EPSON DX4400 Printing from TC

Hi,
I'm a brand new MAC user and new to this forum so please be patient with the following (probably simple) question...

I have an iMAC running 10.5.4 and I've just today gotten a 1TB Time Capsule that, after a little bit of tweaking, I have running within my existing Wireless network. Time Machine is off and running as we speak...
Meanwhile I then connected my 'freebie' Epson DX4400 printer (gotta love those rebates) to the TC via USB and went through all the suggested ways of creating it, as an IP printer, as a Default printer etc etc...although the printer can be seen by my apps and I can actually print (or so it seems), the print job just disappears off the queue and never makes it to actual ink on sheet User uploaded file
I'm beginning to think I'm going nuts but I know all you genii (geniuses??) will sort me out pronto...
Thanks...

iMAC 3.06 24" 4GB 750GB, Mac OS X (10.5.4), TC 1TB

Posted on Aug 8, 2008 9:46 AM

Reply
13 replies

Aug 9, 2008 10:19 AM in response to Cookie256

I've used Macs since the cxII many years ago. I used the first Airport model, Airport Extreme without a problem. Now with Time Capsule I'm having exactly the same problem with my Epson Stylus Photo R380 that you are having. It has been my experience that Epson lags behind in getting drivers up to speed by 6 months to a year. You will probably find that if you cable your computer to the Time capsule with an Ethernet cable, or share the printer through another computer, that it will print OK. Of course that isn't what you got the Time Capsule for. Here is the question I just sent to Epson:

"Printer; stylus photo R380; computer: Mac Power Book G4, 1.67 Ghz, 2 GB Ram; Mac OX 10.5.4: Epson Printer Utility 3, Version 6.10"

"Printing via network using wi fi to Apple Time Capsule and USB cable to printer. Other computer, an iMac with the same operating system, cabled to Time capsule via Ethernet prints fine. On laptop everything appears fine when sending document to print but it never comes up in the printer queue. When sending document via wi fi from laptop to iMac for bonjour printing everything works fine until iMac is turned off of course. It appears there is some problem with the driver not functioning via wi fi with the Time Capsule. Removed driver from printer system preferences and applications and reinstalled new downloaded driver today. We did not have this problem with previous Airport Extreme that we have replaced with the Time Capsule."

Aug 9, 2008 5:17 PM in response to dujmij

thanks dujmij...

this is driving me nuts...I've been around all the forums and a few suggested I load gutenprint drivers and also set the TC up as a HP Jetdirect server...nothing!!!
I have another printer, a lexmark x6150 but of course lexmark are even slower than Epson at drivers so there's none available for the MAC...tried using a generic PCL driver but no joy...
I guess I will just have to stay 'wired' for the moment, as you said, not what I bought the TC for and Apples support were at a loss - 'it should work'...'dont know why it doesnt work'...'did you buy the printer from us'...very nice guy but after 40 minutes on the phone I was no further on...frustrating to say the least...!!!

Aug 11, 2008 10:56 AM in response to job1940

hi job1940, thanks for the suggestion - when you say 'set the printer up on bonjour' what do you mean - when I look in the preferences for print/fax, there is a default printer with bonjour noted on the right but I didn't make any specific reference to bonjour when I was setting up the printer - how do I set up a bonjour printer?
I am just going into preferences and print/fax and then pressing + to create a new printer. I've tried all the options in there, IPP, HP Jetdirect socket and used the TC's ip address, name, added .local at the end of the address, tried specifying a particular port (looked up the specific ports used by apple) for printing but all to no avail so if there's a bonjour option well I'm all for it...

Aug 11, 2008 2:44 PM in response to R. Berardi

Hi...thanks for the suggestion...the printer is in default printers in Print/Fax and Bonjour is noted in there...also on the Airport Utility the printer is picked up as soon as I plug it in...for all intents and purposes it looks like the printer is working fine, except that nothing actually comes out...the print job appears on the print queue, disappears as if it has been printed but the printer doesn't make a sound!

Aug 12, 2008 12:56 PM in response to Cookie256

I've talked to Epson on this issue. They say that they don't support printing wirelessly via Time Capsule. They didn't indicate any particular timeframe for solving the issue or even an acknowledgment that an issue exists. They basically said we don't support Time Capsule, don't advertise support for Time Capsule and, if you have Time Capsule problems, call Apple.

Then they offered to help me make direct connection work (which I'd already told them twice worked just fine).

I've also got an HP printer. I'm hoping that one will work...

Aug 20, 2008 8:13 AM in response to Cookie256

Hi

This doesn't seem to just be a TC issue.

I've installed the DX4400 on a Windows XP SP2 PC in one room and shared it over the network, I've then tried to install it on the other three computers so that I can use the printer from all devices. The Windows XP SP2 PC worked fine over the network and printed perfectly, the Linux (Ubuntu 7.10) on my PS3 printed perfectly, however when it comes to my mac connecting it won't print. I've tried using the generic spool print as well as the specific DX4400 drivers however whatever I try this won't print. I just get what the original poster has described, The print queue on my mac goes straight to showing stopped and the print queue on the windows PC shows it appearing then it instantly disappears. They're all wired connections so it's nothing to do with wireless. I suspect this is purely to do with the mac samba share drivers epson have provided not working as intended, but I agree with the original poster it's incredibly annoying.

Before this I had an old HP printer as the shared printer on the printing PC and that worked instantly and perfectly, which seems more to implicate Epson rather than my mac.

Aug 22, 2008 12:15 PM in response to Cookie256

Cookie,

It's unclear if you have tried this. Rather than Deleting ("-") and then Adding ("+") a new printer, try Resetting the Printing System. From Mac Help file:

"If you can’t print to your printer and you’ve tried all other solutions, reset the printing system. This process deletes all printers from your Printer list, deletes information about all completed print jobs, and deletes all printer presets."

1. Go to System Preferences and click Print & Fax.

2. Hold down the Control key as you click in the Printer list, and choose “Reset printing system” from the pop-up menu that appears. Click "OK". You may have to enter your password.

3. Highlight the printer you want to add. Note "Location". Is this what you named your Time Capsule? Then click "Add". Even though these may have been the same steps you took earlier, by selecting "Reset Printer System" you have cleared out any old cruft and settings that may have been interfering with your setup.

NOTE: Do not select "Share this printer" in the Print & Fax system preference. That is only in the event the printer is directly connected to this computer. It is not. Printer Sharing is being handled by the TC.

4. Finally, reselct your printer in the "Default Printer" list at the bottom of the Print & FAx System pane. Close System Prefs and try printing. Let us know what happens.

Cheers

Aug 31, 2008 11:24 AM in response to Cookie256

You're going to hate me (or Apple/Epson) for this, but don't shoot the messenger!

The simple fact is that MFDs (combination devices with scanners and printers) won't work over wireless connections. I don't know why this is, but it's a fact that I've learned from painful experience.

Time Capsule and the Airports with USB sockets support USB Printers and USB hard drives, but NOT composite devices. The same has applied to the many wireless and wired print servers I've had dealings with over the years.

The simple answer (unfortunately) is to get a simple printer without the extra bits like scanner and/or card readers; alternatively, you can always get a wireless printer/scanner such as the Lexmark and HP offerings. I'm not keen on them either as wireless can be fussy and flakey as you probably realize. You really can't beat connecting the offending printer to a proper computer and using printer sharing.

Sorry, but this is probably the definitive answer as things stand.

This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

EPSON DX4400 Printing from TC

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.