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Sharp Electronics (UK) Ltd., NIS Systems Support

NIS Bulletin 036b.doc

Page:  1 of 9

ARPB2 Printer Driver Version History

All ARPB2  Printer Boards

This bulletin explains the history of the ARPB2 printer drivers and the specific
versions numbers that will appear when clicking the about button within the
driver properties configuration tab of the print driver.

The versions of printer drivers have been commonly known by a “Version”
number.  This related to the generation of the printer driver for the Cougar
range of products.  Below is a brief explanation of the Cougar driver history to
date:

V1

The first printer drivers were released with the original
AR280/285/335.

V2

The release of the AR250 resulted in a second generation of
print driver.

V3

Known as the PB2+ printer drivers. This generation of driver
accompanied the ARPB2+ printer board. New PCL6 drivers
were made available as well as other software programs such
as Sharp Printer Administration and Printer Status Monitor

V4

Known as the first PB2a printer drivers. This generation of
driver included support for the AR287/337/407/507. When
used with these new Cougar models, the following new
features were made available - Secure Printing, Confidential
Printing, Print Job Auditing, Status/Alerts By Email.

V5

The latest generation include specific printer drivers for
Windows 2000.

V6

Includes Digital signatures for AR287/337/407/507 machines.

V7

Includes Digital signatures for all Cougar models

It is strongly recommended that the printer drivers being used match the
firmware version within the printer board. Below is a comparison table that
can be used as a guide.

Printer Driver
Generation

V1

V2

V3

V4

V5

V6

V7

Flash
Memory

Boot

v1.10

v1.11

v1.12

v2.04

Program
/Font

v1.45

v2.21/

v2.32

v3.22

v4.35/4.37/4.40/4.425

Date: 

29

th

 November 2000

Model: 

ARPB2

Ref:

012

Colour Code:

Orange (C)

Pages:

1/9

Page:

1 of 2

NIS SYSTEMS SUPPORT

BULLETIN

Sharp Electronics (UK) Ltd., NIS Systems Support

NIS Bulletin 036b.doc

Page:  2 of 9

Each upgraded printer driver also includes ongoing fixes for known driver issues.  For this reason, it is
always recommended that the latest print drivers and printer board firmware are used.

Please Note:
Ensure that you refer to NIS Bulletin 034 prior to upgrading any printer driver.  The old drivers must be
fully removed prior to installing a later print driver.  NIS Bulletin 034 will guide you through the removal
process.

Determining the Version of Printer Driver already Installed

(1)  In order to ascertain the exact version of printer driver that a customer may already have installed

on their PC. Click on Start-Settings-Printers and  right click the printer driver.  Since the 3

rd

generation of printer drivers, a model specific selection has been available.  To confirm the driver
version, we must confirm the model that had previously been selected.

(2)  Click on the Configuration tab and then on the About button.  A screen shot similar to the one

below will be seen.

Sharp Electronics (UK) Ltd., NIS Systems Support

NIS Bulletin 036b.doc

Page:  3 of 9

(3)  Using the following tables, you can now determine which generation of printer driver you have

installed.  Here we have an AR507 PCL5e driver running on Windows 95/98.  Its version is
version 3.2.0 (build 065), so this relates to a v5 ARPB2a generation printer driver.

Sharp Electronics (UK) Ltd., NIS Systems Support

NIS Bulletin 036b.doc

Page:  4 of 9

AR250

No driver

No driver

3.0.1 (016)

3.2.0 (018)

4.0.0 (020)

4.0.0 (071)

5.0.0 (001)

AR280

model

model

3.0.1 (016)

3.2.0 (018)

4.0.0 (020)

4.0.0 (071)

5.0.0 (001)

AR285

selection.

selection.

3.0.1 (016)

3.2.0 (018)

4.0.0 (020)

4.0.0 (071)

5.0.0 (001)

AR286

PCL5e

PCL5e

3.0.1 (016)

3.2.0 (018)

4.0.0 (020)

4.0.0 (071)

5.0.0 (001)

AR287

driver

driver

N/a

3.2.0 (066)

4.0.0 (020)

4.0.0 (072)

4.0.0 (072)

5.0.0 (001)

AR335

version

version

3.0.1 (016)

3.2.0 (018)

4.0.0 (020)

4.0.0 (071)

5.0.0 (001)

AR336

was 1.0.1

was 2.0.0

3.0.1 (016)

3.2.0 (018)

4.0.0 (020)

4.0.0 (071)

5.0.0 (001)

AR337

N/a

3.2.0 (066)

4.0.0 (020)

4.0.0 (072)

4.0.0 (072)

5.0.0 (001)

AR405

3.0.1 (016)

3.2.0 (018)

4.0.0 (020)

4.0.0 (071)

5.0.0 (001)

AR407

N/a

3.2.0 (066)

4.0.0 (020)

4.0.0 (072)

4.0.0 (072)

5.0.0 (001)

AR505

3.0.1 (013)

3.2.0 (017)

4.0.0 (020)

4.0.0 (071)

5.0.0 (001)

AR507

N/a

3.2.0 (066)

4.0.0 (020)

4.0.0 (072)

4.0.0 (072)

5.0.0 (001)