laser not getting job

[sal shepherd]

Hi All, I have a epilog 24x18 60 watt helix. Today I engraved 3 jobs and stopped the 4th while engraving. Sent the next job to laser it didn't receive it. On the computer a dialog balloon poped up doc.failed to print.So I checked the print driver, rebooted computer,unpluged computer,laser,ethernet conn. from engraver and computer. Put everything back together. Same dam problem what next??? help please

running windows XP

[James Stokes]

Had that happen to me one time, turned out to be a bad cable. I had similar problems when my power supply went out.

[Anthony Welch]

Sal,

I have that problem every now and then. Why I don't know. Check your bottom tray and see if there is a print dialog box. If your project/s are still there, delete/cancel them. You may have to do this several times, again I don't know why. Once cleared you should be able to send another file from corel to engraver.

This was more of a problem for me when I had the USB cable. Changed to the ethernet cable and it happens less often now.

Anthony

[Martin Boekers]

I had some issues once when somehow the IP address had changed. Last place I thought to look. I still don't know how it happened.

Marty

[Joe Pelonio]

That can also happen with huge files, not enough memory to handle it.

[sal shepherd]

Well, I found the problem I think. I reset the computer to a previous Date an what a suprise it worked. Don't get me wrong, I would realy like to know what went wrong.
Was this just a glitch?

[sal shepherd]

The dam little gremlin is back. Checked everything like b-4 wound up having to reset the computer to previous day. what you know it took 2 resets any body with any idears?????

[Anthony Scira]

I would try and uninstall then reinstall the drivers.

Do you see the address being used in your router ?

[Peck Sidara]

Sal,

Are you running a direct connection? 1 PC directly connected to the Helix? Do you have internet connection on the PC?

I'd delete the driver completely, reboot and reinstall the latest driver using a new IP address for the Helix. Make sure it's a direct connnection so to determine whether the cause is from the PC or machine. The only thing on the Helix that could cause this is the main board but then again, it sounds more like a configuration issue on the PC side.

As always, tech support's available to help delete old driver/reinstall new driver and offer some additional suggestions. 303.215.9171

[R. A. Mitchell]

I may have the same issue. I'm running from a USB cable because my notebook is wirelessly networked and the tech rep who helped me set this up couldn't figure out how to make the laser work with an ethernet cable. Pretty frequently, I send a job to the laser and get a print error. If I pull the USB cable out of the laptop and then plug it in again, the job moves transfers and all is well. I haven't been able to figure out what causes the problem, and at this point it falls into the "minor nuisance" category, although from time to time it really gets confusing when it's not clear whether a job was successfully sent to the laser.

[Peck Sidara]

Robert,

For running USB, make sure you have the most recent firmware for your laser system. Visit http://www.epiloglaser.com/download_backup.htm for more information on firmware rev. 1.0.2.1 and note the improvement on USB connectivity. We're currently on rev. 1.0.2.4 so jumping to the latest and greatest is the recommendation.

HTH,

[sal shepherd]

Peck, Thanks for input,I will contact you. This is not a wireless conection (ethernet)

[sal shepherd]

Hi All, Well the gremlin is back again. But I think I found the problem.Would you believe it was my cell phone and or wireless shop phone. Today my mouse stopped working, I unpluged and repluged it worked. I was working on a design upon sending to laser my cell rang,and don't you know the engraver didn't get job. Also my mouse stopped again. We tested again an I am positive this was my problem all along. Go figure. Note: my crossover cable is shielded, an the mouse isn't.

[James Stokes]

Well that is a unusuall problem. That is not anything I would have guessed.

[Anthony Scira]

That is strange but come to think of it I have a wireless baby video monitor that completely kills my wifi.

But direct connection I have never heard of interference problems.

And for R.A here is what I did to add my laser to my wireless network.

Configure your machine with whatever free network address you want. Make sure you have a regular (not crossover) from your laser to your router.

START>CONTROL PANEL>PRINTER then click add printer. While adding a network printer the Epilog was not automatically detected. There is a button to add it manually. I used the option to "Add Printer using TCP/IP address or hostname"

After entering my IP address of 192.168.0.22 manually it still does not find the printer.

Another window opens up requesting more port information. There are 2 selections you can make. Standard or Custom. Standard seems to list a bunch of network card and other hardware.

This is where I chose custom. A new window pops up and you can select RAW or LPR. I chose LPR and chose the name of Epilog for my print que.

From there it asks for the location of the print driver (you know the latest one you downloaded from Epilog). Point it to that directory and BAM I got a message that the printer has finished installing and is ready to print a test page.

I print the test page and the little green data light started flashing and all is right with the world.

Why is this stuff so dang complicated ?

[R. A. Mitchell]

For what it's worth, I was already running the latest firmware. I've just become accustomed to this bug.

[Peck Sidara]

Robert,

One of our techs will be in contact shortly to see if they can assist in figuring out the intermittent USB connection you're having.

I'd like to say they'll be able to resolve the problem but I can't guarantee such ending. Our techs are Epilog laser experts and not PC technicians or network engineers. Because there are so many configurations, peripherals and different set-ups, it's difficult for our techs to assist in every manner.

With the latest firmware and driver, USB should be as solid as a direct ethernet connection. Not sure why you're having difficult but hopefully we can figure it out.

As always, we'll do our very best.

[R. A. Mitchell]

Peck,

For completeness' sake, I did appreciate the call from the tech rep. Unfortunately, it didn't help. He recommended shutting off the laser, deleting the driver, turning on the laser, and following the "found new hardware" wizard to reinstall the driver. I followed his instructions & it didn't work. The USB connection still seems to drop without any pattern or explanation.

When I have time to kill, I'll upgrade firmware again. My sales rep just sent me a note about a new driver version. The latest release appears to modify the way the rotary attachment deals with white space, and I have a rotary job this weekend that I'll be running. I had already upgraded to the latest driver that had a more Vista-like feel to it (which was an improvement). If it helps, I'll post just to share with the board.

FWIW, I'm working with XP Pro SR3, MS Office & Corel X4. The notebook I use with the laser is connected to a wireless router with Belkin software. I can't use the Ethernet connection because of my wireless connection. Not a very exotic setup.

[Brian Robison]

Sal, have you tried to use the USB to connect. My Dell used to do that with my Mini. I got a new Gateway and decided to try the old slow usb until I got the ethernet configured. Well the USB with the new lap top is 10X faster that the Dell was with the ethernet.
Give it a shot!

[Anthony Scira]

Can't you plug the ethernet cable from the printer to your wireless router and connect via the instructions I posted above ?

[Peck Sidara]

Peck,

For completeness' sake, I did appreciate the call from the tech rep. Unfortunately, it didn't help. He recommended shutting off the laser, deleting the driver, turning on the laser, and following the "found new hardware" wizard to reinstall the driver. I followed his instructions & it didn't work. The USB connection still seems to drop without any pattern or explanation.

When I have time to kill, I'll upgrade firmware again. My sales rep just sent me a note about a new driver version. The latest release appears to modify the way the rotary attachment deals with white space, and I have a rotary job this weekend that I'll be running. I had already upgraded to the latest driver that had a more Vista-like feel to it (which was an improvement). If it helps, I'll post just to share with the board.

FWIW, I'm working with XP Pro SR3, MS Office & Corel X4. The notebook I use with the laser is connected to a wireless router with Belkin software. I can't use the Ethernet connection because of my wireless connection. Not a very exotic setup.

Thanks for the update Robert. I'm sorry to hear our tech support team couldn't help out. I do agree your set-up isn't "exotic" but is exotic enough for our tech team to diagnose/configure "remotely". I think that's key.

I beleive that most who have both wireless and are connected directly to a laser via Ethernet have two network cards installed. One wireless, one for direct connection. Two separate IP addresses, one dynamic and one static.

[David Fairfield]

Sal,

I have that problem every now and then. Why I don't know. Check your bottom tray and see if there is a print dialog box. If your project/s are still there, delete/cancel them. You may have to do this several times, again I don't know why. Once cleared you should be able to send another file from corel to engraver.

This was more of a problem for me when I had the USB cable. Changed to the ethernet cable and it happens less often now.

Anthony

Exactly the same here. Bit of a bother but I can live with it.

Dave