EPSON Software Updater: new firmware for Epson P800 or not ?

[Gennaro_27]

Hello everyone,

I would like to share with you a strange behavior of my Epson P800 regarding the download and installation of a alleged "new firmware". The 19 October EPSON Software Updater informed me that a new software was available to install.
I installed the new firmware and when I printed the Configuration Status the Main Firmware entry was OR12G4, different (as it would be) from the old one. After a couple of days I came back to print and I noticed that the firmware went back to the old one, the OR30G6.

Now, from the numbers it seems that OR30G6 is the newest one ! Do you have any idea what happens ?
Can you confirm that the firmware above is the correct one ?

Thanks and bests.
G.

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

I bought my P800 in August and put it into service in September.
My Main Firmware entry is also OR30G6.

After reading your post, I looked for the Epson Software Updater on my PC but  I couldn't find it, so I went to Epson Support, found it, and downloaded it. But when I tried to install it, it told me that a newer version was already installed.

I must assume that the "newer version" was included in the combination utility and driver package that I downloaded originally to setup my printer, while the older version is still available as a stand-alone.

Once you download any of these from Epson, the names are all in the form Epsonxxxxxx.exe, where the "xxxxxx" is a six digit number, and there is no reasonable way to tell which does what.

Anyway, mine seems to be working just fine with version OR30G6.

[Mark D Segal]

Honestly, I fail to understand the need for this annoying obscurantism when it comes to identifying the chronological version sequence of drivers and firmware. Why can't they use a simple numbering system with dates that allows one to know immediately what one has in the printer relative to the current version on the website?

[Farmer]

G6 is more recent than G4.  You can ignore the other numbers.

There is no way for the autoupdater or for any user to downgrade the firmware - only a service technician can do that.  In other words, you can never accidentally downgrade your firmware.

[Mark D Segal]

G6 is more recent than G4.  You can ignore the other numbers.

There is no way for the autoupdater or for any user to downgrade the firmware - only a service technician can do that.  In other words, you can never accidentally downgrade your firmware.

So is this a general rule - whatever the obscure numbering means, the higher the more recent and if it matches similar numbers on the website one is up to date?

[Benny Profane]

Interesting. Just installed Sierra, and then had a flaky experience printing to the Epson. Is there now a "Sierra ready" Epson update I should install?

[Mark D Segal]

Thanks for the heads-up Benny. What printer and what country? Did you try the uninstall/re-install routine yet?

I looked up the software package for the P800 on the Epson Canada website. To get to it, I had to specify an OS. So I selected OSX 10.12 - I believe that is Sierra. It then pulled up the download options, which have dates and code numbers. No explanations, no "ReadMe" file accompanying the downloads, so no RTF file accessible before you install anything that explicitly tells you what it contains and what OS versions are compatible with it. One must believe it is Sierra-capable because it was accessed from the 10.12 routing process. There's nothing here designed to give a user much insight or confirmation of and confidence in what they're doing.

But assuming you downloaded the correct version for the OS and you are encountering problems, it means either you made some mistake(s), or you are a victim of early adopter syndrome. Yet again, save for the possibility of pilot error, it could be that Epson and Apple are not yet sufficiently cohered on these updates, awaiting the early adopters to notify problems to them for further attention - i.e. customer-managed QA/QC on the cheap.

I'm waiting till at least January before I change anything, and then depending on the status of the general operating experience, I may upgrade.

[Wayne Fox]

Sierra works fine for me.  I didn't have to perform any driver updates, but have only printed to an 11880 so far.

However, it also depends on what system  you upgraded from, users that skip a generation or two of an OS sometimes get bit by something that others hit a couple of years ago. Also it could be somehow the AirPrint driver is getting in the way, easy to happen if you aren't very specific in setting up the printer in printer preference pane.

[Farmer]

Mark - the end digits (e.g. "G4" and "G6" in this case) are the version identifiers.  The preceding numbers have a meaning, but it's not relevant.

Regarding drivers for Sierra - as Mark says, that's 10.12 - the Updater from Epson at version 221.24 or later supports 10.12 (and that's been posted since August so far as I can see).  If you upgraded and have issues, I'd suggest deleting and reinstalling (the driver, not OS X!) and make sure you use the download from Epson and not any automated update from Apple.  If you still have issues, contact your local Epson support.

[Mark D Segal]

Thanks for the clarifications Phil. Could come in handy early next year. Cheers.