BP models Storage Backup and/or Device Cloning

[WackyJack]

I realize there are problems that have come up that have been traced back to cloning things over to the BP series, but are there any parts of the Storage Backup or Device Cloning sections that are actually safe to copy from a MX-4070 to a BP-70C45 without causing problems? I don't need everything, but network settings and address book would be nice to be able to transfer over at install of the new machine to help out the customer's IT people. I would take just the address book, if nothing else
On the few that I had cloned before finding out about the potential problems, I never had any issues reported, but better safe than sorry.

[ihatefinishers13]

I realize there are problems that have come up that have been traced back to cloning things over to the BP series, but are there any parts of the Storage Backup or Device Cloning sections that are actually safe to copy from a MX-4070 to a BP-70C45 without causing problems? I don't need everything, but network settings and address book would be nice to be able to transfer over at install of the new machine to help out the customer's IT people. I would take just the address book, if nothing else
On the few that I had cloned before finding out about the potential problems, I never had any issues reported, but better safe than sorry.

You can backup the Address Book and User Lists to CSV (also under System Control), but otherwise, there have been wayyyyyyy too many problems for me to ever clone, even if/when Sharp comes out with a way to do so. I'll be skeptical, for sure.

That being said, I've seen one dealer(during an inter-territorial install) copy over the network settings(mostly for SMTP and LDAP), and they haven't had any issues.... But it was 3 machines at one customer, so much too small of a sample size.

[danny464]

If anyone knows the most common issues you would get when cloning and post it it would be appreciated. Unfortunately we were cloning before we knew it causes issues and want to be ready for whenever something pops up

[ihatefinishers13]

If anyone knows the most common issues you would get when cloning and post it it would be appreciated. Unfortunately we were cloning before we knew it causes issues and want to be ready for whenever something pops up

I've heard a lot of Sharp OSA and Cloud issues, as well as network issues. We already had issues on the 71 series with running slow when printing or copying after being cloned, nothing that anyone could do, even after resetting the machine back to factory AND replacing the mSata on 2 different speeds of machines. Also had issues with shortcuts that didn't work, addresses would be buggy when trying to select different file types or DPI settings... The list goes on

[JLSam]

I've cloned 70's and 71's to BP's many times now without any issues except for today.

On Storage Back up, I only use Address Book.
On Device Clone, I use: Network Settings, and Clock Adjust. That's it.

Then correct AIRPRINT settings, Device Name settings, and Static IP addresses.

Strange issue today though, for the first time.
MX-2651 to a BP-50C26

SMTP Auth would not "save". After checkmarking SMTP Auth, inputting username and APP pass, submit, update, the "SMTP AUTH" would go back to default none.
CN Update fixed this issue no problem.
First for everything I suppose.

[bilyahn]

Most of my accounts are very simple setups. Rarely deviating from default settings. I have cloned everything without problems in the color series but had an interesting issue with mono. Cloned units from MX-M7570 to BP-70M65. Everything transferred okay but tray 1 and 2 were stuck on 8-1/2 x 11. Went into settings and reset trays and everything is good. So you take your chances, how much is your time worth if it messes something up.

[ihatefinishers13]

I've cloned 70's and 71's to BP's many times now without any issues except for today.

On Storage Back up, I only use Address Book.
On Device Clone, I use: Network Settings, and Clock Adjust. That's it.

Then correct AIRPRINT settings, Device Name settings, and Static IP addresses.

Strange issue today though, for the first time.
MX-2651 to a BP-50C26

SMTP Auth would not "save". After checkmarking SMTP Auth, inputting username and APP pass, submit, update, the "SMTP AUTH" would go back to default none.
CN Update fixed this issue no problem.
First for everything I suppose.

That actually might be because of the latest firmware that was recently pulled back. The bug had something to do with SMTP settings not working I believe

[iHateSharpFusers]

That actually might be because of the latest firmware that was recently pulled back. The bug had something to do with SMTP settings not working I believe

Sharp said SMTP settings would fail to save after initializing machine on version 0420 firmware, could also have been the case after cloning too.

[mloudy]

SMTP Auth Method not holding IS caused by firmware 420. We duplicated it on 4 seperate machines in house. I reached out to Sharp who had me open a case on it and then close it with the fix. We were able to downgrade firmware to 410 to get it working again. We thought rolling firmware back was not possible but we did it.

[ihatefinishers13]

SMTP Auth Method not holding IS caused by firmware 420. We duplicated it on 4 seperate machines in house. I reached out to Sharp who had me open a case on it and then close it with the fix. We were able to downgrade firmware to 410 to get it working again. We thought rolling firmware back was not possible but we did it.

Rolling back has always been an option, that's also why they still have old versions on their website. Gets tricky, though, when you have those "special" firmware files, like for TLS or SMB issues, or a finisher adjustment.

[don_925]

I have done many BP series setups with cloning and never had an issue so far. Take note of IP Subnet and Gateway as these do not get cloned, has to be input manually. This is the order I follow: Start with storage backup first and only copy address book and note the file name.
Then next do Device Cloning and only copy network setting, image send settings and scan settings and note the file name.
Then the new copier, start with Storage backup and input the clone. Then go to device cloning next and input the file. Once both are done very importand to power off the machine, 1st the soft switch then the main hard switch. Then let the machine boot up, then go to network settings and enter IP Subnet and Gateway.
I have done many clones this way and never had any issue so far.
Also I have done many full clone, I have copied everything from storage backup and device cloning and pushed full clone over but followed the same order.
When doing full clone, avoid if the original machine is way different then the new one, example external vs internal finisher or LCC etc,
Most Important thing, New BP Series its very important to download the correct print drivers from Sharp USA. IT really helps.
SO far I have been lucky with 100% success with clones

[WackyJack]

Thank you all for the replies. The install is tomorrow morning, and I'm going to try copying just the address book and network settings. I don't really want to risk trying any more than that at this time

[glimmer1980]

We have had this experience as well. I believe that after a certan FW version the cloning is not fully 100% possible anymore. We only export the network settings with no problem.

We have customers that worked with local created users with cardnumber (used for logging in on the printer) on a MX3071. When couldn't get that cloned. We had to create all the users again by hand. Sharp really needs to fix this!!!

[ihatefinishers13]

We have had this experience as well. I believe that after a certan FW version the cloning is not fully 100% possible anymore. We only export the network settings with no problem.

We have customers that worked with local created users with cardnumber (used for logging in on the printer) on a MX3071. When couldn't get that cloned. We had to create all the users again by hand. Sharp really needs to fix this!!!

Wait, you have the ability to backup the user list to CSV(same location as the address book), which also backs up those codes... Could be wrong of course! I've never backed that up with card codes in them.

[sbeisner1]

I've been cloning Sharp's for 25 years with no issues. Ever. Believe it or not, I've even cloned Network Settings and Address Books from an MX-2600N to a new BP-70C31. No issues. I do it ALL THE TIME. I do Storage Backup of ONLY the Address Book and then I do Device Clone of ONLY the Network Settings because those two things are not easily keyed back in manually. If the Address Book contains Network Folder destinations then it contains username and password credentials which most of our customers don't know. With Network Settings, the main reason I clone that is because most customers also don't know their SMTP Authentication credentials. So I clone those two things and manually configure the IP address, subnet mask and default gateway as those things don't move over.