I recently purchased my first Mac (a Pismo) and I'm ecstatic about it, except for one thing...... I can't print to my Epson Stylus Photo! It's got both a parallel and 8pin serial interface. What should I do?

First, I tried looking for a USB-Parallel adapter. Epson does offer one, but the company's decided not to make USB drivers for this particular printer model. Same goes for the Belkin iMac USB Parallel adapter.

That led me to consider the serial port....and I did some homework online and found the following:

a) Belkin USB Serial Adapter
b) Keyspan USB Twin Serial Adapter
c) uConnect USB to Serial Adapter

Would anyone recommend one over another (quality/speed/value)? Also, my printer manual specified the 8pin serial as using a RS-423 standard. These adapters specify RS-422. What does this mean and does it make any difference?

I might as well toss in one more question... are there any direct USB-8pin male cables out there? (so i don't have to purchase another serial cable for my travel bag)

HEEEELLLLP!!!!!!!

-daniel

[tooki]

Many friends and clients of mine have had great success with the Keyspan model, but the others are probably equally good; I just don't have any experience with the Belkin or uConnect models.

Ignore the RS-422-vs-423 issue, they are two standards that differ only minutely, and are fully compatible with each other.

To my best knowledge, all the adapters have either Mini-DIN 8 (round) RS-422 ports (for printers,etc) or DB-9 (D-shaped) RS-232 port (for modems and Palm Pilots -- harder to find). None that I know of end in a serial cable, so you will need to buy another to tote around.

tooki

Why was the first thread closed?

The RS-233 is wrong. Serial ports use the RS-232 standard, except maybe older ones which used a standard labeled with a similar name.

I have a Momentum uConnect and it works great in my application. I have a Network Internet sharing device that was not designed with much effort to allow administration from a Mac and especially not ones with USB only connections. I have a Beige G3 I use at work and one of the serial ports is connected to a PowerPrint adapter so I can use an OKI MicroLine 590 Dot Matrix printer. The problem is that I could not use the Modem port on this Mac since it has an internal modem, but I could have removed the modem and used the serial port. The other problem was finding a Mac 8 pin to PC 9 pin cable for serial devices. I found one specifically for connecting Macs to HP printers that use the 9 pin serial port, but no dice for that to work. I could not find a Pin out either. So I said hey, maybe I can kill the need for the cable and to remove the modem with a USB to Serial converter. The uConnect does this. It provides on serial port, but 2 connectors. One is the standard Mac 8 pin and the other is a PC 9 pin. The cable that came with the device was PC 9 pin, so it worked out great. I have not had a problem yet.

Two cautionary notes:

1) Epson uses geo-port technology. Not all Macs had this and I am not sure if the Printer and/or software required this or not, but if so, the uConnect may not support Geo-port devices.

2) There are 2 or 3 uConnect models and they make one for printers which you may want to get rather than the one I have which is for serial devices. Yes Mac printers are serial, but other technologies run though serial ports that some printers use and regular serial port devices like modems do not use.

Laugh about the Dot Matrix Printer, but they are still the best check printers if you want duplicates unless you want to make copies of every check by hand, which can be a pain when people are standing over your shoulder for a check. When someone makes a low cost laser and a program that will automatically print the check and 2 copies each on different color paper with out effort from me, the Dot matrix rules. Some one just needs to make Mac drivers.

FYI, in the last week I have installed Keyspan Twin USB-Serial Adapters in a new G4 and a new iMac. There is a major problem using the Keyspan adapter with an iMac and an Epson printer. Apparently the Epson printer drivers behave in such a way that the iMac internal modem becomes disabled when the printer in connected via the Keyspan device. So you can print OR be connected to the internet (via internal modem)... but you can't do both at the same time!
Keyspan says that Epson refuses to fix the problem in their serial printer drivers. Epson suggests connecting via the printer's parallel port (via USB-Parallet adapter?).

-- Eric

You might also look into the AXXIS print server offered by Epson, you would have to get a hub and 2 cat 5 cables, but if you add another computer you have an instant network.
Im just not sure if the Axxis supports that model of printer but go to Epsonamerica.com

I have no complaints about my Keyspan products (though I do not use them with an Epson printer), however after having experienced the ABYSMAL tech support from Momentum with one of their many orphaned serial port sharing devices - I would rather smash my thumb in a car door repeatedly than ever give them another penny of my money.

You could also always just get Infowave's PowerPrint USB adapter kit for non-USB printers.

[The MacFanatic]

Step One: STOP CALLING IT PISMO!!!!!

I sound and will continue to sound like a broken record - PISMO HAS NOT BEEN RELEASED YET. Call it FireWire or PB2000 or anything else, just stop with the Pismo untill they actually release it.

Second, the Keyspan adapter should have little trouble. Also you may want to check out a product called PowerPrint form InfoWave.

They have sold off this part of their business but they still have links at www.infowave.com or you can try this:
http://204.239.210.50/printanywhere/index.htm

They have several adapters for printer types (including USB to Parallel) and sport their own drivers. I used their product a year ago and it worked fine converting an HP (PC only) to a beige Mac (no USB).

Hope that helps.

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[Fran441]

The current PowerBook is Pismo. The next PowerBook is Mercury.

Let me say it a few more times.
PowerBook G3/500 Firewire=Pismo

Pismo
Pismo
Pismo
Pismo
Pismo
Pismo
Pismo
Pismo
Pismo
Pismo


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Its time for Apple to release a new PDA, but until it does, long live the Newton!

Thanks for all the replies!

Well, I just got off the phone with Epson Tech Support and it turns out that the ONLY way I can connect the Epson Stylus Photo to my Powerbook (Firewire) is to get a C1440AXIS (AXIS External 10Base-T Print Server)! It connects to the parallel port on the printer and lists for $148.00!!

Since I will be connecting to my school's network via ethernet, how would I go about this? mka mentioned hubs and cat2 cables.... will this be expensive?

Or should I just give up and buy a new printer? anybody want a perfectly good 6-color 720dpi printer?

-daniel

The MacFanatic, you really should do more research before you spout and look like an idiot. Pismo was the codename of the current models.

ginsengboy, yes there seems to be lots of problems with Epson printers. Rather than having a universal print package with drivers for each printer, they post them like they reinvent the wheel each time. It is really stupid. I have heard of the USB to Serial problems with Epson printers before.

Get a Lexmark. I love the Z52 I purchased. It prints with at least the same quality, but is faster, more Quiet and uses bigger ink tanks for the same price. They do not have a Photo version that I know of, but I have read that the Photo printers do not add much for most jobs.

While I believe that the layout of the Epson Print driver is more mature, Lexmarks is not bad and is less confusing in some areas, it lacks a few features that most people probably never use with Epson's software.

All in all Lexmark is getting better and offers a great product now, that at the hardware level kills the competition and at the software level, may be 2nd only to Epson in features and possibly layout, but is certainly number 1 in quality and performance. Lexmark's software also uses the desktop printing system, that Epson has not adopted after many years of Mac support.

[MacOS761]

There are USB to parallel adapters... did the guy at Epson say they wouldn't work? USB to serial will not work - he is correct, as are you - because those adapters don't support Geo-talk (or whatever that thing is). They also don't support AppleTalk or LocalTalk. Fortunately for me, there are adapters available that use the modem slot in G4's to give them an AppleTalk-compatible serial port. Anyway, pursue USB to parallel, but you can also print over a network as you suggested...
It's easy to do, really. Fire up the Chooser (once you're on the network), and any printer drivers you have will show up on the left side. Click each to see if there are any printers of that type available on the network. If there is one, click on the printer (on the right side) and close the Chooser. The printer you clicked on will henceforth be your default printer. The procedure is the same for non-networked printers, FYI. Good luck

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We're supposed to sing about piraty things!