Connect your printer to the RIP: USB, network, and the port 9100 trap

Three ways to connect

USB direct: the RIP talks to the printer itself, with no driver and no print queue (macOS and Linux). System queue: the RIP hands raw data to the operating system's spooler, which passes it through untouched — this is the normal way on Windows. Network: the RIP opens a socket to the printer's IP on port 9100 and streams the job. All three send exactly the same bytes; pick whichever is convenient.

Windows

1. Plug in the USB cable and switch the printer on. Windows installs a driver by itself in a few seconds — any Epson driver will do, because we send raw data through it.
2. In the RIP, open the Printer tab and choose System, then pick the printer in the list.
3. Prefer the network? Choose Network and type the printer's IP address, port 9100 — but read the next section first.
4. Press Test connection. It should answer in well under a second.

macOS

1. Plug in the USB cable and switch the printer on. You do not need to install anything: the RIP uses the system's USB backend directly.
2. In the RIP, open the Printer tab, choose USB direct and pick the printer.
3. If it does not appear, press the refresh button next to the list; a printer that is asleep sometimes takes a second attempt.
4. For network printing choose Network, type the IP and port 9100, and read the next section.

Linux

1. Plug in the USB cable. The kernel's usblp driver creates a device node, usually /dev/usb/lp0.
2. Your user needs permission to write to it: sudo usermod -aG lp $USER, then log out and back in. The .deb package installs a rule that does this for you.
3. In the RIP, open the Printer tab, choose USB direct and pick the printer. It is listed with its IEEE-1284 identity, so you can tell two identical printers apart by serial.
4. For network printing choose Network, type the IP and port 9100, and read the next section.

Network printing: switch on port 9100 first

Epson ships consumer printers with raw printing (port 9100) turned off, and port 9100 is exactly where every RIP sends. The printer answers pings, shows its web page and prints happily from Windows — but refuses the RIP with a connection error. Nothing is wrong with your cable, your IP address or your network: it is one checkbox inside the printer.

1. Print a network status sheet from the printer's panel (Settings → Network Settings → Network Status) and note its IP address.
2. Open https://<that IP> in a browser and accept the certificate warning — printers use a self-signed certificate, which is normal.
3. Log in as administrator. On recent Epson models the password is printed on a label on the printer itself; on older ones it is often blank.
4. Go to Advanced Settings → Services → Protocol and tick Allow RAW(Port9100) Printing.
5. Press Next, then OK. The printer restarts its network — give it a minute — and then prints from the RIP.

• The IP changed overnight: most routers hand out addresses that expire. Reserve the address in the router, or give the printer a static one from its panel.
• Test connection times out but the printer is on: check port 9100 as above, then check that no firewall on the computer blocks outgoing connections to it.
• The Windows queue list shows OneNote, PDF or XPS: those are virtual printers and the RIP refuses them — a raw ESC/P2 job would be meaningless there.
• Linux says permission denied: your user is not in the lp group yet, or you have not logged out and back in since adding it.