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The Wizzard, Wizzard II, Genie, and XL family all have the capability of saving jobs. They can save all your job specifications including the jig selection and engraving mode. They will not save the text and font selection.
ERRORS ASSOCIATED WITH LOADING/SAVING JOBS
Many users complain about the problems they encounter with the job storage. But normally job storage on both the Wizzard & XL is reliable. The main cause of job storage problems is usually the operator making an error. The three most common operator errors that cause jobs to become scrambled, or the loss of data previously stored are:
1. Inadvertently SAVEing over a job while trying to LOAD. The default (which should be changed in the program) is SAVE. Often an operator will forget to press the SPACEBAR to toggle between SAVE & LOAD. The program attempts to overwrite the job with existing data instead of loading. The is the number one cause of scrambled jobs.
2. Attempting to replace a previously saved JOB by try to SAVE another job over it. While the manual approves of saving over a job, I strongly advise against it. While this may be a program error, I blame it on the operator. If you must save over a job, do it at your own risk. And save the same number of lines over the job that you are replacing - at your own risk.
3. Overuse of job storage data. While the average user only calls up 10-20 jobs a day, some of the key chain businesses in the malls may pull up 100 or more jobs a day. The EPROM's used in job storage were not intended for this type of use. As one Dahlgren employee put it, ``They're like light bulbs - they wear out after you turn them on and off enough.''
Now let's look at each machine and some of the individual characteristics of them.
WIZZARD, WIZZARD II & GENIE
The Wizzard family saves it jobs internally on the WE2 chips. It has a maximum capacity of 40 jobs or 160 lines. The WE2 chips are also used to store the Home position, and all other jig settings.
The earlier Wizzard's had problems with storing jobs. Depending on the age of your Wizzard, all Wizzard's prior to July, 1985 and a few after, need a connection joined on the mother board. This is considered an in-house repair. Loss of memory, B jig problems, and losing Home position are a few of the symptoms.
Also on earlier Wizzard's with version 3.32 CPU-A program chips, you would see `hieroglyphics' instead of the job you had previously saved. The problem was caused by the WE2, or memory chips going bad, or the inability of the program chips (STMP chips) to store correctly. The problem can be temporarily solved by replacing the WE2 chips, but will `reappear' once you start trying to save new jobs over old jobs. Dahlgren recommends upgrading with the Wizzard Enhancement Kit. It includes new WE2 chips, as well as all new program (STMP) chips, version 4.00. The new STMP program chips have been corrected so that the process of saving jobs will be more reliable.
WIZZARD, WIZZARD II & GENIE COMMON PROBLEMS/CAUSES WITH JOB STORAGE
Won't save or load a job
Bad WE2 chips are the most common cause;
Inadequate voltage from power supply needed to save jobs cause existing jobs to be scrambled.
Saving exactly 160 lines and causing WE-2 chips to freeze.
Can't save one job over another
WE-2 Chips (U80-83)
Motherboard
Saved job is shown in directory as garbled
Power Supply
WE2 Chips - 1st choice
RIFA Chips
Motherboard
Static Electricity & external power surges. Are you using a dedicated circuit? You're not using an extension cord are you?
Not being able to store more jobs
The WE2's are full. It is not based on number of jobs, but how much information or memory space is required to store each job. Example- Job 1 existing in memory with 4 lines of copy stored. You now want to replace existing Job 1 with a new Job 1 that has 4 lines of copy. In actuality, you will have used up 4 lines from the original and 4 lines from the new, which is a total of 8 lines from your memory. You cannot erase the original line usage from the total amount. There is room for 40 jobs or 160 lines of information.
XL FAMILY OF ENGRAVERS
The second generation Wizzard XL offers a better solution for storing jobs. It uses an external cartridge that can be read from an external port. The operator can save an unlimited number of jobs. When one external cartridge gets full, another one can be purchased.
The Wizzard XL can save about 160 lines. That is 40 jobs of fours lines each; 16 lines of 10 lines each, or any other variation.
XL COMMON PROBLEMS/SOLUTIONS
Bad Cable or Holder
Try cable or holder on another machine.
Bad cartridge or EPROM
Static Electricity
If cable or holder have been eliminated, try job cartridge on another machine. If it works, probably motherboard.
Job Storage Cartridge
Try another cartridge
Try saving over a different job.
Check and see if you can load and not save.
THE OPERATOR IS ULTIMATELY RESPONSIBLE
You might argue that the last two causes of job failure listed above might be machine error. I don't! Even if the program is weak, and the life of the job storage chips is limited, it is still the operator's responsibility to protect valuable data.
Have a backup of the saved jobs. Whether it's a printout of all jobs, or a backup set of EPROM's, it is the operators responsibility to protect valuable data. There are two ways to duplicate the data on the EPROM's. Wizzard owners can buy an extra set of WE2's; the XL owner additional storage cartridges. Then jobs can be duplicated from a printout of job specifications. Or you can invest in an EPROM programmer and duplicate the job save chips.
Miscellaneous Notes
Job names can have up to 48 characters. Job names cannot be replaced. Even though you may be able to replace an existing job, you can't change the original name that it was saved under by normal means. I have changed the names by using Norton Utilities. It required reading the chip with a programmer, altering the file, and re-saving it.
The early Genie's with 2.56 CPU-A chips didn't save jobs but had WE2's.
On many occasions, operators have saved over an existing job and knocked out their HOME position.
Due to the limited number of jobs a Wizzard/Wizzard II/Genie can save, a printer is the best bet for saving those important jobs. Just connect a standard parallel printer (Epson, Panasonic, Star, etc.) to your Wizzard with a ribbon cable. Then when you want to save a particular job specifications, press SHIFT+JOB OPTION, and select Print Current Job. Attach the printout to your invoice, and you have the data if you ever have to engrave the job again.
The EPROM used in the XL job storage cartridge is a 52B33H-350.
You cannot save a multiple job or print it out.
The Wizzard will allow you to save the data, but will convert the external table back to the standard table. When bringing the job back out of memory, simply change the table back to external on the job set-up screen.
All jobs saved will default back to the Gothic type style (font) when recalled from memory.
The Wizzard will not save your text.
The Wizzard will always save the Z axis speed control as fast. Example: job is saved for notary seal, and you have the speed control set on slow, when saved, this will be saved as fast. When job is called out of memory, you will have to go back to the job option screen and change your Z axis speed control back to slow.
When saving a job over a job on the Wizzard XL and Wizzard XL Plus, type in your new text after you get the warning: Replacing job - Shift enter to confirm, but before pressing the shift-enter keys
The Job Storage Cartridge is repairable.
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