IT Help for Epson Thermal Receiprt Printer
April 6, 2010 4:51 PM Subscribe
Would any IT / library people out there have any suggestions for troubleshooting our (old!) Epson TM T88III thermal receipt printers? We can't get them to work with the new computers...
Well, this is a last-ditch effort before I spend 700 bucks on new printers.
My library has been (successfully) using Epson TM T88III thermal receipt printers on our circulation computers. I was fortunate enough to be able to buy new circulation computers - but we have not been able to get the printers to work on the new machines.
Specifics:
* The old machines run Windows XP Professional as do the NEW machines (our library has Town administered IT, and they have not switched over to Windows 7 yet.) Both old and new systems are Dell machines. The new machines are NOT 64 bit, but are 32 bit, like the old machines.
* The person who bought the printers (about 4 years ago) bought them with a PARALLEL cable (even though USB was available - sigh). This was not a problem as the old machines came standard with parallel ports.
* You guessed it - the new machines do NOT have parallel ports.
* Even though I am capable of installing new hardware (I am not an IT professional, but I have built boxes before, so I do know my way around a computer), I decided to have the IT dept handle it (keeps me safe from making a mistake that they won't fix). The IT guy installed parallel port cards in the new machines, we downloaded the latest drivers (from Epson and a couple of other sources recommended to us by the IT dept for the library consortia who administers our circulation software) - but no dice. We tried several drivers. The computer seems to recognize the printer, but FAILS to send the info to the printer.
* The IT guy spent a morning on it, and then gave up. Said he had no idea what the issue is, other than there is some conflict preventing the printer from communicating with the port. He sent an email to Epson Expert, but has not heard anything back - that was three weeks ago. Apparently, he is done trying to make this work, and I am left with new computers sitting unused on my desk.
* We also tried a parallel to USB cord, but that didn't work either.
At this point, I am looking at buying new printers, as this model is out-dated (duh). But that's a lot of money that I would like to avoid spending if I can.
Anyone have any ideas?
Thanks!
Well, this is a last-ditch effort before I spend 700 bucks on new printers.
My library has been (successfully) using Epson TM T88III thermal receipt printers on our circulation computers. I was fortunate enough to be able to buy new circulation computers - but we have not been able to get the printers to work on the new machines.
Specifics:
* The old machines run Windows XP Professional as do the NEW machines (our library has Town administered IT, and they have not switched over to Windows 7 yet.) Both old and new systems are Dell machines. The new machines are NOT 64 bit, but are 32 bit, like the old machines.
* The person who bought the printers (about 4 years ago) bought them with a PARALLEL cable (even though USB was available - sigh). This was not a problem as the old machines came standard with parallel ports.
* You guessed it - the new machines do NOT have parallel ports.
* Even though I am capable of installing new hardware (I am not an IT professional, but I have built boxes before, so I do know my way around a computer), I decided to have the IT dept handle it (keeps me safe from making a mistake that they won't fix). The IT guy installed parallel port cards in the new machines, we downloaded the latest drivers (from Epson and a couple of other sources recommended to us by the IT dept for the library consortia who administers our circulation software) - but no dice. We tried several drivers. The computer seems to recognize the printer, but FAILS to send the info to the printer.
* The IT guy spent a morning on it, and then gave up. Said he had no idea what the issue is, other than there is some conflict preventing the printer from communicating with the port. He sent an email to Epson Expert, but has not heard anything back - that was three weeks ago. Apparently, he is done trying to make this work, and I am left with new computers sitting unused on my desk.
* We also tried a parallel to USB cord, but that didn't work either.
At this point, I am looking at buying new printers, as this model is out-dated (duh). But that's a lot of money that I would like to avoid spending if I can.
Anyone have any ideas?
Thanks!
You're sure it's not a software issue? Is the software set up to go to the machine's default printer? If so, is the receipt printer the default? Was the software installed before the printers were (e.g. maybe reinstall your circ software)?
I know these sound obvious, but when I'm troubleshooting our Voyager installations I always try to start at both the hardware and software ends. Library circulation software can be an odd beast, and I often bang my head against a wall for a while before noticing some small setting that's off in the application.
posted by arco at 5:27 PM on April 6, 2010
I know these sound obvious, but when I'm troubleshooting our Voyager installations I always try to start at both the hardware and software ends. Library circulation software can be an odd beast, and I often bang my head against a wall for a while before noticing some small setting that's off in the application.
posted by arco at 5:27 PM on April 6, 2010
Oh, and what circulation software are you using? Sometimes a message to a user group listserv will turn up somebody else who has been in the exact same situation.
posted by arco at 5:30 PM on April 6, 2010
posted by arco at 5:30 PM on April 6, 2010
Do you know if the parallel ports the IT guy installed actually work?
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 5:36 PM on April 6, 2010
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 5:36 PM on April 6, 2010
Response by poster: deezil - thanks, I will try that.
arco - we use Millenium. The IT person who handles Millenium didn't seem to think it was a Millenium issue, but I will check back with him on that. I will also try installing Millenium after the printer software. As far as I can tell, the Epson is the default (we hadn't gotten as far as installing our network printers), but I will re-check those settings to be sure. Thanks for the tips.
BP - He installed the parallel ports and the drivers, and the system calls them up. We hooked up a deskjet to test it, and that worked.
posted by coollibrarian at 6:24 PM on April 6, 2010
arco - we use Millenium. The IT person who handles Millenium didn't seem to think it was a Millenium issue, but I will check back with him on that. I will also try installing Millenium after the printer software. As far as I can tell, the Epson is the default (we hadn't gotten as far as installing our network printers), but I will re-check those settings to be sure. Thanks for the tips.
BP - He installed the parallel ports and the drivers, and the system calls them up. We hooked up a deskjet to test it, and that worked.
posted by coollibrarian at 6:24 PM on April 6, 2010
There's a common USB->Parallel cable that usually solves this problem. Epson sells one that is a bit overpriced, they're the same as generic, essentially. You should be able to find one that costs between $6 and $14. If all goes well, the drivers will recognize the USB port just as easily as if it was on a real parallel port. Or at least that's been my experience. YMMV.
I can't vouch for either of these products, I have an official Epson USB>Parallel cable that I paid $40 for. But here are two examples that I found online:
Belkin pricey $40 version
Generic cheapo $6 version
posted by charlie don't surf at 6:32 PM on April 6, 2010
I can't vouch for either of these products, I have an official Epson USB>Parallel cable that I paid $40 for. But here are two examples that I found online:
Belkin pricey $40 version
Generic cheapo $6 version
posted by charlie don't surf at 6:32 PM on April 6, 2010
Check some of the threads in the Innovative Users discussion list: http://bit.ly/deC2uV.
Some people seem to have luck with odd drivers (like using the Win2k driver in XP) to get Millennium to play well with the T88III.
posted by arco at 6:49 PM on April 6, 2010
Some people seem to have luck with odd drivers (like using the Win2k driver in XP) to get Millennium to play well with the T88III.
posted by arco at 6:49 PM on April 6, 2010
This is more a workaround than a solution but maybe you should use the old computer or any other pc the printer works with as a networked print server. Just share the printer with File & Printer sharing and use the printer from the newer systems.
posted by MrFish at 10:12 PM on April 6, 2010
posted by MrFish at 10:12 PM on April 6, 2010
In my experience, which is quite a bit with these, do not use a USB to parallel convertor. Even if you do get it to work, it will be very flaky.
Option 1: Epson sells the cards allowing you to change the interface. Simply unscrew the parallel card (from the printer) and insert the new card - USB or serial. Download the drivers from Epson, or memail me and I'll send them to you.
Option 2: There should be a place in the software (Millennium) you're using to direct the output to the relevant port/printer. Find it, if you have access to it. Those user groups or whatever manual you may have should help. Make sure it's set to the right one (the new ports may be LPT2 or something like that). I rather think this is case.
Option 3: I'm with those above who suggest trying the generic printer driver in Windows, or, depending on the software configuration, no driver whatsoever. Some programs, especially older ones, are written to send data directly to the port and the Epson driver itself interferes.
posted by converge at 4:33 AM on April 7, 2010
Option 1: Epson sells the cards allowing you to change the interface. Simply unscrew the parallel card (from the printer) and insert the new card - USB or serial. Download the drivers from Epson, or memail me and I'll send them to you.
Option 2: There should be a place in the software (Millennium) you're using to direct the output to the relevant port/printer. Find it, if you have access to it. Those user groups or whatever manual you may have should help. Make sure it's set to the right one (the new ports may be LPT2 or something like that). I rather think this is case.
Option 3: I'm with those above who suggest trying the generic printer driver in Windows, or, depending on the software configuration, no driver whatsoever. Some programs, especially older ones, are written to send data directly to the port and the Epson driver itself interferes.
posted by converge at 4:33 AM on April 7, 2010
Response by poster: Thank you all! There's a lot of stuff here that I hadn't considered or didn't know about. I will definitely be checking out that user group.
Looks like I will be spending tomorrow evening with the computer. I will let everyone know how it goes!
posted by coollibrarian at 5:40 AM on April 7, 2010
Looks like I will be spending tomorrow evening with the computer. I will let everyone know how it goes!
posted by coollibrarian at 5:40 AM on April 7, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by deezil at 5:12 PM on April 6, 2010