Posted by Rob Haman on December 20, 2008 at 8:26 AM
After an hour and a half on the phone with epson support we still weren't able to find the problem, they are supposed to get back to me when they have other ideas on a fix.
In the mean time I thought I'd run this by NPN, I'll try to keep this short but give all the information we covered.
When attempting to print the monitor box opens and acts like it is going to print and then the error "Incorrect Printer Driver Setting" appears. Also, when I go to the page setup and select "Properties" for the 4800 all the ink status information is blank although when attempting to print the ink status is visible. While on the phone with support we verified that all settings in the page setup and print options were correct. What's odd is two days before I made a print with no issues and as far as I can tell no changes were made to the system or the printer.
Here's what we did to try and solve the issue:
1)Verified all settings were correct
2)Successfully performed a Nozzle Check
3)Uninstalled all 4800 drivers and reinstalled them
4)Replaced the USB cable and again reinstalled drivers
5)Attempted to print a plain text Word Document with the same result
Besides the error message and the ink status the other issue is the firmware update will not work, I get a message saying "cannot get firmware information from the printer" and when setting the MK/PK both options are grayed out and again the printer dosen't seem to be communicating with the software.
Lastly here's the system info, running Windows XP/SP3 and PS3. BTW, I am able to print to my Epson 1400 printer.
You have probably done this a dozen times already, but if not, check the contacts on each ink container and each corresponding location in the printer.
Posted by Rob Haman on December 20, 2008 at 12:40 PM
Update:
I think, after hours of trial and error I have it nailed down - the problem anyway, not the solution- it appears to be a corrupt file on the PC that isn't being removed when I use the Add/Remove Programs option. What got me to this conclusion is that I installed the printer on my laptop which has never had this printer installed before. By starting with the original software on the CD provided when I purchased the printer and then updating the firmware, driver and Status monitor the printer works perfectly.
I'm still working on it but it appears that when i update the Driver on the PC, that's when the problem arises. After reinstalling the software from the CD and then checking the firmware version it has already been updated(I had to do this manually on the laptop) which tells me not all traces of this printer are not being removed during the uninstall. I'm a bit hesitant to go into the C drive and start deleting files.
Rob
Posted by Robert Fisher on December 20, 2008 at 1:15 PM
If it is an issue with detritus left from uninstalling the program, it may or may not be your hard drive where the problem lies. It could be in the registry as well. Not a big deal, uninstall the software, then go into Windows Explorer, look in Program Files and find the Epson folder if it still exists. Delete it. Then go into Documents and Settings>Your user name>Application Data, look for an Epson folder and delete it. Then go to Start>Run and type regedit in the field. This opens the registry. Scroll to the top and select My Computer. Go to Edit>Find and type 4800, click Find Next. When it finds an entry, look at it and if it says Epson 4800, delete it. Hit F3 and repeat until the dialogue says 'reached bottom of registry do you want to start from beginning' or something similar. Click No and you're done. Just make sure when you look at the entries that it relates to the Epson 4800. Reinstall your drivers, update and hopefully you'll be good to go.
Posted by Rob Haman on December 20, 2008 at 1:22 PM
Thanks Robert, I will work on this and post a reply when done.
The other oddity to this is that on Tuesday I made a successful test print and other than possibly a windows update(I have auto updates turned on) this would have been the only change to the printer or system to Wednesday when I again attempted a test print and the problem arose.
Rob, I strongly suggest that you back up the registry before you do any tweaking in there. Go to Windoze Help and type: 'Backing Up the Registry'. Also, if you do decide to edit the registry, I suggest you create a 'restore point' and then edit while in Safe Mode.
-P
Posted by Ed Cordes on December 20, 2008 at 4:03 PM
If your not used to messing with your registry you may want to get one of the registry editor programs. Registry Mechanic and Fix It Utilities come to mind. They will look for entries that go nowhere and allow you to delete them. After editing the registry these programs will let you defrag the registry so your machine runs efficiently.
Like Preston says, make a registry back up first. I don't want to scare you, but registry changes without knowing what you are doing and being careful could be disaster. Programs like the above take most of the risk out of the process.
Posted by Rob Haman on December 20, 2008 at 4:41 PM
Ed,
I am at a point of "this is more than I want to attempt", on the up side if I just install the original software from the CD the printer works fine, any attempt to update causes a problem. I have to believe at this point this is a Windows issue and not Epson, something is creating a conflict between XP and the 4800 drivers and it must be an update that was automatically installed from the MS downloads. There's no other reason that from one day to the next the printer would stop working correctly. Just another reason why Microsoft really "bugs" me.
If you think a recent update from MS is causing the problem you can try to remove it. Start by going into the Control Panel>Add/Remove Programs. Make sure the check box ' Show Updates' is checked. Once the list is loaded, scroll down, looking for items headed 'Update for...' or 'Hotfix for...' or 'Security Update for...' that were installed just before you started having problems. Each entry will have a MS knowledge base article number following it.
Write down the KB number then go to the MS site (or Windoze Help and Support on your machine), and search for the KB article. The articles will tell you if there are 'known issues'. This might help you nail it down.
Most, but not all of the updates can be removed. To remove an update, select it and (if its removeable) click the 'Remove' button. Follow any instructions and be sure to reboot your machine when you're done. Again, I suggest backing up your system and creating a restore point before doing anything that has the potential to cripple your OS.
Ed's advice is good regarding using Registry Mechanic or another registry cleaner. I use Registry Mechanic and it works well and is easy to use. It will find orphaned and/or invalid registry keys.
Actually, when you consider the complexity of the OS, the complexity of other programs on your machine, along with the fact that they all have to communicate with each other, WinXP and MS aren't that bad. Incompatibilities are bound to occur.
While I'm thinking of it, have you run a deep scan for viruses and other malware? I recently helped a person who was having problems with the free MS Visual Web Developer. I suggested he do a virus scan in safe mode. He did that, found a 'nastie', cleaned it, and now VWD is right with the world. It's worth a try.
-P
Posted by Les Barstow on December 22, 2008 at 1:08 AM
Interesting... A couple of months ago my Epson R1800 drivers started acting similarly, if not quite so badly. I'd be printing along and all of a sudden the ink status wouldn't work, but it would still print. Restarting the system fixes the problem, as does completely nuking the processes via the Task Manager. It never used to do that, so I'm guessing a Windows Update is responsible for the occasional glitch.
Discussion
10 repliesIn the mean time I thought I'd run this by NPN, I'll try to keep this short but give all the information we covered.
When attempting to print the monitor box opens and acts like it is going to print and then the error "Incorrect Printer Driver Setting" appears. Also, when I go to the page setup and select "Properties" for the 4800 all the ink status information is blank although when attempting to print the ink status is visible. While on the phone with support we verified that all settings in the page setup and print options were correct. What's odd is two days before I made a print with no issues and as far as I can tell no changes were made to the system or the printer.
Here's what we did to try and solve the issue:
1)Verified all settings were correct
2)Successfully performed a Nozzle Check
3)Uninstalled all 4800 drivers and reinstalled them
4)Replaced the USB cable and again reinstalled drivers
5)Attempted to print a plain text Word Document with the same result
Besides the error message and the ink status the other issue is the firmware update will not work, I get a message saying "cannot get firmware information from the printer" and when setting the MK/PK both options are grayed out and again the printer dosen't seem to be communicating with the software.
Lastly here's the system info, running Windows XP/SP3 and PS3. BTW, I am able to print to my Epson 1400 printer.
I'm willing to try any ideas at this point
Rob
I think, after hours of trial and error I have it nailed down - the problem anyway, not the solution- it appears to be a corrupt file on the PC that isn't being removed when I use the Add/Remove Programs option. What got me to this conclusion is that I installed the printer on my laptop which has never had this printer installed before. By starting with the original software on the CD provided when I purchased the printer and then updating the firmware, driver and Status monitor the printer works perfectly.
I'm still working on it but it appears that when i update the Driver on the PC, that's when the problem arises. After reinstalling the software from the CD and then checking the firmware version it has already been updated(I had to do this manually on the laptop) which tells me not all traces of this printer are not being removed during the uninstall. I'm a bit hesitant to go into the C drive and start deleting files.
Rob
The other oddity to this is that on Tuesday I made a successful test print and other than possibly a windows update(I have auto updates turned on) this would have been the only change to the printer or system to Wednesday when I again attempted a test print and the problem arose.
Rob
-P
Like Preston says, make a registry back up first. I don't want to scare you, but registry changes without knowing what you are doing and being careful could be disaster. Programs like the above take most of the risk out of the process.
I am at a point of "this is more than I want to attempt", on the up side if I just install the original software from the CD the printer works fine, any attempt to update causes a problem. I have to believe at this point this is a Windows issue and not Epson, something is creating a conflict between XP and the 4800 drivers and it must be an update that was automatically installed from the MS downloads. There's no other reason that from one day to the next the printer would stop working correctly. Just another reason why Microsoft really "bugs" me.
If you think a recent update from MS is causing the problem you can try to remove it. Start by going into the Control Panel>Add/Remove Programs. Make sure the check box ' Show Updates' is checked. Once the list is loaded, scroll down, looking for items headed 'Update for...' or 'Hotfix for...' or 'Security Update for...' that were installed just before you started having problems. Each entry will have a MS knowledge base article number following it.
Write down the KB number then go to the MS site (or Windoze Help and Support on your machine), and search for the KB article. The articles will tell you if there are 'known issues'. This might help you nail it down.
Most, but not all of the updates can be removed. To remove an update, select it and (if its removeable) click the 'Remove' button. Follow any instructions and be sure to reboot your machine when you're done. Again, I suggest backing up your system and creating a restore point before doing anything that has the potential to cripple your OS.
Ed's advice is good regarding using Registry Mechanic or another registry cleaner. I use Registry Mechanic and it works well and is easy to use. It will find orphaned and/or invalid registry keys.
Actually, when you consider the complexity of the OS, the complexity of other programs on your machine, along with the fact that they all have to communicate with each other, WinXP and MS aren't that bad. Incompatibilities are bound to occur.
While I'm thinking of it, have you run a deep scan for viruses and other malware? I recently helped a person who was having problems with the free MS Visual Web Developer. I suggested he do a virus scan in safe mode. He did that, found a 'nastie', cleaned it, and now VWD is right with the world. It's worth a try.
-P
Good luck fixing the problem.