"Encryption credentials have expired"

[RobWignell]

On New Year's Eve I sent a small document to my Epson WF-3640 multifunction printer.  It has worked reliably for years but yesterday the printer dialog paused the printing before it started and showed an error message saying that my Encryption credentials have expired.  It seems that I am not alone as there were numerous queries on the Apple support site and some suggested solutions which involved turning the printer off, removing the printer using the "System Settings > Printers & Scanners" dialog then turning the printer back on. 

If unsuccessful (as I was), the next recommended step is to download an "Self certificate" which can be accessed from the printer install dialog.  Before scrolling through the details I took a screen shot (attched) and pressed the Go button.  The Go button took me to an Epson site that could see all the details of my printer but there was no ability that I could find to change anything without a password which I have no idea how to get.

Apple support led me through the steps described above but managed to get me to right click in the "Printers and Scanners" dialog and this deleted my WF-3640 as well as my Epson 3880 and 7880.  I have been able to add the WF-3640 to my printer list but when used for printing still produces the "Encryption credentials have expired" message. 

The 3880 won't add to the printer list and instead shows the error message: "The software for the printer was installed incorrectly" (see warning dialog attached).  I have tried the most recent driver for the 3880 - V12.62  SP3880_1262_AM.dmg, but it generates the "... installed incorrectly" message too.

Grateful to hear if anyone else is having a similar experience and better still has found a solution.

Rob Wignell

[BobShaw]

I don't know the answer in your particular case but the solution to the Y2K problem when there was no other solution was to simply wind back the date on the device. Why does it need encryption?

[RobWignell]

BobShaw asked why does it need encryption?

The Answer seems to be that it is an Apple thing related to AirPrint.  Apparently, AirPrint looks for a trusted security certificate issued by a printer company for its printers (it is probably a specific certificate for each printer) so that Apple can be confident that the data it sends to a printer can't be intercepted.  I never knew that I had one of these certificates until it expired.

As for setting the date back, a year or so, there are too many features that rely on a satellite time stamp to go down that rabbit hole.

Thanks for your interest.

[rasworth]

The "website" was your printer, accessed via its built in configuration webpage.  The default password for accessing Epson printers is the serial number.

Good luck,

Richard Southworth

[rsilber]

I don't know the answer in your particular case but the solution to the Y2K problem when there was no other solution was to simply wind back the date on the device. Why does it need encryption?

I experienced this in recent days too on two different macs. In my situation, both were printing to an Epson WF-4640 office printer, not my Canon photo printer.

I tried to grant permissions in the Trust Certificate, to no avail. Then, realizing in System Preferences/Printers that these were Air Print drivers, I deleted the printer on both machines, then reinstalled as a non-air print driver. In both cases, my problem was resolved.

Hope this helps your trouble-shooting 

[RobWignell]

Thanks for the suggestions and comments.  The printing problem was solved by going to the Epson Web site.  I clicked the Epson Support option and chose the Product Setup button (on attached image).  From there I was able to install all the softwre for the printer driver. 

Thanks to Richard S for pointing out that the default password is the printer serial number.  At some stage I must have made an undocumented change as the serial number doesn't work.  In the end this did not matter.

In all, the solution of re-loading the software was surprisingly simple and effective.  Much better than mucking around with security certificates.

Rob

[rasworth]

Rob,

Sorry I gave you bum information wrt password.  I looked up your user manual, states that when using web configuration the password is blank initially, then may be changed by user.  Also states that if password is forgotten call Epson for assistance to reset.  I believe you want to run this down, as the encryption problem may reoccur.  Again, the "website" is internal to your printer firmware, not an external site.  Your pdf showed a private IP address, i.e. one on your local network, in this case the printer.

I assumed system worked like my ET-8550, not true.

Richard Southworth