Epson R2400 - Status Monitor 3 not indicating ink levels

I just installed an R2400 and drivers on my Windows XP PC last night. When viewing the Status Monitor 3 while printing or launching from the Windows Task Bar, the ink level bars are all gray and the Status Monitor hangs when I interrogate an individual ink bar for its status. Has anyone experienced similar behavior? I've previously installed an Epson 1280 and drivers/software on my PC and the Status Monitor displayed ink levels for it. Does the Epson installation CD uninstall existing versions of Status Monitor? Does it matter?

I'll check the version of the drivers I installed last night from the CD against what is currently available on the Epson website. Probably have to uninstall and reinstall drivers.

Thanks,
TonyQ

Hi Tony, I just posted in the dpreview printer forum ... yes, go to the Epson support site and try getting the latest version of status monitor and the epson print driver. Uninstall your current drivers and install the new ones. See if that works.

This problem shows up from time to time. Installing the latest drivers may help. Also be 100% sure that your USB cable works, and is securely attached to the printer and a working USB port on the PC. A failure in the communication link to the printer clearly may disable the status monitor since it can't talk to the printer.

Thanks for the suggestions.

I wonder if there is more likelihood of problems or issues with Firewire rather than USB connection? That's what I'm using to connect to PC in this instance. First time I've ever used Firewire, rather than USB.

TonyQ

ajq wrote:Thanks for the suggestions.

I wonder if there is more likelihood of problems or issues with Firewire rather than USB connection? That's what I'm using to connect to PC in this instance. First time I've ever used Firewire, rather than USB.

TonyQ

On the PC Platform, if given a choice between Firewire and USB2, always choose USB - its a much more reliable interface for PC's

If you continue to have issues with the status monitor,or even if you don't in fact,one option would be to install the SSC Service Utility for Epson printers,this will give you an accurate readout of ink remaining,and possibly a more precise indication than what the status monitor shows.
One other major benefit of this program is being able to do a nozzle clean of colour OR the black, you can also choose a standard clean or deep thorough clean,if needed.
You can find the program here http://www.ssclg.com/epsone.shtml

I attached R2400 to PC with USB cable and ink levels appeared like magic! Also ended up downloading latest drivers from Epson and all is now copasetic. Thanks for advice.

TonyQ

I am currently having this issue with my Epson 3800 along with the ink levels not showing up issue.. On my previous Epson 2100/2200 I had to keep re-installing the Status Monitor 3 frequently. now this is happening again.. i tried the fix here but it aint solving the problem.. could it be that the ink level issue is inter related with this issue too?