why does plotter cut diagonal lines across vinyl?

[alan flynn]

hello, try checking your com port setting on your 98 machine, then set them to the same settings on your xp machine, as for the usb converter, most seem to work fine, but they seem to give say com 6 or 8, so your have to set it to com 1 or 2 on your pc as art cut only supports com 1 or 2
regards
alan flynn

[Frank Droog]

As Alan says, watch your com port settings.
You didnt say what software you are using.

Windows 2000 and XP default to a Handshake of NONE on a fresh install.
You definatly want HardWare or Xon/Xoff in Windows Control panel if your software doesnt set it for you.

With handshake set to NONE, as soon as the plotters buffer is full, it starts overwrittings its own buffer and the cutter will cut garbage from that point on.

This happens only with bigger jobs that approach and exceed the buffer size on the cutter.

frank at cadlink

[Nic K]

Thanks Alan,

Will try a USB converter sometime.

XP system works fine with simple designs, but with detailed or larger eps files it crashes half way through cutting. Could there be a XP buffer problem sending the information to the cutter?

Nic

[Nic K]

Thanks Frank,

I think thats it!

[Steve Dawson]

i have the same pcut machine…..and see the same problem when doing large cuts……( i.e. full 610mm wide by say 6ft long)

it draws diagonal lines across the work , then gets back to where it was and carries on…

only now and again though…(today was one of them)

so far i just bin my work , so i’ll keep an eye on this post in the future

sd

[Alex Pirozek]

My Pcut 630 has started cutting lines across the work as mentioned in this thread. I recently cleaned installed XP and now the problem, mainly on large jobs. I’ve enabled the xon / xoff on com port settings in control panel but it still does it. i was just wondering if anyone has all the settings so i can compare what is set on my PC and also in the artcut settings to what it should be as it worked fine before the clean install. I’m running a usb2 to serial convertor and this ran fine before the install.

Hope someone can help as i’ve got a large job on soon and need to try and get it sorted.

Thanks

[Nic K]

I’ve resorted to cutting with artcut on my old win 98 machine. Bit of a hassle transferring files everytime, but it works everytime.

[cre8web]

Same machine, same prob.
I have not been able to get artcut to work on my xp machine, so i am trying the demo of signcut, seems very good so far, but i also get the diag cut.

I have also noticed that it if you have the weeding frame turned on, it seems to cut it into the letters, so i just turn it off.

I would be really keen to hear from anyone that issues installing the artcut 2002 to work on xp, and how they did it??

Cheers

[Nic K]

Do you have problems installing Artcut 2002 or cutting from it once program installed?

Do you have both installation discs?

Nic

[cre8web]

I have 2 discs, one looks like its Asian text, the other is called artcut 2002 installation disc, after i run the program from the icon on the desktop, it says install install disk
Have never run the software, never been able to

Marty

[Jason Bagladi]

I use artcut 2002 with a Secabo C60 cutter and never had any problems. My PC is running XP home with service pack 2 installed.
Could be a glitch with the PCUT firmware.

[Alex Pirozek]

I’ve been playing around with the com port settings but my problem seems to be random. i’ve mostly had the cutter stopping in the middle of a 610 wide, 1 metre long vinyl cut mostly filled with 60-80mm high letters.
I have xon/xoff checked in the com port settings in device manager and also in the cut/plot menu in artcut but that didn’t seem to make any difference. Tonight i used the standard DMPL driver in the artcut device list with xon/xoff checked and it seemed to cut with those settings no problem apart from hesitating a few times towards the end of the cutting job. My cut speed might have been a tad high at 60 as the cutter seemed to be waiting for data (only millisecs). I will keep using this until i get a problem then i will post back with the bad news that it’s still not sorted !! 👿
System is Win XP Pro 1gb ram SP1 and the standard serial lead that came with the pcut630 with a maplin 2 foot extension serial lead.

[Harry Brand]

Hi, I have had all of the problems mentioned above, the solution is to get an old comp that has a serial port and use that, (don’t use a serial to usb convertor on your laptop or comp using XP service pack 2, you’ll just be wasting your money) do a barebones install of windows 98 (the absolute minimum you need), install artcut and everything will work 100% (hot)

[Nic K]

Trying to avoid designing on one comp and cutting on another, but it does solve the buffer/handshake problem.
Tried increasing cut speed to 60 after Alex’s post, and a design that previously bombed now cut to the end. Seems like higher cut speed empties the onboard buffer quicker.

Nic

[Alex Pirozek]

Another update,
after having xon/off selected and the using the standard dmpl driver that’s in the “other device” list i still randomly had the problem. I have changed all my settings and now running with hardware checked (Not Xon/Xoff) in windows control panel and DTR/DSR & RTS/CTS both checked, but unchecked xon/xoff in my cut/plot settings in artcut. I also have to select the com port everytime before i cut in the cut/plot menu as it stays greyed out otherwise. Another thing that seems to have helped is to remove unwanted nodes in the design (select nodes & go to nodeedit, curtail) this will speed up the cutting process and data transfer. With all these settings i’ve managed to cut all of the jobs that have been a problem in the past. i just hope it stays this way. It’s either a firmware problem in the cutter or more likely a software issue with Artcut and XP, maybe if enough people highlight the problem then wentai, the people who wrote the software can maybe bring out a software patch for XP users.