Link to home
Start Free TrialLog in
Avatar of Sweaver99
Sweaver99

asked on

PCL wont Duplex and Tray Pull together

I have a pcl file that comes in simplex and has no tray calls other than auto select. I need the first page front and back to pull from tray 2 and all other pages front and back to pull from the Aux tray. If I insert just the duplex calls it works fine. If I insert just the tray pull calls it works just fine. When I insert both calls I get tray pulls and no duplexing. What am I doing wrong?

 
         // Write a command to pull page 1 front and back from lower tray and all other pages from Aux tray.
         If %%PAGE_NO < 3 Then
            %%FormFeed =  %%FormFeed | x'1B266C3153' | x'1B266C3158' |  X'1B266C3148' // FF,Print Duplex,# copies1,Lower tray(2)
         else  
            %%FormFeed =  %%FormFeed | x'1B266C3153' | x'1B266C3158' | X'1B266C3548' //FF,Print Duplex,# copies1,Aux tray
         EndIf

         // In the pcl file coming in all pages start with a form feed. I add what side of the page to print the data on        
          If %%PAGE_NO # 2 = 0 Then            
              %%FormFeed =  %%FormFeed  | x'1B' | '&a0G' // all even # pages print on the back side of the page
         else            
            %%FormFeed =  %%FormFeed  | x'1B' | '&a1G' // all odd # pages print on the front of the page
         End If  

start of my output looks like:
%-12345X@PJL SET PAGEPROTECT=OFF
@PJL DEFAULT DUPLEX=ON
@PJL SET QTY=1
@PJL SET RESOLUTION=600
@PJL ENTER LANGUAGE=PCL

as you can see duplex is on in the PJL and call it on each page (also tried not calling on each page with the above pcl command no change)

This is where the first page starts after the form macro etc..
&l1S&l1X&l1H&a1G*b0M
The top of page 2 (backside of page 1 has)
&l1S&l1X&l1H&a0G*b0M
Page 3 (this should pull from Aux tray and print front side)
&l1S&l1X&l5H&a1G*b0M

I've tried putting the tray calls first, putting all the duplex calls first. Nothing changes when I use both duplex and tray calls I only get the tray calls. Any help would be appreciated!
Avatar of wyliecoyoteuk
wyliecoyoteuk
Flag of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland image

just a stab in the dark, and it will depend on your printer make and model, but:
When duplexing, some  printers  print the second side first, in order for the output to be stacked in the right order.
thus, if you set page 3 to be duplex, and there is no page 4, you may get problems.
Also, not all printers fully support PCL, and may differ in their command subsets(tray definitions are particularly fussy on some ricohs, for instance).
Printer make and model would help.
Avatar of Sweaver99
Sweaver99

ASKER

xerox 490 with high capacity tray and canon 105 same results on both
keep in mind the duplex works fine by itself...and so does the tray calls...just don't work together....
Here is another way I tried writing the calls in a diffrent order....same results.

Here is what my PCL header looks like(top portion):  http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-9/836102/PCLtop.JPG
and here is the top of Page 1: http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-9/836102/NewPCLpage1.JPG

It may not actually be possible to combine duplex and tray selection, depends on a lot of variables.

What might be useful is to use the windows driver to send a similar job to a file, and then analyse that.(assuming that the windows driver supports what you want, if it does not, it is almost certainly impossible)

i.e.If the windows driver does not support the type of  job you are trying to send, then the printer probably does not support it either.

You have to realise that duplexing is more complex than it initally appears, as stacking in the correct order often requires printing even pages first, even though odd pages are first in the print stream.
Often printers do not support changing paper source in mid job.

I use PJL and PCL, unfortunately, generally without duplex,.But I have come to realise that the order of commands is very important.
I now have it working on all pages except page 1. Page 1 should print front and back from the lower tray but this is not happening. The other pages are duplexing from the Aux tray. I sent just a duplex job to the lower tray and it works. Its close just need to figure out why its not happening on that tray.
Does the windows print driver allow multiple page sources?
I forogt to mention I also print a banner page before the first document. This page prints simplex. So I moved the duplex call below this page and added a simplex call above it...and everything works now!
Hi Sweaver99,


as you answered your question yourself get your points back by posting in Community Support.
Avatar of hdhondt
No comment has been added to this question in more than 21 days, so it is now classified as abandoned..
I will leave a recommendation in the Cleanup topic area that this question is:
PAQ/Refund
Any objections should be posted here in the next 4 days. After that time, the question will be closed.

PLEASE DO NOT ACCEPT THIS COMMENT AS AN ANSWER!

hdhondt
EE Cleanup Volunteer
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
Avatar of modulo
modulo

Link to home
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
Start Free Trial