Legacy Products

General Questions about Drivers & Communications
This typical e-mail generally answers any questions not answered more specifically elsewhere on our WEB pages.

If you continue to have difficulties after reviewing the Frequently Asked Questions for all Mutoh Plotters, please use the following information. This e-mailed information has been used by hundreds of customers and 99.9% find that the solution to their problem(s) are within the contents of this e-mail.

If the problem still persists please contact us via e-mail. Be specific and detailed as possible as to the problem that you are having and please specify any WEB site solutions that did not assist you.

The hyperlinks that are mentioned are other WEB pages that you may find of some assistance also.

The exact model of the plotter is ALWAYS very important so please look at the label on the back of the plotter.

Check the model 'type'. 
If F-910, F-920, IP-500, IP-530 Autodesks own HPGL HP 7585 driver should work fine.

If XP-500, 501 or XP-510, 511 all with our plotters in our MHGL emulation HP-758x. Autocads own HPGL HP 7585 should work fine. Or for our Mutoh Windows System Printer driver for XP-500 (36") or XP-501 (24").

If XP-510, 511 with the plotter in our default MHGL emulation MHGL/2 then Autocads own HPGL/2 HP Draftmaster Pro or RX/MX/SX or equivalent should work. Or for our Mutoh Windows System Printer driver for XP-510 or XP511 whichever you have.

Using the Microsoft Windows "System Printer" driver option:
If our Mutoh Windows System Printer driver is installed as a pre- Windows 98 Windows system printer, it MIGHT work for other applications as well. However, NO guarantees since this Windows driver is written specifically for Autocad. It might not work perfectly for products other than Autocad.  There is no Windows 98 or Windows NT Mutoh Windows System Printer driver.

Microsoft's own drivers for HP-7585A or B or Draftmaster (following the same emulation rules as mentioned above) don't work perfectly but you may have different results, some of which may be more favorable than others. You may have to experiment between different Windows "SYSTEM PRINTER" drivers. In general if these drivers don't print the Windows 'test page' from the properties then there is some major computer system problem that your computer manufacturer or Microsoft guru will have to help you with.

Windows wants to see serial connections 9600, 8,n,1 protocol Xon/Xoff, make sure that the plotter is in DEF 4 (if applicable) AND your Windows comport settings agree. Refer to the file contained in the ALLDRV96.EXE called Manual96.htm as it contains a lot of good information about installation and the driver.

The language of the driver and emulation as well as communication settings are the usual reasons that errors occur.  However, a poor communication link or shared computer system IRQs will also create the same kinds of errors.

Installation of our Mutoh "Microsoft Windows System Printer" driver: If you have any old Mutoh drivers loaded or if you have the current one loaded but did not follow the procedure outlined below then delete the driver that you have loaded now (even go as far as to FIND all files on your hard drive that start with mutoh, FIND mutoh*.* and delete any that you find that do say MUTOH_._ .

Once the old driver is removed:

Follow these instructions exactly.  To install our WINDOWS SYSTEM PRINTER driver: This driver works for either Windows 3.11 or Win 95. It works for Windows 98 only when it has been upgraded from Win 95.  Unfortunately, our driver no longer works with a Windows 98 initial installation.

Copy this file to a new directory (MUTOH) on your hard drive. Locate and double click on the file name (ALLDRV96.EXE).  After the decompression locate the Winsetup file and again double click on it to start our installer. When asked tell the installer which plotter you have (confirm the correct HP-7585 or HPGL/2 emulation from the paragraph above). Once the installer is finished it will place an icon into your printer section in Win 95. Go to the printers section and find that icon. Locate properties and make the 'test page' print.

If it does not print or errors occur then consult your Windows help menus or your Windows and computer expert to determine why your installed "WINDOWS SYSTEM PRINTER" is not printing. Pay particular attention to the IRQ of the com port of the computer and make sure that it is not sharing its IRQ with any other devices. Com1 is IRQ4 and Com2 is IRQ3 . Do not follow the Manual.wri file as far as the communication parameters that are mentioned. Use the ones mentioned in the earlier paragraph.

One trick to help you with determining whether the port you have chosen on the back of your computer is at least talking to the plotter is the old COPY command from DOS. If you can't figure out how to follow these instructions then get someone who knows OLD DOS to help you with this.

From the C:\ root directory prompt type COPY config.sys com1 then press ENTER. If the plotter beeps with an ERROR message, then you know that you have a good chance of at least being connected to a valid port on the computer. It does not mean that your port is dedicated for the plotter (reference the paragraph before this one about IRQ conflicts). If there was no ERROR message on the plotter then repeat the type line above and substitute com2 then press ENTER again and listen for the ERROR beeps. If NO GO then you must figure that one of three things is wrong. 1) Plotter is bad. 2) Cable to plotter is wrong or bad. The cable must be a 'null modem' cable. Always buy a 25 to 25 cable and if you need it stepped down to your serial port 9 pin connector then use a standard ' mouse' adapter. 3) Computer comport is bad, wrong or disabled.