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Author Topic: Epson 9900 firmware update  (Read 25164 times)

tony wyeth

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Epson 9900 firmware update
« on: October 07, 2009, 07:03:16 am »

Epson 9900 firmware update on 6th Oct and Driver to 6.61.I have updated, lets hope it solves our waste ink problems.
Regards to all.
Tony
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Guigui

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« Reply #1 on: October 07, 2009, 07:41:48 am »

Quote from: tony wyeth
Epson 9900 firmware update on 6th Oct and Driver to 6.61.I have updated, lets hope it solves our waste ink problems.
Regards to all.
Tony

"This version improves the cleaning sequence" (seen on epson.co.uk)

Hurray !
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JasonHopkins

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« Reply #2 on: October 07, 2009, 08:53:29 am »

Quote from: tony wyeth
Epson 9900 firmware update on 6th Oct and Driver to 6.61.I have updated, lets hope it solves our waste ink problems.
Regards to all.
Tony



I am holding my breath  

pleverington

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« Reply #3 on: October 07, 2009, 12:36:32 pm »

Thanks for the heads up tony! Where did you find the updates--I'm not seeing them on the epson site.

Paul
« Last Edit: October 07, 2009, 12:58:17 pm by pleverington »
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Guigui

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« Reply #4 on: October 07, 2009, 01:43:28 pm »

Quote from: pleverington
Thanks for the heads up tony! Where did you find the updates--I'm not seeing them on the epson site.

Paul

I checked Epson USA website earlier today and the update wasn't available from there, but it was up on Epson Europe. Oddly, this is the second time that European websites are updated earlier than epson.com.

Anyway, if you run the automatic firmware updater you should be able to download the new firmware.
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Farmer

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« Reply #5 on: October 07, 2009, 04:10:37 pm »

Quote from: Guigui
I checked Epson USA website earlier today and the update wasn't available from there, but it was up on Epson Europe. Oddly, this is the second time that European websites are updated earlier than epson.com.

Anyway, if you run the automatic firmware updater you should be able to download the new firmware.

It's also on the Epson Australia website (has been for a few days).

http://tech.epson.com.au/downloads/ then follow the various menus to get to the product and the downloads.

It gives you some new menu options - basically 3 settings.  Default is similar to what you have now, but improved in the operation.  Setting 2 and 3 progressively "tune down" the agressiveness of cleaning, with 3 basically just alerting you to potential nozzle blocks but continues to print.  You can do a manual check to decide if you need to run a clean or not.
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Phil Brown

Wayne Fox

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« Reply #6 on: October 07, 2009, 06:21:23 pm »

Quote from: Guigui
"This version improves the cleaning sequence" (seen on epson.co.uk)

Hurray !


Some detail would be nice ... that's about as vague as it comes.  Those that have installed the update should post any changes they see in menu options for nozzle checks and cleanings, as well as any new behavior.  I believe Jeff stated they were planning on removing the ANC function from cleaning of color pairs which would be a good move.

Quote from: Farmer
It gives you some new menu options - basically 3 settings.  Default is similar to what you have now, but improved in the operation.  Setting 2 and 3 progressively "tune down" the agressiveness of cleaning, with 3 basically just alerting you to potential nozzle blocks but continues to print.  You can do a manual check to decide if you need to run a clean or not.

So it affects how sensitive ANC is to clogs?  Still no option to completely disable it?  It sounds like these only apply to before print checks, not when doing cleans or black ink swaps?

Quote from: Guigui
I checked Epson USA website earlier today and the update wasn't available from there, but it was up on Epson Europe. Oddly, this is the second time that European websites are updated earlier than epson.com.

Anyway, if you run the automatic firmware updater you should be able to download the new firmware.

Actually that's SOP for Epson ... almost all firmware updates are available from the UK site before the US site.  Not sure if it's operational ... Epson USA web guys are busier, or if Epson USA does additional testing.
« Last Edit: October 07, 2009, 06:24:14 pm by Wayne Fox »
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vjbelle

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« Reply #7 on: October 08, 2009, 03:01:24 pm »

Quote from: Wayne Fox
Some detail would be nice ... that's about as vague as it comes.  Those that have installed the update should post any changes they see in menu options for nozzle checks and cleanings, as well as any new behavior.  I believe Jeff stated they were planning on removing the ANC function from cleaning of color pairs which would be a good move.
I have installed the update but have not been able to find any new menu options.  I would like to know where Phil has found the menu items he is referring to.
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Wayne Fox

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« Reply #8 on: October 08, 2009, 03:31:28 pm »

Quote from: vjbelle
I have installed the update but have not been able to find any new menu options.  I would like to know where Phil has found the menu items he is referring to.


Same here.  I can't find any changes in the menus, and have no clue what the firmware actually does to improve things.  Will continue to use service mode and service mode cleans for now.
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vjbelle

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« Reply #9 on: October 08, 2009, 04:09:20 pm »

Quote from: Wayne Fox
Same here.  I can't find any changes in the menus, and have no clue what the firmware actually does to improve things.  Will continue to use service mode and service mode cleans for now.
Just for reference my printer version is now [HW01699,1.12,A000]
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Farmer

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« Reply #10 on: October 08, 2009, 06:22:16 pm »

My previous reply was eaten :-)

In the Maintenance Menu (ie turn on the printer with the pause button held down) there's a new option of Auto Cleaning Times with options for values of 1, 2 or 3.

These basically range from "same as now, but with more accurate AID giving better ANC results" to "Just alert the user to a potential block and then let them decide if they want to clean".

Once you initiate a clean it will do a check with the AID, but it's more accurate now and the combination of accuracy and control over the default behaviour should improve things considerably.
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Phil Brown

vjbelle

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« Reply #11 on: October 08, 2009, 06:33:50 pm »

Quote from: Farmer
My previous reply was eaten :-)

In the Maintenance Menu (ie turn on the printer with the pause button held down) there's a new option of Auto Cleaning Times with options for values of 1, 2 or 3.

These basically range from "same as now, but with more accurate AID giving better ANC results" to "Just alert the user to a potential block and then let them decide if they want to clean".

Once you initiate a clean it will do a check with the AID, but it's more accurate now and the combination of accuracy and control over the default behaviour should improve things considerably.
Thanks for clarifying...... out of curiosity how do you know this to be the true function of this FW update?  Just out of curiosity
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Farmer

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« Reply #12 on: October 08, 2009, 07:28:54 pm »

Quote from: vjbelle
Thanks for clarifying...... out of curiosity how do you know this to be the true function of this FW update?  Just out of curiosity

That's the information that I have from Epson.  I expect more detail will be published shortly.
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Phil Brown

Ryan Grayley

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« Reply #13 on: October 09, 2009, 12:21:00 pm »

Quote from: Farmer
In the Maintenance Menu (ie turn on the printer with the pause button held down) there's a new option of Auto Cleaning Times with options for values of 1, 2 or 3.

Does the title of the new menu option refer to the number of times the printer will attempt a clean?
I updated my firmware today and the number of cleaning times was already set to 1.
So at the moment, will my printer make just one attempt to clean?
And if I change the setting to 2, will my printer makes two attempts to clean etc?

Any clarification would be great!
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Ryan Grayley BA IEng MIET ARPS
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Wayne Fox

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« Reply #14 on: October 09, 2009, 01:37:00 pm »

Quote from: Ionaca
Does the title of the new menu option refer to the number of times the printer will attempt a clean?
I updated my firmware today and the number of cleaning times was already set to 1.
So at the moment, will my printer make just one attempt to clean?
And if I change the setting to 2, will my printer makes two attempts to clean etc?

Any clarification would be great!

Agreed.  Is this even a new feature?  I wasn't aware of this menu ... could this have been there all of the time? Odd this is in a menu designed for service techs, not end users - I can't find any mention of it in the documentation.  So is the change the default use to be 3 and now the default is 1 but you can change it back to 3?

So if I start a cleaning cycle and this is set to one, does that mean it won't clean again even if it detects a clog .. meaning if I have the printer set to not do auto nozzle checks between prints, the only time it will do an ANC on it's own is when changing black inks?  I guess that's useful, but I think I still prefer to control how aggressive the cleaning cycle is with service mode.  I almost always can clear a "clog" with a CL1 ... very little ink.  Wish they would just put the service mode functionality in a normal menu with an option to have ANC only report when it fails.

I still am unsure that these are "clogs".  Yesterday after sitting idle for about 5 days I started up my 7900, and 100% of the Cyan nozzles were "clogged".  Not a single spec of cyan ink anywhere.  All the other colors were perfect.  After a CL1 of that channel, 100% of the cyan channel was functioning.  Hard to see how this could be caused by ink clogs in the nozzles.  I'm seeing this a few times a month now, where all or nearly all of a color does this, and a simple channel clean clears it up completely.



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mikev1

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« Reply #15 on: October 09, 2009, 02:54:06 pm »

Quote from: Wayne Fox
Agreed.  Is this even a new feature?  I wasn't aware of this menu ... could this have been there all of the time? Odd this is in a menu designed for service techs, not end users - I can't find any mention of it in the documentation.  So is the change the default use to be 3 and now the default is 1 but you can change it back to 3?

So if I start a cleaning cycle and this is set to one, does that mean it won't clean again even if it detects a clog .. meaning if I have the printer set to not do auto nozzle checks between prints, the only time it will do an ANC on it's own is when changing black inks?  I guess that's useful, but I think I still prefer to control how aggressive the cleaning cycle is with service mode.  I almost always can clear a "clog" with a CL1 ... very little ink.  Wish they would just put the service mode functionality in a normal menu with an option to have ANC only report when it fails.

I still am unsure that these are "clogs".  Yesterday after sitting idle for about 5 days I started up my 7900, and 100% of the Cyan nozzles were "clogged".  Not a single spec of cyan ink anywhere.  All the other colors were perfect.  After a CL1 of that channel, 100% of the cyan channel was functioning.  Hard to see how this could be caused by ink clogs in the nozzles.  I'm seeing this a few times a month now, where all or nearly all of a color does this, and a simple channel clean clears it up completely.


I agree with you Wayne.  I'm not sure they are clogs either.  I see this all the time switching from PK to MK in service mode and then doing a nozzle check, and it isn't always just the black inks.  I think it might be air bubbles at least some of the time.
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Farmer

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« Reply #16 on: October 09, 2009, 04:48:41 pm »

Quote from: Wayne Fox
Agreed.  Is this even a new feature?  I wasn't aware of this menu ... could this have been there all of the time? Odd this is in a menu designed for service techs, not end users - I can't find any mention of it in the documentation.  So is the change the default use to be 3 and now the default is 1 but you can change it back to 3?

It's definitely a new feature - not present in previous firmware.  This isn't really a service tech menu (there are service mode menus, which are different) but users aren't encouraged to go in there unless they have a problem.

The changes aren't a case of now it's 1 and used to be 3 - there used to be no options.  The changes are in the sensitivity of the AID and the behaviour of the printer in responding to detecting blockages.

I'm waiting for exact details - as I said, I expect them to be published shortly then you will have an official source to refer to :-)
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Phil Brown

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« Reply #17 on: October 09, 2009, 05:25:27 pm »

Quote from: Farmer
It's definitely a new feature - not present in previous firmware.  This isn't really a service tech menu (there are service mode menus, which are different) but users aren't encouraged to go in there unless they have a problem.

The changes aren't a case of now it's 1 and used to be 3 - there used to be no options.  The changes are in the sensitivity of the AID and the behaviour of the printer in responding to detecting blockages.

I'm waiting for exact details - as I said, I expect them to be published shortly then you will have an official source to refer to :-)


Look forward to more info.  I guess it makes sense the menu is in maintenance mode menu, since it most likely will be a set once type of option and for many the default will be fine.

The menu description doesn't sound like it has anything to do with the sensitivity of the system ... it sounds like all it affects is how many times it will attempt to clean when the system detects a clog before "failing".  Before the update it seemed like it would try 3 times, but it was hard to tell if it was 2 or 3.  As I mentioned it seems like all this does is make it so it won't ever do multiple cleanings on it's own when set to 1.

But then again small menus like this don't always communicate their intent very well ... maybe the label should have been ANC sensitivity or something like that.

Oh well ... I'll keep doing things like I have been (service mode) until someone gets an "official" word.
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Farmer

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« Reply #18 on: October 09, 2009, 06:07:18 pm »

Quote from: Wayne Fox
The menu description doesn't sound like it has anything to do with the sensitivity of the system ... it sounds like all it affects is how many times it will attempt to clean when the system detects a clog before "failing".  Before the update it seemed like it would try 3 times, but it was hard to tell if it was 2 or 3.  As I mentioned it seems like all this does is make it so it won't ever do multiple cleanings on it's own when set to 1.

But then again small menus like this don't always communicate their intent very well ... maybe the label should have been ANC sensitivity or something like that.

It's not a sensitivity menu, Wayne.  The accuracy of the AID system (not sensitivity) has been improved.  That's constant - it's always more accurate.  Sorry if I conveyed some other meaning.
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Phil Brown

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« Reply #19 on: October 09, 2009, 07:49:06 pm »

Quote from: Farmer
It's not a sensitivity menu, Wayne.  The accuracy of the AID system (not sensitivity) has been improved.  That's constant - it's always more accurate.  Sorry if I conveyed some other meaning.

OK .. my brain fog is gradually lifting ... the improvement in the AID system is not really connected to the new menu setting ... more of an "under the hood" improvement.  The new menu setting just offers another option.  I may turn ANC back on and run it normally for a while to see what happens.
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