[comp.sys.hp] LJIII/CADplt2 problem

zap@indic.se (Jonas Petersson) (04/11/91)

[HP labs people - yo-hoo?]

On our 9000/825 (running A.B7.00 B) the CADplt2 driver has begun to
to act strange. Whenever we try to plot something nontrivial (that is, 
a vector map or a rather complex graph) we get something like this:

Starbase error 2057: Write call failed.
    Procedure name:      polyline2d
    File descriptor:     3
    Device file name:    /tmp/hpgla11993
    Library location:    cad plt errors (11)
    System errno:        Invalid argument
    Other information:   write(2) indicates a total failure

The picture that is produced then lacks some lines somewhere, but not at the
end of the file - data has been written after the error, and the file is
properly terminated. (This file is then spooled to the Lj3.) 

What could cause write(2) to fail completely once, and then suddenly work
again???

Replacing all polyline2d()s with draw2d()s does not help. Note that the same
map/graph works perfect with the CADplt driver (looks a bit uglier though)
or with any of the drivers on any series 300 system that I've tried.

The plot is initiated with:

    if ((display = gopen(mktemp(hpgltmpfile), OUTDEV, driver,
                       RESET_DEVICE|SPOOLED)) == -1) 
        return(FAILURE);
    XLENW=25000;
    YLENW=24000;
    vdc_extent(display, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, XLENW, YLENW, 0.0);
    view_window(display, 0.0, 0.0, XLENW, YLENW);
    arg1.i[0] = -5;		/* Fine */
    gescape(display, HPGL2_FONT_WEIGHT, &arg1, &arg2);
    arg1.f[0] =  0.1; 	/* mm */
    arg2.i[0] = -1;		/* All pens */
    gescape(display, HPGL2_LOGICAL_PEN_WIDTH, &arg1, &arg2);
    arg1.f[0] =  0.3; 	/* mm */
    arg2.i[0] = OUTLINE_COLOR;
    gescape(display, HPGL2_LOGICAL_PEN_WIDTH, &arg1, &arg2);
    
This problem was reported to HP Sweden some month ago but I have yet not
recieved any solution.


Problem #2 might be related but it really looks like a hardware problem.
Some files produced by the CADplt2 driver without any problem (on the
series 300 systems for instance) makes the LaserJet3 hang forever with
the little green ready led flashing. Toggling the Online button makes
the LaserJet3 tell you:

	"79 SERVICE (08ae)"

The Lj3 instruction book says that this is a device driver problem that
should be reported to HP if it occurs more than once.

I've tried three different lj3's and five different memory expansions
without any success. Two of the memories are HP's original and the others
are Kingston's copies. The relevant configuration if the lj3 is:

AUTO CONT = OFF		I/O = SERIAL		BAUD RATE = 9600
ROBUST XON = ON		DTR POLARITY = HI	PAGE PROTECT = A4
RAM size: 3072K bytes	Firmware date: 19900430	

and this lj3 is brand new (I'm reading this config off the self test paper
with page count = 0!). 

This problem started when we changed our old Lj3 to a new one some 3 months 
ago. Since this problem only arise seldom it is possible, but not likely,
that we just were lucky for 6 months with the old Lj3. The problem is the
same when we run the Lj3 on the parallel port on a series 300 machine.

I have saved one of the files that produced this problem if you would like
to try it yourselves.

		Any help appreciated / Jonas Petersson

BTW: We run this on a cluster with the 825 serving 8 different series
300/400 machines.
-- 
     ///  "Are you THE Zaphod Beeblebrox ????" # zap@indic.se
__  ///                                        # Air Quality Surveillance
\\\///    "No, just A Zaphod Beeblebrox.       # "I can feel it coming 
 \///  Didn't you hear - I come in sixpacks !" #   in the air..."

chrise@hpnmdla.hp.com (Chris Eich) (04/17/91)

There is a patch for the CADplt2 driver.  Ask your SE for it:

S800/7.0/p201	:cadplt2:serial:rs232:hang:time out:drop:lost
	Files:	libddCADplt.a README.p201 INSTALL.p201
	Date:	91/01/23
	Desc:	Two fixes to the libddCADplt.a library, one fixing hangs
		with serial plotting, another fixing the dropping of data
		due to buffer overflow

Chris "I am not your SE" Eich