Epson 900N User Manual

Epson America, Inc.

Stylus COLOR 900N

User’s Guide

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION. The information contained herein is designed only for use with this EPSON printer. EPSON is not responsible for any use of this information as applied to other printers.

Neither SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION nor its affiliates shall be liable to the purchaser of this product or third parties for damages, losses, costs, or expenses incurred by purchaser or third parties as a result of: accident, misuse, or abuse of this product or unauthorized modifications, repairs, or alterations to this product, or (excluding the U.S.) failure to strictly comply with SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION’s operating and maintenance instructions.

SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION shall not be liable for any damages or problems arising from the use of any options or any consumable products other than those designated as Original EPSON Products or EPSON Approved Products by SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION.

Trademarks

EPSON and EPSON Stylus are registered trademarks and ESC/P 2 is a trademark of SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION. SoundAdvice is a service mark and EPSON FaxAdvice and PhotoEnhance are trademarks of Epson America, Inc.

General Notice: Other product names used herein are for identification purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective owners. EPSON disclaims any and all rights in those marks.

The E

NERGY STAR

emblem does not represent EPA endorsement of any product or service.

CPD 8051

Printed on recycled paper with at least 10% post-consumer content.

FCC Compliance Statement

For United States Users

This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation. This equipment generates, uses, and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio or television reception. However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation. If this equipment does cause interference to radio and television reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures:

■ Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.

■

Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver.

■ Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the receiver is connected.

■

Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help.

WARNING

The connection of a non-shielded equipment interface cable to this equipment will invalidate the FCC Certification of this device and may cause interference levels which exceed the limits established by the FCC for this equipment. It is the responsibility of the user to obtain and use a shielded equipment interface cable with this device. If this equipment has more than one interface connector, do not leave cables connected to unused interfaces. Changes or modifications not expressly approved by the manufacturer could void the user’s authority to operate the equipment.

For Canadian Users

This Class B digital apparatus meets all requirements of the Canadian Interference-Causing Equipment Regulations.

Cet appareil numérique de la classe B respecte toutes les exigences du Règlement sur le materiel brouilleur du Canada.

INTRODUCTION 1

How to Use Your Documentation 2

Warnings, Cautions, Notes, and Tips 3 Windows/PC System Requirements 4 Macintosh System Requirements 5 ENERGY STAR Compliance 6 Year 2000 Ready 6 Printer Parts 6 About Your Software 7 Important Safety Instructions 8

Ink Cartridge Safety Instructions 9

SETTING UP YOUR PRINTER 11

Unpack the Printer 11 Attach the Paper Support 12 Install the Ink Cartridges 13 Load Paper 16 Connect the Printer to Your Network 17

Printing a Status Sheet 17

CONFIGURING THE PRINTER FOR THE NETWORK 19

Install the Network Software 21

Installing EPSON Net!2 21

Installing Status Monitor 2 23 Configuring for NetWare 26

Using NwAdmin to Set Up Your Printer 26

Using EPSON Net!2 to Configure the Card in Print Server Mode 33 Configuring for TCP/IP 39

Configuring for AppleTalk 44 Configuring for NetBEUI 46

INSTALLING THE PRINTER DRIVER ON THE WORKSTATIONS 49

Installing the Printer Driver 49

Installing in Windows 98, Windows 95, or Windows NT 4.0 50

Installing in Windows 3.1x 51

Installing on a Macintosh 52 Printing a Test Page 53

INSTALLING AND USING YOUR ELECTRONIC MANUAL 55

Installing the Manual 55 Installing Acrobat Reader 56 Opening Your Electronic Manual 56 Navigating an Electronic Manual 57

BASIC PRINTING 59

Printing with Windows 60 Printing with a Macintosh 64 Using Custom Project Types 67 Using the Advanced Dialog Box 70 Using Special Papers 73

EPSON Photo Paper 73

Envelopes 75 Selecting the Correct Media Type 76

MAINTAINING YOUR PRINTER 77

Cleaning the Print Head 77

Using the Head Cleaning Utility 78

Using the Control Panel 79

Examining the Nozzle Check Pattern 80

Replacing an Ink Cartridge 80

Removing and Installing Ink Cartridges 81

Replacing an Outdated Ink Cartridge 83 Aligning the Print Head 85 Cleaning the Printer 86 Transporting the Printer 87

PROBLEM SOLVING 89

Diagnosing Printer Problems 89

Checking the Control Panel Lights 89

Running a Printer Check 91 Problems and Solutions 92

Problems Setting Up the Printer or Installing Its Software 92

Problems Getting Good Print Quality 93 Uninstalling Printer Software 97

Uninstalling Your Printer Driver 97

Uninstalling EPSON Status Monitor 2 99

Uninstalling EPSON Net!2 100 Where To Get Help 100

INSTALLING SOFTWARE FROM DISKETTES 103

Creating the Software Diskettes 103

Using the Disk Creation Utility 103 Copying Macintosh Files 106 Ordering Printer Software Diskettes 106 Installing EPSON Net!2 107

Installing EPSON Net!2 in Windows 107

Installing EPSON Net!2 on a Macintosh 108 Installing Status Monitor 2 108

iii

Installing the Printer Driver in Windows 110

Installing the Printer Driver in Macintosh 111

INDEX 113

Introduction

Your EPSON Stylus® COLOR 900N Professional Series printer/print server is the ideal output device for business graphics, digital photographs, and more. You can print anything from reports and resumes to photos and greeting cards with fabulous results.

The printer comes with these features:

■ Resolutions up to 1440 by 720 dpi, even on plain paper

■ Smallest ink droplets available (3 picoliters) for finest detail and smoothest

gradations

■

EPSON’s unique variable micro droplet technology for superior image quality

■

Integrated Ethernet card for complete network connectivity

■

Flexible resource sharing for multiple types of networks and operating systems

■

Four-color printing for photo quality color and sharp black text on plain paper or a variety of special media

■ Great results on any paper size, including letter, legal, envelope, card, and

panoramic paper

■

High durability

How to Use Your Documentation

This Start Here book explains how to set up your printer and covers basic printing and maintenance procedures. It contains the following information:

Setting Up Your Printer explains how to set up your printer and connect it to the network.

Configuring Your Printer for the Network gives instructions for installing the network software and using it to configure the printer.

Installing the Printer Driver on the Workstations tells you how to install the printer driver on the network workstations and configure the port settings so they can see the printer on the network.

Installing and Using Your Printer Manual explains how to install and use your electronic EPSON Stylus COLOR 900N Manual.

Basic Printing covers the basics of printing with Windows

Maintaining Your Printer gives instructions for replacing ink cartridges, cleaning and

aligning the print heads, and cleaning and transporting the printer.

or Macintosh®.

Problem Solving provides solutions for problems you may have. (For solutions to network problems, see Chapter 12 in your Administrator’s Manual.)

Installing Software From Diskettes tells you how to create or order diskettes and install your printer software from them.

An Index

After you have set up your system(s) as described in this book, refer to the Administrator’s Manual for additional network, configuration, and Ethernet card information. See the electronic EPSON Stylus COLOR 900N Manual for detailed instructions on using your printer.

is included at the end of the book.

Warnings, Cautions, Notes, and Tips

Please follow these guidelines:

Warnings must be followed carefully to avoid bodily injury.

Cautions must be observed to avoid damage to your equipment.

Notes contain important information about your printer.

Tips contain additional hints for better printing.

Windows/PC System Requirements

To use your printer and its software with a PC, your system should have:

■

An IBM® compatible PC with at least a 386/25 (for Windows 3.1x),

486/25 MHz (for Windows 95 or Windows NT Windows 98) processor

■

DOS, Microsoft® Windows 3.1, Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows NT 4.0

■

At least 16MB of RAM (32MB recommended for Windows 95 or 98, or 64MB for Windows NT 4.0)

■ At least 50MB of free hard disk space (100MB recommended)

■ VGA, Super VGA, or better display adapter and monitor

■

Double-speed (2x) CD-ROM drive (quad [4x] or faster recommended) for installing the printer software

■ Ethernet network connection

4.0), or 486/66 MHz (for

■ A twisted-pair (10BaseT or 100BaseTX) cable to connect the printer’s Ethernet

card to your network

For information on OS/2

Manual

and UNIX

, see your

Administrator’s

Macintosh System Requirements

To use your printer and its software with a Macintosh, your system should have:

■

One of the following Macintosh models:

LC475, LC575, LC630

Macintosh Quadra Macintosh Centris

PowerBook

series (190, 520, 540, 550, or later) PowerBook Duo Performa

475, 575, 588, 630, 5210 or later

Power Macintosh

™

iMac

■

System 7.5.1 or later (7.6 or later recommended), or iMac with System 8.1 or

series

later

■ At least 16MB of available RAM (32MB recommended)

series

280, 2300c/100

series

■ At least 50MB of free hard disk space (100MB recommended)

■

RGB display or better

■

Double-speed (2x) CD-ROM drive (quad [4x] or faster recommended) for installing the printer software

■ Network connection to Ethernet

■ A twisted-pair (10BaseT or 100BaseTX) cable to connect the printer’s Ethernet

card to your network

NERGY

TAR

Compliance

As an E this product meets the E efficiency. The EPA E

NERGY STAR

Partner, EPSON has determined that

NERGY STAR

guidelines for energy

office equipment program is a voluntary partnership with the computer and office equipment industry to promote the introduction of energy-efficient personal computers, monitors, printers, fax machines, and copiers in an effort to reduce air pollution caused by power generation.

Year 2000 Ready

Your EPSON printer is Year 2000 Ready. However, be sure the other parts of your network and computer systems are also ready for the year 2000.

Printer Parts

sheet feeder

left edge guide

status sheet button

paper support

right edge guide

printer cover

output tray

output tray extensions

ink cartridge clamps

Ethernet card

thickness lever

control panel

About Your Software

The printer software CD-ROM includes all the software you need for configuring your printer and printing:

■ The EPSON Net!2 utility (for Windows 98, Windows 95, Windows NT 4.0, and

Macintosh) allows you to configure your printer for protocols including Novell

NetWare

■ EPSON Status Monitor 2 for Windows allows you to monitor your printer over

, TCP/IP, and AppleTalk®.

the network and use TCP/IP for printing in Windows 98/Windows 95 peer-to-peer networks.

■ Your printer driver (for Windows and Macintosh) runs your printer and lets you

control how your documents look.

■

The EPSON Driver Disk Creation utility lets you create diskettes for systems that don’t have CD-ROM drives.

Important Safety Instructions

Before using your printer, read the following safety instructions to make sure you use the printer safely and effectively:

■ Turn off and unplug the printer before cleaning. Clean with a damp cloth only.

Do not spill liquid on the printer.

Always turn the printer off using the switch off the power strip, or unplug the printer until the power light is off.

■

Do not place the printer on an unstable surface or near a radiator or heating vent

P power button. Don’t

or direct sunlight.

■

Do not block or cover the openings in the printer’s case or insert objects through the slots.

■ Use only the type of power source indicated on the printer’s label.

■

Connect all equipment to properly grounded power outlets. Avoid using outlets on the same circuit as photocopiers or air control systems that regularly switch on and off.

■ Place the printer near a wall outlet where the plug can be easily unplugged.

Placez l’imprimante près d’une prise de contacte où la fiche peut être débranchée facilement.

■ Do not let the power cord become damaged or frayed.

■ If you use an extension cord with the printer, make sure the total ampere rating of

the devices plugged into the extension cord does not exceed the cord’s ampere rating. Also, make sure the total ampere rating of all devices plugged into the wall outlet does not exceed the wall outlet’s ampere rating.

■ Except as specifically explained in this manual, do not attempt to service the

printer yourself.

■

Unplug the printer and refer servicing to qualified service personnel under the following conditions:

If the power cord or plug is damaged; if liquid has entered the printer; if the printer has been dropped or the case damaged; if the printer does not operate normally or exhibits a distinct change in performance. Adjust only those controls that are covered by the operating instructions.

Ink Cartridge Safety Instructions

■ Do not put your hand inside the printer or touch the cartridge during printing.

■ Under normal circumstances, ink will not come out of the cartridge. If it does get

on your skin, wash it off with soap and water. If it gets in your eyes, flush them immediately with water.

■ Keep ink cartridges out of the reach of children.

■ Do not dismantle the ink cartridges or try to refill them. This could result in

damage to the print head.

■

Once you install an ink cartridge, do not open the clamp or remove the cartridge except to replace it with a new one. The cartridge may become unusable otherwise.

■

Install the ink cartridge immediately after you remove it from its foil package. Leaving the cartridge unpacked for a long time before use may result in reduced print quality.

■

Do not use an ink cartridge beyond the date printed on the cartridge package. For best results, use up the ink cartridges within six months of installing them.

■ Do not shake an ink cartridge; this can cause leakage.

■ Always turn the printer off using the

button, the

Ppower light flashes briefly then goes out. Do not unplug the printer

or turn off the power to the printer until the

■ Before transporting the printer, make sure the print head is capped in the far right

Ppower button. When you press this

Ppower light is off.

position and the ink cartridges are in place.

Setting Up Your Printer

This chapter describes how to set up your printer by doing the following:

■ Unpack the printer

■ Attach the paper support

■ Install the ink cartridges

■

Load paper

■

Connect the printer to your network

Unpack the Printer

Remove any packing material from the printer as described on the unpacking sheet in the printer box. Then make sure you have these items:

paper support

printer

Administrator’s Manual

black ink cartridge

EPSON Photo Paper Pack

this

Start Here

color ink cartridge

You’ll also need a network cable to connect your printer.

printer software CD-ROM

book

Attach the Paper Support

Insert the paper support into the slots at the back of the printer’s sheet feeder.

Put the printer near an available grounded outlet, but avoid areas:

■

With high temperature or humidity

■

In direct sunlight or dusty conditions

■

Near sources of heat or electromagnetic interference, such as loudspeakers or cordless telephone base units

Also be sure to check safety requirements and follow all the safety instructions in the Introduction.

Install the Ink Cartridges

1. Make sure the printer is turned off (the

P power button should be up). Then

plug the printer’s power cord into a grounded outlet.

Don’t use an outlet controlled by a wall switch or timer, or one that uses the same circuit as a large appliance. This may disrupt the power, which can erase memory or even damage the power supply.

2. Unwrap the ink cartridges. Then remove only the yellow part of the tape seal on

the top, as shown. Don’t pull off the blue portion or remove the clear seal

underneath the cartridge.

To ensure the print heads charge correctly, install the ink cartridges that came with your printer.

You must remove the yellow tape from the top of the cartridge or you will permanently damage it. It’s okay if a small corner of the yellow tape stays on the cartridge.

3. Lower the printer’s output tray and open the cover.

4. Press the

B and A ink out lights come on. The black ink cartridge holder moves

the

P power button to turn on the printer. The

slightly left to the loading position.

Always use the Never use the external switch on a power strip.

P power button to turn the printer on or off.

5. Lift up the black ink cartridge clamp.

P power light flashes and

6. Place the black ink cartridge in the holder with the label facing up and toward the

back of the printer, as shown. Then close the clamp, making sure it clicks into place.

If ink gets on your hands, wash them thoroughly with soap and water. If ink gets in your eyes, flush them immediately with water.

7. Now press the

X color cleaning button to move the color ink cartridge holder into

loading position.

8. Repeat steps 5 and 6 to install the color ink cartridge.

9. Press the

R cleaning button to begin charging the ink delivery system and then

close the printer cover.

Charging takes about 2 minutes. The

P power light flashes and the printer

makes various sounds until it’s finished. Don’t turn off the printer or interrupt this charging process or it will start over, using more ink than necessary. Charging is finished when the

Never turn off the printer when the unless the printer hasn’t moved or made any noise for more than 5 minutes.

P power light stops flashing and stays on.

P power light is flashing,

Load Paper

1. Open the output tray extensions. Slide the left edge guide right until it is a little

wider than your paper.

2. Load a stack of plain paper with the printable side up and place it against the right

edge guide. Then slide the left edge guide to the paper’s left edge. Don’t load paper higher than the arrow on the guide.

Connect the Printer to Your Network

Connect your printer to an Ethernet twisted-pair (10BaseT or 100BaseTX) network connection.

1. Attach the network cable to the connector on the card.

status sheet button

twisted-pair connector (10BaseT or 100BaseTX)

2. To initialize the card, turn on the printer while pressing down the status sheet

button. Continue pressing the status sheet button for five seconds.

Printing a Status Sheet

To print a status sheet, press the status sheet button and hold it for about three seconds. This sheet gives you important information, including the serial number and MAC address (hardware address) of the card. Keep the status sheet so you can use it when you configure the Ethernet card.

Configuring the Printer for the Network

See the table below to find your network configuration (operating system and protocol), and determine what to install and where to find instructions for configuring your network. For many operating systems, you can change configuration settings using the Ethernet card’s internal home page. See the Administrator’s Manual for more information.

Operating system

Windows 98, Windows 95

Network protocol

TCP/IP 1. EPSON Net!2 (page 21)

NetBEUI (TCP/IP must also be installed)

Novell NetWare

What you need to install and configure

2. EPSON Status Monitor 2 on each workstation (page 23)

3. IP address for the Ethernet card (page 39)

4. Printer driver on each workstation (page 49)

1. EPSON Net!2 (page 21)

2. EPSON Status Monitor 2 (page 23)

3. IP address for the Ethernet card (page 39)

4. NetBEUI settings on the Ethernet card home page* (page 46)

5. Printer driver on each workstation (page 49)

1. EPSON Net!2 (page 21 and page 33)

2. EPSON Status Monitor 2 (page 23)

3. Setup using NwAdmin (page 26) or PCONSOLE

Administrator’s Manual

(

, Chapter 4)

Windows 3.1x Novell

NetWare, Windows NT Server

4. Printer driver on each workstation (page 49)

Windows 3.1x acts as a client only; you can’t use a Windows 3.1x workstation to configure the Ethernet card or monitor the printer. Install the printer driver on each workstation and change the printer’s port setting. (page 49)

Operating system

Network protocol

What you need to install and configure

DOS 6.22 Novell

NetWare, Windows NT Server, Windows for Workgroups

Windows NT 4.0

TCP/IP 1. EPSON Net!2 (page 21) (Service Pack 3, or higher)

NetBEUI

(TCP/IP must

also be

installed)

Novell

NetWare

DOS acts as a client only, you can’t use a DOS workstation to monitor the printer.

2. EPSON Status Monitor 2 (page 23)

3. IP address for the Ethernet card (page 39)

4. Printer driver on each workstation** (page 49)

1. EPSON Net!2 (page 21)

2. EPSON Status Monitor 2 (page 23)

3. IP address for the Ethernet card (page 39)

4. NetBEUI settings on the Ethernet card home page* (page 46)

5. Printer driver on each workstation** (page 49)

1. EPSON Net!2 (page 21 and page 33)

2. EPSON Status Monitor 2 (page 23)

3. Setup using NwAdmin (page 26) or PCONSOLE

Administrator’s Manual

(

, Chapter 4)

4. Printer driver on each workstation** (page 49)

Macintosh AppleTalk 1. EPSON Net!2 (page 21 and page 44)

2. Printer driver on each system (page 49)

UNIX TCP/IP (lpr,

ftp)

1. Install a printer driver and filter. (See your UNIX documentation.)

2. Configure the printer for lpr or ftp.

Administrator’s Manual,

(

IBM OS/2 Warp NetBEUI

TCP/IP

* To use the Ethernet card home page, you must have TCP/IP setup on your network, as well as

either Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 or later, or Netscape Navigator

** If you have a Windows NT 4.0 Server network, you may need to install the driver only on the

server. See your Windows NT documentation.

Administrator’s Manual

Chapter 9)

, Chapter 8

3.0 or later.

Install the Network Software

To configure the Ethernet card, you need to install the network software (EPSON Net!2) on only one workstation or on the server, depending on your network.

If you have a TCP/IP network, you need to install EPSON Status Monitor 2 on all your Windows 98 and Windows 95 workstations to use the EPSON TCP/IP printing protocol.

Log in as an Administrator (NT) or Supervisor (NetWare). Before you start, turn off all other active applications, including virus protection programs.

If you need to create diskettes to install the software, see page 103. Then follow the configuration instructions, starting on page 26.

For TCP/IP networks, if you want to use the arp command to set the card’s IP address instead of installing EPSON Net!2, see page 42.

Installing EPSON Net!2

If you have the following network configurations and operating systems, you should install EPSON Net!2 to configure the card:

■

Windows 98, Windows 95, or Windows NT 4.0 with Novell NetWare or TCP/IP

■ Macintosh with AppleTalk

Installing EPSON Net!2 in Windows

1. Insert the printer software CD-ROM in your drive.

You see the EPSON Installation Program screen:

If the screen does not appear, go to

My Computer and double-click the Epson

CD-ROM icon to start the EPSON Installation program.

2. Highlight

Install EpsonNet!2 for Windows and click the right arrow button .

3. Follow the instructions on screen to install EPSON Net!2.

When you are finished, you can install Status Monitor 2 to monitor information about your printer including ink levels and printer errors. See page 23 for instructions.

Status Monitor 2 can create extra network traffic, so if you don’t want to install it, you can skip to configuring the Ethernet card with EPSON Net!2. See page 26 for NetWare and page 39 for TCP/IP and NetBEUI.

If you have any Windows 98 or Windows 95 systems on your TCP/IP network, you need to install Status Monitor 2 on each one to use EPSON TCP/IP printing. Windows 98 and Windows 95 do not have TCP/IP printing built-in like Windows NT.

Installing EPSON Net!2 on a Macintosh

1. Create a folder for EPSON Net!2 on your hard disk.

2. Insert the printer software CD-ROM in your CD-ROM drive.

3. Copy EPSON Net!2 to the folder you created.

After you install EPSON Net!2, use it to configure your printer for AppleTalk, following the steps on page 44.

Installing Status Monitor 2

EPSON Status Monitor 2 is a single utility that you install in two parts. For each system that will monitor the printer, make sure you install the network part and the EPSON Stylus COLOR 900N part of EPSON Status Monitor 2. These two parts work together to allow you to see your printer’s status information over the network.

Status Monitor 2 lets you monitor information from the server or from any of the workstations where you install it. It gives you ink levels in the printer and notifies you if the printer has any problems. It does create network traffic, however, so you may want to limit the number of users who monitor the printer.

Status Monitor 2 also includes the EPSON TCP/IP printing protocol, which allows Windows 98 and Windows 95 users to print with TCP/IP. If you have Windows 98 or Windows 95 systems and use TCP/IP for printing, you need to install Status Monitor 2 on each workstation that uses the printer.

You may not see screens for all the steps in this section, depending on your computer’s configuration.

Write down your settings in the spaces provided as you install the first part of Status Monitor 2. You need to select the same settings for the second part.

+ 95 hidden pages

Epson 900N User Manual

Contents

Introduction

How to Use Your Documentation

Warnings, Cautions, Notes, and Tips

Windows/PC System Requirements

Macintosh System Requirements

Year 2000 Ready

Printer Parts

About Your Software

Important Safety Instructions

Ink Cartridge Safety Instructions

Setting Up Your Printer

Unpack the Printer

Attach the Paper Support

Install the Ink Cartridges

Load Paper

Connect the Printer to Your Network

Printing a Status Sheet

Configuring the Printer for the Network

Install the Network Software

Installing EPSON Net!2

Installing Status Monitor 2