AUTOCAD 12/13 ADI DRIVER CONFIGURATION QUESTIONS:
AUTOCAD 12/13 ADI DRIVER CONFIGURATION QUESTIONS: Models: 522xx/524xx,
53336/53436, 54424/54436, 5700/57000, 5800/58000, 67436, 68436/68444
The following guideline is intended to serve as a reference for general
questions or problems which come up regularly on the configuration of
CalComp's ADI drivers for AutoCAD 12/13 (DOS/Windows).
ANSWERS TO THE MOST COMMON ADI DRIVER CONFIGURATION QUESTIONS:
1. WHERE DO I START WHEN I NEED TO CONFIGURE A PLOTTER DRIVER?
ANSWER: a. Call FaxBack (714-821-2914) and in minutes get the
exact setup details you need to step you through
the entire configuration for your plotter model. As
a quick-reference we have also provided the most
basic steps in the notes below (1b through 1f).
b. Enter CONFIG at the AutoCAD command prompt
(AutoCAD will then display the current
configuration)
c. Press enter until the CONFIGURATION MENU appears
(A list of 7 configuration options will now be
displayed)
d. Select Option #5 (CONFIGURE A PLOTTER)
(The plotter configuration menu will now be
displayed)
e. Select #1 (ADD A PLOTTER CONFIGURATION)
(The ADI driver list will now be displayed)
f. Select the CalComp model family that your plotter
falls under: (For example, the 52436 falls under the
CalComp ADI driver for the DrawingMaster series plotters)
You are now in the driver configuration menu. If a
question comes up in the configuration menu that
you do not understand (these are explained in the
driver documentation) just press enter and accept
the default. In most cases, the default settings
are the preferred settings and will give the
results you want. However, if there are any
difficulties or unexpected results, CalComp
recommends that you call FaxBack for the
appropriate setup sheet (for your model or an
equivalent one, see note #C2 below) and follow the
procedure EXACTLY as given. We also recommend you
read the driver documentation (see Note 'A' above),
for an explanation of all of the configuration
questions.
2. WHAT IF MY CALCOMP PLOTTER IS NOT AMONG THOSE LISTED?
ANSWER: a. Get the most current driver version (5.5 or later).
The CalComp ADI version 5.5 includes all of the
models listed at the beginning of this guideline
EXCEPT the 5700 and 5800 series electrostatic
plotters (just substitute one of the 57000 or 58000
models listed). The latest driver is available from
CalComp's Web Site (http//:www.calcomp.com).
* 5700/5800 SELECTION TABLE *
5700/5800 plotters 57000 series 58000 series
------------------- ------------- -------------
for 24 inch wide - select - 57424 - - 58424
for 36 inch wide - select - 57436 - - 58436
for 44 inch wide - select - 57444 - - 58444
If you don't have a modem, perhaps someone else in
your group does. CalComp's Web Site runs almost 24 hours
a day, 7 days a week, and is available for anyone
to use.
CalComp can ship the driver to you on a 3.5 inch
diskette if you have no means to download the file
from our Web Site. If you are not under a service
agreement with CalComp, there may be a $30.00
charge.
3. I NEED TO GET MY PLOTTER WORKING NOW, AND DON'T HAVE THE MEANS TO
GET THE DRIVER FOR MY MODEL FROM THE WEB SITE. WHAT ELSE CAN I DO?
ANSWER: a. Use a compatible model as suggested below in (3b-
3e). Then call FaxBack (714-821-2914), and in
minutes, get the exact setup details needed to step
you through the entire configuration.
The ADI driver (version 2.8) that ships with
AutoCAD 12/13 is out of date and does not list some
of the more recent CalComp plotter models. However,
version 2.8 is a good driver and may still be used
until you get the current released driver.
ADI 2.8 is the minimum released version of the
driver that we can suggest using until you get the
latest release.
b. The Solus 4 and DM 600/800 plotters are not listed
as being supported in the 2.8 ADI driver. (They are
listed with version 5.5 or greater)
5700 series monochrome electrostatics and 5800
series color electrostatic plotters are not listed
as being supported on any AutoCAD 12/13 CalComp ADI
driver.
The AutoCAD 12/13 ADI driver for CalComp creates
907/PCI plot code. 907/PCI is the native CalComp
plotter command language and is supported by ALL of
the CalComp plotters listed at the beginning of
this guideline. For this reason, it is easy to
substitute one model for another if your model is
not yet listed.
c. For the Solus 4 and DM600/800, select the
DrawingMaster Plotters from the ADI list. Then
select the model 52436 and the stepsize of 400.
When asked if you want to use CDCL, say YES.
Select a paper size that matches your plotter's
size.
d. For the 5800 color plotter, select CalComp
Electrostatic Plotters and then model 58424 for a
24 inch 5800, 58436 for a 36 inch plotter, and
58444 for a 44 inch plotter. Select a stepsize of
400 and say NO to CDCL. Select a paper size that
matches your plotter's size. Use the FaxBack setup
sheets for the 68436/68444 for 24, 36, and 44 inch
5800 and 58000 plotters.
e. For the 5700 monochrome electrostatic plotter,
select CalComp Electrostatic Plotters and then
model 57424 for a 24 inch 5700, 57436 for a 36 inch
plotter, and 57444 for a 44 inch plotter. Select a
stepsize of 400 and say NO to CDCL. Select a paper
size that matches your plotter's size. Use the
FaxBack setup sheets for the 67436 (this model can
be used for 24 and 36 inch 5700 and 57000
plotters).
For further setup details, call FaxBack (714-821-
2914) and get the AutoCAD 12/13 setup sheet you
need for your plotter.
4. THE PENS ON THE PLOTTER ARE CONFIGURED FOR DIFFERENT THICKNESSES
(LINE WEIGHTS) YET ALL OF THE LINES PLOT OUT THE SAME?
ANSWER: You are using AutoCAD's default pen definitions. All of
the pen assignments in AutoCAD are set to the same pen
width (.010 of an inch) by default. AutoCAD allows you
to configure up to 255 pens. The CalComp ADI driver's
default configuration is to use AutoCAD's pen
definitions.
Configure the ADI driver to use the plotter's pen
definitions. To accomplish this, you must answer N (for
NO) to the configuration question; Create Pens in the
Plot Data? (or, in driver versions prior to 5.5, answer
NO to the configuration question; Do you want to include
pen definitions?)
5. THE LINE WIDTHS ASSIGNED IN AUTOCAD (FROM AUTOCAD S PEN
ASSIGNMENT WINDOW) DO NOT COME OUT CORRECTLY:
ANSWER: The driver is configured to use the plotter's pen
definitions. Check the driver configuration and be sure
to enter Y (for YES) to the question; Create Pens in the
Plot Data? (or, in driver versions prior to 5.5, answer
YES to the configuration question; Do you want to
include pen definitions?)
6. THE PEN COLORS ON MY 68000 OR 5800/58000 DO NOT PLOT OUT AS
EXPECTED. THEY DON'T MATCH WHAT IS SHOWN ON THE AUTOCAD SCREEN:
ANSWER: If all of the pens come out black you are either using a
monochrome plotter driver or have configured the driver
to use the plotter's pen definitions (and you are using
only colors 1-16 in AutoCAD - which will map to pens 1-
16 on the plotter). The first 16 pens are solid black on
ALL of the models listed below.
522xx/524xx, 53336/53436, 54424/54436, 5700/57000,
5800/58000, 67436, 68436/68444
Be sure to select CalComp Electrostatic Plotters from
the ADI driver list of the color plotters listed among
the ADI. Then choose either a 68000 series or 58000
series color electrostatic plotter as your model type.
IF YOU ARE USING AUTOCAD'S PEN DEFINITIONS THE 68000
(and 58000) WILL PLOT AUTOCAD"S PEN COLORS.
How to select AutoCAD's Pen Definitions?
a. At the AutoCAD command prompt enter CONFIG
b. AutoCAD will now display the current configuration
(the mouse or digitizer, display, and
plotter/printer drivers selected). Press enter
until the CONFIGURATION MENU appears.
c. Enter option #5 to CONFIGURE A PLOTTER.
d. Enter #1 to ADD A PLOTTER CONFIGURATION.
e. Select CCalCompElectrostatic Plotters from the list
of ADI drivers now displayed.
f. For 24 or 36 inch wide 5800/58000 and 36 inch wide
68000 plotters, select the 68436. For 44 inch
plotters, select the 68444.
g. Accept the defaults for all of the configuration
question/prompts with two notable exceptions;
I. Choose the appropriate paper size (MAX is the
default and may not be what you want)
ii. Select Y for YES to the prompt; DO YOU WANT
TO CHANGE ANYTHING (NO/YES/FILE)
iii. Accept all of the defaults from this sub-menu
EXCEPT on the question/prompt; PLOT TO A
FILE?
Enter Y for Yes to this.
iv. When prompted for a plotter name, be sure and
enter something unique so that you can easily
recognize this driver from the selection in
AutoCAD.
h. Stop at the CONFIGURATION MENU again and
select option #7 (CONFIGURE OPERATING
PARAMETERS)
I. From the CONFIGURE OPERATING PARAMETERS MENU
select item #3 (Default Plot File Name).
j. Now enter the name of the port you are using
(e.g., LPT1 or COM2, etc.)
7. THE PEN ARE ASSIGNED TO AUTOCAD COLORS BUT THE PLOT COMES OUT
MONOCHROME (NO COLOR):
ANSWER: If all of the pens come out black you are either using a
monochrome plotter driver or have configured the driver
to use the plotter's pen definitions (and you are using
only colors 1-16 in AutoCAD - which will map to pens 1-
16 on the plotter). The first 16 pens are solid black on
ALL of the models listed below.
522xx/524xx, 53336/53436, 54424/54436, 5700/57000,
5800/58000, 67436, 68436/68444
Be sure to select CalComp Electrostatic Plotters from
the ADI driver list of the color plotters listed among
the ADI. Then choose either a 68000 series or 58000
series color electrostatic plotter as your model type.
IF YOU ARE USING AUTOCAD'S PEN DEFINITIONS THE 68000
(and 58000) WILL PLOT AUTOCAD"S PEN COLORS.
How to select AutoCAD's Pen Definitions?
a. At the AutoCAD command prompt enter CONFIG
b. AutoCAD will now display the current configuration
(the mouse or digitizer, display, and
plotter/printer drivers selected). Press enter
until the CONFIGURATION MENU appears.
c. Enter option #5 to CONFIGURE A PLOTTER.
d. Enter #1 to ADD A PLOTTER CONFIGURATION.
e. Select CCalCompElectrostatic Plotters from the list
of ADI drivers now displayed.
f. For 24 or 36 inch wide 5800/58000 and 36 inch wide
68000 plotters, select the 68436. For 44 inch
plotters, select the 68444.
g. Accept the defaults for all of the configuration
question/prompts with two notable exceptions;
i. Choose the appropriate paper size (MAX is the
default and may not be what you want)
ii. Select Y for YES to the prompt; DO YOU WANT
TO CHANGE ANYTHING (NO/YES/FILE)
iii. Accept all of the defaults from this sub-menu
EXCEPT on the question/prompt; PLOT TO A
FILE?
Enter Y for Yes to this.
iv. When prompted for a plotter name, be sure and
enter something unique so that you can easily
recognize this driver from the selection
given in AutoCAD's Plot Dialog Box (under
DEVICE AND DEFAULT SELECTION). Be sure to
select this new driver from the DEVICE AND
DEFAULT SELECTION(which is located from
within the Plot Dialog Box).
h. Stop at the CONFIGURATION MENU again and select
option #7 (CONFIGURE OPERATING PARAMETERS)
i. From the CONFIGURE OPERATING PARAMETERS MENU select
item #3 (Default Plot File Name).
j. Now enter the name of the port you are using (e.g.,
LPT1 or COM2, etc.)
8. POLYLINES AND SOLIDS (FILLS) PLOT AS PATTERNS:
ANSWER: The driver is configured to use the plotter's color/fill
pattern definitions and uses those definitions in place
of the plotter's pen definitions to plot polylines and
solids.
In CalComp ADI versions 2.8 through 4.1, the driver can
be configured to use both the plotter's pen AND it's
color/fill pattern definitions.
Here is how this occurs:
In the driver configuration (versions 2.8 through 4.1)
there is a question/prompt; DO YOU WANT TO INCLUDE PEN
DEFINITIONS? .
The default answer is (Y) for yes. If you accept the
default, you will be using pen definitions as defined in
the AutoCAD Pen Assignment dialog box. If you enter N
(for NO) at the prompt, you will be using the plotter's
pen definitions.
If you select NO for pen definitions, the next prompt
will be; ALLOW AREA FILLS? . If you accept the
default (which is YES) then any polylines or solids
created in AutoCAD will plot with one of the plotter's
internal color/fill patterns.
The following plotters all have the same default
internal table of color/fill patterns (known as the
CalComp color palette):
522xx/524xx, 53336/53436, 54424/54436, 5700/57000,
5800/58000, 67436, 68436/68444
These color/fill patterns may be plotted from a special
file which is available to download from CalComp's Web Site
(http//:www.calcomp.com). The name of that file is ACADCLRP.ZIP
(it must first be unzipped using PKUNZIP version 2.04G
or later - also available from CalComp 's Web Site). This file
plots out both the internal pen palette of 1024 pens and
the internal color palette of 1024 colors.
When CalComp's color/fill patterns are used to plot
polylines and solids, how does the driver select those
color/fill patterns? The answer is; the driver selects a
color/fill pattern by number - THE SAME NUMBER THAT IS
ASSIGNED TO PENS FOR AUTOCAD COLORS. In the AutoCAD PEN
ASSIGNMENT dialog box, all of the 255 AutoCAD colors are
shown as being assigned a number (1 to 255) and each
color (and color number) is assigned to a pen number.
The default AutoCAD color-to-pen assignments are 1-to-1,
2-to-2, 3-to-3, and so on through 255.
CalComp's internal pen and color/fill palettes are also
assigned by logical numbers (1 through 1024). If,in AutoCAD,
the color #7 (which happens to be white) is used to create
a polyline or solid, that polyline or solid will plotted
with CalComp's color #7 - which happens to be a brick
pattern.
If you say NO to the question; ALLOW AREA FILLS, then
the plotter will use it's internal pen definitions to
plot any polylines and solids (as well as everything
else in the AutoCAD drawing).
CalComp ADI driver versions 5.5 or greater no longer
support this feature.
9. SHOULD I USE A WINDOWS SYSTEM DRIVER WITH AUTOCAD 12/13 FOR
WINDOWS?
ANSWER: CalComp provides two Windows system drivers; one creates
907/PCI vector plot data and the other creates CCRF
(CalComp raster format) plot/print data. Neither of
these driver's are recommended for AutoCAD 12/13 for
Windows.
The reason is that the ADI drivers created jointly by
CalComp and Autodesk are optimized to work uniquely the
way AutoCAD 12/13 works. A Windows system driver cannot
be specifically designed to work uniquely well with one
application without the risk of losing some of it's
true Windows compatibility with other Windows
applications. For example, if the WIN907 vector driver
had some of the features currently designed into the
CalComp ADI driver for AutoCAD 12/13, it would not work
correctly for programs such as Cadvance, DesignCAD, and
even AutoCAD LT - all of which are deigned for and
REQUIRE a Windows system plotter driver.
When AutoCAD for Windows is released as a 100% 'true'
Windows application, it will lend itself naturally to
the use of a Windows system driver and there should no
longer be a need for ADI drivers.
10. I'M GETTING ERROR MESSAGES ON THE COMPUTER (OR PLOTTER):
ANSWER: The ADI driver for both the DOS and Windows versions of
AutoCAD 12/13 are best configured so that you use low-
level DOS I/O to send the plot data to the plotter.
This is accomplished is by configuring the AutoCAD ADI
driver to plot to a file and assigning the computer port
used with the plotter as the default plot file name.
Here is how to accomplish this:
a. Towards the end of the driver configuration is a
question/prompt; DO YOU WANT TO CHANGE ANYTHING?
(NO/YES/FILE)
b. Select Y for YES.
c. At the question/prompt; WRITE THE PLOT TO A FILE?
, select Y (for yes to plot to a file).
d. After completing the rest of the configuration, and
just before returning to the drawing editor, you
will be at the CONFIGURATION MENU. There are seven
choices at this menu. Select option #7 (CONFIGURE
OPERATING PARAMETERS).
e. From within menu option #7 select #3 which allows
you to assign a default plot file name.
f. At the selection prompt for entering a default plot
file name, enter the name of the computer port you
are using with the plotter. For example, LPT1 or
COM2, etc.
g. THE DOS MODE STATEMENT. One more important step is
to configure the computer port being used with the
plotter for an infinite retry. This accomplished by
the DOS Mode command. In the following examples
uppercase characters are used merely to highlight
the statement. Upper or lower case characters work
the same with DOS commands. Otherwise, the
statements should be entered at the DOS prompt
exactly as shown.
(The letter 'n' in LPTn and COMn stands for
the port number, for example; LPT1 or COM2)
i. For the parallel port:
MODE LPTn:,,P
ii. For the serial port:
MODE COMn:9600,7,E,1,P
NOTES: The recommended baud rate is 9600
(as shown above). The character
(data) framing is shown as
7,e,1. (the AutoCAD default)
Configure the AutoCAD ADI driver
with those parameters. Also,
select handshake in the
driver configuration.
The DOS Mode statements above can
be included in your AUTOEXEC.BAT
file. In this way your computer
port will be configured
automatically every time you boot
up. Please refer to your MS-DOS
documentation for information on
using an editor (such as the DOS
Edit program) to modify your
AUTOEXEC.BAT file.
That's all there is to it. By plotting to a
file which is assigned to your computer's
port 'name', you are directly using DOS I/O
to interface with the plotter. Most
intermittent or random communication-related
errors can resolved with this method.
If this procedure does not correct your
problems call CalComp and get the solution-
note entitled; HOW TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE
PLOTTER. This solution-note is available for
both serial and parallel connections - and
for each of the models listed belows:
522xx/524xx, 53336/53436, 54424/54436,
5700/57000, 5800/58000, 67436, 68436/68444