I use the same printer and I can reassure you that it worked perfectly with Tiger and continues to do so under Leopard, in both cases using the free Gutenprint driver. So we need to make yours do the same! 🙂
Start here:
Tutorial: Resolving common printer problems
Mac OS X offers a robust printing system with built-in support for hundreds of devices from a wide body of manufacturers. It's not without flaws, however, and printers often become unrecognized or non-functional after a significant Mac OS X update. Printers connected through hubs or AirPort base stations can also exhibit some frustrating issues.
Below is a run-down of the most generally successful printer workarounds. Keep trying until one of them sticks.
Use Printer Setup Repair This tool lets you verify properties of the root user, the Printing Services (lp) user, and Print Operators (lp) groups, reset the printing system, perform CUPS maintenance and more. Run through its set of maintenance tasks before delving into further printer troubleshooting. See how to use it in this article.
Re-install CUPS If you are experiencing printer issues after applying an incremental Mac OS X update, problems may have occurred with your CUPS installation during the update process.
The file is available from this Web site:
http://www.cups.org/software.php, and you should use the latest file with a .dmg extension.
Delete then re-add printers/Reset printing system Open Printer Setup Utility, located in Applications/Utilities and look at the "Printer List" Highlight and delete all entries.
Alternatively, go to the "Printer Setup Utility" menu at the top of the screen and select "Reset Printing System".
Click the "Add" button and re-add your printer(s).
Gutenprint and usbtb Some users have been able to resolve printer communication issues by installing the excellent open-source Epson printer drivers available as part of the Gutenprint package (formerly known as Gimp-print) and usbtb, a CUPS back-end for USB printing.
Remove non-required drivers Removing extraneous drivers from /Library/Printers(name of manufacturer) can sometimes resolve printer issues. Remove files that are for other models than your own.
Re-install drivers Re-installation of printer drivers from original media or from a Web download (either directly through the manufacturers site or via a search by model/manufacturer on VersionTracker) can resolve some printer issues.
Try disconnecting from network In some cases, LAN-connected printer, seemingly broken by the Mac OS X update can restored to normal operation by simply disconnecting the device from the network then re-connecting it.
"Communicator Error" -- try power cycling If you receive a "Communication Error" message when attempting to print after updating to Mac OS X 10.4.5, the first workaround you should try is power cycling the printer, as well as disconnecting then re-connecting it to the Mac.
Connecting directly to the Mac If you are having printer problems and are using an external USB hub, try connecting the printer directly to your Mac.
Disconnect from AirPort and reset For those who are using printers connected to an AirPort Express, Extreme or another wireless device with USB connections, you might want to try the following:
1. Disconnect the printer from the AirPort unit (or other router)
2. Wait a few minutes
3. Plug it back in
4. Restart the base station unit
5. Check for your printer to appear in AirPort Admin Utility (located in Applications/Utilities)
Print one copy In some cases, using print one copy instead of the standard print command can result in elimination of crashes that occur during printing.
Try IP printing instead of AppleTalk Some Macs are unable to see AppleTalk printers that are located on the local AirPort (or other wireless) network. Several users have been able to workaround this issue by using IP printing instead of AppleTalk. Delete .plist files Though this workaround will erasing current printer settings, try deleting the following files from ~/Library/Preferences:
• com.apple.print.custompresets.plist
• com.apple.print.PrintingPrefs.plist
• com.apple.print.PrinterProxy.plist
• com.apple.print.PrintCenter.plist
• com.apple.print.favorites.plist
then re-establishing your printer in Printer Setup Utility (located in /Applications/Utilities/ by clicking the "Add..." button and following the on-screen steps.
Re-apply combo updater Try re-applying the current version of the Mac OS X combination updater, available from Apple's download page. Certain printer-related components can be damaged during the Mac OS X update process, or otherwise, and re-installing the combo updater may replace these faulty parts.
Last resort -- Archive and Install As a last resort, try performing the somewhat tedious Archive and Install process, then re-upgrading to the current version of Mac OS X.
I also found this comment on the web:
Setting up the Epson 740 printer is a little tricky under MacOS X 10.4. There are in fact Epson USB as well as Gimp-print based drivers for the Epson 740 in Tiger (both of which will work).
The easiest way to set up an Epson 740 print driver is to use the Printer Setup Utility to delete any existing printer queues for that printer. You should then be able to unplug and replug in the USB cable for the Epson 740 and a new printer queue will be automatically created. This method of creating the Epson 740 printer queue will always work.
The creation of the Epson 740 printer manually from within the Printer Setup Utility is more problematic. If you create the printer without using the "More Printers..." button to select the printer driver, the resulting printer queue is broken and will stop the print queue anytime you send a print job to it. If you use the "More Printers..." button to select the Epson USB driver for the Epson 740, the resulting printer queue will work fine.
This article from Apple might be helpful:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=301175
Last but by no means least are the Gutenprint drivers (which I use) which are superb and give you many more options than the original drivers:
http://gimp-print.sourceforge.net/MacOSX.php3
You can download the latest version from here:
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=1537
and the version you want is (scroll down)
Gutenprint-5.0.2-ub.dmg (download no. 12347).
Let me know how you get on.
