64bit driver for A940

On the Vista 64-bit machine, download and run this patch to completely remove the printer from the machine.

Restart your computer.

Download the Vista 64-bit driver for the A940 printer.

Install the driver, choose network and follow the instructions.

Please remember to install the latest firmware for the A940 Printer.

Sharing a printer through a wireless network

Rick

Thanks for the info, but unfortunately it still didn't work. I went through step by step. I downloaded the patch and rebooted. I downloaded the driver, installed it, and it seemed to recognize the printer and install it, but when I tried to print a test page, nothing printed. I brought up the printer box and under Status it said Printing - Error.  I then realized that I had not done the last step, installing the latest firmware. I misunderstood the instructions I guess and tried to download it to the laptop and it didn't work. I then went back to the desktop and installed it successfully. I went back to the laptop and still had the same problem. I then deleted the printer and went through the Add a printer wizard. That seemed to complete successfully, the laptop is finding the printer on the desktop but during the installation process I got an error message box that says "Connect to Printer", Windows cannot connect to the printer. Operation could not be completed (error 0x0000000d). Help! What am I doing wrong?

Okay, I decided to try one more time since I've now updated the firmware. I ran the patch then installed the driver. During the driver installation, this happened last time and I didn't think about it.  WHen I get to the "Select the printer you would like to install and click Next" screen, there is not printer shown. I click refresh and still nothing. I click then click Manual Add and continue from there. I choose "The printer is connected to another computer and shared with other computers on the network. (Peer-toPeer Client)"  Then I have to type in my Remote computer's name and the Shared printer's name, which I do exactly as they show up in my network and then click next.  At this point, it goes back to the "searching" screen and finds the printer. I continue withe the installation and everything seems to install okay. I get a window with "Dell AIO Printer A940 Installation" and it goes through several steps until the "overall install progress" is complete.  I have a screen that says "Congratulations, Setup Complete", I click on Test Page on that screen and nothing happens.  I bring up the printer dialog box and it shows the Test Page under Document Name but under Status it says Error - Printing.  The strange thing is that when I cancel the document, the screen that normally comes up when I'm printing from other computers, the one that shows the ink levels, comes up and then quickly disappears. In order to delete the print job, I have to cancel it again.  This is really baffling me.  Any suggestions?

Are you trying to install the printer on a network? Did you choose network installation and follow the instructions?

error 0x0000000d

On the machine that the printer is conected to, with the USB Cable try a normal installation.

On the Vista 32-bit machine(host computer), download and run this patch to completely remove the printer from the machine.

Restart your computer.

Download the Vista 32-bit Drivers for the host computer. (These drivers are for the host machine that has Vista 32-bit on it. I think this is where the comfusion is.)

Install the driver. (Do NOT use Network for this printer)

The basics are:

1) Establish a working wireless network (follow your manufacturers instructions)
2) Attach the printer to its host computer
3) Be able to print from the host
4) Enable File and Print sharing on the host
5) Set the printers properties to be shared
6) Add a network printer on the client via the Add Printer Wizard

On the Vista 64-bit machine, run the patch, Restart your computer. Now choose network installatyion for this printer and follow the instructions.

Printer Sharing on XP/Vista Network

Go to Control Panel. Choose printer. Then choose Add Printer.

Choose Add a local printer. Click on Create a new port. The default in the drop down box is Local Port. Do not change that. Click Next.

A dialogue box will appear asking for you to enter a port name.

Type in the \\computername\printername or \\ipaddress\printername

Please remember to install the latest firmware for the A940 Printer. (Must be done with the USB Cable machine and connected with USB Cable)

Rick

I think we were trying to install the Vista 64-bit drivers on the 32-bit machine, causing the confusion and the error messages. The patch should remove everything and give you a clean start.

I know my wireless network is set up correctly and my printer is shared correctly. I have had a wireless network set up in my home for several years now. I can print from another laptop over the network and have been able to for years, the host computer has changed twice but I've never had any trouble with updating that. I have printed from other computers over the years on this same printer with no trouble, this new 64-bit machine is the first one that has ever given me headaches.

On the host computer, the only thing I ran last night was the firmware update. I only ran the patch and the 64-bit driver on the 64-bit machine. What you say in the post above makes no sense to do based on what I did last night. I can re-install everything on the host machine if you think it is necessary, but there is nothing wrong with the host machine. It prints fine and I am not dumb enough to install 64-bit drivers on a 32-bit machine. 

I have never had to install anything on another computer that has printed over the network. I've always just installed the printer to the remote computer and it has picked up the drivers either from Windows or from the host computer. I did not want to install the All-In-One software on the laptop which is what happened when I installed from the driver link you previously posted. Is there not a way for this to be more seamless? Can I not install just the driver like my other laptop did automatically? I am trying to keep superfluous applications from being installed on the new laptop. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

It could ba as simple as havin two identicalmaccounts with the same password on each machine.

This should work.

The basics are:

1) Establish a working wireless network (follow your manufacturers instructions)
2) Attach the printer to its host computer
3) Be able to print from the host
4) Enable File and Print sharing on the host
5) Set the printers properties to be shared
6) Add a network printer on the client via the Add Printer Wizard

Printer Sharing on XP/Vista Network

Go to Control Panel. Choose printer. Then choose Add Printer.

Choose Add a local printer. Click on Create a new port. The default in the drop down box is Local Port. Do not change that. Click Next.

A dialogue box will appear asking for you to enter a port name.

Type in the \\computername\printername or \\ipaddress\printername

Rick

But which computer do I do the Add Printer steps on, the host or the remote? I don't want to add a printer to the host, it's already there.  I've never seen the create a new port thing so should I do that on the client? Can I do that without downloading the software? I thought I had tried everything possible, but this new port thing is new. Could that have been my problem all along? I would just go ahead and try it, but I don't have the 64-bit laptop up right now.  Should I run that patch to remove everything before trying it? I have never had this kind of trouble before! As far as identical accounts with the same password, what does that mean? I have one password that I connect to the wireless router with, but that's always been the case. I have my other laptop, other desktop, and gaming systems all connected with the wireless and I have security turned on on the router so no one outside can access it. Should different devices have different passwords? That doesn't make any sense. My network has been working for years with no problems so I don't want to start creating problems. This is taking way longer than it should to figure out. I'm about ready to throw this printer out the window and buy a new one, and it won't be a Dell this time! This should not be this complicated!

On the computer that connected to the printer, Do a normal installation. then do the basics.

The basics are:

1) Establish a working wireless network (follow your manufacturers instructions)
2) Attach the printer to its host computer
3) Be able to print from the host
4) Enable File and Print sharing on the host
5) Set the printers properties to be shared

On the other computer, not connected to the printer.

Go to Control Panel. Choose printer. Then choose Add Printer.

Choose Add a local printer. Click on Create a new port. The default in the drop down box is Local Port. Do not change that. Click Next.

A dialogue box will appear asking for you to enter a port name.

Type in the \\computername\printername or \\ipaddress\printername

Rick

Printer Sharing on XP/Vista Network

Go to Control Panel. Choose printer. Then choose Add Printer.

Choose Add a local printer. Click on Create a new port. The default in the drop down box is Local Port. Do not change that. Click Next.

A dialogue box will appear asking for you to enter a port name.

Type in the \\computername\printername or \\ipaddress\printername

Okay, I went through and did the create a new port. When I put in the computer and printer name, it says access denied. Now what?

I didn't change it! I chose Create a new port, left it as local port and clicked next. When I entered the indicated information, which for me is \\MEDIACENTER-PC\Dell AIO Printer A940, I get the message Access Denied.

Okay, after a very frustrating afternoon I decided to start from scratch. I ran the patch on all of my computers, the new Vista 64-bit laptop, an XP laptop, an XP desktop, and a Vista 32-bit desktop.  The printer is connected via USB directly to the Vista 32-bit desktop as it always has been. After running the patch on all computers, I reinstalled the printer to the Vista 32-bit desktop and printed a test page successfully.  I also reinstalled the printer to both the XP desktop and the XP laptop and they both work fine. So, back to the original problem, the Vista 64-bit laptop.

I installed the Vista 64-bit driver for the A940 printer from your link.  I did the network installation like I did on the other laptop and desktop that the printer is not directly connected to and continue to have the same problem with the Vista 64-bit laptop.  I can see the printer in Network under the PC that it is directly connected to and I can access files on that PC, but for some reason I still cannot access the printer.  After installing the driver, I get a window that says "Congratulations, setup complete." I have the option of clicking to print a test page or Finished, I click test page and it goes like it is trying to print a test page but nothing happens. I bring up the printer dialog box and it says "Dell AIO Printer A940" at the top of the dialog box. In the box, it says Document Name - Test Page, Status - Error - Printing.  There is no other error information, it just says Error - Printing.  I right click on the print job, click delete, and get the dialog box asking "Are you sure you want to cancel the document?" I click "Yes" and the Printing Status dialog box pops up for a second and then disappears.  I have to then go back to the printer dialog box, cancel the print job, and it successfully cancels and I close the printer dialog box. 

Since I have installed the drivers, I go back to the Control Panel and attempt to add the printer that way. When I go into Printers, I see the Dell AIO Printer A940 listed, but I click "Add Printer" anyway. It brings up the Add Printer dialog box and shows me the Dell AIO Printer A940. I click on it and click Next. A dialog box pops up stating "Windows Printer Installation", Connecting to Dell AIO Printer A940 on Mediacenter-pc. The little green bar goes back and forth for a while and then the error message pops up. "Connect to Printer", Windows cannot connect to the printer. Operation could not be completed (error 0x0000000d).

I try one last thing. I go back to Add a Printer in the printer control panel and click on Add a Local Printer. When I click "Create a new port", the default says AIO Printer A940 Port but I change it to "Local Port" since that was what was in your instructions. I choose Local Port, type in \\Mediacenter-pc\Dell AIO Printer A940, click on okay, and get an error message "Local Port", Access Denied.  Since the default for adding a new port wasn't Local Port, I decide to go back and choose AIO Printer A940 Port. When I choose that and click next, I get something that I've not seen before.  It says Dell Network Configuration, Configure Network Printers.  There is also a place for installed printers to be listed, but nothing is listed there. It just says "Port Name", "IP Address", "Model", and "MAC".  There is one button that says "Configure" and below that it says "Change the IP address fo the selected printer."  There is also an "Add Printer" and a "Refresh" button.  Clicking on refresh, there are still no printers listed so I click on Add Printer.  This brings up a dialog box that says "Dell Network Configuration", Add...  One new printer, Specify the IP address of the configured printer. or Multiple new printers. Search this subnet for all new printers:  I'm assuming that I might be able to add this printer if I knew the IP address of the configured printer, but I do not know how to find that. I did the only thing I know how to do and went to a Command Prompt and did ipconfig. I tried the IP address that came up and the Subnet mask. Neither of those worked. I did a little more digging online and tried typing in arp -a and got a few other IP addresses. I tried typing in all of these and none of them seemed to work, either.  I then tried netstat -r and got a bunch of information that I couldn't really do anything with. Some of it was the same IP addresses that I've already tried and some was other numbers that did not look like either IP or subnet masks.

So, where do I go from here? My printer works on my network so that's not the issue. The issue is this 64-bit laptop. I know it is connected to the network properly because I can access shared files on other computers on the network with no problems, the only problem is this dang printer! Where can I go from here?