Roland CX-300 64-bit Windows 7/8 driver fix!

Last week I got a call from someone who couldn’t give me much specific information, except that some application wasn’t installing, and that “it kept saying it needs Win32.” Yesterday I had a chance to check it out, expecting that we would just need to download the proper 32 or 64 bit version of the software. The application he was using (which wasn’t FlexiSign, I don’t even remember what it was called) was installing fine. It was his Roland CX-300 Vinyl Cutter that he couldn’t get installed under Windows 7 64-bit.

Checking the vendor’s website, they have no plans in developing a supporting driver for Windows 7 64-bit, and no plans to develop for Windows 8/8.1 whatsoever. I tried searching for beta drivers, taking parts of the 32-bit driver and inserting them to the 64-bit driver (I do have some experience with this), etc… but all to no avail. The man who had called me said he spent 4 hours on the phone with the either the hardware manufacturer’s support staff, or the software developer (I’m not certain which) trying to make it work (I’m very surprised they didn’t just tell him it wasn’t possible and hang up).

In a last ditch effort I searched the web and found this forum post. The instructions worked flawlessly. I am copying the solution here only in the name of preservation of the answer, the hard work belongs to the user Pretpik. You can even scroll down in that thread and see that I specifically thanked him for the solution!

The application we were using was different, not this “FlexiSign” software he mentions. But the idea was the same. Once the driver is installed by following the instructions below, inside whatever application you’re using, ensure the software is still configured to use the CX-300 – that way it can get cutting pressure, dimensions, etc… correct. Below are the instructions, typo’s fixed and [comments added].

1. Download the GX-300 driver (or whatever later GX model matches your CX machine size).
2. Install it.
3. Hook up the plotter and switch on (I hooked up USB-USB since I don’t have a parallel port on my comp and couldn’t get it to work with the USB-Parallel cable. Didn’t try again after I did get it to work through USB).
4. Windows starts to search for and install drivers. You might as well stop this as it won’t find them anyway.
5. It will say that the USB Printing Support (or what ever) installed, but the Roland CX-300 didn’t. Close this.
6. Go to the Device manager. (Through Control panel or the computer’s properties)
7. The Roland will be visible under the heading “Other”. Right-click it and go to Properties and/or select Update Driver.
8. When the window appears, click “Browse my computer…”
9. In the next window, do NOT search for the location, but click on “Let me pick from a list…” instead.
10. As the computer doesn’t recognize what type of device your Roland is, this will take you to a list of all drivers on your computer.
11. Scroll down and select Printers.
12. Here you should now have the Roland GX-series driver you installed earlier. Select this one to use.
13. Your Roland should now have disappeared from Others and show-up in your Printers and Devices window (accessed from the Start menu).
14. Now start Flexi [or your other design/printing application]
15. Just draw a shape and send it to Cut (ctrl+L) [or load a saved file, prep a new design to be printed for testing purposes]
16. This starts up the Production Manager where you need to set-up a device to use. Select to Roland CX-300 with the RolandUSB001 port. [May be slightly different depending on your specific application, but the same concept applies]
17. Now when you send this, it should work.
18. You will notice in your Printers and Devices that another printer appeared: Printer for RolandUSB001. LEAVE THIS SIT HERE! I tried “tidying up” and lost my communication… Had to start all over.

So, there. It’s POSSIBLE to use the Roland CX-300 in Windows 7 and even Windows 8, from the looks of things! They stopped supporting it to get people to buy their newer models, but it’s not entirely necessary, so follow the steps closely and I hope they work for you. They did for me!