Epson M244A – Troubleshooting Guide (DriverFiles)

Most people arrived here assuming a driver problem because the printer behavior changed without clear errors. This page records what actually happened while chasing that assumption. In several cases the driver wasn’t the cause at all, and in others the behavior never fully cleared, which is why firmware limits, hardware wear, POS logic, and mode settings are mentioned.

Problem: Poor output quality on Epson M244A

What users observed: Output quality degraded without any warnings. There were no cartridge errors, no prompts, and nothing obvious to replace. This caused confusion because the printer appeared functional, but results were faint or inconsistent.

What was tried: Attention stayed on maintenance and software-driven refresh actions that would normally apply to ink-based devices. These attempts did not clearly change the behavior.

How this played out: The situation stayed unresolved. Driver-related adjustments did not clarify or resolve the issue.

Problem: Cash drawer would not open while printer was connected

What users observed: The cash register refused to open the drawer and reported that it depended on the printer being operational. The printer itself appeared non-responsive to the POS system.

What was tried: Focus remained on the printer connection. Power and connection status were checked repeatedly.

What this turned out to be: The drawer trigger relied on the printer being online and recognized by the POS. When the system saw the printer as offline or unpowered, the drawer signal never occurred.

Where this sometimes ended: The issue was escalated beyond the printer driver. Resolution depended on the POS configuration rather than the Epson driver itself.

Problem: Missing vertical lines across receipts

What users observed: Entire vertical sections of receipts failed to print from top to bottom. The problem was consistent across prints and affected layout readability.

What was tried: Cleaning efforts and driver-related checks were attempted with no visible improvement.

What this turned out to be: The behavior was attributed to a failed thermal print head rather than software or driver corruption.

Where this sometimes ended: The printer continued producing incomplete output until hardware replacement was considered.

Problem: Center of receipt stopped printing while edges remained normal

What users observed: Receipts printed clearly on both sides, but the center area faded or disappeared entirely. The issue persisted over time and appeared on multiple units.

What was tried: Software checks and cleaning attempts were made, but the print gap stayed in the same location.

What this turned out to be: The center failure aligned with wear or damage in the thermal print head, not a driver fault.

Problem: Receipts stopped auto-cutting

What users observed: Printed receipts no longer cut automatically. Printing itself continued, but the end of each receipt stayed attached.

What was tried: Attention shifted between driver settings and printer configuration, but no clear change restored cutting.

How this played out: It was unclear whether the behavior came from a disabled setting or a mechanical failure. The printer remained usable, but the original behavior did not reliably return.

Problem: Chinese characters failed to print in Ticket Printer mode

What users observed: Chinese text printed as incorrect symbols when the printer operated in Ticket Printer mode. Other modes produced readable characters but broke formatting.

What was tried: Different code pages and character set options were tested within the same driver context, without consistent results.

What this turned out to be: The limitation was tied to printer mode and model support rather than a faulty driver. Ticket Printer mode did not properly support the required Chinese code pages on this model.

Where this sometimes ended: Switching to a different printer mode restored text accuracy.

Other printers showing similar behavior:

Epson LX-310 

Samsung M2070 

Epson UB-U03II