HighWater PCI Plugins README

HighWater PCI Plugins README


HighWater Multi Plugin Installer February 2007

Installation

Make sure there are no other applications running, and no MS-DOS command windows open. Insert the HighWater PrePress Solutions CD into the drive.

If you have an Internet Web browser:
After a short delay your default web browser should automatically open a home page from the CD. Follow the instructions for installation. If your default web browser does not open automatically, follow the instructions below for installing without a web browser.

If you do not have an Internet Web browser:
Read the "INSTALLING FROM A WEB BROWSER?" section of the Readme.txt file at the top level of the CD, and follow the instructions, to start the installer.

NOTE: Installation of these plugins on Windows 2000, XP or Server 2003 platforms requires v5.2.7 or later of the HighWater PCI device driver (hwplot.sys) to be installed. HW99x series interface cards require v5.2.8 or later. The HighWater PCI device driver is available on the HighWater Designs Pre-Press Solutions CD.


Contents

Current Version Information
HighWater PCI interface cards supported by this version
Linotronic 630 Installation notes
Limitations
Known Problems
Revision History: Plugins
Revision History: Personality libraries
Revision History: ECRM (HW970/HW770)
Revision History: Linotronic/Linotronic 630 (HW972/HW772)
Revision History: Scangraphic FPI (HW773)
Revision History: Ultre/Exxtra/Maxxima (HW774/HW775)
Revision History: Agfa (not Phoenix) (HW996/HW976/HW776)
Revision History: Agfa Phoenix (HW777)
Revision History: Scitex Dolev (HW978/HW778)
Revision History: (Low-level Driver)
RBF files - Version Information
Configuration File Changes
Linotronic630 Configuration Program Changes
Technical Support


Top of Page

Current Version Information

Version: 5.1.2
Date: February 2007
Platforms: Windows 2000 / Windows XP / Windows 2003 Server INTEL* (32-bit editions only) Harlequin RIP: Compatible with Harlequin RIP version 5.5r0 or later

*Note: Windows NT Operating System is no longer supported

Top of Page


HighWater PCI interface cards supported by this version:

    HW970/HW770
    HW972/HW772
    HW773
    HW774
    HW775
    HW996/HW976/HW776
    HW777
    HW978/HW778
Note: The HighWater HW9xx series cards are not compatible with the v4.x.x HighWater PCI device driver

Top of Page


Linotronic 630 Installation notes

    If you are installing for a Linotronic 630 imagesetter, please read the following section carefully:

    INSTALLATION OF LINOTRONIC 630 CONFIGURATION UTILITY ====================================================
    Before you begin the installation, make sure you have either the original MS-DOS 'Heidelberg LTC630 Device Software' disk, or the disk created by the backup facility in your previous RIP. Refer to your Configuration Utility User Manual for instructions on how to obtain this in PC format. You will also need to access the serial number of your Linotronic 630 imagesetter. This information is vital to the installation. During setup you will be asked to insert your RIP50 backup disk (or the Heidelberg LTC630 disk) into drive A.

Top of Page


Limitations

  • The plugin currently supports film punching control for ECRM and Agfa imagesetters, where appropriate, if serial comms is enabled. For other imagesetters the User must configure the imagesetter directly to perform this operation when required if the option is available.
  • Scangraphic engines must have the LI2/LI5 interface available on the engine in order that we may drive them using the HW772 hardware and software. It is our understanding that this interface is optional on the Scangraphic Largo/Othello/Tempo/Apollo engines.
  • There is currently no support provided for punch or exposure control, feed or cut features of Scangraphic engines through the LI2/LI5 interface. This is a limitation of the LI5 interface in the engine, not the HighWater software or hardware.
  • Paper feed around page is only available for devices which support hostserial control over feed and feed length. For devices such as non-serial ECRMs this feature will have no effect.
  • The HighWater plugin provides no support for exposure control or feed or cut features of Scangraphic engines through the HW773 FPI interface card. This is a limitation of the FPI interface in the engine, not the HighWater software or hardware.
  • The Plugin provides no support for custom resolutions or colour separation mode features of the Ultre imagesetters.
  • The HighWater plugin has no control over Scitex Dolev Type 1 devices punching automatically if a punch is fitted in the engine. Plugin v4.1a2 and later provides support for selection of an engine-defined punch system through the Scitex interface for Scitex Dolev Type 2 devices.
  • Support for the control of job position relative to punch position (centre on punch) has been proven on Dolev4PressV head punch only.
  • There is no support for media feed or cut features on Scitex Dolev Type1 or Type 2 devices.
  • It is not possible to output black margins when outputting to a Dolev 4PressV.
  • HW778/978/998 Dolev interface does not support independent slow scan and fast scan resolutions for Type1 or Type2 devices.
  • Use of the Scangaphic FPI interface with other HighWater PCI interface cards in the same platform has not been tested. Hence it is recommended that the Scangraphic FPI interface card is NOT used with other HighWater PCI interface cards at this time.
  • The plugin now supports more than one Scangraphic FPI interface card in the same system but this has not been tested and hence is not currently recommended.
  • Currently the engine must be fully booted and set to FPI interface mode, before running the RIP.

Top of Page


Known Problems

ECRM imagesetters

  • The Plugin will not function in serial mode with ECRM VR/Mako/Oasis/Knockout engines with firmware revisions of 2.1.1 or earlier. This is due to a bug in the imagesetter firmware. Users should upgrade their ECRM firmware to 2.2.1 or later and ensure that the imagesetter is configured in 'Serial' mode.

Linotronic/Scangraphic imagesetters

  • Linotronic/Scangraphic imagesetters do not support host control over feed amount, hence any feeds performed by the RIP will amount to a fixed length feed as defined on the imagesetter.
  • Error reporting (such as no take-up cassette/no input cassette/image too big) is unreliable since the engine does not always report the current status correctly.

Agfa / Agfa Phoenix imagesetters

  • Some of the older Agfa imagesetters do not correctly report error conditions such as no output cassette or no media until they start imaging. This can cause jobs which should fail immediately to take a few minutes to fail and to fail with an error which does not reflect the true cause of the problem.

Scangraphic FPI imagesetters

  • When re-outputting jobs which have a punch specified after restarting the RIP, the plugin will only select the correct punch if the FPI device was the currently selected device (via the 3rd pull-down menu from the main menu bar) when the RIP was shutdown last. This will be addressed in a later release.
  • Scangraphic FPI imagesetters do not support host control over feed or cut features, hence any feeds/cuts set on the RIP will have no effect on the imagesetter. These options should be controlled from the imagesetter control panel.

General

  • On some imagesetters the advance amounts are not accurate. In some cases this can be caused by other devices connected to the imagesetters, such as Online Processors or media buffering devices.

Top of Page


Revision History: Plugins

Release 5.1.2 February 2007

  • Added support for HW99x series interface cards.
  • Added fix for crash during menu selected feeds to some offline devices.
  • Added fix for image to punch positioning for Dolev engines (HWxx8).

Release 5.1.1 September 2006

  • Added fix for punch related problem affecting only HW97x interface cards, where when punching was selected on plugin device configuration dialog, the output media would not be punched.
  • Added fix for image bit ordering on HW978 interface cards.

Release 5.0.11 June 2006

  • Corrected problem preventing use of plugin on certain OEM versions of the RIP

Release 5.0.9 November 2005

  • Corrected problem preventing plugin from running on RIP versions between 5.5 and 6.0.
  • Corrected operation of the Agfa device configuration file 'cassetteselect' option (used to enable/disable plugin control of the Agfa engine input cassette).
  • Corrected problem where operating system detection software reported the wrong operating system in the log file.

Release 5.0.8 June 2005

  • First release of v5.x.x plugins supporting the HW97X PCI interface cards.

Release 5.0 August 2001

  • First official release with Agfa Phoenix support via HW777 interface card.
  • Added startup message to RIP monitor and log file to display Personality Firmware Version (RBF file version) for HW77x series interface cards.

Top of Page


Revision History: Personality libraries

Revision History: ECRM

HW770/HW970 Release 5.0.7 November 2005

  • When configured for an Autologic III 3850 device, we now ignore the connected signal as some engines drop this signal during output causing the job to fail with a 'device not connected' error.
  • Improved error report when an out of media condition is detected on ECRM devices.
  • Fixed bug affecting invert video operation on HW770 interface cards.
  • Fixed bug causing media feed operations to always advance the media by the engines current feed distance, rather than the requested feed distance.

HW970 Release 5.0.5 June 2005

  • First release of HW970.dll.

HW770 Release 5.0.2 July 2005

  • Fix problem causing output failure of all but first job when used with v5.x or later plugin.

HW770 Release 5.0.1 January 2002

  • Fix so we don't try and interpret .BUSY as anything other than BUSY.
  • Increased serial communication timeout to cope with ECRM models with slow/unresponsive comms.

HW770 Release 5.0 November 2000

  • Full support for new ECRM models (Mako 56, Stingray 52/63, Marlin 46/63).
  • Corrected serial feed control for Mako series.
  • Added support for separate data handling for multiple processes accessing the same DLL.

Top of Page


Revision History: Linotronic

HW772/HW972 Release 5.1.1 November 2005

  • Fix occassional crash/failure due to data incompatibility with user of DLL.
  • Fixed issue which randomly caused cropped image output on Linotronic imagesetters.
  • Improved retry behaviour of Linotronic 630 device software download.

HW972 Release 5.0.9 June 2005

  • First release of HW972.dll.

HW772 Release 5.0.3 July 2005

  • Fix problem causing output failure of all but first job when used with v5.x or later plugin.

HW772 Release 5.0.2 November 2002

  • Improved serial communications by removing garbage characters from the string.

HW772 Release 5.0 January 2002

  • Added support for separate data handling for multiple processes accessing the same DLL.

Top of Page


Revision History: Scangraphic FPI

HW773 Release 5.0.4 July 2005

  • Fix problem causing output failure of all but first job when used with v5.x or later plugin.

HW773 Release 5.0.3 September 2002

  • Improved support for multiple (same) cards in a machine being used by the same process. Bug fix for intermittent failure to see interface in some machines.

Top of Page


Revision History: Ultre/Exxtra/Maxxima

HW774 Release 5.2 June 2006

  • Improve reporting of engine errors e.g. media jam.
  • Fix outputting huge margins.

HW774 Release 5.0.1 July 2005

  • Fix problem causing output failure of all but first job when used with v5.x or later plugin.
  • Get extended information from engine where possible (Ultre3000/4000).

HW774 Release 5.0 January 2002

  • Fixed so that extended machine information is only read for suitable machines.
  • Added support for separate data handling for multiple processes accessing the same DLL.

HW775 Release 5.1 June 2006

  • Improve reporting of engine errors e.g. media jam.
  • Fix outputting huge margins.

HW775 Release 5.0.1 July 2005

  • Fix problem causing output failure of all but first job when used with v5.x or later plugin.
  • Fix loading of FPGA for 775 driving a Maxxima.

HW775 Release 5.0 November 2002

  • Fixed so that extended machine information is only read for suitable machines.
  • Added support for separate data handling for multiple processes accessing the same DLL.

Top of Page


Revision History: Agfa (not Phoenix)

HW996 Release 5.7.5 February 2007

  • First release of HW996.dll.

HW776/HW976 Release 5.7.4 December 2006

  • Fixed issues relating to XY offset control.

HW776/HW976 Release 5.7.3 September 2006

  • Improved serial comms reliability.
  • Fix serial comms failure due to NULL characters in the data stream.
  • Fix returning valid but incorrect engine parameters when serial request fails.
  • Implementational fixes related to addition of HW976 interface card.
  • Improved error reporting.

HW976 Release 5.7 June 2005

  • First release of HW976.dll.

HW776 Release 5.3.1 July 2005

  • Fix problem causing output failure of all but first job when used with v5.x or later plugin.
  • Fix occassional serial comms failure after sending initial message.

HW776 Release 5.3 November 2002

  • Modified to prevent zero value feeds being attempted.

HW776 Release 5.2 October 2002

  • Modified so that PrePageFeed and PostPageFeed are executed regardless of how small the user-requested feeds are. The minimum distance fed is 1cm, which is a restriction of all Agfa engines.
  • Added support for separate data handling for multiple processes accessing the same DLL.

Top of Page


Revision History: Agfa Phoenix

HW777 Release 5.7.4 September 2006

Cumulative fixes including:
  • Fix outputting non 32-bit aligned images.
  • Improve reporting of engine errors e.g. out of media.
  • Fix serial comms failure due to NULL characters in the data stream.
  • Fix returning valid but incorrect engine parameters when serial request fails.
  • Added fix for wide APIS selection issue.

HW777 Release 5.3.1 July 2005

  • Fix problem causing output failure of all but first job when used with v5.x or later plugin.

HW777 Release 5.3 November 2002

  • Modified to prevent zero value feeds being attempted.

HW777 Release 5.2 October 2002

  • Modified so that PrePageFeed and PostPageFeed are executed regardless of how small the user-requested feeds are. The minimum distance fed is 1cm, which is a restriction of all Agfa engines.

HW777 Release 5.1 July 2001

  • First official release with Phoenix support.

Top of Page


Revision History: Scitex Dolev

HW778/HW978 Release 5.0.7.4 September 2006

  • Fix to Type 2 device identification.
  • Fixes to image to punch positioning logic.
  • Fix serial error on repeated attempts to gain serial control of the engine before imaging starts.
  • Fix serial error prior to start of imaging due to asynchronous message from engine.
  • Improve responsiveness of user interface while performing serial comms before and after image output.
  • Fix incorrect number of punch systems being reported resulting in garbled punch system on punch selection droplist.

HW978 Release 5.0.7.2 April 2006

  • Unsolicited message support.
  • Fixes relating to testing interaction with other HighWater products.

HW778/HW978 Release 5.04 July 2005

  • First release of HWx78.dlls supporting multiple cards in same PC.
  • Add support for centering image on head/side punch on 4PressV/4Press*.

Top of Page


Revision History: Low-level Driver

For Windows2000, XP and Server2003 this installer does not install the low-level driver. A new plug-and-play driver v5.x.x is installed using the Install New Hardware wizard that runs when the PC is booted after first installing the interface card(s) or on reboot after moving at least one card to a different slot from which it was originally installed.

Release 5.2.8 December 2006

  • Add support for HW99x series interface cards.

Release 5.2.7 September 2006

  • Fix failure to correctly handle DMA completion resulting in stalled output. Problem resulted from a delay between enabling the DMA channel and setting the DMAActive flag allowing the DMA complete interrupt to occur before the flag was set resulting in failure of the DPCForISR to correctly handle the DMA complete interrupt and preventing further DMAs from starting. A DMA int.
  • Fixed occasional failure to begin output of image data affecting only HW9xx interface cards. In some circumstances the software would reach the point where imaging would normally begin, but imaging would never actually start. In these cases, the job would typically fail after 3 minutes and report a 'Data Transfer Timeout' error. The log file for the job would show a DMA status register value containing 0x...408. This issue was caused by a timing flaw resulting in corruption of some critical control registers in the interface firmware, thereby preventing image output. Subsequent jobs may/may not have output normally.
  • Fixed returning of UART status, required only when analysing communication/output failures. Normal operation was unaffected by this issue.
  • Fixed returning PCI configuration space contents, required only when debugging PCI related issues with the interface card(s). Normal operation was unaffected by this issue.
  • Add support for 98X cards - .inf file change only.
  • Fixed failure to output image data affecting only the HW976 interface card. Output of the first job from power on would complete normally, but all subsequent outputs would reach the point where imaging would normally begin, but imaging would never actually start. In these cases, the job would typically fail after 3 minutes with a 'Data Transfer Timeout' error. No further output would be possible until a system restart.

Release 5.2.3 14th April 2005

  • Add support for 97X cards - .inf file change only.
  • Fix 97X serial comms using 19200 baud rate.

Release 5.2.2 1st April 2005

  • Fix failure to output serial comms when using CTS-RTS flow control setup.

Release 5.2.1 1st January 2005

  • First release of HighWater PCI interface card PnP driver.

Release 4.11 July 2002

  • Fixed bug which incorrectly allowed a process to queue further data buffers for output after a DMA timeout error.
  • Corrected PLX DMA abort sequence (no known problems in the field).
  • Corrected 26C91 UART timings (no known problems in the field).

Release 4.09 June 2001

  • Added support for HW777 and HW779 interface cards.

Release 4.08 November 2000

  • Removed Line Overrun error handling, this firmware feature was never actually released to production interface cards.

Release 4.07 May 2000

  • Corrected problem causing Blue Screen of Death crash, due to slow serial handling for fast baud rates (19200/38400 baud). NOTE: Currently the only imagesetter which supports >9600 baud serial, is the Linotronic 630.

Top of Page


RBF files - Version Information

This installer installs the following RBF files

RBF file nameVersion numberChecksum
HW996_10_0001.rbf111F76E
HW996_20_0001.rbf1128B64
HW970_10_0001.rbf414AF78
HW972_10_0003.rbf512BF10
HW972_20_0003.rbf512BF10
HW976_20_0001.rbf4134F4F
HW978_10_0003.rbf6119304
HW978_20_0003.rbf6119304
HW770.rbf9E4D34
HW770_40_0001.rbf9E4D34
HW770_80_0001.rbf1215789A
HW772_20_0001.rbf914A256
HW772_20_0002.rbf914F7F8
HW772_30_0001.rbf914A256
HW772_30_0002.rbf914F7F8
HW772_40_0001.rbf914A256
HW772_40_0002.rbf914F7F8
HW773.rbf315F811
HW773_20_0001.rbf315F811
HW773_30_0001.rbf315F811
HW773_40_0001.rbf315F811
HW774_20_0003.rbf10171CEF
HW774_30_0003.rbf10171CEF
HW775_10_0001.rbf917EE2F
HW775_20_0001.rbf917EE2F
HW776.rbf4D65DB
HW776_20_0001.rbf4D65DB
HW776_30_0001.rbf4D65DB
HW777_30_0003.rbf10187D7A
HW778.rbfNo verDD398
HW778_20_0001.rbf2D75D1
HW778_20_0003.rbf4D30D6
HW778_30_0003.rbf4D30D6
HW778_40_0003.rbf4D30D6

Top of Page




Configuration File Changes

February 2007

  • Added settertype2 preference to all Agfa Avantra configuration files.
  • Added settertype2 preference to all Dolev 800 series configuration files.

September 2006

  • Corrected setter size limit entries in all Dolev4*.4x8 configuration files.
  • Corrected setter size limit entries in all Dolev8*.4x8 configuration files.

June 2006

  • Corrected preload entry in all Dolev....4x8 configuration files.
  • For all Dolev....4x8 configuration files remove unrequired byteorder entry.
  • For Dolev type 1 devices added control for setting spinner speed.
  • Added new configuration file Dolev4PressV_WHP.4x8 (reduced imageable area for 4PressV fitted with head punch).
  • For all Dolev engines and 978 cards add entry to control amount of data preloaded onto card before starting engine output.
  • For all Dolev engines and 978 cards add entry to control bit order.

Top of Page


Revision History Linotronic 630 Configuration Tool - Config630

Release 1.0 November 2001

  • First release of the Linotronic630 configuration tool.

Top of Page


Technical Support

For technical support please contact your support representative.


This page last updated: 16th January 2007