Epson 3880 no longer prints under Lion

Question

Epson 3880 no longer prints under Lion

My Epson 3880 printer was working well under Snow Leopard but after updating to Lion on my MacBook Pro a few months ago I haven't yet been able to get the printing to work. The printer is connected directly via USB. If I unplug the printer from my MacBook Pro and plug it into my MacPro then it works normally. I have tried deleting the printer and reloading it. Software Update is all up to date. 10.7.3. I didn't get any help whatsoever from Epson.

I have tried printing from a variety of applications (FileMaker Pro, TextEdit, Adobe Reader, Photoshop etc.) but always the same problem. When I try to print, things seem to go normally until I press "print". That is, the printer dialogue box comes up normally and I can select the printer, paper size, options, etc. However, the print dialogue box looks different, simpler with less options. I can't tell if this is normal under Lion or if it indicates something wrong with the printer driver.

The printer shows up as "connected". After I press "print" the progress box that usually appears just flashes on very briefly and disappears. Normally this box shows for at least a few seconds. Then, when nothing happens, I check the printer monitor icon in the dock. There is a red number showing a new page is ready to print. But nothing happens. On the printer monitor box it shows "Printer Ready" but down in the jobs list it shows the name of the document waiting to be printed and under "status" is says "error". If I click "Resume" the status changes to "printing" then I get a couple of very brief messages - too fast to read, and then they disappear and status returns to "error".

If I click "job info" I get a bunch of stuff but this message looks like the important one "/Library/Printers/EPSON/InkjetPrinter/Filter/pdftopdf.app/Contents/MacOS/pdfto pdf failed".

I can connect to the Epson 3880 when it is wired to the MacPro as a network printer and I can print but I can't seem to get the same printer options selections. I can get the basic ones but not the important ones for this printer - just generic ones.

Does anobody have any suggestions for me to try. I have read through a number of other printer related issues with Lion but most are with network printing or wireless printing.

iPhone 4, Mac OS X (10.7.3), 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 duo, 4GB Ram

Posted on May 1, 2012 3:49 PM

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Answer 1

May 1, 2012 5:06 PM in response to Brian Townsend

Do you have the latest driver from Epson? See http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/support/supportLion.jsp. You may want to download a fresh copy of the driver, delete your printer, delete the /Library/Printers/EPSON folder and the /Library/Caches/Epson folder. Then install a fresh copy of the driver and add your printer again.

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Answer 2

May 8, 2012 12:21 PM in response to Matt Broughton

I have this same problem since updating to Lion. I installed the latest driver from Epson and still get the pdfto filed error.

Any ideas?

Larry

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Answer 3

Jul 26, 2012 11:00 AM in response to Brian Townsend

Well, I deleted the printer and the Epson printer files and restarted. Then I plugged in the Epson 3880 printer and added it in the print & scan box. It said I neededd software to sue this printer so I went to Software Update but no Epson software appeared on the list. I installed the latest driver from Epson.

When I try to print, I select the printer from the printer list and a printer dialogue box comes up, but not the normal Epson one. It was a simplified generic printer dialogue box lacking the usual advanced Espon printer features, such as seeing if photo black or matte black ink is selected. So it still doesn't work. Any other ideas?

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Answer 4

Jul 31, 2012 3:31 PM in response to Brian Townsend

I have this same problem since updating to Lion.

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Answer 5

LilyLC

Level 4

2,828 points

Jul 31, 2012 5:22 PM in response to Brian Townsend

Brian Townsend wrote:

Well, I deleted the printer and the Epson printer files and restarted. Then I plugged in the Epson 3880 printer and added it in the print & scan box. It said I neededd software to sue this printer so I went to Software Update but no Epson software appeared on the list. I installed the latest driver from Epson.

You did not state but after you installed the latest driver from Epson, did you go back to Print & Scan and delete all instance of the Epson printer and the add the printer. The Epson 3880 is "on", yes?

On a new MB Pro with OS 10.7.4, the latest Epson SPro 3880 driver and the printer on... In Print & Scan, I can click and hold down the + button and the pop down menu shows an option to select the nearby printer EpsonStylusPro3880-1EAD55 to add. If I choose Add other Printer or Scanner, the Add Printer window opens and the Default tab lists EpsonStylusPro3880-1EAD55 as Bonjour and EpsonStylusPro3880-1EAD55 (IP) as EPSON TCPIP. The latter is because I set the printer with a static IP address. I print to the Epson 3880 via WiFi.

Anyway, if you try adding the printer and "Print Using" shows Generic PostScript Printer, click on that itself and choose "Select Printer Software..." from the drop down menu. A Printer Software window will open. Find the Epson 3880 in that list. If it is not there, go back and choose "Other". On my computer the path to the Epson 3880 PPD is: HD/Library/Printers/PPDs/Contents/Resources/EPSON Spson Stylus Pro 3880.gz

When I try to print, I select the printer from the printer list and a printer dialogue box comes up, but not the normal Epson one. It was a simplified generic printer dialogue box lacking the usual advanced Espon printer features, such as seeing if photo black or matte black ink is selected. So it still doesn't work. Any other ideas?

Either that's the window for Generic PostScript or if it is for the Epson printer, at the bottom there is a button "Show Details" (to the right of the PDF button). If the details show, that button will show as "Hide Details."

Hope this helps.

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Answer 6

Aug 1, 2012 8:27 PM in response to LilyLC

It work perfectly thank you Brian your instructions were right on the money. once again thank you Brian for your

time and your detailed instructions most appreciated Bellonick.

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Answer 7

Aug 6, 2012 5:22 AM in response to LilyLC

Epson 3880 printer wrap-up.

It seems you have to keep deleting the printer from the Print & Scan list and reinstalling it a few times during the changeover. You lose all your presets, unfortunately. But it is important to delete the old links and create new ones with the new driver. The printer driver 8.6.4 worked OK for me and printing is working well with the proper Epson print options. No more generic print dialogue box.

>>> One thing I learned through Epson is that the wide narrow box with the row of ink cartridges and ink levels that always used to appear when printing with Snow Leopard no longer appears under Lion. This was changed by Epson. I kept thinking that when it didn't appear it meant something was still not working. They did away with that box but you can still see the ink levels from the print monitor. It's a case where having not quite enough information led to a lot of confusion.

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Answer 8

LilyLC

Level 4

2,828 points

Aug 11, 2012 1:50 AM in response to Brian Townsend

Thanks for posting back, Brian as it may help others. 🙂

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