Hello Keith,
We have two Encad Cadjet2's, one 24" wide, one 36" wide.
There is a Netgear Print Server Model PS101 connected to each plotter.
(In our previous setup, which worked flawlessly, the plotter was connected to one person's computer and everyone's plots went through that person's computer to the plotter. Mine was one of them and the only side effect had been a minor 'studdering' for a few moments - not earth-shaking)
[We've] just added 48 mb to the existing 20 for a grand total of 68mb ram on the 36" plotter. It appears to release the plot preview sooner (1/3 of the way plotted as opposed to 3/4 of the way), but that is still unacceptable.
The plots that we send are not very elaborate. We use XREF more than MSP, but the hanging plot preview problem does not discriminate by dwg/plot size.
Any ideas are greatly appreciated.
Okay, I don't know anything about how the Encad driver is set up -- is there an option to have the processing done in the computer? What this would do is send "predigested" data to the plotter, which would help if it is the processor in the plotter that is slowing it down.
In general with HP plotters, changing the processing to the computer is
much faster, with today's computers. The third party print servers are not going to be able to help with the processing.
Are any of your machines dual core CPU's? How much RAM is in each machine? If it is 512MB or less, then bumping this up (to 1GB or more, ideally) could also help. Because, it may that you're
already processing the plots in each computer, and if so, more RAM would probably help in general, and possibly with the plotting. Are there noticeable difference between various machines?
The best solution might be to buy someone in the office a new computer, and then use their old one as the print server.
