Onyx 21 Sputtering with HP 360

[SignOfTheTime]

We recently upgraded our primary production controller, and thereby moved from Onyx 11 to Onyx 21 Go on Windows 10, and are really quite disappointed with the cost versus benefit of Onyx. We've always had issues with its finicky processing, and making the jump went from being a hopeful resolution to a disappointed sigh, quickly. Presently, the server sputters between processing with a "working" cursor, and coming away from [Not Responding] every 10 seconds or so. At first our production files were coming up "incompatible file", and we've run down a long list of growing pains in the first go at making the adjustment.

We're wondering about people's comparison between Onyx (apparently there is almost no difference between 11 and 21) and Caldera, Flexi, or other RIP software packages. Ideally we'd like something that works well consistently and perhaps, if it weren't too much to ask, has the feel of bringing ripping into the modern age of software. We'd settle for something that just works with minimal headache. Onyx 21 feels like an old Windows 3.11 back end, with a QT gui facelift, for Windows 10. Of course we're a small shop and cost is a factor, as we're also not looking forward to monthly payments for a rip program that is (at least to us) half-hearted.

We run most all of our projects through our HP 360 Latex and a Graphtec FC8600-160. Writing this out seems like a wish on a pipe dream, but perhaps it doesn't hurt to ask the question. Thank you for any input.

 

[FrankW]

The HP-Printers do a lot of communication with the RIPs, perhaps there is something wrong. Have supported the Latex-Onyx-combination several years. What operating system do you use? How much RAM and harddisk space? How fast is your network (100 or 1000BaseT)?

 

[balstestrat]

You definitely have some issues in your configuration if you just have problems all the time. Really sounds like a inadequate PC setup or something of that sort.
I've setup so many Onyx's and Latex together without issues.

Never even seen this issue of yours. Almost like you were opening files from slow USB stick or you have very aggressive antivirus scanning in the background.

 

[SignOfTheTime]

Currently running a 3.2GHz i5 with 32GB Ram and 1TB local disk, on 1000BaseT. Running everything on a fresh install of Windows 10 and Onyx 21 Go. We had the same issues with 11 on Windows 8.1. I was in IT before signs, and can't find any reason for the wonkiness.

Does that mean that HP Latex and Onyx is your go-to, preference? Thank you for the input.

 

[balstestrat]

It is for "basic" setup, yes. Its pretty easy to use and as it runs on windows it fits many people.

More printers or users who want "more" may steer towards Caldera or something else.

SAi Flexi RIP is the cheap option. But I dislike it.

 

[SignOfTheTime]

It is for "basic" setup, yes. Its pretty easy to use and as it runs on windows it fits many people.

More printers or users who want "more" may steer towards Caldera or something else.

SAi Flexi RIP is the cheap option. But I dislike it.

Very good to know. Thank you very much for the added detail. There is always the chance that with time it will just become familiar again, and that will be that. Wanted to know what the alternatives were, and it sounds like Flexi or Caldera may not be much better.

 

[balstestrat]

As you have the Go, you have full support from Onyx. What are they saying on the issues?

 

[SignOfTheTime]

As you have the Go, you have full support from Onyx. What are they saying on the issues?

Usual offsite troubleshooting. Go here, click there, let me check something, "Hmmm. That's interesting."

 

[Pauly]

Onyx X21 is lightyear's ahead of X11.

How many print licences / rip engines do you have?
How many cores does the CPU have? or what i5 is it? (i5 7600k for example?)

 

[dypinc]

I not sure that isn't normal behavior with Windows. We have two Windows RIPs here. The Fiery EX-P 600 on the Iridesse Digital Press should not be as sluggish as it is but it has some of the same behavior as your describing. The wide format RIP is running ColorGate and has some of the same problems. I find it best when having to work with Windows, even the VM machines on our Mac Workstation is to slowdown when doing anything so Windows can keep up. Sometime it is hard to remember to do that when I am pushing jobs through. Both these have 32GB of RAM but they never seem to use more than half of it. That I do not understand as I sit here typing this on our 2019 MacPro and it is still allocating 148GB of the 192GB and I not doing anything else. When I am working I don't have to slowdown so it can keep up.

That being said I thought that next time I needed to upgrade the Colorgate RIP before going to the HP700W I decided to try out Caldera again because I was just getting tired of dealing and wasting my time with Windows. The experience this time with Caldera was good so I went this route and even on this workstation for now it does not have the slowness that I see in Windows. Probably go with the M1X chip in the mini when it becomes available and hope Caldera is native by then. Caldera is not slow like the other RIP at all except when it is getting info and syncing with the printer but even there it is faster.

 

[SignMeUpGraphics]

Onyx shouldn't be behaving in this way at all. We run X21 in a VM for portability reasons and it absolutely flies.
A recent job of 9m (30ft) x 1.37m (4.5ft) ripped in 31 seconds... certainly not slow at all.

 

[natallica]

Sorry to hear Sir, we just switched from 11.1 to 21 (Production House). Every Rip I've ever used has had it's inherent quirks, and it's most annoying when trying to get projects out the door.
Onyx is working great for us, even though we primarily use Flexi21. It just takes time getting everything to coalesce.

However I also upgraded the PC (i7, 16gb ram, and an M.2 SSD). The M.2 rips at lightning speed overall has improved the workflow drastically. Everything you try to do will feel like it takes 10 times longer with a traditional HDD.

If your PC has an NVME M.2 drive slot on the motherboard, I would highly recommend installing one, performance is well worth the cost when using graphics heavy projects. And most ONYX issues can easily be solved with tinkering with some RIP settings. It's most likely something simple causing your aggravation. However I can completely understand, until the kinks are worked out, it'll feel like an uphill battle with the software.

Just my .02
- N8

 

[SignOfTheTime]

Sorry to hear Sir, we just switched from 11.1 to 21 (Production House). Every Rip I've ever used has had it's inherent quirks, and it's most annoying when trying to get projects out the door.
Onyx is working great for us, even though we primarily use Flexi21. It just takes time getting everything to coalesce.

However I also upgraded the PC (i7, 16gb ram, and an M.2 SSD). The M.2 rips at lightning speed overall has improved the workflow drastically. Everything you try to do will feel like it takes 10 times longer with a traditional HDD.

If your PC has an NVME M.2 drive slot on the motherboard, I would highly recommend installing one, performance is well worth the cost when using graphics heavy projects. And most ONYX issues can easily be solved with tinkering with some RIP settings. It's most likely something simple causing your aggravation. However I can completely understand, until the kinks are worked out, it'll feel like an uphill battle with the software.

Just my .02
- N8

This was going to be my next move, switching to NVME M.2. I've seen a lot of benefit elsewhere and have been considering this more generally.

That being said, Onyx has just always been finicky in our estimation. We would be curious what your thoughts are between Flexi and Onyx, any upsides or downsides between them.

 

[SignOfTheTime]

Onyx X21 is lightyear's ahead of X11.

How many print licences / rip engines do you have?
How many cores does the CPU have? or what i5 is it? (i5 7600k for example?)

We just have Onyx 11, which we're considering going back to, and Onyx 21. The only improvement we've found so far is how plotting is read and processed.

The processor is an i5 6500. Ripping I don't think is multi-threaded, so the core count shouldn't matter.

 

[FrankW]

Flexi works fine with Latex, as Onyx do too, or Caldera. I havent tested Onyx Go until now, maybe online licence checking together with a poor internet connection quality or wrong Proxy-settings could lead to problems.

 

[Pauly]

We just have Onyx 11, which we're considering going back to, and Onyx 21. The only improvement we've found so far is how plotting is read and processed.

The processor is an i5 6500. Ripping I don't think is multi-threaded, so the core count shouldn't matter.

Have you opened a bunch of files and checked task manager to see the CPU usage?

x21 can utilise multi threading.
the fact your cpu is only 4c /4t. I believe it’s bottle knocking.

when I put x21 on my old Xeon workstation with 4c / 8t it would lock up on me every time I rip a file.

 

[SignOfTheTime]

Have you opened a bunch of files and checked task manager to see the CPU usage?

x21 can utilise multi threading.
the fact your cpu is only 4c /4t. I believe it’s bottle knocking.

when I put x21 on my old Xeon workstation with 4c / 8t it would lock up on me every time I rip a file.

Barely touches 20% on CPU and hovers around 15% on Memory. Doesn't seem to be struggling even when the window goes to "Not Responding". Have had continuous issues since installation, just as we always have had with Onyx.

 

[Pauly]

Barely touches 20% on CPU and hovers around 15% on Memory. Doesn't seem to be struggling even when the window goes to "Not Responding". Have had continuous issues since installation, just as we always have had with Onyx.

20% when ripping?

Have you tried it on a different PC. Or opted for a clean install of windows & onyx?
I've never had onyx do anything weird like that.