Whenever what might possibly be a timing problem crops up, the first suggestion seems to be “Print from the SD Card!” because the communication USB link between the PC and printer is so fragile it can’t keep the printer fed properly. This seems odd to me and some recent findings indicate that the latency problem is largely due to a weapons-grade blunder in the Java stack, but I figured I’d try it to see what happens.

This rather garishly contrast-stretched image shows the zits along the left side of the right-hand critter’s dome, plus an assortment below their eyes. The one on the left was from the SD Card, the one on the right was through the USB link:

Octopodes - SD Card variations

The zits may be a bit hard to see in the image, but I can’t see any difference in person, either.

For what it’s worth, I have never personally seen a problem that was resolved by printing from the SD Card. I think Linux does a better job of keeping the USB pipeline fed, despite Java’s baked-in RXTX delay, than Windows, but I really don’t have any data to support that. Other than that most of the complaints about USB latency seem to come from Windows users, that is.