Closed Loop Systems used. Anyone still using LithoTel?

[maas]

Now that is an answer!, and what this forum is all about

 

[weprint]

Here's a follow-up to my post. It will likely be difficult to find Access 97 but I have successfully tried Access 2000 on a '97 DB and it works. I did not try it on the Lithotel DB so once again back it up first.

Your next issue will likely be a software key dongle failure which will render the ColorLynx system inoperable. So before your dongle dies I recommend you back it up so it can be emulated in the future without the physical hardware. One day you will be happy you did.
Son Nguyen's blog: How to install HASP MultiKey USB Dongle Emulator on Windows 7 64 bit

Please understand that as a software developer I do not believe in disabling or circumventing software anti-piracy so this recommendation is only for situations where there is no other support option.

 

[longlimb]

thanks guys. Does sound over my head though. Gonna try to contact Abe and a local guy I've used.

So I can backup the DB in Access 2000 without having a dongle issue? If not, how do I BU?

 

[weprint]

Close the Lithotel software. Browse to C:/program files/lithotel , find the database file, click on it, press ctrl-c, press ctrl-p. Copy is done.

 

[longlimb]

Easy enough....

 

[theShaft]

Hi Longlimb,

just went through major issues with our Lithotel setup on Tuesday and can feel your pain. Here's a couple things to try....

Our error was a runtime (-6) overflow which I thought pointed to the database as well. Seeing as we had issues back in 2008 I was familiar with where to find the DB and what apps can open it. I found a better APP and it worked well on Tuesday - "MDB Viewer Plus". With that I started to delete jobs and rows from the very large tables (DB was 475 Mb) and wasted an hour clicking one at at time....

** Quick tip - the "Audit" table is the largest and keeps track of the make-ready vs OK vs production data that is user by the report software. With MDB Viewer just click on the Audit tab and then use "Empty Table" to remove all entries at once. Only do that to the "Audit Table" and on a copy of your db.

Rename the original DB at the press as -OLD and be sure to put your now very small DB back under the original title of "ColorLinx 72.mdb" <-- 72 is our version of the software, yours may differ.

^^^ I spend a day working out this issue, trying different installs (I had a CPU not being used from the sale of a press) so I tried it's HD in the current CPU and still had the same error with a totally different XP OS and Lithotel Install. This pointed to hard ware for my issue so we swapped the scanner (again, left overs). Still no joy.

I then swapped in the old CPU (after a rebuild as it was scavenged for parts over the past few years) and used the existing HD. I was able to get the system to load and the colorlinx to run without the run time error. My next issue was press communication. After fiddling around with the USB ports (and other CP Cards and cables) it was determined that the "COM Port" had changed to 7 from 5. To change this you need to use the ColorLinx Maintenance.exe and the password is "265675469". To see which port the system is using you need to right-click on the "My Computer" in the windows menu, go to Properties, then Hardware, Device Manager. Click the plus on Ports (COM & LPT) and you should see a USB COM port at the bottom of this list. This is the connection that the Lithotel software will use.

I can only hope my day of pain and unfinished work in Pre-Press can help some poor soul in the future.

Cheers from the Icy Cold of SW Ontario.

 

[longlimb]

Man, that sounded painful. We are on version 62 but I assume I can try the same method. Thanks for the info! Will let everyone know how it goes.

 

[longlimb]

Update:

With the help of a local computer guru we've cloned the HD and was able to make repairs to the HD that was causing the software to crash.

One small issue now, with a clean database I don't have my new colorbars that I added about 8 years ago. Haha. "new".... Anyway, does anyone remember how to add new colorbars to the database? I doesn't appear to be access it from a shared folder, it looks like they are imported into the database somehow.

Oh, other issue, the CIP file parser (KeySet) won't load now. Just gives a weird error. Anyone used these guys and if so, how do you integrate it? http://www.excourse.com/presspercent/index.html

 

[Cornishpastythighs]

here's the manual it explains colour bar creation pretty well. Hope it helps

View attachment ColorLinx 8 Manual.pdf

 

[longlimb]

Thanks! I looked through the manual but still can't find how to add a colorbar. Anyone using this software still?

 

[Cornishpastythighs]

Pages 16 and 17 Colour bar editor.

 

[longlimb]

I saw that but it only relates to creating a color inside the software. We have new colorbars that LithoTel created for us a number of years back that we somehow imported into the software.