Brother MFC-L2700DW Driver Installation fails: error code 0x000003eb

[deejayel]

This printer is connected to my network via Ethernet cable.
The Brother software (MFC-L2700DW-inst-C1-US.EXE) displays the error code (0x000003eb), but reports successful installation at the end of the process
It is listed among my printers in control panel, but when I try to print anything, Windows says the printer's driver is not installed.
Brother technical support agent suggested that I run the software with Antivirus and Windows Firewall disabled, which I did to no avail, receiving the exact same result as with those facilities enabled.

 

[rvcjew]

The fix here seems to work most of the time for this error but MAKE SURE you BACK UP your registry first.
Good luck.

start menu
regedit
file
export
name file what you want
pick export range "all"
save it then do these steps.

Taken from: Cannot install printers

This steps do work well for me.
Do them at your own risk.
Backup registry before you do anything!!!!
Stop "Print Spooler" service first

Then base on your platform delete all keys below the version-3
for 32 bit
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Environments\Windows NT x86\Drivers\Version-3
for 64 bit
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Environments\Windows x64\Drivers\Version-3

go to the folder "3"
C:\Windows\System32\spool\drivers\w32x86\3
rename it to "3.old"
Start the "Print Spooler" again and install your printers

to start and stop the spooler service I started cmd.exe as administrator and typed NET STOP SPLOOER and NET START SPOOLER.

 

[deejayel]

Some progress, but not yet resolved.

My network comprises three computers, all running Windows 7 Home Premium.

CPU4 is running 32-bit Windows, whereas the other two are 64-bit. I have not yet tried to install the Brother software on CPU4.

CPU7, my main workstation, is the one on which the Brother software installation has so far failed, even after following the scenario prescribed by rvcjew. Aside from repeating the setup for the Ethernet connection type, I also tried setting it up to use the USB connection. Again, the printer shows up in control panel, and its properties assert that it is successfully installed, online, and ready, but when I try to print anything I get an error message saying that the driver is not installed.

CPU8, which is used mainly as an entertainment center, has much less software installed than CPU4 or CPU7. The Brother software installed on CPU8 with no errors, and successfully printed a test page.

I have observed that the Brother software creates numerous log files, so my next step will be to compare the logs on CPU7 & CPU8, to see if I can find any clue as to how the two installations differed.

I will report back later today, after I wrangle my four canine companions to the vet clinic for their flu vaccine booster shots.

 

[rvcjew]

Look forward to your progress.

 

[deejayel]

After trying rvcjew's tips, which did not fix anything, I did some further searching on th internet, and came across the following article: http://thebackroomtech.com/2010/08/26/fix-windows-cannot-connect-to-the-printer-error/
The author presents several plausible scenarios, but none of them worked for me. I mention it here only because it might be of use to others.
Yesterday I spent another two hours on the phone with Brother tech support, which concluded with the agent's saying that the problem is not with Brother's software, but rather that something is wrong with my Windows installation.
Today I spent over four hours in a remote support session with Microsoft Level 1 and Level 2 agents.
The latter concluded, after dithering all around my computer with seemingly random stabs at the problem, by asking me to download a 4.5GB ISO image that he plans to use tomorrow to repair my Windows. So far, all he has managed to accomplish is to delete the two working printers I started the day with. The Brother MFC-L2700DW makes a very effective paperweight.

 

[mrjimphelps]

Since you successfully installed the printer software on CPU8, why not leave it connected to that computer, then share it to the other computers from there?

 

[rvcjew]

Since you successfully installed the printer software on CPU8, why not leave it connected to that computer, then share it to the other computers from there?

Being multifunction it some times requires the drivers from the manufacture and not generic to do things like scan from it. Otherwise I would agree.

 

[deejayel]

Since you successfully installed the printer software on CPU8, why not leave it connected to that computer, then share it to the other computers from there?

I tried that already, and CPU7 is unable to install the drivers.

 

[deejayel]

Being multifunction it some times requires the drivers from the manufacture and not generic to do things like scan from it. Otherwise I would agree.

I have been working exclusively with the drivers downloaded from the Brother website.

 

[deejayel]

Further Adventures with Microsoft, for which I paid $161.25

Today I spent 12 hours online and on the telephone with a series of halfwitted drones who identify as Microsoft Level 2 Support Agents.
The concept of forensic analysis as a means of diagnosing and repairing product failure is evidently quite foreign to the Microsoft culture.
It is almost amusing to converse with an earnest young dude in India who speaks too rapidly in an accent that my poor brain must struggle to decipher, but the humor really escapes me. I am just too tired and exasperated by the whole experience.
After the usual round of bumbling & fumbling, the last of these clowns decide the thing to do would be to reinstall Windows.
The result so far is about what I have come to expect from these clueless losers: A Windows installation that is "not genuine" due to the disappearance of its product key; an Office Professional suite that is completely nonoperational; Internet Explorer Version 8 that fails to update to Version 11; miscellaneous other programs on my computer that are damaged or disabled; and all of this after a fresh install followed by MORE THAN 200 IMPORTANT UPDATES.
Is there perhaps something deeply rotten about a software product with more patches than a cubic mile of Raggedy Ann dolls?
As I sat there gazing at my monitor, I envisioned how it would be if Microsoft were in the business of manufacturing automobiles:
They would initiate an average of 13.2 product recalls per day, accounting for 73% of their payroll.
If your two- or three-year old sedan got a flat tire, the product service specialist would opine, "Well, sir, that left rear tire does seem to be flat on the bottom. Our technology is not yet to the point where we can effectively diagnose the situation. That feature has been announced for the MicrosoftWagen Version 27.12, scheduled for RTM in 2020."
Then he would send your vehicle to the crusher and build you a new one from scratch. This replacement would not be quite the same as the original, but it is well known that very few MicrosoftWagen owners ever actually use their windshield wipers, and also that a single headlamp is more than adequate for most purposes.
This will really be the vehicle owner's fault anyway, as he should have known better than to run over that thumbtack in such cavalier fashion.
Microsoft.Top.Men: how do you guys sleep at night, I wonder? You rake in billions of dollars from us every year, and you haven't got the decency to address your American customers in the good, old American language? And you just aren't competent enough to turn out products of more than mediocre quality in the first place?
It's been a bad day, and we have not even got to the point where we try once again to install my Brother MFC-L2700DW.
I have instructed my minions to begin preparing a litany of curses & imprecations to be called down upon both Brother and Microsoft in the near future.

 

[rvcjew]

You have already tried installing the software in safe mode correct, and yeah they usually just want you to reinstall. Also do you have Iolo on all your computers and has it done any registry cleaning lately?

 

[deejayel]

You have already tried installing the software in safe mode correct, and yeah they usually just want you to reinstall. Also do you have Iolo on all your computers and has it done any registry cleaning lately?

No, I have not tried installing the software in safe mode, but it wouldn't hurt to try. Nobody among the various support critters has suggested it, but I will keep it in mind.

Yes, I have System Mechanic Pro Version 17 on CPU7, and have used both it and CCleaner to check for registry problems very frequently. Perhaps I should just leave the registry alone for a while?

 

[torchwood]

Just to satisfy my curiousity,
DO you have a log from SM Pro with what its changed

As its not on CPU8 and the drivers are correctly installed, ive got to be looking at it as the cause.

Its a really BAD idea to use registry cleaners.

That error code is not a driver installation problem, its a connection error between PC and printer


Roy

 

[deejayel]

Just to satisfy my curiousity,
DO you have a log from SM Pro with what its changed

As its not on CPU8 and the drivers are correctly installed, ive got to be looking at it as the cause.

Its a really BAD idea to use registry cleaners.

That error code is not a driver installation problem, its a connection error between PC and printer


Roy

I don't know where iolo stores any record of changes it makes to the registry.
I cannot now run System Mechanic Pro on CPU7, as it's one of the programs that Microsoft Level 2 mucked up for me yesterday.

 

[torchwood]

OK,

lets try getting them another way

please navigate to program or programs (x86) 1 or 2
C >> Windows >> 1 or 2 >> look for Iolo/system mechanic >> open the folder
hopefully there is a file >>>> logs
Right click on it >> SEND to >> select compressed zip >> this will create a zip file
attach it to your next post.

Roy

 

[wizardwillow]

TRY this method, UNINSTALL all ur drivers, MAKE SURE DE "UNINSTALL DRIVER" is being ticked! and reinstate it back, IF still persist...see de error, GO TO its system properties, MANUALLY install its drivers using MANUAL METHOD...

OR

simply UPDATE ur drivers to newest one. it should be available on brothers's website. IF still persist ...IT SHOULD BE UR PRINTER has de infections. its boards DIRTY and CORRUPT...OR.. simply transfer & connect ur printers to other computers, CHECK IF DE PROBLEM STILL EXIST. IF YES, TIME TO RE-FORMAT ur current pc and reinstate ALL requires drivers. thats all

 

[deejayel]

OK,

lets try getting them another way

please navigate to program or programs (x86) 1 or 2
C >> Windows >> 1 or 2 >> look for Iolo/system mechanic >> open the folder
hopefully there is a file >>>> logs
Right click on it >> SEND to >> select compressed zip >> this will create a zip file
attach it to your next post.

Roy

Attached is the logs folder from C:\Program Data\iolo

 

[deejayel]

TRY this method, UNINSTALL all ur drivers, MAKE SURE DE "UNINSTALL DRIVER" is being ticked! and reinstate it back, IF still persist...see de error, GO TO its system properties, MANUALLY install its drivers using MANUAL METHOD...

OR

simply UPDATE ur drivers to newest one. it should be available on brothers's website. IF still persist ...IT SHOULD BE UR PRINTER has de infections. its boards DIRTY and CORRUPT...OR.. simply transfer & connect ur printers to other computers, CHECK IF DE PROBLEM STILL EXIST. IF YES, TIME TO RE-FORMAT ur current pc and reinstate ALL requires drivers. thats all

Thank you very much, your call is very important to us.
That is why we make it so hard for you to speak to an actual human.
-- Microsoft Technical Support

 

[deejayel]

Windows seems to work pretty well since the advent of Windows 7, so I plan to stick with it as long as I can.

Migrating to a new version of the operating system is never much fun. I've done it about five times and, fortunately, have had very little occasion to contact Microsoft technical support.

That's why I was so shocked to find out how shabby it is. After wasting too many hours on what should really be plug-'n'-play: installing a new printer on a small, stable network, I got tired of the rigamarole and paid almost $200 for a one-year subscription to Microsoft Assure technical support.

But everything these guys did just made matters worse. Aside from being incompetent (and rather blasé about it), they are a bunch of bald-faced liars.

For example, I have received several emails (from addresses that admit of no reply) saying that somebody tried to call me at an agreed time, but, so sorry, the call went unanswered. In one instance, they gave a time when I was away for a scheduled appointment, and I certainly did not ask Microsoft's myrmidons to call me at that hour.

One day I was assured that a Level 2 agent would call me at 1:30 P.M. I waited till 2:30 to complain about it, and was promised a callback at 4:30 P.M. Need I mention that I waited, again, in vain?

Now I understand why Microsoft does not like to conduct any support activity by email: that would create an audit trail that would put to shame the recent travails of some of our famous ruling class in the Washington of the swamp.

I know that Microsoft has been hit by some number of class action lawsuits because of its behavior and its poor quality products. I hope some enterprising legal dudes will take a good look at Microsoft's technical support operation and see if there might be some way to slap them into shape.

As for me, I give up on this issue. My poor, old CPU7 (restored to its July 1st Macrium Reflect backup) will have to abandon its dreams of Brother multifunctionality and content itself with the humble, little Canon MP240 that shares its lovely colors across my network with such graceful aplomb.