HP Designjet 500 42 + HP-GL/2 Accessory Card

Original_JA · ‎09-14-2022

I have two HP Designjet 500 42 plotters and decided to get two HP-GL/2 Accessory Cards to speed up both USB printing and Ethernet printing. I downloaded version 6.10 of the GL/2 drivers as that was the only available driver for the GL/2 on the 500 support page. I mainly print PDF drawings via Adobe Reader X and sometimes Adobe DC Pro 2018. Long and short, the prints are slower with the HP-GL/2 card. A plot was done on the 500 connected via USB with the card installed and it took 4 mins. 4 sec. I decided to take out the card, reprint the same drawing and it took 2 mins. 55 sec. I decided to try other GL/2 drivers from the 800, 510 and 500T but when I installed them nothing would print. I kept on getting error messages saying that there was an error printing the file. Can anybody direct me to getting the proper drivers in order to get good speed gains with the addition of the GL/2 installed. The Operating System is Windows 10 Pro (64-bit).

Repairatrooper · ‎09-15-2022

Speed is not listed as a feature of this card. It adds the ability to print jobs formatted for GL/2 language and other advanced features.

https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/bpp03343

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Original_JA · ‎09-15-2022

Thank you for your reply. The fact that you can add additional memory to the printer via the accessory card as well as free up more 'Computer Resources' it would appear that the print would be faster. A lot of people all over the world are of the belief that the print would end up being faster. What's the purpose of being able to add more memory to the printer so that the processing can be done on the printer instead of the computer yet it doesn't speed up the print? It would have been good if HP had included an advisory saying that the accessory card will not speed up the prints.

Repairatrooper · ‎09-16-2022

As stated in the link I sent you, this adds additional print language commands that if you are using supported software, would increase performance. Adding memory will often enhance printing, especially on laser printers but wide carriage devices like this work differently and the memory may be used for different functions than simply enhancing performance.

If you find the information provided useful or solves your problems, help other users find the solution easier by marking my post as an accepted solution. Clicking "yes" on "was this reply helpful" also increases the chances that this solution will help others.
I am a volunteer, offering my knowledge to support fellow users, I do not work for HP nor speak for HP.

Original_JA · ‎09-17-2022

This will be my final message to you. Please tell me other ways RAM memory is used other than enhancing performance. Thank you for all the assistance you have provided.

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