HP DJ500 No Longer Plotting

[tektip04]

Using AutoCAD 2000, our HP DesignJet 500 (with HPGL2 Card) worked great until we installed a trial version of AutoCAD2006. Now, when the printer is plugged in to the printer port, the printer is recognized, but when a document is printed, only about 64k of the document is sent to the printer. Several documents have printed the same way - only a small portion (about 64kb) prints. Opening the printer properties for the printer after letting it sit for 30 minutes reveals the status as "Error - Printing". I've tried using the older version of AutoCAD, but no luck. Also tried sending a plot from another computer to the shared plotter, and still nothing. Checked the printer's cables, ruled them out (as XP recognizes the printer after uninstalling and reinstalling the printer). Also checked the seat on the HPGL/2 card, ruled that out.

The printer won't even print a test page from Windows, in case that helps anyone...

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated, as the plotter has been down for 2 days and our in-house engineer is getting a headache from straining his eyes on 11x17 plots of the prints...

 

[jimp56]

could the printing format setup in the driver have been changed? (i.e. RAW vs. EMF, believe its in configure port under ports)

also, you might unshare it, completely remove the definition, and reinstall (using newer drivers if available)

 

[tektip04]

Checked all driver info, formatting is proper...

Tried removing and reinstalling the driver with the latest from HP, and the issue still exists...

Also thought about printer port problems, even though communication should be working, and installed a secondary printer port, but this didn't solve the problem...

 

[jimp56]

time to look into a possible hardware problem on the plotter.

have you tried booting from a DOS disk and copying a simple text file to the lpt port? "copy test.txt > lpt1"

that might rule a few things out....also you might try a full power reset on the plotter (power off, unplug, reseat hpgl and memory cards, wait 5-10 mins, then plug back in and power back on)? we had a DJ 450 that had weird memory problems after upgrading to the color kit...

 

[tektip04]

Haven't tried the DOS solution, that will happen Monday morning, but I have tried resetting the unit - unplug, remove gl2, replace, and plug in - no luck...

Thanks for the quick response time...

Time to enjoy a Friday afternoon...