RakerTooth
New Member
Hey all. I'm new here, my name is Jim. Got a glitch with the ol' plotter, but first, man, those are some 
smilies. I've long had some ideas for custom smilies, but hey, that can wait.
A freind on another forum told me to come here and look for a guy called plotter doctor(?). I figure I might as well start here. I have a couple friction feed plotters I use when I need vinyl and such, but I also have this 4B. It worked fine, but I always used it alone, even though it has one of those interface boards in it, with a cable for an old mac. I decided to research the subject, and try to hook it up to a vintage computer, so that I would have a punched plotter. There's more to that part of the story* but I'll get right to the problem. I had the "board" thing out, to read the fine print, it was only velcro'ed in. I left it out for a few months, but when I finally got around to putting it back in, all I get is the message "error 14". I've done what I can, but still no-go.
*I was researching on line, and actually found the guy that made the board units. He still has 6 left, @ $600 each. He said I have the earliest model made, that it would work with Mac or PC. All I would need to do is change to the other cable, he still had one for $10, plus $5 shipping. Wel-l-l-l, too cool, right? The guy was really helpful, sent a number of emails regarding drivers and what not. So I thought, "you know, this guy's time is worth more than a measley fifteen bucks, so as a token of my appreciation, I sent $50, told him to keep the change, as a show of my appreaciation. Well, the part never comes, so I go to the post office and ask them to check the status of the international MO I sent. It was uncashed after months. So I got a refund on the MO. I wrote to the guy, and asdked if I could send the exact amount, but no reply. I asked in another e mail if he could tell me the specs of the cable, so I could make my own.
Still no reply. I must've offended the guy. So now, if I get the 4B running with the card, I'll have to use a vintage Mac. I think I already have the computer, with an OS, keyboard, mouse, monitor etc. My wife was at a thrift store, had no idea that I was working on a vintage Mac project, and brought home an unused Cd she bought for something like $2. It was Corel for Mac. A more perfect find did not exist!. So I think the thing is ready to go, save the driver, I was told I could use a "generic"(?) driver, which from my understanding would be something from an old HP pen plotter. No problem there, but I'm wondering if the Mac driver would be different than the PC. Stands to reason, but does the old Mac OS have drivers in it like say, Win '98?
Sorry to "talk your ear off", I just get a kick out of these old machines, it's about as much hobby as work. I am a full time sign guy, I just do a lot of paint, and other stuff.
Thanks for any help,
Jim
smilies. I've long had some ideas for custom smilies, but hey, that can wait.A freind on another forum told me to come here and look for a guy called plotter doctor(?). I figure I might as well start here. I have a couple friction feed plotters I use when I need vinyl and such, but I also have this 4B. It worked fine, but I always used it alone, even though it has one of those interface boards in it, with a cable for an old mac. I decided to research the subject, and try to hook it up to a vintage computer, so that I would have a punched plotter. There's more to that part of the story* but I'll get right to the problem. I had the "board" thing out, to read the fine print, it was only velcro'ed in. I left it out for a few months, but when I finally got around to putting it back in, all I get is the message "error 14". I've done what I can, but still no-go.
*I was researching on line, and actually found the guy that made the board units. He still has 6 left, @ $600 each. He said I have the earliest model made, that it would work with Mac or PC. All I would need to do is change to the other cable, he still had one for $10, plus $5 shipping. Wel-l-l-l, too cool, right? The guy was really helpful, sent a number of emails regarding drivers and what not. So I thought, "you know, this guy's time is worth more than a measley fifteen bucks, so as a token of my appreciation, I sent $50, told him to keep the change, as a show of my appreaciation. Well, the part never comes, so I go to the post office and ask them to check the status of the international MO I sent. It was uncashed after months. So I got a refund on the MO. I wrote to the guy, and asdked if I could send the exact amount, but no reply. I asked in another e mail if he could tell me the specs of the cable, so I could make my own.
Still no reply. I must've offended the guy. So now, if I get the 4B running with the card, I'll have to use a vintage Mac. I think I already have the computer, with an OS, keyboard, mouse, monitor etc. My wife was at a thrift store, had no idea that I was working on a vintage Mac project, and brought home an unused Cd she bought for something like $2. It was Corel for Mac. A more perfect find did not exist!. So I think the thing is ready to go, save the driver, I was told I could use a "generic"(?) driver, which from my understanding would be something from an old HP pen plotter. No problem there, but I'm wondering if the Mac driver would be different than the PC. Stands to reason, but does the old Mac OS have drivers in it like say, Win '98?
Sorry to "talk your ear off", I just get a kick out of these old machines, it's about as much hobby as work. I am a full time sign guy, I just do a lot of paint, and other stuff.
Thanks for any help,
Jim
