How to print to 2 Mimaki's at once

[Neil]

I've just picked up a JV33 as a backup to my CJV30.
I'm going to run the same inkset and profile it the same as the other machine.
Would like to be able to print to both at once, but can't see how.

I know VPM will output to 2 machines (or more) at once, because I can print on the Mimaki and cut on my Graphtec at the same time.
But, I only have one "Mimaki USB" port available in VPM. I need to unplug the USB cable on one machine to be able to use the other.
Is there another port option I can use?

 

[Solventinkjet]

The Mimaki USB driver differentiates between machines using the machine serial number. You should be able to print to both at the same time as long as your software allows it. The driver should handle that automatically for you. That being said, I've never tried it in SignLab.

 

[Neil]

The Mimaki USB driver differentiates between machines using the machine serial number. You should be able to print to both at the same time as long as your software allows it. The driver should handle that automatically for you. That being said, I've never tried it in SignLab.

Ahh, well it definitely only outputs to one machine at a time.
I thought it was because I had them both plugged in to the same powered USB hub, but I moved one to a different USB 2 slot and still needed to unplug the other machine for it to work.

 

[netsol]

you might want to open a ticket with signlab.
if the licensing allows it, and you have an extra processor core & sufficient ram, the limitation may be that a
secondary printer port has not been specified (for the pc AND ALSO FOR THE PRINTER.

there is more to printing to 2 printers at one time than is commonly understood

primary port is 9100, not 100% sure if secondary is a "commonly used port" or needs to be specified

 

[netsol]

no one loves a senselessly complicated engineering project more than me, but, perhaps a $50 usb print server (startech or one of those fly by night chinese brands will do.) will put this thread to rest

you still need to verify whether signlab will allow such a thing.

 

[netsol]

Ahh, well it definitely only outputs to one machine at a time.
I thought it was because I had them both plugged in to the same powered USB hub, but I moved one to a different USB 2 slot and still needed to unplug the other machine for it to work.

for the hell of it, switch things around, so both printers plug in directly to the pc.
you don't need to add another unknown into this mix

 

[Joseph44708]

I load up one printer with about 98' of prints then load up the 2nd printer with another 98' of prints then the same with the 3rd printer. 1500 linier ft of 54" vinyl per week.

 

[Krissy Louderback]

I use Rasterlink and can run both machines at the same time from the same pc.

 

[Neil]

I use Rasterlink and can run both machines at the same time from the same pc.

That's good to know. I suppose I could re-install Rasterlink and use it for one machine, but I'd rather not use it at all.
I have a good workflow with Signlab into it's RIP (VPM). And I make my own profiles - so I can match the 2 printers' output to be identical if I want.

It's just that when I set this printer up in the VPM queue, there's only one port option to output - called "Mimaki USB".
There must be another way around it, or the same problem would also arise if you had a Mimaki Printer and Mimaki cutter

 

[Solventinkjet]

Sounds like SignLab might not support the multi printer support from the MImkai driver or you might just need to call them and see if there's a trick to getting it to work.

 

[Neil]

Sounds like SignLab might not support the multi printer support from the MImkai driver or you might just need to call them and see if there's a trick to getting it to work.

Yeah, I just thought I'd put it here first. I'm sure it can be done.
No worries.