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Installing drivers for EPSON Photo R300 to print on a CD


beevo

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Thanks first of all for the most informative site. I've never been here before and it's full of interesting stuff.

I'll do my best to keep this as short as I can but it's a bit complicated. I've just bought a quad core desktop with W8 on it. I need to install drivers so as to print to my Epson Stylus Photo R300. The default drivers are fine for printing normally to paper. But when you use the Epson Print CD software, when it comes to printing you get the message:

"The EPSON printer driver dealing with CD printing is not installed".

I've been to ESPON site and downloaded different utilities and drivers from w8 back to win xp. I've even tried installing them in compatibility mode (xp sp2 xp sp3) and then also running the "Print CD" program using the same compatibility mode. I get the same error message.

I've tried the solution offered by EPSON for the same problem when OS is VIsta - it says to 'click OK to the error message, choose tray 2, choose manual install, choose a4 for page size, in properties choose CD for the type of media' etc. however my printer then tells me to remove the CD tray and it simply wants to print to paper as normal.

Soooooooooooooo. (told you we would take a while to get here - sorry) I've installed XP pro on a VM Virtual box and the drivers and utilities for the Epson R300 including "Print CD" and the program runs fine BUT as it couldn't find the printer connected to the host on W8 I had to set that up manually on LPT1.

I've tried various suggestions on the net to allow my USB host connections to show through on the guest machine but that didn't work.

So in order to print to the printer from within the guest XP OS, I tried adding a network printer. Sure enough it shows the printer and when I go to install it, it says; the drivers for the host printer are wrong and asks me to search for a .inf file. Frustratingly I HAVE the drivers needed but it is a .exe file sitting on the desktop!

I've spent about 10 hours in total now trying all kinds of drivers to get the printer to print to CD. I've contacted EPSON but they've not replied as yet.

So Can anyone help me here: I need to either get the drivers to work on my W8

OR If anyone can tell me how to get my printer on the USB host W8 to be 'seen' on the guest XP

OR perhaps simpler??? if anyone can tell me how to get the host XP 'add network driver' routine to use the drivers setup.exe file instead of looking for a .inf file - Or perhaps tell me how to make a .inf file that will load the exe file - then I can use that for the network printer set up - that would be great.

Please don't suggest a dual boot I need to have access to the W8 system at the same time.

Thank you so much for your time.

I just joined today and my profile says I use XP pro (but that's just the guest VM) I'm actually using W8 but there was no option on the form to choose that.

Edited by beevo
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I will NOT swear to this, having not tried it OR have Win8, BUT...

It MIGHT be possible to run the EXE on your VM-XP instead. The EXE files USUALLY have the appropriate files embedded (and can be extracted by various means) BUT (generally) most Printer Driver EXE instructions say to Install BEFORE connecting the Hardware.

AFAIKR, Older-Than-Win8 (less than Vista specifically) put a set of "Drivers For Network Installation" into "C:\WINDOWS\system32\spool\drivers" - had to share it (AFAIKR) to get access to it (to install the Drivers for Network Printing).

Worth a shot... and HTH

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Thanks submix8c for your prompt reply.

Well, like I said; on the XP VM I already have the drivers installed and working.

I should be specific; The setup.exe is the driver set up for the EPSON R300 ON THE XP guest!

I'm assuming the the XP 'install network driver' wizard is going to install them again but this time for the network printer. If so, how do I find it - what will it be called and is there a place already where the .inf file is and can I just copy that to the spools folder you mentioned?

THanks

Edited by beevo
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Misunderstanding on my part?

The default drivers are fine for printing normally to paper. But when you use the Epson Print CD software, when it comes to printing you get the message:

"The EPSON printer driver dealing with CD printing is not installed".

You're referring to Windows 8?

In my VM (XP) to the Network Printer (USB) the Port is Network Share Name for the Printer in question. So.... I'm confused that yours is LPT1. Is your Printer Shared via Network and basic functionality. If so, then we revert back to the "CD/DVD Printer" function, correct? How is your VM locally connected to the Windows8?

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OK SO - PROBLEM SOLVED.

Because I had already installed the printer drivers to lpt1 on the xp guest os, That windows had a record of them.

So I installed a new local printer printer. My printer couldn't be found on any port so I made a new port and named it \\nameofhostcomputer\nameofprinter

it then gave me a list of drivers to choose from I chose EPSON on the left and then the drivers for each posible printer showed up on the right. I was disappointed not to find the EPSON STYLUS PHOTO R300 in it's proper alphabetical place. BUT on scrolling down to the bottom it was the last printer listed.

I can't believe after so many hours I have finally got this to work - albeit via a VM Virtualbox running XP pro!

So so glad I can get on with my work now. I don't know who to shake my fists at; EPSON or Microsoft!!! Maybe both.

Thanks for your help. I hope this post helps someone else with the same problem.

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Glad to be of help. And your deductive reasoning is very good, considering that I didn't detail the printer's "Network Share Name".

Congratulations and more than likely this will help others.

BTW, welcome to MSFN.

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I have the Epson R280 and I do print on printable CD/DVD's.

The Epson Print CD software was not written for Win-8 so if it doesn't work for you then I'm not surprised.

My best advise would be to call Epson customer support and see if they have updated "Print CD" software that you could download.

I do all my CD/DVD printing in XP so I'm not having your problem. Sorry!

Try this:

http://ratchetinfotech.us/Printer_support.aspx

Good Luck,

B)

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@Andromeda43 - it's all good. It's the reason for using XP in VM. The Good? "XP Mode" is a free XP VHD to work on specific hardware - and Drivers are available within Win8. The Bad? The Software/Drives for that function appears to ONLY work for below Vista, so XP in VM it is... Semi-painless and free.

After all, the need for a Vista Work-around was necessary (assume it's good for Win7/2k8?) as stated but Win8 is WAY too new. Possibly drivers will come out sooner or later for that particular function (OP said it didn't work on Win8).

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Thanks again for all who read through my rather long post and any help offered.

@ Andromeda43 Like I said in my original post. I have contacted EPSON support and they haven't got back to me. I've also mentioned that I've downloaded the very latest software utilities - including Print CD - which is version 2 - still no joy.

I hope in the near future Epson will make a driver that works so I can print directly from Windows 8 as that would be a help.

Thanks again for your thoughtful attention.

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  • 3 years later...

I have exactly the same problem of an Epson R300 that doesn't want to print to the cd/dvd tray despite downloading just about every set of drivers on the internet!!

Is it that Windows 10 doesn't like my print tray? It prints on paper easily enough!

Getting ready to launch my printer although it's the best one I've ever had, which is why I've had it so long.

Any advice please???

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Hi Neil_j

It is now nearly 3 years since I made my post above. I should say that in the end the solution I opted for was to buy a second hand netbook (Acer-Emachines EM350) running windows xp and use that as a dedicated computer for the R300 printer. Any CDs I need printed I do on that XP netbook connected directly to the R300 via USB (I don't allow it access to the internet due to security risks now that XP is no longer MS supported) In the end this was the easiest solution. Because I'm not just printing the odd CD here and there, I'm printing batches of CDs sometimes over a hundred at a time. It is most disappointing that Epson suggest MS should already have the R300 drivers installed and MS say Epson are to blame.  The only solution offered by Epson was a 'work-around' to print 'manually' and the problem with that 'solution' is you have to do it for each and every CD you print, you can't set it up and print a batch of 10 or whatever.

So bottom line, buy a cheap 2nd hand XP machine and use it as dedicated CD print server. What you'll spend in money you will save in frustration, time and fist shaking at Epson.

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I should mention also that you can get these machines (with 2gb) for around £65-70 delivered in UK (link below as example - no affiliation or commercial interest to me) and even if it comes with windows 7 or whatever you can install a dual boot to XP (see youtube for tutorials)
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/eMachines-eM350-Laptop-Netbook-1-66ghz-2gb-WiFi-Webcam-Windows-7-/172221250948?hash=item28192fbd84:g:VcYAAOSw3mpXGgYD

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