[Fixxit]

Does anyone know if there are any Microsoft XP drivers for HP plotters out there? I did a search and couldn't find any.

I have an 11x17 inch flatbed plotter that runs HP 7475 compatible code. The plotter still works.. (using a 1985 vintage Autocad release 9, on a DOS based '386 machine.)

I now use Intellicad 4 which does not contain any drivers for Microsoft XP to run the plotter. Can anyone point me to a source for this software.

Thanks!
Fixxit

[BrianS]

This is not to be a smart-ass comment, but did you try HP's site?

Brian

[Al_The_Man]

Have you tried to add a printer under windows? and it will give you a list of HP Plotters, you will have to probabally put the Original XP CD in to extract the driver.
Al

[fattuna]

I did this about 2 years ago. I have also in my attic a HP pen plotter 11X17 (or something similar). The last I remember is that thdriver was still avaible on HPs website but if you cant find it you'll have to call or email printer or plotter repair shops and they'll usually have a disk laying around or could direct you to a BBS site...(yeah the software is that old) also they might be hesitant to send you a copy but sometimes you get a guy thats in a pretty good mood.

by the way: I plan on taking the plotter a part and building a small CNC for a dremal...anyone any advice?

later

fat tuna designs

[jimini]

Hi Fattuna
A year or 2 ago I bought several plotters with that in mind.
I took them apart and found very small motors (but fast), not steppers and of course your Z axis would only have pen up and pen down.
I never did use any of the parts, so I wouldn't recommend that route....................................Jim

[Fixxit]

Stepper motors for free:
If you can find any old IBM 5 1/4 inch disk drives there is a pretty good stepper motor inside, that was used to position the head. It is a unipolar drive (a common lead connected to all the windings) you just sequentially connect the coils to ground through a driver circuit. The windings are for 12 volts and don't draw too much current. These stepper motors also do fine on 5 volts, but the torque is reduced, but not bad. You will have to really squeeze the shaft with your fingers to stall the motor even at 5 volts. I have used several in various projects. Free is the best price. Some of the older 20 meg hard disk drives also had a good stepping motor.
Hold on to the plotter, If I can find a driver I will share it. The plotter may not be enough to hold and run a Dremel tool, but it is a precision instrument and an application may present itself.
HP does not list the old plotters on their site. There is a plotter driver for HPGL2 (Hewlett Packard Graphics Language) in XP, but it does not work with the original HP plotters (I guess that that version was HPGL 1.0 ;-)
The problem is microsoft XP to the original HPGL.

[tjstraz]

Hello Fixxit. I also own a HP 7475, but have not dusted it off in a while to use it under XP. However, I did find a link with the solution you are looking for: http://forums.windrivers.com/archive/index.php/t-59464

They specify the HP-GL/2 driver when you install it using the add printer wizard.

Let us know if this works.

Tim

[Gnu]

I have two samsung disks at 420mb Can they be of ny use?

[Fixxit]

The high capacity drives (> 40 MB) usually don't use stepping motors to position the heads. They use "voice coil" technology. A coil of wire is attached to the rear side of the disk head positioning arm. The field created by this coil acts against a pair of nearby magnets. The position of the head and coil is proportional to the current flowing through the coil.

The good stuff to salvage from these drives is a pair of really powerful magnets inside the drive case. You have to remove a bunch of really wierd security screws to get inside the drive enclosure. IT is worth the effort to get these really powerful magnets.

Thanks for the HP 7475 driver leads... I will check them out and report.

[c-c-cncboy]

Hey Fixxit: If the sources quoted for genine HP drivers don't work, then go to www.rolanddg.com (Roland Japan) and click on DOWNLOADS and choose from the GRX and GSX and DPX series of plotter drivers. HP7585 was an A0 size, so GRX-4nn or GSX-4nn would likely work for you. Roland's RD-GL language was compatible with HP-GL. Happy plotting. Terrence

[smitjs]

You need the file HPGL_Roland.zip, which is free.
My Roland DG DXY 980 also understands HPGL/1 only, and works well with this driver

[smitjs]

Does anyone know if there are any Microsoft XP drivers for HP plotters out there? I did a search and couldn't find any.

I have an 11x17 inch flatbed plotter that runs HP 7475 compatible code. The plotter still works.. (using a 1985 vintage Autocad release 9, on a DOS based '386 machine.)

I now use Intellicad 4 which does not contain any drivers for Microsoft XP to run the plotter. Can anyone point me to a source for this software.

Thanks!
Fixxit

You need the file HPGL_Roland.zip, which is free. It uses HPGL/1 only, and works well with my Roland DXY 980A, which is compatible with HP 7475A