Ceiling-main" class is turned off, but I think I was able to (temporarily) solve the problem by first drawing a random wall and a door in the file I was referencing into. With one door drawn correctly, the doors in the referenced file seemed to follow suit. Very odd workaround. Had to waste a day trying to figure that one out. Thanks though!

Whenever I Workgroup Reference a file (any file), the doors in the ref file don't fully break the walls. There are light double lines in the door openings (thresholds or door header lines) even though in the original file, I set up all the doors to fully break the walls. The doors I use are symbols created from the plug-in objects with the box next to "installation settings" checked (as suggested in another post) and "plan details" checked and everything else turned off. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. This is driving me crazy.

On two of our drawings, inserted doors and windows (version 2 - 3D detail) have lost the ability to be edited through the "object info" dialogue box. Doors and windows cannot be moved and can only be deleted. However, it seems as if the doors and windows have not been completely lost as inserted symbols because they can still be flipped. Has anyone else encountered this problem? Are the files in question somehow corrupted? One thing that we did in the office was upgrade to Vectorworks 8.5.2 for a few days before discovering that text was rotating and showing up incorrectly whenever we created Adobe PDF files. We then went back to 8.5.1. Would this have anything to do with our door and window problem? Appreciate any insight. (Vectorworks 8.5.1/ Architect 1.0.1/ Mac OS 8.5)