HP 7475 and Y2K

[maracot]

I have a flatbed plotter - an IBM 7374 which is actually a badged HP 7475. It runs fine attached to a W98 machine and is shared with the other W98 machines here.

I have just started to upgrade some systems to W2K, and checked for W2K drivers for the plotter. Neither HP nor Microsoft do them - their view is 'buy some newer hardware or a $200 commercial driver'. Fine - I don't have to upgrade the W98 machine, so I can leave it hosting the 7475.

But now I find that the new W2k machines will not connect to the plotter shared on the W98 machine. When I try to 'Install a Network Printer', the W2K wizard says that 'the printer driver is not properly installed' (though it runs fine!) and refuses to go further.

Why is this? And is there anything I can do about it?

[TripleRLtd]

Welcome to WD maracot.
By run fine, I assume you mean on the 98 machine. Right?
At any point does 2K ask for a driver?
You may be able to get away with NT drivers, have you tried them?

[Cobra X]

Have you tried using just the HP-GL/2 plotter driver included with Win 2000? The 7475 uses hewlett packard graphic language to plot, and is compatible with that driver. We just retired a 7475 at my plant late last year, and were plotting from a couple XP Pro machines using the HP-GL/2 driver.

[TripleRLtd]

Have you tried using just the HP-GL/2 plotter driver included with Win 2000? The 7475 uses hewlett packard graphic language to plot, and is compatible with that driver. We just retired a 7475 at my plant late last year, and were plotting from a couple XP Pro machines using the HP-GL/2 driver.

Indeed, good idea.
Now: tell how to do that.

[Cobra X]

Simple enough - just run the add printer wizard, and select HP for the manufacturer, and the HP-GL/2 driver should be at the top of the list.

[maracot]

Thanks for the rapid advice!

Yes, the plotter was running for years on the 98 systems with no trouble. I knew that HP wants to see the back of them - their web site sneeringly refers to the 7475 as 'a DOS machine which was never designed for networking' - but I was surprised to find that Microsoft felt the same.

I had seen the GL2 driver in the W2K list, of course, when I looked for the driver for the 7475. I didn't use it, because the 7475 is HPGL, not HPGL/2 compatible. I assumed that would matter; and am suprised to hear that Cobra X was running a 7475 under GL/2. Thanks for the tip!

I have some NT workstation disks here, so I can look for the NT drivers as well.

When I tried to 'Install a Printer' on a new W2K machine, 2K went through the process of asking 'Network or Local', and when I specified 'Network' (on one of the W98 machines) it found it, then replied that 'the driver was not properly installed' (though it obviously was, having worked there for ages). 2K then asked 'Do you want to set up a driver locally?', and gave me a list of W2K drivers including the HPGL/2. I reloaded the W98 driver on two other W98 systems to confirm that it was 'properly loaded' and that the problem was with the new W2K system.

I will now go and try loading the GL/2 driver on the W2K system and see what that does.

[Cobra X]

Yeah, the reason it said the driver wasn't properly installed was because the drivers on the 98 machine were written for 98. 2K would still need some type of driver written for it.

If I remember right - and it's possible I'm a little hazy on it, because this plotter was a workhorse and rarely required any type of work on it, so I didn't deal with it first hand very often - what we had was a 7475A, and it was in fact using the HP/GL-2 driver included with XP. I wouldn't imagine it wouldn't be much difference between the one in 2K.

[maracot]

Hmm.

I have just loaded the W2K HPGL/2 driver onto the W2K machine on my network, and tried to pass a print to the W98 machine with the W98 HPGL driver and the HP 7475 attached. It didn't work.

Do all the machines have to be running the same O/S? Or just the same driver? If it's the same O/S it will take me a little time to change the W98 machine into a W2K system.

Should I try loading the HPGL/2 driver onto the W98 system? I assume this won't work because the HPGL/2 driver is written for W2K.

[TripleRLtd]

You say it didn't work, well what happened? Any error messages? Tried to print a test page? Have you followed Cobra's reply exactly?

Simple enough - just run the add printer wizard, and select HP for the manufacturer, and the HP-GL/2 driver should be at the top of the list.

[Cobra X]

No, they shouldn't have to be running the same OS & using the same driver. At my plant, the 7475 was attached to an HP Jetdirect port, not an actual computer. There were several 98 & NT4 machines hitting it, along with the one XP Pro workstation.

Still, I wouldn't think that the machines using different drivers would cause a problem. Like TripleR said, were there any error messages? The plotter act like it was receiving data at all? Or did it just do nothing?

[maracot]

I think I've followed the reply - the proposal was simply to load the HPGL/2 driver on the W2K system. So I did.

I had reloaded the W98 drivers a few times before, when I thought that the 'driver was not properly installed' error message might be accurate. This is what happened today:

On a standard functioning W98 ethernet LAN, I connected an HP7475 plotter to one machine, and loaded the W98 HPGL driver. I printed a test page - all ok. I printed a page from NotePad - ok. I went to another W98 machine and introduced the remote 7475 machine as a Network Printer, loading the W98 driver. I printed a NotePad page - ok.

I upgraded another W98 machine to W2K. There are no W2K HPGL drivers for the 7475. So I specify the remote 7475 as a Network Printer and load the HPGL/2 driver, as suggested. I check the printer and paper setup. Then I try a NotePad Page print.

Data flows to the 7475. It wakes up, moves the paper, and loads a pen. Then it makes a few dots, and sits there with the error light flashing. This is what I would expect if the W2K HPGL/2 driver was incompatible with the 7475.

[ddeane]

The HP7475 will not work with HPGL/2 it needs HPGL/1 -- period!

I am also looking for a HPGL/1 driver for Win2000.

I have surfed a few forums and the stock answer is usually 'get a new plotter' or use HPGL/2! The problem in my case, and I expect many others, is where a program uses the HP7475 as a virtual plotter to plot to file, for some sort of post processing.

The HPGL/1 code is character based and easy to process.

Most CAD/ graphics programs will directly import HPGL/1 but not HPGL/2.

The only option I have found (not tried) is to spend $200 :-( on a propriety driver from http://www.winline.com

[maracot]

The HP7475 will not work with HPGL/2 it needs HPGL/1 -- period!

I am also looking for a HPGL/1 driver for Win2000.

I have surfed a few forums and the stock answer is usually 'get a new plotter' or use HPGL/2! The problem in my case, and I expect many others, is where a program uses the HP7475 as a virtual plotter to plot to file, for some sort of post processing.

The HPGL/1 code is character based and easy to process.

Most CAD/ graphics programs will directly import HPGL/1 but not HPGL/2.

The only option I have found (not tried) is to spend $200 :-( on a propriety driver from http://www.winline.com

Hi, ddeane,

Yes, it's odd that most other items of hardware seem to be catered for by new O/Ss, and I can't see why the HP7475 (and, I suppose, other old HP devices) should be singled out to be rejected for software reasons. I suspect that if we were to dig, we would find that HP tried to retain commercial control of the graphic market at some time by keeping their language commercially protected, and banned 3rd party drivers.

I currently deal with the problem by driving the plotter from a W98 machine, and passing plots to a holding file on it from other systems on the network. These then have to be manually loaded onto a graphics package on the W98 machine and printed from there.

I wonder if anyone has produced a translator which can take in HPGL and output HPGL/2? That might help.