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Message 1 of 13
craigboddington
379 Views, 12 Replies

HP Plotter Settings

We have 2 HP 1050 plotters which run from a printer pool. I have set the plotters so that all the drawings queue on the server and are then retrieved by the plotters one-by-one once it has finished the previous print. This manages the print queue at times when the plotters are busy.

Unfortunately, some of the staff members here keep playing with the setting on the plotters and turning the Queuing back on. Obviously all the prints then flood to that plotter and the other sits there redundant and the print queue has been empties from the server.

I then get in the ear from the Directors as one plotter is sitting idle and people are having to await for the queue on the other plotter to clear before they get their prints.

Do you know of any way I can prevent this either on the plotter or server. If not, I may have to resort to Plan B, which will be to punch them in the face if I see them messing around with the plotter menu!

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
12 REPLIES 12
Message 2 of 13
Anonymous
in reply to: craigboddington

Remove their access to do anything on the plotter but plot. Should
take care of the problem. You can plot, why do you need to move it to
the front, or change other settings?

On Wed, 19 Dec 2007 16:20:35 +0000, craigboddington <> wrote:

>We have 2 HP 1050 plotters which run from a printer pool. I have set the plotters so that all the drawings queue on the server and are then retrieved by the plotters one-by-one once it has finished the previous print. This manages the print queue at times when the plotters are busy.
>
>Unfortunately, some of the staff members here keep playing with the setting on the plotters and turning the Queuing back on. Obviously all the prints then flood to that plotter and the other sits there redundant and the print queue has been empties from the server.
>
>I then get in the ear from the Directors as one plotter is sitting idle and people are having to await for the queue on the other plotter to clear before they get their prints.
>
>Do you know of any way I can prevent this either on the plotter or server. If not, I may have to resort to Plan B, which will be to punch them in the face if I see them messing around with the plotter menu!
>
>Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Message 3 of 13

Brian,

They are phyically changing the setting on the ploter not the server. They don't have the permissions to be able to alter the server print queue settings.

I some how need to either lock the control panel on the plotter or override the settings so that they can not be altered!

I think I might have to resort to Plan B!

Craig
Message 4 of 13
dgorsman
in reply to: craigboddington

Not entirely the same problem, but could be a similar solution...

At my old job, we had problems with people trying to refill the toner for the Oce plotters. Of course, some are completely inept and end up spilling it into the plotter and denying it to everybody. IT put a hasp and a small padlock on every large format printer after a few incidents like that.

In case there is no password protection on the actual printer interface, you might get away with something similar, depending on whether you are allowed to drill holes in the machine and what shape the panel is.
----------------------------------
If you are going to fly by the seat of your pants, expect friction burns.
"I don't know" is the beginning of knowledge, not the end.


Message 5 of 13
Anonymous
in reply to: craigboddington

You could set up two groups (Plotter Users 1, Plotter Users 2) on the server
and equally distribute your users between the groups. Assign Plotter Users 1
permissions to one plotter and deny access to the other, visa versa for
Plotter Users 2. You can also set up logon scripts to install/de-install the
plotters by group membership (I have a sample if you need it). If they can't
print to it, no sense in messing with the queue on the control panel.

I did a quick check on our 1050 and there doesn't seem to be a way to lock
down the control panel or scramble it so they won't know what they are doing
anyway...

wrote in message news:5804934@discussion.autodesk.com...
We have 2 HP 1050 plotters which run from a printer pool. I have set the
plotters so that all the drawings queue on the server and are then retrieved
by the plotters one-by-one once it has finished the previous print. This
manages the print queue at times when the plotters are busy.

Unfortunately, some of the staff members here keep playing with the setting
on the plotters and turning the Queuing back on. Obviously all the prints
then flood to that plotter and the other sits there redundant and the print
queue has been empties from the server.

I then get in the ear from the Directors as one plotter is sitting idle and
people are having to await for the queue on the other plotter to clear
before they get their prints.

Do you know of any way I can prevent this either on the plotter or server.
If not, I may have to resort to Plan B, which will be to punch them in the
face if I see them messing around with the plotter menu!

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Message 6 of 13
Anonymous
in reply to: craigboddington

You *could* set the front panel language to Japanese to defeat the casual
users. The dedicated would know the order of prompts 😐

Mark Evinger
Message 7 of 13
Anonymous
in reply to: craigboddington

I think we have a winner!

"Mark Evinger" wrote in
message news:5805278@discussion.autodesk.com...
You *could* set the front panel language to Japanese to defeat the casual
users. The dedicated would know the order of prompts 😐

Mark Evinger
Message 8 of 13
Anonymous
in reply to: craigboddington

That's a sharp idea, Mark. I'll keep it in mind for future application.
Brilliant!

--
Regards from Los Angeles,

Emmanuel
"Mark Evinger" wrote in
message news:5805278@discussion.autodesk.com...
You *could* set the front panel language to Japanese to defeat the casual
users. The dedicated would know the order of prompts 😐

Mark Evinger
Message 9 of 13
jwedding
in reply to: craigboddington

I'm a fan of Portuguese, but to each their own.
--
James Wedding, P.E.
Engineered Efficiency, Inc.
The Site: www.eng-eff.com
The Blog: www.civil3d.com
The Book: www.masteringcivil3d.com
C3D SP2 Mac Book Pro, XP SP2, 3GB
Message 10 of 13

I like the idea. Might just need to check which Languages people speak in the office before I choose one!
Message 11 of 13
Anonymous
in reply to: craigboddington

Put a lock box around the panel. Require that anyone that needs access
to the panel signs for the key and make them responsible for any
problems resulting from them opening the lockbox.

craigboddington wrote:
> We have 2 HP 1050 plotters which run from a printer pool. I have set the plotters so that all the drawings queue on the server and are then retrieved by the plotters one-by-one once it has finished the previous print. This manages the print queue at times when the plotters are busy.
>
> Unfortunately, some of the staff members here keep playing with the setting on the plotters and turning the Queuing back on. Obviously all the prints then flood to that plotter and the other sits there redundant and the print queue has been empties from the server.
>
> I then get in the ear from the Directors as one plotter is sitting idle and people are having to await for the queue on the other plotter to clear before they get their prints.
>
> Do you know of any way I can prevent this either on the plotter or server. If not, I may have to resort to Plan B, which will be to punch them in the face if I see them messing around with the plotter menu!
>
> Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Message 12 of 13
Anonymous
in reply to: craigboddington

Oh...didn't catch that part of it. I don't know that it's possible to
lock the plotter settings itself. You almost need a custom cabinet
that allows the paper to be feed in and dropped out but you can't
touch the buttons. But then how do you change the paper? Good luck!

On Wed, 19 Dec 2007 18:46:59 +0000, craigboddington <> wrote:

>Brian,
>
>They are phyically changing the setting on the ploter not the server. They don't have the permissions to be able to alter the server print queue settings.
>
>I some how need to either lock the control panel on the plotter or override the settings so that they can not be altered!
>
>I think I might have to resort to Plan B!
>
>Craig
Message 13 of 13
Anonymous
in reply to: craigboddington

If all your printers and plotters are HP then I would give the free HP Web Jetadmin a try ...there you can lock the display and alot of other stuff

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