Epson 1520

[Anonymous]

Folks, I am trying to make use of a dinosaur - my Epson 1520. I am connecting via HP jetdirect 500x to Mac OS10.4.3. My laser printers are connected this way and work fine. I suspect the only printers that will work under these conditions are post script. Any ideas?

TIA

[Anonymous]

The 1520 was a troublesome machine (particularly with Macs) even when it was new (in 1997? - or am I thinking of the 1500?). I think you can expect more than the usual frustration in your efforts. To work with OSX I expect that you need GimpPrint and GhostScript (both open source free downloads I believe). Check these out. If they don't include drivers for the 1520 you are probably SOL. If they do you should be in good shape.

[Thomas Holm]

If you want to print in OSX you need gimp-print which you can find here: http://gimp-print.sourceforge.net/MacOSX.php3

Epson has only MacOS9/Classic drivers for the 1520. howerver, they are better than the gimp-print drivers - faster and better control over quality options.
http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/support/supDetail.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=yes&oid=14435&prodoid=10201&...

One way to work around this is to create PDFs from Archicad / PM in OSX and then print in Classic using a Classic-compatible (pre 6 I think) variant of Acrobat Reader (Get Info in Finder, select Open in Classic). Those are still available from www.adobe.com.

i'm not sure if these drivers handle the jetdirect network option. You might have to connect the printer's serial port directly to a host computer using an USB-to-serial adapter. (If I remember correctly, Kensington's "mac-compatible" adapter doesn't work in OSX, but Belkin's and other cheap PC-specific no-name-brands do!)

I may be wrong, but I believe that the only way to get this printer to work over the network is to install Epson's old software Postscript (Classic-only, but I don't think it's available anymore) on a host running Classic.

Then, it might work to share the printer using the system's Printer Sharing option. I did this with a stylus Photo EX. Very slow, cumbersome and error-prone solution.

[Anonymous]

Hi,

The Epson 1520 can be fitted with an Epson Ethernet card. Details -

http://esupport.epson-europe.com/ViewFAQ.aspx?lng=en-GB&ID=KB020022EN&data=E6A4A83F081B56C823D1831C8...

To drive the printer in OSX, Epson recommend using CUPs. Details -

http://esupport.epson-europe.com/ViewFAQ.aspx?lng=en-GB&ID=KB020176EN&data=E6A4A83F081B56C823D1831C8...

However, I have not tried this!

Hope this is of interest.

Regards,

Nick

[Thomas Holm]

The native print system of OSX 10.4 (and 10.3) is CUPS. If the driver and ppd file is CUPS-compatible (and compatible with the Mac's processor), it should work to install the printer as you'd install any standard printer in OSX. No need to use low-level Terminal CUPS commands. The print setup of OSX is just a GUI (graphical user interface) to CUPS.

GIMP-print at http://gimp-print.sourceforge.net/MacOSX.php3 (see previous posts) is a bunch of third-party printer drivers for CUPS, to use where no manufacturer's drivers are available. The 1520 is listed as "Fully supported" in the printer list. However, I'm not sure wether this means printing over a network is supported, see above. Direct connection (USB/serial etc) might be better. The printer sharing of OSX might work anyway.

There are other packages too. You'll find a lot of info at
http://www.linuxprinting.org/
where some OSX-compatible drivers beside GIMP-print reside at
http://www.linuxprinting.org/macosx/

[Anonymous]

I've used my Epson 1520 as a daily driver for about 9 years now, and it's still running strong! Although I have to babysit it; it doesn't like to load paper sometimes...

Since Mac OSX 10.3, I haven't had to install any additional drivers. Plug and play with an Epson USB adapter. It works on our network using print sharing.

[Dwight]

Clean the main feed roller with rubbing alcohol to make it puckery again.

[Anonymous]

Both the 1500 series and the 3000 series Epson printers need their rollers cleaned and treated. We have found Rubber rejuvenator to be the ticket. It is made by Techspray. You can find them at

http://www.techspray.com

This has solved most of our paper handling problems. The only other thing that you need to do is keep your paper very, very, very dry. Any moisture in the paper will cause missloading.

[Anonymous]

Hi,

I have an Epson 1520 printing via a Axis print server using Appletalk (non postcript) from OSX and OS9 classic on a OSX 10.3.9 G5

From OSX using Gimp print driver

From OS9 using the Epson OS9 Classic AT (Appletalk) driver.

So, Postscript not required.

Regards,

Nick

[Anonymous]

Can't help, sorry. I've had almost nothing but trouble from my 1520 since I bought it eons ago, and it's headed for the great recycling heap in the sky this week.

The problem, now, of course, is trying to even start to figure out what to replace it with. Pretty much anything would be an improvement, since I can't remember the last time I was actually able to get a print that wasn't pure gibberish out of the 1520. I have an $89 HP that beats the pants off of anything the 1520 ever could produce, even when it was still working. Its main failing, of course, is it won't print bigger than 8.5x11.

Wendy