I'm visiting friends and he asked for help solving a riddle. I'm thoroughly riddled now, too, so I thought I would toss it out for feedback.
His setup suddenly started turning out dark prints with loss of reds and yellows on two Epson printers. His scanner also went weird at the same time, scanning BW just fine but messing up on colors (Silverfast). He hadn't installed any new software, and had made no other changes in his setup.
We've reloaded his CS2, reloaded the OS on his Mac computer, reinstalled the drivers, tried running the devices singly, changed USB cords, and everything else we can think of. We've printed old, proven files, along with newly processed ones. The monitor is calibrated and all images look just fine.
This is just a SWAG on my part, since I am a PC guy...Since this is happening on three devices (two printers and a scanner) and, assuming all the software is good and running properly, this could be a either a machine-level USB driver issue or a USB hardware issue.
Have you tried to run these devices on another machine? I'd give this a try, if possible, to rule out problems with the printers and scanner.
Sorry, this probably isn't much help--I'm stumped, too.
-P
Posted by Jim Sabiston on March 8, 2009 at 6:15 PM
Free advice is worth....and its been a couple of decades since I was a dedicated hardware guy, but with those caveats out of the way:
The same problem showing up on multiple external devices means it has to be something in the main computer. You say all the software and OS was reloaded, so they should be OK. I would try another computer to test the cables, etc with a known picture file to run all the tests.. That will ensure the issue lies within the computer. Does the computer have multiple usb ports? Does it have connector options besides usb? If so, try them and see if the problem persists. If yes, it clears the usb bits.
That certainly is an odd one.
Good luck and please let us know what it turns out to be.
I agree with Jim. I'd recommend downloading the very latest OS patches and driver versions. From the description it sounds to me like multiple color management components are interfering with each other - most likely Photoshop and ColorSync, though the drivers may be trying to color-manage as well. This was a problem with older Epson drivers.
1. Test the printers and scanner on another computer to determine if it is the computer.
2. Create a fresh boot disk (I have a small WD Passport for this purpose) and boot from it instead of the main drive. Does the problem occur there?
Step #1 should tell you if the problem is the specific computer. Step 2 should tell you if it is the system software or hardware.
Disconnect your printer and run a test page (assuming you can do directly from the printer from the operator panel) That should rule out any USB issues.
If you still have a problem independent of the computer and printer (ie. disconnected) You may want to consider power issues.
All good suggestions! I'll pass them along, since I got back on the road after posting the question. Weather waits for no one, and it's the time of year to be dodging the worst!
Posted by Larry Fischer on March 19, 2009 at 7:23 PM
Hey Hank, I think it is the heliosphere impinging on your electronics. You've (Alaska) had several impingements from the sun of recent and the aurora are the reason....
Or it could be the geomagnetic fields caused by your volcanoes....
Hey, I just needed to blow off some steam. Hope this made you smile.
Discussion
7 repliesHis setup suddenly started turning out dark prints with loss of reds and yellows on two Epson printers. His scanner also went weird at the same time, scanning BW just fine but messing up on colors (Silverfast). He hadn't installed any new software, and had made no other changes in his setup.
We've reloaded his CS2, reloaded the OS on his Mac computer, reinstalled the drivers, tried running the devices singly, changed USB cords, and everything else we can think of. We've printed old, proven files, along with newly processed ones. The monitor is calibrated and all images look just fine.
What in the world could be going on?
This is just a SWAG on my part, since I am a PC guy...Since this is happening on three devices (two printers and a scanner) and, assuming all the software is good and running properly, this could be a either a machine-level USB driver issue or a USB hardware issue.
Have you tried to run these devices on another machine? I'd give this a try, if possible, to rule out problems with the printers and scanner.
Sorry, this probably isn't much help--I'm stumped, too.
-P
The same problem showing up on multiple external devices means it has to be something in the main computer. You say all the software and OS was reloaded, so they should be OK. I would try another computer to test the cables, etc with a known picture file to run all the tests.. That will ensure the issue lies within the computer. Does the computer have multiple usb ports? Does it have connector options besides usb? If so, try them and see if the problem persists. If yes, it clears the usb bits.
That certainly is an odd one.
Good luck and please let us know what it turns out to be.
Guy
1. Test the printers and scanner on another computer to determine if it is the computer.
2. Create a fresh boot disk (I have a small WD Passport for this purpose) and boot from it instead of the main drive. Does the problem occur there?
Step #1 should tell you if the problem is the specific computer. Step 2 should tell you if it is the system software or hardware.
HTH.
A couple of things.
Disconnect your printer and run a test page (assuming you can do directly from the printer from the operator panel) That should rule out any USB issues.
If you still have a problem independent of the computer and printer (ie. disconnected) You may want to consider power issues.
Lon
Or it could be the geomagnetic fields caused by your volcanoes....
Hey, I just needed to blow off some steam. Hope this made you smile.
the fisch