Urgent Problem: Got Win2003 server LDD R3, NT, 2000 & XP clients, got PC3 problems.

Got a Win2003 print queue server
Using Land Desktop R3 which is AutoCAD 2002
Got NT, 2000 & XP clients
Got HP DesignJet 755 plotter.
Using Optimized driver by HP on server v4.6

When I create PC3 files in one OS then the other 2 give me an AutoCAD error Unexpected null pointer.
Of course all 3 client OS's can print to the system printer \\server\printer

In the past we had an NT4 queue server and a very old HP printer driver.
But the pc3 worked on all 3 client OS's

We also have an OCE TDS 400 and the new PC3's work on all 3 OS's


David

 

In addition to my reply on your other question:
my advise would be:
1) Switch to Win2000 server for the print server
(i know this is a lot of work, sorry)
2) keep the PC3 files separate per Win OS:
PC3 files are linked to the Windows printer drivers. As these are different versions and have different capabilities, the PC3 files have differences also.
Perhaps if you find 1 unified windows dirver for all 3 windows, than and only then it is possible to have the same PC3 file.

 

A weird thing is though that the OCE driver worked.
I ended up taking the old 755.pc3 and modifying that.
Luckily I could change the port on it to the new print server.
Unfortunately we are using an old driver and not the latest optimized by HP driver.
If we went to windows 2000 then we would have to buy CAL's for windows 2000.
Windows 2003 CALS are not valid on windows 2000 servers.

I really already knew the answers to these problems, but didn't want to believe them.
What really pisses me off is how there is no way to edit a PC3 file to see what is pointing
to what. I also really hate how it is so OS dependant and driver dependant. PC3's are
still a pain to work with. But if you talk to Autodesk as I did 4 years ago they just didn't see
the problems and I bet have not fixed them in 2004 and 2005 releases.

In a perfect world we would all be on the latest hardware and software but that is not always the case
and thus the problems arise.


patrick_aps <>
|>In addition to my reply on your other question:
|>my advise would be:
|>1) Switch to Win2000 server for the print server
|>(i know this is a lot of work, sorry)
|>2) keep the PC3 files separate per Win OS:
|>PC3 files are linked to the Windows printer drivers. As these are different versions and have different capabilities, the PC3 files have differences also.
|>Perhaps if you find 1 unified windows dirver for all 3 windows, than and only then it is possible to have the same PC3 file.


David

 

I've had the same problem ever since we started adding Win XP workstations to our existing Win NT / Win 2000 office. We have an HP1055 plotter. Here's what I think causes the null pointer error: Open up your pc3 file to the General tab. Have a look at the driver files listed at the bottom. Notice that the list includes the pathway to the driver file. Windows NT and Windows 2000 both reside in a folder named WINNT. Windows XP resides in a folder named WINDOWS. When using a pc3 file pointing to WINDOWS, a Windows 2000 workstation will give you a null pointer error and vice-versa. I tried to fool the operating system by creating a pathway containing the specified driver files. It didn't work. Instead, my solution is two sets of pc3 files on the network. As a result, my plotter configuration pathways is dependant upon the operating system. My network deployment checks the OS of the workstation and then copies pre-manufactured ARG files to that computer. The ARG files generate AutoCAD profiles specifying the correct plotter support file pathway. Michael Partenheimer

 

Yes that's what I had to do in the past also.
Ever sense 2002 autocad has had this problem.
I wish Autodesk would come up with a solution for this.
Or an easy way to edit the internals of a pc3 file.

Partenheimer <>
|>I've had the same problem ever since we started adding Win XP workstations to our existing Win NT / Win 2000 office. We have an HP1055 plotter. Here's what I think causes the null pointer error: Open up your pc3 file to the General tab. Have a look at the driver files listed at the bottom. Notice that the list includes the pathway to the driver file. Windows NT and Windows 2000 both reside in a folder named WINNT. Windows XP resides in a folder named WINDOWS. When using a pc3 file pointing to WINDOWS, a Windows 2000 workstation will give you a null pointer error and vice-versa. I tried to fool the operating system by creating a pathway containing the specified driver files. It didn't work. Instead, my solution is two sets of pc3 files on the network. As a result, my plotter configuration pathways is dependant upon the operating system. My network deployment checks the OS of the workstation and then copies pre-manufactured ARG files to that computer. The ARG files generate
AutoCAD
|>profiles specifying the correct plotter support file pathway. Michael Partenheimer


David