Printing and Plotting

[#1]

OMG.

We just upgraded our old DJ4000 to a T2300 and are having a devil of a time getting the PC3 files to work. We have about 40 CAD users and the PC3s are all on a shared network location. The symptoms we've experienced are identical to those described in this thread:

http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/Printing-and-Plotting/HP-Designjet-T7100-HPGL2-Problems-creating-PC3-P...

We tried using the 5500 and 4020 drivers but they did not work for us.

It looks like we are now faced with deploying 30+ PC3s to 40+ computers. What a HUGE pain in the you-know-what that will be. All of the PMP will have to be repathed.

What was HP thinking? That the T2300 -- or, if the above-referenced thread is accurate, ANY of their plotters -- are not suitable for use in companies that have more than one or two users?

Has anyone else had experience with this issue? If so, please let me know how you approached it.

--Doug 

[#2]

Do you all use the same exact 100% identical Windows OS version and patches/updates? What is it?

What is the Server OS? Which is 32bit and which is 64bit?

Are you all using the same exact AutoCAD version and variant?

Do you all use the same exact 100% identical paths to this centreal folder? For example, it's always Z:\FOLDERNAME location for everyone.

In AutoCAD's OPTIONS command, FILES Tab, are the relevant folders for PC3 file locations are pathed identically?

Are you trying to also create PMP files? Or just PC3 files?

Who is creating the PC3 files? Are they being created on a desktop then moved to the server?

What if someone else created the PC3 files?

The topic you link to had a specific error message, what is the one your users get?

[#3]

Yes, all workstations sharing the PC3s are identical, 64-bit Windows 7 Professional. The server is Windows Server 8 R2. We are using AutoCAD 2011. The errors we see are identical to those described in the thread. Paths are identical.

We have a couple of custom paper sizes and want to filter the list, so yes we are creating PMP files.

This problem exists only for the new T2300. We have been sharing PC3s and PMPs successfully for years with our other plotters & have never had this kind of difficulty.

Is anyone is successfully sharing PC3s with custom paper sizes for a T2300, or any other new HP plotter for that matter?  From the description in the other referenced thread, it sounds as if HP has made a change to their plotters that will make them extremely difficult to use in a networked environment.