Since recently migrating to MacIntel running an obligatory 10.5.5 , I’ve been encountering problems printing to my Epson 3800 of 2 kinds that had previously not arisen on PPC based Macs using 10.4+: 1) When switching media that requires a change of black ink (photo black to matte or vice versa) there does not seem to be a straightforward way to go about this without encountering glitches (previously this had been handled smoothly by the driver); 2) The driver indicates randomly that my paper feed parameters are incorrect for a given job, when in fact this is not the case, and this makes printing needlessly irksome and inefficient. This is a marvelous printer that I’ve been using for the past 15 months so I’d appreciate any suggestions that would allow me to remedy these problems.
The first thing to investigate is whether Epson has updated drivers for your printer that are compatible with Leopard.
For instance, I have the older Epson 2200 and Epson will NOT bring out Leopard compatible drivers for that model, and that is just one of the many, many reasons I’m not touching Leopard with a ten-foot pole.
Personally I am still on 10.4.11, but 10.5x drivers exist. First step with Epson printing anomalies is to download and install the appropriate driver, even if you currently have that same driver installed. Of course, repair Permissions before and after the installation.
I know you can find excuses and apologies for any new version of the Mac OS and for Apple at the drop of a hat, but the list of things I’d lose with Leopard is so long that we’d never finish discussing it. None of Leopard’s features is worth a dime to me. Indeed, if Photoshop CS3 and/or CS4 ran on Panther, I’d go back in a second.
Not deriving any income from these endeavors any longer, which by definition excludes me from the rank of the pros, I see absolutely no need or incentive to leave Tiger in the next couple of years, and I honestly don’t expect to live much longer than that. I’ve been putting overtime the last couple of years, as it is, way past my expiration date.
Now you go ahead and give us your spiel about how it’s not prudent to expect to die. You always have some cockeyed reasoning for contradicting any suggestion anyone ever makes. Who knows, you might just be right.
…your spiel about how it’s not prudent to expect to die.
?? Au contraire, IMO it is prudent to expect to die; it is only a question of when…
I know you can find excuses and apologies for any new version of the Mac OS…
I am hardly one who jumps to each new OS version. Did you not read my first sentence Personally I am still on 10.4.11 ? And I know that you are aware that I just left the G4 tower a couple of months ago. However, when graphics folks are buying new boxes, IMO it generally does make sense to go to strong versions of the latest stuff.
I am happy that my 2006 MP runs 10.4.11 and I will stay with 10.4.11 as long as is feasible in my workflow. However one of my primary apps (Aperture) already takes good advantage of advanced graphics, and it sounds like CS4 may too. I already own an advanced card but must bite 10.5 or above to run it, so at some point (perhaps 10.6) I may be forced by the performance of my apps into updating the OS.
Thank you for your replies. I should have doubtless specified that the driver version listed in my thread title (v6.11) is intended for 10.5.5. I had previously re-set my printer settings, deleted the printer via the Print-Fax Preference pane, downloaded yet again the driver (although this is the version that I already had, for some reason in Europe it was released a bit earlier than in the States)repaired permissions, installed the driver, repaired permissions and …. no change. Let me say that I had to upgrade to MacIntel with the obligatory 10.5.5, and that I waited to do so well-beyond the last minute. I can live with these minor glitches I guess, although they are a real annoyance, since color management handled by CS3 and the printer’s output are really impressive. But life would be easier if these problems were remedied.
Would it be any help doing an "Archive and Install", re-install the OS and updates and then the driver? I can’t bear to think of doing a clean install, indeed the OS has been so stable over the years that I’m not sure that I remember how to install many component features of my system. Curiously, the problem with the change of black ink primarily arises when I change from photo > matte black, but the problem with mistaken warnings of incorrectly set paper feed parameters arises with both directions of media change.
Ralph- Have you tried contacting Epson Professional support. The 3800 falls in that grouping and Epson provides a bit more trouble shooting help that the consumer printers. You would file a support case with Epson via their web site. I have the same printer, about 1.5yrs old. Works very well, and have used the web support a few times. here’s a link to their support for the 3800
Thanks for your suggestion. Taking your advice, I contacted Epson support in 2 stages. First, I reached Epson France support (where I am located), which was not helpful, but this regrettably is nothing new. They were unfamiliar with the Mac OS. I then contacted Epson Support U.S.A, and I reached someone who was both knowledgeable and effective and willing to take the time to iron out the issues. Since heretofore I’ve only had aversive experiences with Epson France support on the very rare occasions that I’ve contacted them, my experience with Epson USA support came as quite a surprise. It is still too early to to be sure that the issues I’ve been having are resolved, although they would appear to be, I’m none the less grateful for your having directed me to Epson USA support.
Oct 17, 2008
On 2008-10-06 21:39:08 +0100, said:
Since recently migrating to MacIntel running an obligatory 10.5.5 , I’ve been encountering problems printing to my Epson 3800 of 2 kinds that had previously not arisen on PPC based Macs using 10.4+: 1) When switching media that requires a change of black ink (photo black to matte or vice versa) there does not seem to be a straightforward way to go about this without encountering glitches (previously this had been handled smoothly by the driver); 2) The driver indicates randomly that my paper feed parameters are incorrect for a given job, when in fact this is not the case, and this makes printing needlessly irksome and inefficient. This is a marvelous printer that I’ve been using for the past 15 months so I’d appreciate any suggestions that would allow me to remedy these problems.
When you swap the Photo to Matte black or visa versa you have to throw away the Epson Preference file as it doesn’t update. Then check on the Ink levels and click on the Black Ink level indicator. This updates the Preference and the problems disappear.
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