HOWTO: Ubuntu All Brother Printer & Scanner Driver Installation for Newbies!

[Skip Da Shu]

Sorry for the delay response.

You have to consult your printer documentation or poke around with the menu buttons on the printer, and set the IP address to a static IP address on the printer, And make sure it's within the IP address range of the DHCP range of the router. In other words if the router is dishing out IP's in the lets say 192.168.0.1 thru 192.168.0.255 or so then make sure that the static IP of the printer is set to something like 192.168.0.105 or something

Or if your router is dishing out the range in the 10.1.10.200 to 10.1.10.255 then put the printer at 10.1.10.230 or something.

Anyhow this is something you can to on the printer itself, I would not change the router to static cause then you have to set all the machines IP addresses and they won't receive one automatically from the router, so it's simple for a couple machines, but if you have a larger network that gets real old real quick.

Anyhow if you disclose your model I may be able to clarify some more.

I hope this helps.

True static IPs do not and should NOT be in the DHCP assigned IP range as you risk having two things with the same IP show up. If the router's DHCP is set to dish out .100 thru .200 then set the printer static IP to be under 100 or over 200 (last nodes).

Assigning a constant IP to a device/machine via the router is not a static IP but a 'fixed' IP that is assigned by DHCP. Using it this way the IP of the printer MUST be in the DHCP assigned IP range.

[Skip Da Shu]

...I've installed LPR and CUPS, my MFC 7420 is connected via USB, and when I go to http://localhost:631/printers/ it says:

Description: MFC7420
Location:
Printer Driver: Brother MFC7420 for CUPS
Printer State: processing, accepting jobs, published.
Device URI: usb:/dev/usb/lp0
(this is set as my default printer)

The installation was successful, however when I try to print test page it says "Printer not connected; will retry in 30 seconds...".

I followed the modified how-to on page 1 including the copy for 64b. All seemed to work well and no errors once the machine and I came to an agreement that "MFC3240C" really isn't the same as "MFC3420C".

This is on an Intrepid v8.10 AMD_64 install.

However when I select the 'print test page' I get the same error as above. I confirmed the printer is physically connected to a USB port in the back of the machine.

System->Admin-Printing shows MFC3420C there and as the default printer. It's URI is usb:/dev/usb/lp0.

In the browser going to localhost:631/printers shows the printer installed:
Description: MFC3420C
Location: c15-desktop printer
Printer Driver: Brother MFC-3420C CUPS v1.1
Printer State: idle, accepting jobs, published.
Device URI: usb:/dev/usb/lp0

This is on my wife's machine who I'm trying to convince that she doesn't need windoze anymore. So, getting the printer working is a bit 'politically' important despite my opinions of what she prints.

Thanx in advance, Skip

[Docgk]

Here running Jaunty 9.04 and with DCP115C - great thread helped no-end in getting the print side working. However, the scanner proved to need one more step than those above. I still got a comms error from Xsane. Thus the permissions problem still existed even after the above steps.

Solved as follows:

You will need to run lsusb to identify bus and device. In my case bus 6 and device 2 - replace as appropriate and:

sudo chmod 777 /dev/bus/usb/006/002

However, this only works until next reboot or unless the device is allocated a different device number. As a newbie can I ask how to make this a permanent fix?

Thanks



UPDATE: permanent solution found in post #247 this thread.


In 9.04 we must edit /lib/udev/rules.d/50-udev-default.rules and change:

# libusb device nodes
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ENV{DEVTYPE}=="usb_device", NAME="bus/usb/$env{BUSNUM}/$env{DEVNUM}", MODE="0664"

to

# libusb device nodes
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ENV{DEVTYPE}=="usb_device", NAME="bus/usb/$env{BUSNUM}/$env{DEVNUM}", MODE="0666"

and restart.

[grrrlshapedthing]

I followed your directions to install my Brother DCP-165C and everything seems to have worked far as installation goes but It's still not printing anything!

ETA: I'm using Linux Mint 6

[grrrlshapedthing]

okay so I got it to print but the alignment is all off... any ideas on how to fix that??

[newbymick]

Ok - after 2 hours of reading, copying, pasting, restarting, swearing, clicking, typing and more swearing - I finally have my printer and scanner working (dcp-115c)

BTW - been using Linux - From FC5 to Linpus to Ubuntu (how I hated the very 1st Ubuntu) and most other flava's in between for the last 4 years and finally got a printer to work (and as a bonus - A scanner)

Big thank you to the originator of this How To and a big thank you Docgk for the permanent solution

Footnote - just looked back at my stats - last post before this one - August 2006. That's how much I disliked Ubuntu before 9.04 came along. Was using mint for a long time before the creator got political about his users :(

[ratdude747]

using ubuntu 9.04

isntalled both lpr and cups](*,)

but... after realizing i had the wrong ip address it works great :) needs a bit of fresh ink but im impressed. thank you.

[Beatbreaker]

Nice work, I still find this tutorial helpful every time i set up my Brother network printer because the mfc-7420 drivers are still not included in the printer drivers provided by default by Ubuntu.

[ratdude747]

they REALLY need to put them in the repos or just include them. i know they are ar not open source (or are they?)... but some companies are sticks in the mud... they wont go open souce in a million years. boycotting the companies works for those who already use linux but for those who are about to jump onbard, it is discouraging. besides, you get bottom feeders like me who find nice stuff at thrift stores... since they are donated the company gets nothing off of it other than supplies.

btw, how do you get network scanning to work? my machine uses brscan2. it is an mfc-420cn.

[matchstich]

Iam using a (fresh) install of Gutsy and following your "how to" without the LPR didnt work for me, upon rolling back and trying again WITH the LPR I got the printer working....I think it might be worth leaving the part ref the LPR..

how do i roll back, i need to start all over again

thanks
ok, it works now, printer and scanner. what i did was to put 8.04 back on. was using 9.04. and could not get it. have mfc-210c

[ozkhalsa]

Hi , guys I am breaking my head on this issue. No matter how many times i download the correct lpr file from Brother site i am always having the following error. I am following the step by step to the hilt but still getting this have done repeat of theis several times same result. Help Help , i am new to Ubuntu.


suprit@namindodell:~/Desktop$ sudo dpkg -i --force-architecture mfc6490cwlpr-1.1.2-2.i386.deb
dpkg-deb: --control mfc6490cwlpr-1.1.2-2.i386.deb /var/lib/dpkg/tmp.ci
(Reading database ... 160490 files and directories currently installed.)
Unpacking mfc6490cwlpr (from mfc6490cwlpr-1.1.2-2.i386.deb) ...
dpkg-deb: --fsys-tarfile mfc6490cwlpr-1.1.2-2.i386.deb
cp: cannot stat `mfc6490cwlpr-1.1.2-2.i386.deb': No such file or directory
cd: 52: can't cd to debian/*/
dpkg: error processing mfc6490cwlpr-1.1.2-2.i386.deb (--install):
corrupted filesystem tarfile - corrupted package archive
Errors were encountered while processing:
mfc6490cwlpr-1.1.2-2.i386.deb
suprit@namindodell:~/Desktop$

I have done all the pre-requisites as per the brother linux help site. Infact i had installed the printer correctly in Jaunty as WUBI install , but ow with this new Jaunty install on seperate partition ( ext4) i am unable to make this work. Is my tar unpacking package corruptes , or the driver file at Brother web site is corrupted , or simply some other problem I cannot say.

Pls help Help.

[IanW2121]

Having problems with the Scanner on my Brother MFC-8860DN

I downloaded the 'brscan2' and 'skey' drivers and installed them.

A driver check (grep Brother) is positive.

ii brmfc8860dnlpr 2.0.1-1 Brother MFC-8860DN LPR driver
ii brscan-skey 0.2.1-3 Brother Linux scanner S-KEY tool
ii brscan2 0.2.4 Brother Scanner Driver
ii cupswrappermfc8860dn 2.0.1-2 Brother MFC8860DN CUPS wrapper driver

When running brscan-skey I get no confirmation on screen and when I run Sane I get the error "Failed to open 'brother2:bus1:dev1; Error during device I/O"

Looking at the Brother site it says I should edit /etc/udev.rules.d/45-libsane.rules but there is no such file!!??

I've had the printer working fine for some time (and it still is!!).

I also noticed while I was installing several error reports like this ....

Error: "/var/tmp/kdecache-ian" is owned by uid 1000 instead of uid 0.
Error: "/tmp/kde-ian" is owned by uid 1000 instead of uid 0.
Error: "/tmp/ksocket-ian" is owned by uid 1000 instead of uid 0.

Can this be the problem and if so what should I do about it and how??

My Op Sys is Kubuntu 9.4 (32-bit) on an Intel CPU

Thanks

[santana99]

Hi,

I am new to Linux and looking for a solution to connect a Brother DCP-7025 scanner to Kubuntu 9.04 environment.
It works for sudo but not for the normal user. I have seen a lot of solutions for this particular problem but they all start with the assumption that you have libsane rules - files or permission rules - file in a directory called /etc/udev/rules.d. I don't have these files on my system. I loaded the packages sane and xsane and also gscan2pdf for testing purposes.

Any help would be great !!

[aljoriz]

You are a genius!!!!

I was able to made my friend's brother printer in Xubuntu 8.04

[LarsSikstrom]

I am very pleased to have found this advice for with its help I finally mangaged to install my newly bought Brother printer.Due to a misunderstanding of the instructions given in the Brother Solutions Center I have spent hours trying to understand what I did wrong. The answer was that it was necessary to install the lpr file before the cupswrapper.

Thank you very much

[aparkes]

After two days of getting the Brother MFC420CN to work, I stumbled upon this thread. I followed along and got the printer working in no time. Thank you for this wonderful how to.

[desperado666]

For Karmic you have to do this

Create 55-libsane.rules file in directory /etc/udev/rules.d/ with an editor you like


# USB devices (usbfs replacement)
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ENV{DEVTYPE}=="usb_device", MODE="0666"
SUBSYSTEM=="usb_device", MODE="0666"

Then restart udev with

sudo /etc/init.d/udev restart

[brookie]

For Karmic you have to do this

Create 55-libsane.rules file in directory /etc/udev/rules.d/ with an editor you like


# USB devices (usbfs replacement)
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ENV{DEVTYPE}=="usb_device", MODE="0666"
SUBSYSTEM=="usb_device", MODE="0666"Then restart udev with

sudo /etc/init.d/udev restart


I had this up and running in Intrepid following the how to on the first page. Xsane scanner worked great. I upgraded to Karmic, and now Xsane only sees my MFC-210C scanner if I run it as sudo Xsane.

I added the 55-libsane.rules file above but still no go. Do I need to delete the 45* rules I made before? And, how do I get Xsane to play nice without being root?

Also, lsusb does not see the printer. Only sudo lsusb brings it up. This seems like some kind of permissions thing but I can't figure it out. Any help will be GREATLY appreciated.
Thanks. :)

Cheers,
brook

[brookie]

Okay, I found a fix on post #253, thanks Docgk. My MFC-210C scanner is now working. But I have some questions about cleaning up all of this stuff now if anyone can help.

1. Do I need the 45* and 55* rules I made in /etc/udev/rules.d/ or can I delete them?


2. I found anther link (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=2514847&highlight=fstab#post2514847) that said to change the fstab file like:

sudo gedit /etc/fstab

ADD:

none /proc/bus/usb usbfs auto,devmode=0666 0 0

sudo umount /proc/bus/usb
sudo mount /proc/bus/usb
sudo mknod -m 666 /dev/usbscanner c 180 48

I did that. So can I delete this after doing the stuff in post #253?


3. And last but not least, when I edited /lib/udev/rules.d/50-udev-default.rules, the top of the file stated something like, 'do not edit this file.... it will be over written on update...'

...so will I have to redo this edit after my system gets some type of kernel update or something?

Thanks,
brook

[zeiz]

I created the "55-.." file and I also added my model MFC6800 (vendor=="04f9" product=="0111") to /lib/udev/rules.d/40-libsane.rules Everything works fine.

However I'm also curious how Brother could recommend editing a file to be overwritten upon relevant update?

[amano]

Brother DCP-115C printer part in Karmic:

1) Turn off your printer

2) Open Synaptic

3) Search for the package brother-lpr-drivers-extra and install it and all its dependencies (the dependencies should be installed automatically)

4) Turn on the printer

5) The print wizard comes up

6) It doesn't find your printer automatically

7) Look for the manual printer list in the wizard and open the brother printer section

8) Choose the MFC-210C printer (yes, even for the DCP-115C)

9) Done.


Brother DCP-115C scanner part in Karmic:
1) For the scanner functionality download the brscan2 deb package from the brother homepage. Take care that it is the right packages: 32 bit or 64 - that depends on your Ubuntu version. Brscan2 is the right package for the DCP-115C, but be careful: There is another brscan package offered for other printers.

2) Install it.

3) Now you need permissions. For Karmic create the file 55-libsane.rules in the folder /etc/udev/rules.d/ sudo gedit /etc/udev/rules.d/55-libsane.rules

An insert this stuff into the file: # USB devices (usbfs replacement)
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ENV{DEVTYPE}=="usb_device", MODE="0666"
SUBSYSTEM=="usb_device", MODE="0666"
Don't forget to save your changes.

4) Then restart the computer (or at least restart udev restart udev


Report back if that worked. Otherwise you will have to add some additional rules from this thread (I tried some before, but this rule finalley got my scanner to work)

[bayvista]

Thanks again. I have just installed my DCP165C into Karmic and it worked first time. Please note: you need to download the drivers from here (http://solutions.brother.com/linux/en_us/download_prn.html#DCP-165C), not from the link in this HowTo.

[Gene58]

Hey All

I have JUST started getting into this stuff and am feeling VERY stupid about now. I have tried to follw this thread on installing a MFC-440cn printer and was going pretty good (I thought) until I got to where i was to choose the print driver. I could not find MFC-440cn listed.... WHAT am I missing? PLEASE help .. want to get totally away from the windows thing

thanks

[amano]

http://www.brother.com/cgi-bin/agreement/agreement.cgi?dlfile=http://www.brother.com/pub/bsc/linux/dlf/mfc440cnlpr-1.0.1-1.i386.deb&lang=English_lpr

http://www.brother.com/cgi-bin/agreement/agreement.cgi?dlfile=http://www.brother.com/pub/bsc/linux/dlf/mfc440cncupswrapper-1.0.1-1.i386.deb&lang=English_gpl

Aren't those drivers working? Just from the link one post above yours?