Having problems setting up Epson 7900 through TCP/IP

[Paul Eby]

I've had this printer almost a year now and other than the usual clog problems it has been running well.

Unfortunately a couple of days ago the printer decide to change IP addresses on it's own and I can't get it back to it's original settings.

I enter info into the set up menu on the control panel but the printer always reverts back to a pre selected IP address or it acts as if I didn't even enter any info at all because if I go back into the menu it's set as if it's the first time entering IP data.

Any suggestions? - Paul Eby

[Farmer]

I've had this printer almost a year now and other than the usual clog problems it has been running well.

Unfortunately a couple of days ago the printer decide to change IP addresses on it's own and I can't get it back to it's original settings.

I enter info into the set up menu on the control panel but the printer always reverts back to a pre selected IP address or it acts as if I didn't even enter any info at all because if I go back into the menu it's set as if it's the first time entering IP data.

Any suggestions? - Paul Eby

Paul,

Turn it off and disconnect from the network.

Turn it on and then go into the control panel menu and choose Network Setup/Network Setup and then choose Enable.

Step back one level and then go to IP Address Setting and choose Panel (if you choose Auto it will look for a DHCP server and it if can't find one will allocate a default IP address that won't be of any use to you - I suspect this is what is happening to you at the moment).

Step back one level and then go to IP, SM, DG Setting and set your IP address and mask and such.

Step back one level and if you don't have Macs on the network or if you do but don't want to use Bonjour, select it and turn it off.  If you need Bonjour, turn it on.

Do not choose the Initialise settings.

Once that's all done, back out of the control menu and then switch the printer off - this should save the settings.  Plug in your network cable and turn it back on.  Make sure your workstation/server is looking at the right IP address in the port for the printer and see if it's working.

If it's not and the settings have all reverted, you may have a problem with the battery on the mainboard (although that usually prompts an error).  You can try updating firmware (if it's not already up to date) as well as very occassionally NVRAM can be corrupted and re-writing the firmware can help.  If it's the battery or if there's no determinable cause you'll need to speak with Epson about service, but that's the least likely situation.

Hope that helps :-)

[Paul Eby]

Paul,

Turn it off and disconnect from the network.

Turn it on and then go into the control panel menu and choose Network Setup/Network Setup and then choose Enable.

Step back one level and then go to IP Address Setting and choose Panel (if you choose Auto it will look for a DHCP server and it if can't find one will allocate a default IP address that won't be of any use to you - I suspect this is what is happening to you at the moment).

Step back one level and then go to IP, SM, DG Setting and set your IP address and mask and such.

Step back one level and if you don't have Macs on the network or if you do but don't want to use Bonjour, select it and turn it off.  If you need Bonjour, turn it on.

Do not choose the Initialise settings.

Once that's all done, back out of the control menu and then switch the printer off - this should save the settings.  Plug in your network cable and turn it back on.  Make sure your workstation/server is looking at the right IP address in the port for the printer and see if it's working.

If it's not and the settings have all reverted, you may have a problem with the battery on the mainboard (although that usually prompts an error).  You can try updating firmware (if it's not already up to date) as well as very occassionally NVRAM can be corrupted and re-writing the firmware can help.  If it's the battery or if there's no determinable cause you'll need to speak with Epson about service, but that's the least likely situation.

Hope that helps :-)

Thank you for the reply. I tried your suggestions and the Epson still picks it's own IP address.
 When you say "mainboard" are you talking about the Epson's mainboard or the PC? I have two PC's that I print from and both are unable to connect to the Epson. - Paul

[Farmer]

Thank you for the reply. I tried your suggestions and the Epson still picks it's own IP address.
 When you say "mainboard" are you talking about the Epson's mainboard or the PC? I have two PC's that I print from and both are unable to connect to the Epson. - Paul

Paul,

If it's all set as I described and it's still choosing its own IP address instead of keeping the one you set, then it could be a fault with the network card which is built into the mainboard of the printer or it could be the battery on the printer's mainboard (which means it's not keeping settings).  Have you noticed if any other setting changes are lost?  If you leave the printer powered on does it lose the IP, too?

I would contact Epson support at this point.  They will probably want to run through some other checks but really the IP shouldn't change once you set it, so that's why I suspect there's something wrong.  It could still be a more simple issue but without being able to check directly I'm a bit at a loss as to what it might be

You should be able to use USB to print in the meantime but calling support is the next step.

[Paul Eby]

Paul,

If it's all set as I described and it's still choosing its own IP address instead of keeping the one you set, then it could be a fault with the network card which is built into the mainboard of the printer or it could be the battery on the printer's mainboard (which means it's not keeping settings).  Have you noticed if any other setting changes are lost?  If you leave the printer powered on does it lose the IP, too?

I would contact Epson support at this point.  They will probably want to run through some other checks but really the IP shouldn't change once you set it, so that's why I suspect there's something wrong.  It could still be a more simple issue but without being able to check directly I'm a bit at a loss as to what it might be

You should be able to use USB to print in the meantime but calling support is the next step.

Thanks again for the help. Looks like I gotta drag out the 40' of USB cables I used while running the 7600. I'll give Epson a call.

[Justan]

What ip address does it assign itself?

What is the ip address of your workstation?

[Paul Eby]

What ip address does it assign itself?

What is the ip address of your workstation?

The printer assigns 192.168.1.102
Our workstations are .100 & .103

[Wayne Fox]

The printer assigns 192.168.1.102
Our workstations are .100 & .103

A 192. address is typically assigned by a DHCP server, normally on your DSL or cable modem/router.  A self assigned address is typically a 169.x.x.x address.  You can force the printer to use a 192.x.x.x. address if you know that is the NAT scheme the router is using, but the problem can cause a conflict with your DHCP server who may try and assign that address.  It router assumes it has control of a specific range of addresses.

I've never had a need to modify Epson's defaults for the ethernet port.  I suppose you could reset the printer to factory default and see if that might solve the problem.  You could also try setting the IP address to some high number just to make sure it isn't conflicting with another device on the network.

edit :  I assume you've printed out the network settings status sheet ... the key item there is the Get IP Address should say Auto.

[Justan]

The printer assigns 192.168.1.102
Our workstations are .100 & .103

What this demonstrates is that the printer is in the same range as the other workstations. This is good and implies that your DHCP server and your printer are working as expected.

Often the port used by a printer is the tcp/ip address of the device plus sometimes there is other stuff at the end.

On your workstation, open the print driver properties for this printer (as in go to Start, then Printers & Faxes, then open the drive for the printer), and then select the tab labeled “Ports.”

I'm going to take a leap here as I know how most devices use a tcp port but I haven’t seen how Epson does. With that said, Once in the Ports tab, scroll to the port with a check box to the left of it. That will be the port that has been assigned to this printer. Click on configure port button and a display with a few settings will come up. If the ip address you see in this display is different than what the printer is using, change it to match, click Apply and do a test page.

Typically under the Configure Port setting there is a check box under the field labeled “printer name or IP address” This checkbox has the following text above it: “Always print to this device, even if it’s IP address changes.” Make sure that field is checked and that should solve the problem if the ip address changes again in the future.

Try the above and let me know if/where what you see diverges from what’s described.

[Ken]

(Windows 7) I don't know if this will be of any value to you, but here's my story with the 7900 and ethernet: I got the printer a few days ago and spent a full day going around in circles with the [multiple expletives] ethernet setup. Could not get one [expletive] print! Finally, I rolled it closer to the computer and connected with USB. It took about 30 seconds for the automatic setup, and it was an image from heaven to see the printer interface immediately afterward. I quickly ran a tiny print just for a little relief, and it was beautiful. But the printer needs to be 20 feet away, so ethernet had to work. At least I knew the printer works, but I went back to banging my head against wall trying to get it to work on the network. Finally, I called Epson tech support. Veronica (calm demeanor, soothing voice and seems to know her biz) had me run EpsonNet, then unplug the ethernet cable from the printer while it was on! for about five seconds. I told her that this was one of the few times in my long life that I had actually read the instruction book and it said to never do that. She just chuckled... and I plugged the cable back into the printer... and it's been running fine since then.

[Farmer]

Paul - you've mentioned the address that the printer shows, but your original post said it was changing.  What has it been changing to or is that the address it keeps changing to?

What port IP address is set in the driver?

I was under the impression from your earlier posts that the issue was that the printer was changing IP address?

[Paul Eby]

Paul - you've mentioned the address that the printer shows, but your original post said it was changing.  What has it been changing to or is that the address it keeps changing to?

What port IP address is set in the driver?

I was under the impression from your earlier posts that the issue was that the printer was changing IP address?

That's correct, it was changing. Originally I had the printer set at 1.111 but I guess at one point I had too many pc's running on our network and it created a conflict. That's why I wanted to change it to 1.114.
While attempting this it would sometimes revert back to 1.102. There were also times it would hold at 1.114 (a ping confirmed that) but I still couldn't print. After checking back at the printer control panel it would be back at 1.102
I also noticed that the sub mask would also default to 255.255.000.0 while my local sub mask is 255.255.255.0

[ghaynes754]

Paul

That's pretty strange behavior.  Almost sounds like a memory trickle battery/capacitor has died, if there are still such animals.  If you haven't already called Epson i would give them a call.  The unit should either automatically determine an IP in the Auto mode or if you switch to manual allow you to enter the IP/Subnet/Gateway combination and then not change.  The only other thought is when you turn off the printer at night, assuming you don't leave it on 24/7, is the actual electrical circuit still live?  In other words is the wall outlet still powered?  Maybe if the entire circuit is being killed that might cause a problem but that would be a long shot.