Epson 4900 network problem

[walter.sk]

I've been using this great printer for about a year on a Windows 7 64 bit computer.  Several times during the past week I went to print and the file got sent to the print queue from Qimage but did not activate the printer.  Some investigation showed that the printer was not online.  Various combinations of turning of the printer, rebooting the computer, and/or turning my Westel network switch/router off and on seemed to fix the problem, until tonight.

Now, no matter what I do the printer stays off line.  The  computer has no trouble getting onto the internet using the DSL line through the router.  The printer is set up to get the IP address automatically, and still indicates the same IP address it has used for a year.

I consider it a major accomplishment that I understand my cameras, my photo processing software, etc.  But I absolutely do not understand network stuff enough to input information manually.  My scant knowledge of troubleshooting tells me I probably need to uninstall the printer, the printer driver and software and reinstall it.  Are there any precautions before I start the process?  The Epson 4900 user's guide sounds straight forward on this but for me, there is always an unforeseen trap...

Also, am I right in assuming, since the DSL router connects with the internet and I can still access the internet through it from my computer, that there is nothing wrong with the computer, DSL router and phone line?  Is it likely that the ethernet board in the printer went south? Or is it most likely corrupted software?

[howardm]

I doubt anything is actually wrong/defective w/ anything (printer, computer, etc).

What most likely happened is that since the printer was told to get its netwrok address 'dynamically' (from the Westel modem/router), that address can and does 'expire'.  When that happens, the computers idea of the printers address is obsolete and bam, you cannot connect to the printer anymore.  I'd bet that deleting the printer and re-instantiating it in the Add Printer dialog will fix the problem (for a while until this happens again (which it can/does when you reboot or power off things)).

[hugowolf]

Does the printer work independently? Can you print a test page from the printer console?

DHCP, the dynamic allocation of an IP address isn’t a good idea on such a small network. I would allocate a fixed address for the printer, and set the computer up to use that.

Also, am I right in assuming, since the DSL router connects with the internet and I can still access the internet through it from my computer, that there is nothing wrong with the computer, DSL router and phone line?  Is it likely that the ethernet board in the printer went south? Or is it most likely corrupted software?

The phone line has nothing to do with your internal network, it is its connection to the outside world.
The NIC (network interface card) has to be working or you wouldn’t be able to access the internet.
It isn’t DSL specific, t is just called Ethernet cable, which is often category 5 cable: you could check the connection from the printer to the router.

Brian A

[elolaugesen]

there was new firmware released late june 2012 on the european site to handle printing from multiple sources   ie networking..

cheers elo

[walter.sk]

Thanks all for all the good advice.  I deinstalled the printer and software, reinstalled, and updated the firmware.  I kept the auto-detect the IP address because I can't figure out what to enter manually, but it works again.  Whew!