Epson 3800 driver issues on a Mac running 10.13.6

[George Hall]

Searching Epson's support site for available 3800 drivers, there are "compatible" drivers available for the latest version of High Sierra 10.13.6, but apparently no driver for the remote control panel.  After stripping out the old Plist file, uninstalling previous driver(s), etc., and reloading new drivers, the remote control panel is nowhere to be found....  Hence printer controls such as quality, speed, color control by printer (off or on), are no longer available - or are they?  Burrowing into "system preferences/printers & scanners....utilities" the symbol for remote panel appears but is greyed out (dead).  Printer functioned until the latest Mac High Sierra upgrade (am not keen about going backwards due to security upgrades).

Has anyone experienced this issue and how might you have solved it?   Comments are appreciated.

[Mark D Segal]

This might be superfluous - but one never knows - have you checked whether you've installed the Airprint driver or the Series driver. It's a very easy mistake to make because of the silly manner in which this option is set-up and trips up many people, including your's truly when this first appeared. For full functionality you must have the Series driver installed.

[Wayne Fox]

... but apparently no driver for the remote control panel.


.... Hence printer controls such as quality, speed, color control by printer (off or on), are no longer available

I’m a little confused.  Are you referring to the Epson LFP Remote panel?  There really isn’t any need of using this program, as all of the settings you refer to are available in the standard Epson printer dialog boxes when you print.  If they are missing then as Mark suggested you have the AirPrint driver loaded instead of the Epson one.

[George Hall]

Yes, I'm referring to the Epson LFP Remote Control Panel.

Doing a manual install of version 9.33 - the Epson-recommended driver for mac os 10.13.6 - no option for switching between airprint and series appears. I understand what is being said, but what iMac install process presents this choice as an option, as I haven't seen it?  Also, reviewing other older Epson printers and their available drivers suggests the remote control panel possibly has a separate driver, but none is shown/available for the 3800 using the latest Apple operating system. 

Thanks for your comments!

 

[Mark D Segal]

That's the problem - the option is easy to miss and the default is Airprint. I forget exactly where in the process this option appears - if I recall, it presents itself when one is adding the printer into the operating system, but don't take that as gospel - only sure advice I can provide - watch like a hawk over each step in the procedure. I can't say for sure whether this is your problem, but just one (perhaps significant) possibility.

[George Hall]

Thanks Mark and Wayne for your responses.

After going through macOS Sierra add/remove printer instructions once more, I'm finding that the auto install function doesn't work for the 3800, and there is no overt way to turn off airprint and use a series install, other than doing a manual driver install, with no popup available for turning off airprint (assuming it is running in the background by default). Just out of curiosity, I found an Epson remote panel driver, tried updating it, and while the 3880 appears on the available printer list, the 3800 doesn't, so there you go....  Time to move to a newer printer with current software (and there are indeed better printers now). For us mac users, I can only imagine what is going to happen when Apple rolls out Mojave, and Epson and Canon try to catch up with new drivers....

[Mark D Segal]

Now that I think of it, back in the days of the 3800, there was no such thing as Airprint, so one wonders whether the format of the driver they now provide for that 9 year old model is only one thing and simply doesn't cohere properly with the latest OS and what you now need. Hard to say. In any case YES - a printer upgrade seems the most sensible approach.

As for the coherence between printer drivers and forthcoming operating systems, my understanding is that Apple provides third-party developers with kits and instructions about six months before the release of the upgraded operating systems so they can prepare to offer functional upgrades of their own products, as necessary, to customers. One hopes it really works that way!

[Wayne Fox]

The “AirPrint” driver is actually just the default driver baked into the OS for Epson printers.  There is no “switching”, to avoid the AirPrint driver you need to make sure you are selecting the available printer using the correct driver when setting it up in the Printer dialog box.  When detecting a new printer Mac OS will automatically create a printer for it and show it in the list in the printer preference pane.  Just select it and then delete it.

I believe if you click the + button to add a printer, a pop up menu sometimes appears with the current available printers listed. If you select the 3800 there, you will get the Apple driver.  You need to make sure you open the Add printer dialog box and see a list of printers, and often there will be several options for the same printer, especially if you are connecting via a network.  If you are connecting via network, it is important you selection the EPSON TCPIP choice, not the bonjour choice.

The 3800 should work fine even with the current OS.  Epson lists driver 9.33 as compatible with OS 10.13 so there is no reason this wouldn’t work.

You can tell if you have the right driver by opening the printers queue, selecting the 3800 in your list of printers, then clicking the Open Queue button.  Click the settings button in that window and it should tell you the driver version being used, which should be 9.33.

[Mark D Segal]

But Wayne - is driver 9.33 fully compatible with the 3800? 

[Alan Goldhammer]

But Wayne - is driver 9.33 fully compatible with the 3800?

Epson lists this driver on their 3800 section of the website as the one to use for MacOS 10.13x.  The OP should check it out:  https://epson.com/Support/Printers/Professional-Imaging-Printers/Epson-Stylus-Pro-Series/Epson-Stylus-Pro-3800-Professional-Edition/s/SPT_C635011PRO?review-filter=macOS+10.13.x

[Mark D Segal]

Hi Alan - I was aware of that but there can be a difference between what works and what works completely adequately in practice. That is more what I was inquiring about.

Good that Wayne recalled the whole procedure for identifying and installing the Series versus the Airprint driver. I hadn't done it since I first tested and reviewed the P800 printer and ran into that problem.

[Alan Goldhammer]

Hi Alan - I was aware of that but there can be a difference between what works and what works completely adequately in practice. That is more what I was inquiring about.

Good that Wayne recalled the whole procedure for identifying and installing the Series versus the Airprint driver. I hadn't done it since I first tested and reviewed the P800 printer and ran into that problem.

Yes, it may be that the confusion that Apple has sown regarding driver installation is what caused the problem initially.  LuLa is a great resource for helping folks work through some of these glitches.

[Mark D Segal]

Yes, it may be that the confusion that Apple has sown regarding driver installation is what caused the problem initially.  LuLa is a great resource for helping folks work through some of these glitches.

Glad you mention that - it is indeed Apple. When I discussed this Airprint priority nonsense with Epson, they told me it is mandated by Apple and they had to design their driver to comply.

[Wayne Fox]

But Wayne - is driver 9.33 fully compatible with the 3800?

If you download the 3800 driver from Epson USA support site for the 3800 printer, 9.33 is the version they provide. The also list it as compatible with Mac OS 10.13.

 I have no way to test it, I can only assume it works based on that.

[Mark D Segal]

Fair enough. The OP will have to play around a bit more to make sure it is all correct.

[George Hall]

Thank you Wayne and Mark for your patience and considered responses.

I followed Wayne's suggestion, and in addition deleated the Epson Plist file folder, and when the 3800 appeared on the Printers and Scanners panel, tried adding the printer using "+" and received a pop-up saying "Some of the software is missing. You may have to reinstall the software to be able to successfully print."  After trying to proceed, the pop-up message appears "The software for the printer was installed incorrectly. Please install the software from the manufacturer."  After doing a manual install of version 9.33, "airprint" does not appear after Epson 3800 when it is highlighted in the Printer/Scanner panel (and I have other devices that, when highlighted, result in "airprint" being listed).  But, when the 3800 is highlighted in the Printers and Scanners panel, after opening "Options and Supplies," and "Open Printer Utility," the Epson LFP Remote remains greyed out with the other options working.  Looking at the 3800 printer in LR under Printer in the Print Module, I'm finding a few more controls active, but still cannot reset color management, but I'm seeing more controls active than I did before, including being able to control print and paper settings (except for color management).  Fortunately printer manages color was turned off when the latest Apple OS installed itself....  So while the remote panel utility is unavailable, I can control most of what I need through LR. A long way around the barn.  Thanks for your assistance!

Yes indeed, LuLa is a tremendous resource.

[Wayne Fox]

The color management setting of the driver in the Epson dialog box is controlled by the setting you make in LR.  If you tell LR to let the printer manage color, the color management choices in the Epson dialog box are active.  If you tell LR to use a color Profile, then in the epson dialog box  color management choices are greyed out and set to no color management.

[Mark D Segal]

Correct - added to which, in the "Managed by Printer Option", you do need to select "EPSON Color Controls" in the driver if "ColorSync" was previously active and you now want printer colour management using the controls available in the driver. 

[George Hall]

Thanks, gentlemen.  Problems solved. Controls are back!

Appreciate your assistance.

Best regards,
George

[Mark D Segal]

Good!