[X4U] Printing woes to USB device via Airport from Intel Laptop

[Brett Conlon]

Hi all,

I've spoken with Epson TSupp re: wireless printing to my AL-C900 Colour 
Laser and they didn't offer me any joy - they suggested I just connect it 
directly....

Simply put, I'm unable to print wirelessly from an Intel MacBook Pro 
through an Airport Extreme to the AL-C900. 

Setup: 
EPSON AL-C900 connected via USB to Airport Extreme. Wireless access to 
printer via Mac laptops. Airport Extreme is set to enable printer sharing.

Details: 
My two G4 PowerBooks (one 10.3.9 and one 10.4.10) prints to it beautifully 
using the 23hEs driver - no problems! 

However, I've just acquired an Intel based MacBook Pro (10.4.10) and I 
can't get it to print to it wirelessly via the Airport.

Using the newer driver 30aEs, I can set the printer up (via Bonjour) 
without a problem but any file printed to it returns "InterfaceType Error 
= -1" inside the printer window. I'm guessing it's looking for a direct 
USB connection and not finding it.

Connecting the printer directly to the laptop via USB works fine.

I tried uninstalling the newer driver and installing the older driver but 
I'm unable to set up a printer in the "Print Setup Utility". The Epson 
printer drivers are not able to be found.

Connecting the printer directly via USB is not an option as the cable to 
the printer is hard to access and there are other machines requiring to 
print wirelessly to this device.

Further note: I have just discovered a barely functioning workaround where 
I can now print wirelessly but the Printer Feature options don't show up 
in Print window so I have no colour control when printing.

To get wireless printing working I installed the older driver and placed 
the file "EPSON AL-C900.gz" (from the newer driver installation) into the 
Library/PPDs... folder. I created a printer in Printer Setup Utility 
without a problem but it doesn't have the proper icon and, again, I have 
no Printer Feature options.

##############################################
Epson's response was thus:

We are sorry to inform that the Aculaser C900 printer is a Host based 
printer and is not supported via a wireless connection. We would recommend 
confirming with the Wireless router manufacturer to see if it supports 
host based printers.
If you are able to get it to print you will not be able to access the 
printer utilities as the printer loses Bi-Directional support.
For best use of the printer we would recommend direct connection to the 
computer.
Regards
EPSON Support
##############################################

Any geniuses out there know of a better way to tackle this? BTW, the 
printer only has a parallel port and a USB port (no Ethernet).

Well, it was worth a try!  ;-D

Coj