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Google Cloud Print Is Turning Off Epson Printers (pcmag.com)

Posted by msmash on from the printer-woes dept.

When Google launched Cloud Print, it removed a lot of the hassle from using a printer. Instead of a printer only printing documents from the PC it was connected to, Cloud Print allowed any device, be it a Windows PC, Mac, Chromebook, smartphone, tablet, etc. to print to any printer either locally or remotely. However, Google Cloud Print has gone awry this week, as reports PCMag, and Epson printer owners are suffering because of it. From the article: A thread appeared on the Chromebook Central Help Forum explaining a problem where an Epson XP-410$185.00 at Amazon printer was turning itself off after 30 seconds. The printer worked without issue for two years, but now it wouldn't stay powered on. At first, this seems like a printer hardware problem, but the printer started working again once it was disconnected from the Internet. However, as soon as Google Print Cloud was enabled, the automatic power down happened again. Later in the support thread an Epson WF-4630 owner reports the same issue, as do XP-215, XP-415, XP-610, WF-545, WF-845, and WF-7610 owners.A change in Google's API for its cloud service triggered the issue, reports ArsTechnica. The change has caused a conflict between Cloud Print and printers' firmware.

Update: Epson has responded to Slashdot, pointing us to its support page that has instructions on how to fix the issue on many of Epson printers.

9 of 73 comments (clear)

  1. I'm ok with that by eneville · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Printers spend a lot of their time performing idle cycles. Seems ok to me if the device is powered off automatically so long as it has WOL.

    --
    Why UNIX?
    1. Re:I'm ok with that by ADRA · · Score: 3, Interesting

      They do when their native printing device (phones/tablets anyone?) don't have every print driver known to man pre-installed ready to go.

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      Bye!
    2. Re:I'm ok with that by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 4, Funny

      I didn't know people printed from phones/tablets. I'm a 1980s guy.

      Me too. So I asked my millennial daughter if she uses a printer from her phone, and she said "What's a ``printer``?"

    3. Re:I'm ok with that by Yvan256 · · Score: 2

      Hell, I've been reading about some people who even print in 3D now.

      I still don't quite understand why they'd want to print a whole stack of pages all glued together though. Must be expensive.

  2. People use this? by grub · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I can't believe people willingly send their documents to Google where they will be processed by their systems and stored for however long.

    --
    Trolling is a art,
    1. Re:People use this? by 110010001000 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Perhaps you missed the Google "Do No Evil" pledge. They wouldn't do anything like that.

    2. Re:People use this? by grub · · Score: 2

      Anyone who defends this convenience-over-privacy should download and print Jihadi-type information, nuke plans, bio-weapons info, etc. through this service and see how long it is before there is a knock on their door.

      --
      Trolling is a art,
  3. Re:So, in other words...a bug? by Nunya666 · · Score: 2

    Somebody found a bug in a piece of proprietary software. This is news? It happens all the time. Google will fix it soon and we'll all forget about it. Nothing to see here, folks.

    For those who have an Epson printer and did not know that this could happen, it is definitely news.

    If you think it is not, then you are probably in the wrong forum.

  4. Android CUPS Printing by Zombie+Ryushu · · Score: 2

    Android CUPS Printing. Advertises through AVAHI, works on Smart Phones, solves the problem. No Google involvement.