# Mac Mini Epson Printer Connection



## Riverstone (Feb 15, 2008)

I have an Epsom PX-V630 printer (a Japanese model) which comes with two types of connecting cable - one the standard USB and the other a scuzzi type with about 40 pins. The cable plug is labelled USB Printer Converter by-Direction. I can physically connect the printer to my Mac Mini (running Leopard) with this cable, but I get a "communication error" message when I try to print. Is it possible to use this port with Leopard so my wife can connect her PC (running Vista) to the printer's USB port? We were able to network the printer this way when I was running an older Mac with system 9.2. Advice much appreciated!


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## MisterMe (Feb 15, 2008)

Riverstone said:


> ... We were able to network the printer this way when I was running an older Mac with system 9.2. Advice much appreciated!


This has been written about _ad nauseum_ on this forum. If you network the printer, then you will need a _CUPS_ driver to communicate with it.


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## Riverstone (Feb 18, 2008)

Thanks - still not sure what a CUPS driver is but I downloaded it and it works.


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## Satcomer (Feb 18, 2008)

Riverstone said:


> Thanks - still not sure what a CUPS driver is but I downloaded it and it works.



This will blow you mind. CUPS is a Unix printing system (OS X is based on Unix) and you can look at it by going the configuration file by pointing your browser to http://127.0.0.1:631/.


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## Riverstone (Feb 19, 2008)

Thanks - I'm slightly better informed having read that. However, my printer's behaviour is still odd. I have connected the cable to my printer's serial port, and the default printer  appears as ATEN UC-1284B ATEN UC 1284B Printer Cable. When I try to print, I get the message "Printer is currently offline." I need to go back to the Print/Fax panel in System Preferences and choose the Epson PX V630 - Gutenberg driver in order to print. I click the "padlock" to lock this choice. It works. However, when I next try to print, I get the same message as before. And the printer name EPSON PX V630 appears in the print queue showing it as the printer in use. More fiddling in the Print/Fax panel to get it to print. Have I missed something here?


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