Fiery EX2000d / DC2045 Command Workstation Issue

[AKSturb01]

Hello,

I have a DC2045 connected to a Fiery EX2000d running Command Workstation 4.1.0.30 that was running beautifully but now has a strange problem with the server.

The EX2000d appears on the network and can be PINGed. It boots without error messages and I can print to it from any of my workstations with the driver installed. However:

1) Attempting to log into the server (even after searching for it successfully) through the normal Command Workstation dialog boxes does not work. Thus, I cannot see current/past jobs, etc.

2) When the driver(s) on the workstations attempt to communicate with the EX2000d, I get an error dialog box: "Could not open communication session." When I dismiss the dialog box and select the options (including creating FreeForm masters) it works, however!

3) Command Workstation attempts to run, but it never gets past the "Starting...Please Wait" phase. The green/black status indicator in the upper right corner of the screen just flickers every 1/2 second or so.

This is very puzzling. I can print to the Server, it's available on the network, and it obviously receives information from the workstation drivers and uses it correctly. It just can't "find itself" and whatever communication is supposed to occur between the driver on the workstation and the server in real-time when the "Properties" button is clicked apparently doesn't occur properly.

Any advice at all would be greatly appreciated. Otherwise there are no other changes. It just started behaving this way completely spontaneously one morning, no apparent cause. And as I say, there are no error messages when booting. The EX2000d is running right now and the LED on the console of the server is Green.

Thanks in advance.

[kandod]

Reinstalling the Fiery along with the OS takes less than an hour so instead of trying to diagnose and repair do a back up of the important data and just build up the system again.

[AKSturb01]

Thanks kandod I'm leaning toward that myself but I want to wait a while longer and see if anyone else has seen this kind of thing before. I wondered if it was maybe a network issue, either the network cable or the NIC on the mobo of the Fiery working in half-duplex mode, I swapped the cable and nothing changed. What's really bizarre is that even though I can't log into the server through Command Workstation and it doesn't finish startup, I *can* search for the server using the CW search tool -- and it FINDS it - at the correct IP address. I ping it, it's there. I see it on the network. I try to log in or click properties on the driver and I get the Big Hand.

But it prints, and all the selectable options in the driver function properly. CW4 is just "stuck closed" somewhere. It's not a disk space issue -- all the volumes have plenty of room. Everything else on the EX2000d works right.

Weird.

Thanks again.

[Milo Wilson]

Try to just remove then reinstall CWS. Also make sure all patches have been applied to the color server.

[RRodgers]

I would assume you've tried a hard reboot of the Fiery. I've had that one time and a hard reboot fixed it I believe.

[AKSturb01]

Yes, tried that

I would assume you've tried a hard reboot of the Fiery. I've had that one time and a hard reboot fixed it I believe.

Yes, multiple hard and soft reboots, same results. In a way this also "feels" as though a log file or something became corrupted somewhere, and as a result CW4 has lost the ability to log and track jobs, and cannot start because of that.

I'm going to post this question on the EFI forums and wait 48 hours. If I don't hear anything by monday afternoon, I'll attempt a reinstall of CW4 first, and then the whole system. Luckily it's failing in such a way that it's still essentially functional and I can get production out of the machine, so I can patiently limp through it until I can fix it correctly.

Thanks to everyone for their replies.

[RRodgers]

Have ya tried with CW5?

[AKSturb01]

Have ya tried with CW5?

Nope, never tried it. I'm not a technician by profession -- I own the machine and self-maintain it, so I didn't realize CW5 would work in place of CW4 on an EX2000d. This is a privately-owned machine and we maintain it ourselves.

The EFI documents say it will work. I think I'll try it. The EX2000d is OEM EFI/Xerox, completely legitimate. I have all the original disks and manuals and the maintenance logs.

[AKSturb01]

It runs very well by the way. This is a DC2045 with less than a million clicks total, taken out of Xerox service in 2009. Purchased on eBay. Works perfectly.

[AKSturb01]

As an aside, one of the reasons the previous owner cited for wanting to sell the machine was not-so-great front/back registration on heavier stocks, which was addressed with the 6060.

And it is true that when you try to run duplexed materials on a 2045, if all you do is hit "print", the registration can be a problem.

But I have found that I can maintain duplex registration within 0.5mm both X and Y, and even adjust for rotation and skew, by doing a test print and adjusting the imposition on the workstation, and letting the machine feed the paper however it wants. It takes a few extra minutes and a couple extra sheets of paper, true. And the jobs that require more precise registration than that are the ones I subcontract, but there aren't many.

I use good paper, I dehumidify the room, and I keep the machine clean .

A

[Milo Wilson]

CWS 5 will only work on Fiery systems 6.0 and up. Another thing if you have a Fiery system server with cws5 already on it do not upgrade the server with any newer cws5

[RRodgers]

I'd install CW5 on a completely different computer (laptop even if ya wanted) and try that. If ya install it on the same box as the version 4 it's going to 86 version 4 and replace it with 5.
$.02

[KenB]

Did you try doing a "Clear Server"? Doing so frequently fixes tons of maladies such as this - it's worth a try.

If the RIP has Fiery version 6 (or higher), it can run CWS5, as previously stated by Milo Wilson (thanks, Milo!)

If you go to install version 5, you will be prompted to choose between upgrading to CWS5, or running it in addition to version 4.

This was all covered in the many EFI Fiery dealer webinars which were held when 5 came out.

In short, versions 4 and 5 can peacefully coexist. I have both running on my notebook with no issues, and I have several Fieries in the field set up that way. On HUGE caution, though: make sure that you don't run both at the same time - it won't work. Be aware that version 4 is most likely in your Windows Startup Group, so make sure that you don't end up with 4 and 5 in there.

Again, you must be a Fiery System 6 or higher. You can check this by printing a config page; it will show in the upper left corner of the first page.

[kandod]

AKSturb01, to address front/back misregistration use Align Trays in the Fiery and and set up printer driver to use Tray Alignment by default.