Printing Woes

I have an iMac for which I have been using a Kodak esp 9 AIO printer. All was well with the installation and the printer until a short while ago. Whenever I turn on the printer it automatically opens iPhoto, which was not a big bother, since I could turn off iPhoto and go on using the printer without problems. After a while it got to the point that it would open iPhoto, but I could not print anything, not even photos. The message I kept receiving was that the printer was not connected to check the connection. The printer was and is connected, but when I tried to ident the printer I got error 200-1003 which necessitated the uninstallation of the printer software and a reinstall. I did both, it started to recognize the printer, but when I tried to print I got the message that the printer was not connected. I again uninstalled and reinstalled the software, and following the manufacturer's recommendation also downloaded the updated firmware for the printer. When I tried to install the firmware to the printer the computer could not connect to the printer, and the printer software could not access the printer either. I have tried to connect via WiFi, no luck, changed the USB cable, switched the port, etc. This is driving me crazy, since for the first 7 months of use I had no problem with the printer settings or connectivity, until it started acting weird by only opening iPhoto, now it won't even connect when it opens iPhoto. Does someone out there know of a solution to this problem?

Thanks