KB85665181: Automation Engine - Files in Gang Run are not nested

Summary

When submitting files to a Gang Run, sometimes one or more files are not nested and do not disappear from the list of jobs that are waiting to be nested for a certain substrate.

Symptoms

When submitting files to a Gang Run, sometimes one or more files are not nested and do not disappear from the list of jobs that are waiting to be nested for a certain substrate.

The customer often needs to restart the Automation Engine Server in order to fix this problem.

Solution

There are multiple causes and solutions for the described problem.

1. One such solution is to check if there is a hotfix available: https://mysoftware.esko.com/Hotfixes
   -  For Auatomation Engine 12.2,  there is a  HOTFIX 1205015 for Automation Engine 12.2.0

   Hotfix 1205015 solves the following important issue:

   Description: Gang Run Printing (i-cut Automate): Files might get stuck in the Gang Run Printing queues.
   Symptoms: Files might get stuck in the Gang Run Printing queues.
   In case no rotation is allowed but the graphic needs a 90-degrees rotation to fit on the sheet, the nesting server might go in an infinite loop causing the Gang Run Printing queues to get stuck.
   
   - For Automation Engine 14.0.1,  there is a hotfix 1402037 which can also improve nesting.
   
   

2. Below issues can also be the cause that Gang run queue seems not doing anything:
   
   • Verify the value of the Minimum Fill setting for the substrate where the problem occurs. It is possible that the files are not nested because the sheet is not filled up enough (not filled till the percentage of the required minimum fill). Try to lower the value for the minimum fill of the substrate, or force it out (Select the files that are not nested and click the Print Now button. This will force the files to be nested and printed.)
   • Verify the value for the Search Method setting for the substrate. When the selected search method is Slow (Very Accurate) then the nesting might take some time.
   • Open the Diagnostics tool or check the Automation Engine log file for "SnD" or "NestingServer" related information (eg: substrate or sheetsize are not specified correctly in "Submit to Gang Run" ticket ...)
   • On the Automation Engine Server computer, if the nesting server (sdbserver.exe) is hanging,  Contact Customer Service to see if this hanging process can be killed, consider to configure an extra nesting server after evaluating the production need.
     
   • in some wrong situation that Imaging Engine is not installed but configured, bgmd is trying to start the Imaging engine all the time, which will also influence the Gang Run working properly.
   
   
   
3. in Automation Engine v16.0.0, there is also an issue related with Roll substrate which have multiple roll sizes configured, the graphics will be keep calculating or rejected, you can find the exact error in diagnostics "too big to fit on plate",  while it should take automatically the bigger plate size. this problem is solved in Automation Engine 16.0.1 (October 2016 release).