🚀 go-pugleaf

 TAC@ysub.ysu.edu (Troy Allen Cross) writes:
>In article <2pbi9k$n21@gazette.bcm.tmc.edu>
>sderby@crick.ssctr.bcm.tmc.edu (Stuart P. Derby) writes:
>>
>>>>  We have a Xerox 4850 and are using the Entire software. We've had the
>>>>printer only a few months and are still adjusting to running it, but
>>>>we've run into some problems with large (2,600+ pages) PostScript jobs.
> 
>... trimmed
> 
[ lots more trimmed ]
>>>2) What controller OS is being used? V3.5, or V4.0? I seem to remember a
>>>   problem with the controller page processing having to 'catch up' to the
>>>   printer, but it was fixed I think with V4.0 R1.8.  There were also
>>>   disk fill up/freeze up probs w/older versions, if memory serves me
>>>   correctly.
>>
>>  Looks like we're running V3.7, but yes we see the 'catch up' problem too.
>>
>YSU's controller OS is at V3.7.  My Xerox SSE said today that V4.0 is only
>available for the 4890 (not the 4850).  Is V4.0 available for the 4850?
>We have had many problems with the 4850 since August.  Software (XPAF and
>controller OS), Hardware, and undetermined.  We have had problems when the
>disk fills up and we have had freeze up problems with no indication of a
>problem.  Problems, problems, and more problems.

  The only freeze-up problems we've seen, we've determined are due to
the disk filling up while transferring an Interpress job (converted PostScript)
under HIP. We've found that whenever a HIP job is aborted, files of name
SX*.IMG get left about and never cleaned up, and that when we get a "freeze",
a large number of SX*.LOG files get created. Also, keeping the disks cleaned
and compressed dramatically improves performance.

[ much more trimmed]

>>  We also have a tag-and-bus connection to our Unisys mainframe, and this
>>is the channel for 90% plus of our print work.
>>
>YSU uses a channel (tag-and-bus) connection to our Amdahl mainframe running
>MVS/XA JES2 2.2.3 with XPAF 2.2 (XA4102 - very current) software.
>We have XNS=YES specified in the XPAF startup parms for the printer and
>use HIP on the controller.  My Xerox SSE wants me to run the controller
>ONLINE rather than HIP and set XNS=NO in the XPAF startup parms.  He says
>that we would have less trouble doing this.  He says that some XPAF experts
>that he speaks to said to do this.  The XPAF experts that I have spoke to
>said not to do this.  You would lose too many benefits.
>What do you think?

  We've been running ONLINE from our Unisys mainframe (running 
SPIN-X 4R3C-10) and are happy with the raw throughput. We have a library
of JDEs on the 4850 and are starting different ones for each different
type of output, but are hoping to get SPIN-X and our print queues
configured so that the JDE info gets piped from the mainframe and
we can just let the printer crank... I'm not sure why this hasn't happened
yet but it's more likely an internal Baylor issue. We're also running HIP
for our XNS connection but only have intermittent work there, so we mostly
stay ONLINE.

>YSU is considering a complete swap of the 4850 also.
>Maybe with another vendor's printer also!

  We had a Kodak 1392 and liked it. It was faster and more under the
operators control, but lacked the spot color capability, which is how we
ended up with the Xerox 4850. However, the "connection" to our mainframe was a
kluge, though that might be a Unisys related issue, perhaps a site
configuration problem. We did have a couple months of hardware SNAFU's
when the Kodak first rolled in, but the service folk pursued them
aggresively, and after that we only had a more-or-less expectable
amount of aggravation from the thing.

-- 
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Stu Derby          | 
sderby@bcm.tmc.edu |      This space intentionally left blank.
Houston, Texas     |