Windows XP / Epson 1160 printer driver

[David Hedley]

I have just upgraded my PC to Windows XP Professional, and had thought that everything had gone very smoothly (even getting my Agfa scanner to work), until I tried to print from Photoshop onto my Epson 1160.

I can install the Epson XP driver for the printer, and receive a confirmation message that it has been correctly installed. Within Photoshop, the dialogue with the printer driver appears normal, and follows the same process as before. However, printing fails, because of a "communication error". I think what is happening is that Windows XP wants to use its own "plug and play" driver, which will work, but not at the resolution that I am looking for (1400 dpi). Consequently I think I end up with a conflict between the Epson and the Windows driver, leading to an apparent communiction problem with the printer.

I do not know how to resolve this - can anyone help me?

Cheers

David

[Don Bryant]

David,

You need to install the Epson 1160 printer drivers for XP which you should download from Epson.com. The drivers shipped on the XP install disk are dumbed down and sometimes don't work properly.

I'm not sure why you posted your question here in the large format forum though.

Don Bryant

[Jorge Gasteazoro]

If Dan's suggestion does not help, put it on a tray with fixer...that oughta fix the problem.....

[Jeff_1630]

While I like both Dan and Jorge's answers, you need to go to Epson and download a driver. They may not have an XP driver for your printer, but if the have a win2000, that should work. I had to do the same thing for an Espon 1520 I had briefly.

Good luck,

[David Hedley]

Thanks for your responses - unfortunately it's still not working, despite multiple attempts to load the Epson XP driver.

Why am I posting this here? Because the output is integral to my LF photography, in the same way as others may view their silver prints, and I thought it was possible that someone may have experienced a similar problem and had a solution to hand.

[tim atherton]

David - are you running it off a printer port or USB?

Whichever one, try the other. Epson drivers up to around the time of the 1160 were pretty iffy with USB. Too long a cable for isntance, and it won't work.

I've run it win 98 and 2000 but not XP.

If none of that works, ask here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint/

still quite a few 1160 users doing quadtones there. You might get an answer (or search the archives.

My 1160 and my Epson 2200 are also both integral to my LF work...

tim

[David Hedley]

Tim,

I've tried both USB and parallel ports - same problem!

I'll try the forum you have listed - I wasn't aware of it before.

Thanks

David

[Rob Barker]

To answer Don's point, my feeling is that this thread will be useful to enough people here to justify letting it run. It may be best to delete it after a while though as I don't think that it needs to be preserved for posterity in the archives. If anyone has strong feelings feel free to email lfgroup@largeformatphotography.info

[Brian Ellis]

I don't understand Rob's response. Are you saying that digital printing questions are not supposed to be posted here? If they can be posted here then why wouldn't they be preserved in the archives? I thought the point of this forum was the film format used, not the method used to print it. If that's incorrect, and if the forum is restricted to "large format negatives printed in a traditional darkroom" I'll certainly follow that policy and not ask or respond to anything of a digital nature, but I'd appreciate it if Rob would say so publicly.

If that isn't the rule then I think those of us who scan and print our 4x5 and 8x10 negatives digitally would appreciate some guidance as to what types of digital printing questions are appropriate and which are not. In other words, was the problem something about this particular question as opposed to other digital questions that have been posted here without anyone objecting (see, e.g., the unsharp masking question a few messages up from this one) or are we just not supposed to say anything at all about digital printing?

[Rob Barker]

I'm ceratinly not saying that Brian - if the thread is felt to be useful it will certainly stay! My own feeling was that the subject is too computing-specific given the forum guidelines but I appreciate this is a subjective judgement.

[tim atherton]

IMO while this particualr question may be verging on a tad too software/bug/problem specific for the forum, on the other hand there are quite a lot (and the number will grow) of us printing our LF work (among other ways) on something like the Epson 1160 for B&W and the Epson 22000 and it's bigger siblings for colour. So I would think this is an area of discussion that will (and problably should?) grow on here as time goes on - comabarable to to discussions of how do I find and wire in a cold light head for my Omega whatever whatnot. As well as broader disussions on general working methods and principles.

[Jorge Gasteazoro]

I agree with Rob. Let me put it this way. My car is an integral part of my LF photography, yet if it breaks down I dont come on this forum to ask how to fix it. I understand the scanner/printer questions regarding the use of them with LF negatives, but to just come here and ask, how do I make my printer work? seems to me off topic and a question that probably could have been better answered by Epson or a digital group.

[D. Kevin Gibson]

I'm using my Chevy Impala to enlarge my large format negatives, but I'm coming up against a lot of problems. First, it seems really hard to find somewhere that is really dark enough that my paper, which is tacked to the garage doors, does not get fogged. I'm also finding that with the negative taped to the headlights I get a lot of unwanted curvature. Finally, I have installed Xeon bulbs for maximum light, but that means I need the engine on and so I'm geting all sorts of vibrations.

Any suggestions?

[Brian Ellis]

Kevin - I'd suggest asking Jorge about your problems. He thinks that asking questions here about equipment used to make prints is analogous to asking a question here about cars, so maybe he's using his car to make prints. If so, he perhaps has encountered problems similar to the ones you're having and could tell you how he solved them.

[Jorge Gasteazoro]

He thinks that asking questions here about equipment used to make prints is analogous to asking a question here about cars.



Apparently the analogy went above your head. I am simply saying that just because something has a remote use in LF it does not make it a LF issue. Perhaps this analogy would be easier for you to understand. I dry my test strip in my microwave, I dont come on this forum and ask how to use my microwave, do I?



According to you it would be allright if I did, since it is equipment used to make prints.....

[tim atherton]

Jorge - but we do have endless discussion about which cold light tubes to use in enlargers, how to level and align them, where to find spare parts for obscure old one, how to make home made film holders for them. That is a more correct anology imo.

I think it's well known that you don't exactly favour digital printing of photography (or at least that is the impression I have?) - so I'm not even sure why you would bother to comment on this?

[Jorge Gasteazoro]

Jorge - but we do have endless discussion about which cold light tubes to use in enlargers, how to level and align them, where to find spare parts for obscure old one, how to make home made film holders for them. That is a more correct anology imo.



I disagree, first I doubt you can back up the "endless" discussion part, but even then, I have yet to see one where the person would post a question like:



I plugged my enlarger and it did not work, why?



As matter of fact I have even a more personal example. When I moved to Mexico, UPS destroyed the control box for my Zone VI enlarger, the transformers were loose inside the casing and obviously the light did not work. As a matter of courtesy to all of you I did not come on this forum and ask how to fix it, although it is a LF enlarger, I thought this was a question that was off topic.
I first called Calument, they could not help, I then called a friend who is an EE and he told me how to fix it.



So you see, it is a matter of courtesy.



I think it's well known that you don't exactly favour digital printing of photography (or at least that is the impression I have?) - so I'm not even sure why you would bother to comment on this?



Given your opinion of my questions I am not surprised you have not been paying attention to what I express. You think wrong. As I have said many times among the prints I own I have 2 burkholders and I admire the prints done by David Fokos, David J Osborn, and others (not Gursky though.)But this is not a digital vs analog debate and I for one do not intend to make it one, think what you like.



There is nothing wrong for an appeal for help, when all other avenues have been exhausted, but some effort has to be done before a totally unrelated question is posted as a matter of courtesy. At least in my opinion. I recognize there are many digital questions, a good example is your last post. But that does not mean all digital questions are relevant.



Lastly, this is the last time I give you the courtesy of justifying myself and my participation in this or any other forum to you. If the editor and moderators of this site question my participation or deem it inapprorpiate then they have the right to do so and remove my responses...but not you...ok?

[tim atherton]

>Lastly, this is the last time I give you the courtesy of justifying myself and >my participation in this or any other forum to you.

thank God for for small mercies... !

just don't go back on your word okay

:-)

[Jorge Gasteazoro]

just don't go back on your word okay



No problem, ignoring you is easy. You should try it....

[Bob._3483]

"Cap'n! There's been a breach in the space/time continuumimumum and photo.net posts have suddenly passed through a wormhole and started appearing in the lf.info forum".... C'mon guys, I've bitten my sarcasm and restrained myself from posting twice in the last couple of days in reply to posts that were just *asking* for it - if I can do it, you can too....

FWIW, I currently do nothing digital apart from snapshots, but as this kind of problem becomes more common, it only seems logical to cover it. Sometimes, although a question may be of limited worth as far as archiving is concerned, the answers can be worth keeping as they have wider interest.

Windows XP is notorious for bad driver support. MS made a few subtle changes between 2000 and XP that they *thought* would have little effect, and indeed most Win2k drivers will run OK in XP - but some do not.

A few general thoughts...

Uninstall the printer and remove *all* existing drivers for the printer. Install the latest drivers from Epson. Some printers have different drivers for different printer languages (e.g. PCL and Postscript). If your printer has separate drivers, try the Postscript one - there is less to go wrong and it usually has more features that a PCL one.

Try the Microsoft site to see if MS has drivers for your printer (though I doubt it for this particular printer) - sometimes these will work when the manufacturer's ones have problems (strange, but experience shows it's true). Still no joy? Try to get an *older* version of the driver (again, unfortunately, unlikely in this case as we are dealing with XP).

Last, and probably in fact the first thing you should try: ask Mr Google - if you are having problems, chances are so are others. I could not begin to count the number of hardware and software problems I have solved thanks to the Web.

Cheers,

[Brian Ellis]

"I have yet to see one where the person would post a question like 'I plugged my enlarger and it would not work. Why"

There actually have been many questions along these lines about darkroom equipment. In maybe two minutes of searching the archives I found the following:

2/13/02 - Having problems with the motors controlling the filters on an Omega enlarger. The motors whirr but don't move the filters. Wants to know how to fix the motors or otherwise deal with the problem.

4/18/02 - Enlarger is out of alignment. Wants to know how to align it.

3/30/02 - Beseler enlarger isn't working with GraLab timer. Wants to know how to fix it.

2/20/02 - Enlarger is missing some parts. Wants to know what kind of diffusion glass should be used and whether heat resistant glass would work.

If it was worth spending the time I'm sure I could easily find at least a hunred other messages here along these same lines.

What you fail to grasp is that the person asking the Epson printer question was asking about an item of equipment that he uses to print his negatives. I agree that there could be difficult questions about how close a relationship must exist between photography and the equipment in question in order to be relevant and appropriate to this group but I don't see how this is even a close question. He's asking about how to fix a problem with equipment he uses to print photographs, just as the people above were doing. You had no problem with those questions, why this one?

"There is nothing wrong with an appeal for help when all other avenues of help have been exhausted but some effort has to be done before a totally unrelated question is posted as a matter of courtesy."

Thanks for letting us know about this rule you just made up. But first, fixing an item of equipment used to print photographs is hardly irrelevant to this group, and second, when were you annointed as the person who decides that other avenues have to be explored before any question can be posted here?

[Jorge Gasteazoro]

Thanks for letting us know about this rule you just made up. But first, fixing an item of equipment used to print photographs is hardly irrelevant to this group, and second, when were you annointed as the person who decides that other avenues have to be explored before any question can be posted here?



perhaps if you had bothered to read the last few words you would have caught the "as a matter of courtesy" bit. I know this is a concept beyond your understanding and foreign to you but never the less is not a "rule" I made.



Fixing an equipment is one thing, asking how to use it without even making the effort to use better and probably more reliable sources again is lack of courtesy.



OTOH you consider yourself all knowing in photographic matters. I have yet to see you give this guy an useful answer. So c'mon know it all, are you going to tell him how to fix his problem or are you here just to whine?

[Brian Ellis]

"OTOH you consider yourself all knowing in photographic matters."

Actually I don't. There are a few areas I know a fair amount about and a lot of areas I know a little about. There are many people who post here who know a lot more than I do. I don't consider myself "all knowing" at all, far from it. I don't know where you got that idea. Perhaps you'd care to cite some messages of mine where I indicated I was "all knowing."

"So c'mon know it all, are you going to tell him how to fix his problem or are you here just to whine?"

"Know it all?" I haven't called you names, I'd appreciate it if you would extend the same courtesy to me especially since you just finished telling us what courteous guy you were for not posting a question here about how to fix your Zone VI enlarger.

I don't have any idea how to solve his problem. I posted a message to ask Rob a question about the rules of the group as they relate to digital subjects. You then chimed in with your talk about cars and microwave ovens and how we all should fully exhaust other sources before posting anything here that you consider irrelevant and I've been responding to you. I thought it was o.k. to post messages about matters relating to the group without necessarily answering the original question. But then I suppose you've invented a rule for us to follow about that too.

[David Hedley]

I did not realise that this was going to kick up such a storm.



I think it is valid to check what is relevant for posting on this forum ; in my mind, my question is relevant (a) because I had spent two days exhausting all alternative approaches I could think of to solve the problem, without success, and was/am anxious for a solution, and more importantly (b) because the process of visualisation, for me at least, incorporates a conception of the print as it appears as output from my inkjet printer. Surely the latter is what photography - and perhaps large format photography most of all - is about?



Image capture for me is with a Toyo metal field (the original Sakai half plate camera), and a range of lenses, 65mm - 400mm, most of which I purchased second hand when I was living in Japan. I use Rodinal and PMK Pyro with TMax and Acros, and have a strong liking for Astia when I do colour. However the ability to print monochrome images up to A3 in size, on heavy matte paper, has opened new channels for me in terms of thinking about what images I create and visualise, and how they are presented. I simply don't have the ability to house a large format enlarger and darkroom, unfortunately, but I don't feel that this is a terminal disadvantage. I have a different kind of output, that's all.

I'm not sure I fully follow the traditional v. digital argument, which comes across as trite and contrived to me. I do only minimal intervention in Photoshop to an image, probably less in sum total than through traditional dodging / burning, etc. I see the essence of the image in the visualisation, not so much in the printing. In fact, the technical processes (image set-up, exposure, development, scanning, printing), for me are all one cycle which serves the original visualisation.

Best regards,

David

[Jorge Gasteazoro]

Know it all?" I haven't called you names, I'd appreciate it if you would extend the same courtesy to me especially since you just finished telling us what courteous guy you were for not posting a question here about how to fix your Zone VI enlarger.



Oh really? well I have taken the liberty to quote you from another site:



I gather that in your little mind if I've criticized Mr. Simmons



I suppose this was a compliment then uh?



Furthermore if you call someone a person with a "little mind" then it follows you must think of yourself as a "mental giant"....



So you see, courtesy is extended to those who deserve it. As to "solving" the problem, I did the same, I posted an agreement with Rob and you got started with your whining. So I suppose you like to dish it out but can take some of your same medicine uh?



OTHO you are correct I called you a "know it all" and that is not what you implied, I should have call you "mental giant"...sorry...



To David, here is the link to solve your problem.



http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/support/supDetail.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=yes&oid=14436&infoType=Trouble



You will see a window that says:



Support and Driver Information for Windows XP, Windows Me, and Mac OS X operating systems is now available



Go there and most likely you will find the solution to your problem....outside this forum.



So you see "mental giant" if you are going to whine, at least provide some help in defense of your "cause".

[David Hedley]

A happy man...

...is when Windows XP is uninstalled and life returns to normal. Various pieces of advice, including Jorge's helpful link above, unfortunately did not work, so I have retreated to my old version of Windows, and have just printed three beautiful A3 prints, akin to a palladium print, on Lyson soft fine art.

Firmly on topic......