HP500PS - Slow spooling problem

Hi everyone,

We have a HP500ps hooked up to a network print server. The plotter has the
HPGL2 card and lots of RAM. We are experiencing some very slow plot times
using AutoCAD 2004 (and also with 2000i). Our CAD stations are currently a
mix of XP and NT right now.

For example, I have a DWG (around 10Mb) that when I print.... it stays at
the print progress status bar for approximately 10-15 minutes as it spools.
It then takes another minute or two to spool at the print server. This is
very unproductive since it hangs AutoCAD up for approximately this 10-15
minutes between plots. My workstation currently should not be a problem
since it's a 2.8GHz, 1 Gb of RAM, XP Pro. And... it happens on any of our
Workstations like this. Our plotting is done through a PC3 file also.

Does anyone have any recommendations to get this not to keep AutoCAD busy
for so long?

Thanks in advance,
Ryan
City of Saskatoon

 

Hi Ryan,

The 500 is not a a fast plotter to begin with, even with the HPGL/2 RTL
card. But in some cases like this you can bypass the spooler and plot
direct much faster. It sounds like the slow down is the actual spooler.
Look up in your DesignJet instructions how to change this and plot direct to
the DesignJet and see if you plot faster.

Hope this helps.

Bud Schroeder
AutoCAD Test Development
Autodesk Inc.