Big Sur

[martin archer-shee]

I recently updated to Big Sur and all was fine until I went to print on my 3880's. No print driver is yet available for this printer. I am trying to roll back to Catalina at the moment. Glad I had used Time machine.  I will know in a couple of hours... Naturally I had a series of prints to make for a customer....

Just goes to show the need for a backup and also to check critical apps before an update. Epson said they have no driver and do not know when one will be available. I am sure there are many other printers in the same boat.
Good luck
Martin

[digitaldog]

My 3880 runs fine under Big Sur with the past driver used.

[martin archer-shee]

Hi Andrew
That is interesting. After not being able to print properly (in Big Sur) I used my MBP on Catalina and it was fine. I have just (in the last few minutes) got Catalina back on my iMac and will have another go tomorrow. I wonder if anyone else has any problem?
Just an added thought, I wonder if it could be the photo program I was using, Affinity Photo? I kind of doubt it as it is the latest release and it has been absolutely great.
Martin

[langier]

I had a color issue when I went from High Sierra to Mojave and with the shut-down didn't notice it too much since printing was sporadic for many months. On canvas it really became an issue but the head on my Epson 9900 was having issues with Vivid Magenta clogging so I simply cranked in Magenta layer to get it back until the head died.

Once the head got replaced and I was printing a little more regularly, still had print issues with prints looking somewhat but not quite like I was using sRGB as the ICC profile.

First, I trashed my driver but after I did a screen grab of my settings, just in case. Color was working again but the printer driver missing settings and was totally strange, like part of it was missing. So I trashed the print driver again, downloaded the latest driver from Epson (dated October 2014) and reinstalled the driver. Then I added the printer back and...Voila! All is well! Color is fine, all the settings were intact for my various papers and media combos, and I'm a happy camper.

So, go to your Systems Preferences, then to Printers & Scanners and toss your 3880. Download the current 3880 driver from Epson and install it. Go back to the Printers & Scanners and add your 3880 back to the device list and that may fix your issues.

Hopefully your driver problems will be solved like mine were and you'll be printing up a storm again!

[bobjoek]

Epson just posted new drivers on their website for Big Sur. I downloaded version 10.90 drivers for my SC P5000 and 3880 printers.

Bob

[martin archer-shee]

Thanks Bob
 Interesting , after I was told by Epson that they had no idea when a new driver would be available. Oh well!!

Naturally, I have just completed my Time Machine switch back to Catalina. Think I will wait a bit before  re-updating. Interestingly the part that first alerted me to a driver problem (before trying to print) was that the Epson Printer Utility 4 was not available. I assume that is now available in driver 10.90.

Thanks
Martin

[Eric Brody]

No disrespect implied, but I'll never understand the rush to upgrade Apple operating systems as soon as they come out. I've been using Mac's since April of 1984 and cannot recall when an OS update brought significant improvements that were worth the risk of problems. I usually wait until the .3 revision or 6 months or so to upgrade. I'm running Mojave on my laptop and Catalina on my iMac (because it's a 2020 and came with Catalina.) I understand that reviewers and those with responsibility to others regarding computer use might find it appropriate as a business decision. I'm a rank amateur but serious photographer and wish to have as little disruption of my work as possible. Happily many developers do upgrade their products pretty promptly these days. But all it takes is failure of one critical plug in to turn a good day into...

[martin archer-shee]

Hi Eric

No disrespect taken. I usually am a long waiter but this time circumstances brought me forward. My daughter has a business and uses her new iMac to do her web site etc. She and hubby had auto update on and they have Big Sur. I am a background helper/resource for her and we work well together fixing web or whatever programs she uses. Blind and blind at times. However being on the same base eliminates some problems.

I will probably wait awhile before I re-update, unless she has a problem.

You are definitely right about letting some of the bugs be found.

[martin archer-shee]

Hi Bob

You said you downloaded driver 10.90. How is it working on your 3880? Also, are you using Epson carts or refillables with something like Cone inks? Just worried that Epson might have decided to shut down non-Epson carts. I really like the Cone inks, especially their super dark blacks.
Thanks
Martin

Andrew, I believe you are using an older driver? I have 10.33 and that was what gave me trouble on Big Sur and why I am currently back on Catalina.
Thanks

[digitaldog]

Andrew, I believe you are using an older driver? I have 10.33 and that was what gave me trouble on Big Sur and why I am currently back on Catalina.
Thanks

My 3880 driver is 10.33, no issues.

[martin archer-shee]

Thanks Andrew

Interesting that yours works and mine did not??? Do you use the Epson Printer Utility 4? I think it is part of the driver system or separate, but am not sure which? I first noticed it missing when I wanted to do a nozzle check. Epson said that would be the case if a driver was missing or incomplete.

Martin

[digitaldog]

Thanks Andrew

Interesting that yours works and mine did not??? Do you use the Epson Printer Utility 4? I think it is part of the driver system or separate, but am not sure which? I first noticed it missing when I wanted to do a nozzle check. Epson said that would be the case if a driver was missing or incomplete.

Martin

The print driver works. The utility you ask for from it, does not. It opens but there's no visible GUI.
Do the nozzle check from the printer itself.

[Jeremy Roussak]

If you look here, you'll see how I found out how to do a nozzle check automatically. There's no reason why it shouldn't work just as well manually; nothing about it is dependant on the MacOS version.

Jeremy

[digitaldog]

I spoke too soon. The utility DID finally show up (took many minutes) as seen below (error because printer is off):

[kers]

Big Surprise

[BobShaw]

You are definitely right about letting some of the bugs be found.

I just posted in the Computers section my tips I found when upgrading to Catalina. They probably apply to Big Sur also.

[martin archer-shee]

Thanks Andrew, Bob and Jeremy

Jeremy. Had the pleasure of going through and under Manchester a few years back in a narrowboat... Even had the fun of meeting a few photo buddies I had met online previously. The world connections can be a real plus.
Martin

[Jeremy Roussak]

Jeremy. Had the pleasure of going through and under Manchester a few years back in a narrowboat... Even had the fun of meeting a few photo buddies I had met online previously. The world connections can be a real plus.

You could well have passed where I used to live, in Castlefield just next to one of the canals which was very popular with narrowboats. Manchester is very well connected with canals, stemming back to the need to get cotton from the coast to the mills.

Jeremy

[RobWignell]

Has anyone solved the 3880 printer driver problem with Big Sur?  I have a 3880 and a 7880 and both have the same problem of not being able to print using Big Sur on my 16" MacBook Pro.  I contacted Apple help and after a few escalations was told that Apple doesn't support these old printers and that I should try Epson for drivers.  To avoid complications I will only comment on the 3880 for the moment.

I called the Australian help desk for Epson.  I was told that they hadn't heard of this problem (as if this meant that it didn't exist).  There was also a hint that I should upgrade my printer.  Both of my printers are lightly used and work perfectly well.  The newer printers may well be marginally better but I don't need to replace printers that work well and have printed award winning images.

I have downloaded Epson 3880 drivers from the Epson Australia web site (Spro3880_3800_1085W_41.dmg ver 10.85 of 11-2020) and the Epson US web site (SP3880_1090_AM.dmg ver 10.90 of 12-8-20). Activating the Australian sourced driver takes you through all the normal installation processes until the last step when the installation stops.  The dialog tells me that "An error occured during installation." and "The installation failed."  See error dialog 1-3880 Aus driver.png. 

The driver from Epson US appears to install correctly, the dialog box at the end of the installation provides a tick and the text "The installation was successful.".  See dialog 2-3880 US driver.png.  But, when I try to use the driver to print I get another error message saying "Some of the software for the printer is missing.".  See dialog 3-3880 US driver.png.

Basically, with installing Epson printer drivers with Big Sur for the 3880 (and the 7880) I seem to have reached a dead end.
 
I have a clunky workaround using an old 2009 MacBook Pro and Qimage One for printing using both printers but, it seems to me that if Epson is prepared to sell ink for these printers then Epson should provide printer drivers that work.

Any updated information would be welcome.

[kers]

At some point you better use a proven system to do the printing... and so it becomes an essential part of the printer
Then you know it is stable- forever...
I even go back to 10.6 to print my ICC targets.