Couple Epilog driver bugs

[Michael Simpson Virgina]

Here are a couple bugs I have found with the Eplilog 64-bit laser driver. V8.06

I am posting these for a couple reasons.
1. I spend hours trying to figure out why thing were going wrong. Now I just do the work arounds. Hopfully this will save others this hearache
2. Seems like this a good way to get Eplilogs attention.


Bug 1.
When using color maping the default color red will not depict the correct color settings. IE say i have the first color red as 237,50,57. When I first load the new color map from a file it shows red as 255,0,0.

If you click on the fitst color to bring it over into the edit area nothing happens. So you think you have moved over the existing red color. When you move it back into the list the bad settings 255,0,0 overwrite the good ones in the list.

I spend hours trying to figure out what was going on here.

The fix is to touch the second color in your list then go back and click the first. Doing this resoves the issue.


Bug 2
I have a very large drawing with quite a bit of it outside the drawing area. I move pieces into the drawing areas to print them in the laser as needed. If I forget to click the selection only box on the dialog the whole drawing gets sent and things go very very wrong.

The driver gets hosed and can no longer be accessed. Also Corel get hosed and I have to kill the app.

The only way to get the driver back is to reboot the machine.

The fix is to make sure selection box is clicked. But some times I forget and now I know that I need to save my work and reboot the machine.

I suspect that Corel is also at fault for this bug. In any case the two do not play well together here. I dont know if its the off drawing area or all the layers that attempt to send their drawings.

[John Noell]

Good luck getting Epilog's attention. I gave up on the 64 bit driver after lots of problems. I got NO response from Epilog Tech Support on the 64-bit issues. I even offered them a computer with Win7-64 bit that replicated all the troubles I had. No interest apparently. At least the 32-bit driver works well.

[Mike Christen]

I agree, surprised epilog don't respond to thier 64 bit driver issues. I have the same problems, when it locks up it takes Corel with it. Lost many hours cause of it and I save often.

[Michael Simpson Virgina]

Honastly Epilog were the first to offer a working 64-bit diver. That is why I chose them over ULS. I have used the 64-bit drivers since they early beta versions which I might add worked very well save for some color mapping issues that had work arounds.

If you are having the same kinds of issues I am having where the driver gets hosed. I suspect its in the released version of the 64-bit driver as the beta version did not have this issue.


I have to agree with both of you about not understaninf why venders dont embrace the 64-bit win 7 os. 32-bit win 7 is now the exception not the norm. Almost very system sold with win7 on it is 64-bit.

Epilog is not alone in this kind of 64-bit support. Canon, Nikon and other driver venders have the same problems.

IT also extends to other markets. I use Mach3 for my cnc controller. And they dont have a 64-bit driver. I had to build a 32 bit system for this.

[Scott Shepherd]

All the big guys have 64 bit drivers now. Most have had them for a while. I can say I have been impressed with the way Universal responds to driver issues. Granted, it took me a while to get them to understand I wasn't a complaining customer just complaining to be complaining. I took screen capture videos of the problems happening and it was repeatable and emailed them to tech support. Next driver release, they were gone.

I've done that several times now, so I've been very happy with the way they seem to address their driver issues.

[Mike Christen]

All the big guys have 64 bit drivers now. Most have had them for a while. I can say I have been impressed with the way Universal responds to driver issues.

Hopefully Epilog will get on with addressing the issues with their 64bit driver. I'm sure they could enlist help on the creek to find and fix the issues if they needed it to supply information about crashes.

[Peck Sidara]

Dear Creekers,

This post provides a good opportunity to help other Creekers save time and effort in the future. While we have not verified the problem in the down level version of driver that Mike is using, we have verified that the issues do not exist in the current 64-bit driver, version 8.07 (Mike is using 8.06).

As most Creeker’s know, Epilog strives hard to provide the best possible tech support available. It’s not possible for us to be available 24/7 via phone, but we try to make up for that in other ways so that you always have a resource you can access any time of day or night. In order to provide the best support available, there are a couple of tools that all Epilog customers should be aware of:

1)Epilog tech support - 1-303-215-9171, or via email at tech@epiloglaser.com. Be prepared to provide a detailed description of your issue and also be prepared to email the file you’re having trouble with or digital photo to help expedite the troubleshooting process. Epilog tech support hours are 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM Mountain Standard Time, Monday – Friday.
2) www.epilog laser.com/tech­_support.htm – our tech support web site is full of helpful information including the latest driver downloads, firmware downloads and a long list of technical articles. This resource can be used 24 hours a day, but is a great place for useful information in the off hours when a tech support technician is not available via phone.
3)Sign up for the driver and firmware update service provided by Epilog tech support. Go to www.epiloglaser.com/downloads.htm (http://www.epiloglaser.com/downloads.htm). This is the driver/firmware download page. After signing up you’ll receive notification of all new upgrades the day they are released.

For easy reference, print out these six methods of contacting Epilog and place them where they are easily accessible:

Phone: 303-215-1971
Fax: 303-277-9669
Email: tech@epiloglaser.com (tech@epiloglaser.com)
Epilog web site – www.epiloglaser.com (http://www.epiloglaser.com/)
Tech Support page - www.epiloglaser.com/tech­_support.htm (http://www.epiloglaser.com/tech%1f_support.htm).
Driver/Firmware Downloads - www.epiloglaser.com/downloads.htm (http://www.epiloglaser.com/downloads.htm)

We sincerely hope this helps and, as always, we appreciate comments from our fellow Creeker’s.

[Michael Simpson Virgina]

Downloading and installing v8.07 now. Will give it a try.

[Michael Simpson Virgina]

Well I tested the problems I gave in my original post with the 807 driver and both issues are exactly the same. So I dont know what kind of verification you did. It was not for the problems I have noted.

Now I really do feel like we are getting the "Company Line". All I can say now is take your version 807 driver and really try and duplicate the problems.

Epilog you have a great laset but unfortunatly your drivers leave a lot to be desired.

[John Noell]

I set up two completely different computers, each cleanly installed with Win7 64 bit. I found that in each case, sending a simple raster/vector job (which works perfectly with the 32 bit driver) caused the head to slam all the way to the side. I first thought it was the laser motherboard and replaced it (at great expense - due to Fiji Customs and freight). I got NO interest from Epilog Tech Support (Ian) in the issue. I have repeatedly offered to send them a computer with Win7 64 bit that causes my Epilog laser to behave quite badly with a very simple CorelDraw file that works perfectly under Win7 32 bit with the 32 bit driver. No interest. The good news is that Win7 32 bit works perfectly. There is little need to use a 64 bit system for lasering and I am content with the 32 bit driver.