Epson/print server/Mac OS X

Question

Epson/print server/Mac OS X

I have three Macs and two printers. I have set up the printers with Zonet ZPS 1000 USB print servers. From one Mac I can print to both printers. I have trouble with the other Macs. I'm hoping someone can offer some tips.

Mac1: PowerMac G4, Mac OS X 10.4.3
Mac2: PowerBook G4, Mac OS X 10.4.3
Mac3: iMac (slot loading), Mac OS 9.2.2

Epson Stylus Color 880
Brother MFC 9700

From Mac1 I am able to print to the Brother using LPD. I am unable to print to the Epson using LPD or Appletalk. This computer is missing the drivers labeled "Epson". Instead there is a category labeled ESP, and that includes some Epson drivers.

From Mac2 I am able to print to both printers using LPD. When I set up a new printer, I see a category of drivers labeled "Epson" and these work fine.

From Mac3 I am unable to print to the Epson over Appletalk. I am able to print to the Brother, but all that prints on the page is a small black diamond.

If anyone can offer suggestions for how to get all computers printing to both printers, I would be most appreciative.

Thanks,

Zac Mutrux

Power Mac G4 (Graphite/PCI), Mac OS X (10.4.3)

Posted on Nov 29, 2005 4:29 PM

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Answer 1

greg sahli

Level 7

25,508 points

Nov 29, 2005 5:52 PM in response to Zachary Mutrux

Let's talk OS X first-
The only Epson driver that will work for network printing is the "Epson Stylus Color 880, Gimp-Print" driver, that was included in Panther and Tiger. If you don't see that one, insert your Tiger DVD and look for, and install, Optional Installs.

Brother has an updated CUPS driver (ver: CUPS 1.1) for the MFC-9700 on their web site. You need to install and use the CUPS driver.

Now to OS 9-
The Epson-provided driver doesn't do network printing.
I'm surprised you can print to the Brother...
The only option I see for both printers is to use Apple Desktop Printer Utility to set up two postscript printers using LPR protocol. You point each of these at the queue name/IP address of each printer on the PowerMac. OS X print queues expect postscript input, so what you print from OS 9 will be correctly translated (RIPped) for the printer.

Hope this helps. Come back with questions.

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