Sharp MX-3201N printer driver installation problem

[aAandy]

Hello everywon

was called out to a client to setup their MX-3201N machine on their windows 8.1 64 bit system, but for the life of me i can't get the printer driver to load (they had tried several times to do so, i noticed their downloads were dated Nov 2014)

first i tried the installation disk, but the system told me it was an incompatible operating system,,, so i went to the sharp website & downloaded the correct driver for the system, unpacked the zip file & ran SETUP - setup went through the motions & finished stating that the software had been installed, but i couldn't find the printer in "devices & printers"

pings fine,, browser talks to it,,,

so, i tried "add printer", the system found the printer, clicked that, system stated it would load the MX-3201N PCL driver & i clicked OK - about 10% into the installation the system stopped with a warning message as follows:

printer driver cannot be installed
%1 is not a valid Win32 application

so, instead i tried "add a device", the system recognised the machine & installed it, it now appears in the "devices & printers" list, but states "driver not present"(or similar)

uninstalled everything & tried again, same result

tried "add printer" using manual settings, scrolled through the printers list & found the relevant driver, same error message - tried again, this time i clicked on windows update in the add printer dialogue box,, waited,, clicked the driver,, same error message

during one attempt i accidently clicked on the driver for MX-3501FN,, it loaded this driver & the printer seems to operate fine, printing emails, PDF's, pictures etc perfectly - i then installed smartdesk & got fax & scan working fine too, i also installed the printer monitor & this appears to be working fine too

has anyone got any frikken eye-deer why i can't install the MX-2301N driver? and what the heck does that error message mean?

[JTRAV]

Check the pc to see if it is a 64 bit operating system.

[aAandy]

Check the pc to see if it is a 64 bit operating system.

thanks mate, as stated in my original post, it is a windows 8.1 64 bit system

[Akitu]

Local resources may have incorrect driver uploaded. My local Sharp gang had the incorrect driver uploaded to the resource website for an MXM232D; intended driver was supposed to be a GDI driver for USB printing but instead it was the SPLC driver that required an IP address, which the machine did not have.

Call your local Sharp center and consult with their IT guys, the quality control is pretty lax.

[aAandy]

Local resources may have incorrect driver uploaded. My local Sharp gang had the incorrect driver uploaded to the resource website for an MXM232D; intended driver was supposed to be a GDI driver for USB printing but instead it was the SPLC driver that required an IP address, which the machine did not have.

Call your local Sharp center and consult with their IT guys, the quality control is pretty lax.

thanks for that tip - will do!!! seeing the original installation disk does not support 8.1, maybe Sharp will provide me a disk, or download, that will

though i'm wondering, seeing i got the same error with the "windows update" driver, maybe there is some system problem due to their attempts to install

[DavePo]

You may also want to check and see if driver signing is turned off. Google it there are directions.

[ruben]

I never use the CD that comes with the machine, it is always out of date. Instead, download the driver directly from Sharp (http://www.sharp.co.uk/cps/rde/xbcr/...lish_64bit.exe) run the extractor, cancel the setup program, and install the driver manually. If the device is on a network you should have the IP address ready, if it is on USB then run the installer.

[aAandy]

You may also want to check and see if driver signing is turned off. Google it there are directions.

thanks for the pointer - i'll check this out!!

[aAandy]

I never use the CD that comes with the machine, it is always out of date. Instead, download the driver directly from Sharp (http://www.sharp.co.uk/cps/rde/xbcr/...lish_64bit.exe) run the extractor, cancel the setup program, and install the driver manually. If the device is on a network you should have the IP address ready, if it is on USB then run the installer.

i tried this, i downloaded the driver from the Australian website, then tried the one from the US website, then the UK website - also tried by not using the setup application & installing manually in each instance - also tried the windows update driver,, all came up with the same error

device is networked, which is why i can ping it & talk to it via a browser

[aAandy]

addendum

seeing the machine is working fine with the MX-3501FN driver,,, is there any reason i shouldn't leave it as is?