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

[Fraoch]

Many thanks.
I have used the CUPS interface, but that does not seem to allow me to change things.

This could be the source of your trouble - note the Brother instructions state that some modification work must be done in the CUPS web interface:

http://welcome.solutions.brother.com...ion_prn1a.html

Step 5a. (for USB Connection) Check your printer on the cups web interface
5a-1. Open a web browser and go to "http://localhost:631/printers".

Check if the Device URI of your printer is "usb://Brother/(your printer's model name)"

If the device URI is different from the example above, please go to "Modify Printer" of your printer to select proper device and driver.

If your printer is not listed on "http://localhost:631/printers", please go to "http://localhost:631/admin" and click "Add printer" and select proper device and driver.

Step 5b. (for Network Connection) Configure your printer on the cups web interface
5b-1. Open a web browser and go to "http://localhost:631/printers".
5b-2. Click "Modify Printer" and set following parameters.

- "LPD/LPR Host or Printer" or "AppSocket/HP JetDirect" for Device
- lpd://(Your printer's IP address)/binary_p1 for Device URI
- Brother for Make/Manufacturer Selection
- Your printer's name for Model/Driver Selection

You indicate you can't modify things on the CUPS web interface. How so, does it just do nothing when you select certain things?

The CUPS web interface is a little hard to understand at first. To get to the point where you can actually carry out the Brother instructions, click the "Administration" tab at the top of the page. Then press the "Manage Printers" button. Click on the printer, then in the second roll-down list pick "Modify Printer". It'll ask for a user name and password, your user name with your root password should work. Then you can actually carry out the above instructions.

[organmorgan]

This could be the source of your trouble - note the Brother instructions state that some modification work must be done in the CUPS web interface:

http://welcome.solutions.brother.com...ion_prn1a.html



You indicate you can't modify things on the CUPS web interface. How so, does it just do nothing when you select certain things?

The CUPS web interface is a little hard to understand at first. To get to the point where you can actually carry out the Brother instructions, click the "Administration" tab at the top of the page. Then press the "Manage Printers" button. Click on the printer, then in the second roll-down list pick "Modify Printer". It'll ask for a user name and password, your user name with your root password should work. Then you can actually carry out the above instructions.

Many thanks for your trouble - it is clear that having successfully installing it as network printer I never thought of re-reading the Brother instructions. (idiot!)
As regards the CUPS web interface, I could not see how to modify the settings: right clicking on the manage printers showed open link etc - no properties option. (ldiot-squared - you didn't put right click, so why did I?)
Luckily my setting it via the printers properties achieved enough to overcome my ignorance. There is so much to learn and so much forgotten!

[Fraoch]

Many thanks for your trouble - it is clear that having successfully installing it as network printer I never thought of re-reading the Brother instructions. (idiot!)
As regards the CUPS web interface, I could not see how to modify the settings: right clicking on the manage printers showed open link etc - no properties option. (ldiot-squared - you didn't put right click, so why did I?)
Luckily my setting it via the printers properties achieved enough to overcome my ignorance. There is so much to learn and so much forgotten!

Oh I also didn't read properly then, you now indicate it's working - sorry!

Anyway, yeah, to get to printer properties in CUPS, just click the link, don't right-click.

The CUPS web interface is pretty powerful once you wrap your head around it. You can print test pages, add/modify/delete printers, set a default printer, etc. There's little need for the Windows-like Printers box and it has less control.

[Fraoch]

I think this might be helpful if I was actually sure that the printer I am trying to use at work is compatible with linux! Brother MFCJ5910

I did find and download drivers but still seem to be getting it wrong.

If there's a driver on the Brother website for it then it's compatible and should work. And yes, yours is listed:

http://welcome.solutions.brother.com...ml#MFC-J5910DW

Then follow the instructions, it's not too hard but it's more than just installing the .deb:

http://welcome.solutions.brother.com...ion_prn1a.html

Just to make life really hard there is no instruction for actually printing a document as opposed to a photo from a flash drive - which of course, would save a lot of bother.

It works just like a printer in Windows or Mac - you must have something to print open in an editing program, then select "File - Print" from the menu.

[mining3]

Your set 4 HERE link does not work. I think I downloaded printer CUPs from Brother. I was prompted by soft centre this did not meet some criteria I a went ahead .....hope it does not bung things up. I absolutely hate the layout for Ubuntu 12.04 could not find anything. So I now us Mate desktop to replace with the familiar three Applications Places Systems drop down menus.

Under control centre why no have the selection for scanner just like printer if it is different?

scanner still not working

[pdc]

mining3:

please start a new thread if you would like some help;

it really gets impossible when you have 4-5 people jumping up and down in a thread ..........

.......help us to help you .........

..........please start a new thread and tell us about your system a

[Jackalyn]

If there's a driver on the Brother website for it then it's compatible and should work. And yes, yours is listed:

http://welcome.solutions.brother.com...ml#MFC-J5910DW

Then follow the instructions, it's not too hard but it's more than just installing the .deb:

http://welcome.solutions.brother.com...ion_prn1a.html



It works just like a printer in Windows or Mac - you must have something to print open in an editing program, then select "File - Print" from the menu.

I just have no idea what bit of the instructions to follow and yet again why is the terminal convinced I am not a super user? How do I tell it I am?

I just do not understand what I do to get the drivers opened. I assume I do all the Ubuntu things listed but am still not sure this is going to work.

Maybe my brain is fried because I opened up the laptop to find the laptop had 'lost' the OS! I got it back by putting in a Ubuntu server disk (which did not do anything but seemed to jump start things!) Got no hot water either lol so maybe it is one of them days.

DUH.......SUDO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I forgot to put that in.

[Fraoch]

I just do not understand what I do to get the drivers opened. I assume I do all the Ubuntu things listed but am still not sure this is going to work.

There's really only one critical step:

dpkg  -i  --force-all  (cupswrapper-drivername)

That's it. It says to open and install (dpkg - "depackage") the driver.

You have to navigate to the directory where the .deb sits first. By default, that's /home/[your user name]/Downloads unless you changed the download directory in Firefox. Note this is case-sensitive.

When you start the terminal you will be in /home/[your user name] and the prompt will tell you what user name you are. Mine says:

mark@Sauron:~$

My user name is mark and my machine name is Sauron.

Navigate to the Downloads directory using the "cd" (change directory) command:

cd /home/[your user name]/Downloads

So for example I use:

cd /home/mark/Downloads

In the interest of completeness, you can use a shortcut for /home/[your user name], the "tilde", "~". So:

cd ~/Downloads

is equivalent.

The prompt will now tell you where you are. For example:

mark@Sauron:~/Downloads$

You then follow the Brother instructions using superuser privileges. There are two ways to do this - "sudo" before a command carries out the command with superuser privileges once. You have to type "sudo" every time. "sudo su" changes you to a superuser for the duration of the terminal session. You only have to enter it once and all commands are carried out with superuser privileges.

After the first "sudo" the system will ask for your password - this is the one you set when you installed Ubuntu. For convenience it only does this once, then it won't ask you again for a period of time (10 minutes?)

So you type either:

sudo dpkg  -i  --force-all  (cupswrapper-drivername)

or:

sudo su
root@Sauron:/home/mark/Downloads# dpkg  -i  --force-all  (cupswrapper-drivername)

Note the prompt changed after "sudo su" and shows me logged in as "root" (i.e. the superuser). To find the exact driver name, list the directory contents with "ls". You need to get the driver name exact and the Brother drivers are long with many version numbers. The terminal will tell you if you get it wrong.

The other Brother commands just check to see that the driver installed correctly and go through some modifications in CUPS.

Oh, another shortcut - press the up and down arrows to cycle through the commands you previously entered. This is helpful when you get the exact driver name wrong and you get an error, just type "ls" to show the directory contents and get the driver name, then press the up arrow twice to cycle to the command where you used the driver name. Correct the driver name and press Enter.

[PhilAlban]

Dredging this up from the long-past! Working through step 9 for just the printer fixed my issues (I do not need the brother scanner installed). I have the Brother MFC-J825DW. Thanks for posting this. Attempting to install the drivers (debian) using the Brother website instructions was completely unhelpful.

[larytet]

My /etc/udev/rules.d/70-persistent-printer.rules file

SUBSYSTEMS=="usb", DRIVERS=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="04f9", ATTRS{idProduct}=="01a8", MODE="0666"