How to Install Brother Printers and Scanners

[rcrsn51]

This project has been discontinued. The information was out of date and unreliable.

[hokal]

Hi there,

although I'm very new (30 days) with puppy, Im very happy that I tested and installed it. The performance of Ubuntu, Mandriva and FluxFlux caused me head aches over the last 6 month, when I changed from XP to Linux. Puppy in RAM is an excellent solution for my EeePC 901.

I succeded within short to install in addition to puppy 4.2
WLAN, CUPS printers in my office, Java, Thunderbird, TV USB stick
and other programs, due this wonderful Discussion Forum!
Excellent work! I even use my puppy notebook now for my work.

Now I encountered as a newcomer a first problem with the so simple described installation of brother printers.

1. installed tcsh-6.16.00-i486.pet , I learned from the forum.
2. followed the instructions of rcrsn51 strictly

hokal: sh cupswrapperMFC210C-1.0.0 -i
cupswrapperMFC210C-1.0.0: line26: syntax error near unexpected token '0'
cupswrapperMFC210C-1.0.0: line 26 ' exit(0)'


I looked into the script, but don't understand the code.

#! /bin/csh
#
# Brother Print filter
# Copyright (C) 2004 Brother. Industries, Ltd.

# This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
# under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free
# Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option)
# any later version.
#
# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
# ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or
# FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for
# more details.
#
# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with
# this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple
# Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA
#

if("$1" == '-e')then
lpadmin -x MFC210C
rm -f /usr/share/cups/model/brmfc210c_cups.ppd
rm -f /usr/lib/cups/filter/brlpdwrapperMFC210C
/etc/init.d/cups restart
exit(0)

This last line is 26 and the script stopps.

Can someone help to get my brother installed ??
Pls in "normal" words, I'm not a linux freak, just an old man.
Only to mention it: I did not follow the instruction:
Start the installation process with your printer turned ON.

rgds from Cologne in Germany

[rcrsn51]

It looks like some of these wrapper scripts are written for the C-shell instead of the Bourne shell used by Puppy. I'm impressed by the fact that you decided to install the tcsh shell instead!

From your error message, it appears that the only problem is with the actual "exit(0)" command. I would try replacing these lines with

Code: Select all

exit 0

or maybe just

Code: Select all

exit

[hokal]

It looks like some of these wrapper scripts are written for the C-shell instead of the Bourne shell used by Puppy. I'm impressed by the fact that you decided to install the tcsh shell instead!

From your error message, it appears that the only problem is with the actual "exit(0)" command. I would try replacing these lines with

Code: Select all

exit 0

or maybe just

Code: Select all

exit

Hi rcrsn51 don't be impressed! Sorry when I did stupid things.
The problem must be indeed the shell problem. tried to start brlpdwrapperMFC210C; hangs also at a certain line.
Changing exit command did not help.
Should I remove tcsh shell and install another shell (Bourne?) instead ???
Can you give pls instructions where to get this ??
Thanks a lot!

[rcrsn51]

Having played with this some more, I don't think that you need to change the script. Instead do the following:

1. Go to /usr/local/Brother/.../cupswrapper and run the command

Code: Select all

tcsh cupswrapperxxx -i

This should run the installer script without errors using the tcsh shell.

2. Go to the folder /usr/lib/cups/filter and open the file brlpdwrapperMFC210C in a text editor. Change the top line to

Code: Select all

#! /usr/bin/tcsh

This will make the printer filter run in the correct shell.

3. Go to /usr/lib and locate the file "libbrcompij2.so.1.0.2". You need to create another file named "libbrcompij2.so.1". Right-click on this file and select "Link". Change the name to:

Code: Select all

libbrcompij2.so.1

Just carefully delete the ".0.2" off the end.

If this works correctly, you should see the second file with an arrow on its icon. This is a symlink to the other file.

Now run CUPS and add your printer.

[hokal]

Having played with this some more, I don't think that you need to change the script. Instead do the following:

1. Go to /usr/local/Brother/.../cupswrapper and run the command
Code:
tcsh cupswrapperxxx -i

This should run the installer script without errors using the tcsh shell.

2. Go to the folder /usr/lib/cups/filter and open the file brlpdwrapperMFC210C in a text editor. Change the top line to
Code:
#! /usr/bin/tcsh

This will make the printer filter run in the correct shell.

3. Go to /usr/lib and locate the file "libbrcompij2.so.1.0.2". You need to create another file named "libbrcompij2.so.1". Right-click on this file and select "Link". Change the name to:
Code:
libbrcompij2.so.1

Just carefully delete the ".0.2" off the end.

If this works correctly, you should see the second file with an arrow on its icon. This is a symlink to the other file.

Now run CUPS and add your printer.

Yes Sir, it was the shell command!Thanks for your instructions!

[stevesr0]

I am currently running 4.2.1 as a Live-CD.

I installed a Brother MFC7345N yesterday as a network printer, using the instructions posted by rcrsn51.

In my case, I had to download a compatible driver since the Brother site didn't have one for my exact model. As we also have a Mac, I looked at the drivers on the Brother CD for the Mac. They had drivers for the MFC7340, the MFC7345N and the MFC7440N. The size and dates of the latter two were identical.

I therefore chose the driver for the MFC7440N listed on the Brother site and downloaded the rpms for cupswrapper and the lpd driver.

One difference from the instructions: by default, the download is to the /root directory rather than the /directory. When I tried to extract and install from this site, the response to "sh cupswrapperMFC7440N-2.0.2 -i" was couldn't find an LPD file.

I finally copied the Brother directory to /usr/local and then the command worked fine.

Note that for me, the sh command worked but the tcsh command didn't.

Note that the device URI that Brother recommends for their networked printers is lpd:/ipaddress/queue, where queue by default is binary_p1.

Hope that is helpful to someone.

Thanks rcrsn51.

Steve

[rcrsn51]

Glad to help. I did a test install of your MFC7440N driver using the new "debbi" script and it worked perfectly. This should make the installation of Brother printers pretty straight forward.

The csh shell is required by a small group of printers listed here.

[hokal]

SCANNERS

Go to http://solutions.brother.com/linux/en_us and select Download Scanner Driver. The various models are covered by three drivers - brscan, brscan2 and brscan3.

Locate your scanner in the lists and download the corresponding driver. Also check for any additional instructions that may apply to your device. Then install it using debbi:

Code: Select all

debbi brscan2-0.2.4-0.i386.deb

Reboot and run Xsane from the Graphic menu.[/quote]

I followed the updated Brother installation description of rcrsn51 which works perfekt!

Remark for Brother Scanners in a Network:
execute a command like: >brsaneconfig2 -a name=scanner model=DCP-315CN ip=192.168.x.x
Start Sane, choose USB Port and Sane will find your network scanner!

[rcrsn51]

For Brother Scanners in a Network:

Execute a command like:

brsaneconfig2 -a name=scanner model=DCP-315CN ip=192.168.x.x

Start Sane, choose USB Port and Sane will find your network scanner!

Thanks for that useful piece of information!

[12mma10]

Glad to help. I did a test install of your MFC7440N driver using the new "debbi" script and it worked perfectly. This should make the installation of Brother printers pretty straight forward.

The csh shell is required by a small group of printers listed here.

hello rcrsn51,

I've read that thread carefully, but I was not able to get my MFC-5840CN work.

here is my Printer Config:

Description: MFC5840CN
Location:
Driver: Brother MFC-5840CN CUPS v1.1 (color)
Connection: lpd://10.0.0.53/binary_p1
Defaults: job-sheets=none, none media=BrLetter

I got the same errors like Hokal, tested the same workaround.

When I print something, I can see a print job.
After some seconds the job disappears and the printer tells mi that he is receiving data.
But the printer prints nothing!

do you have a tip for mi?

[rcrsn51]

Connect the printer directly to a USB port, install it again and see if it will print. That will tell you if you have the correct driver. If it does, go back to the network connection.

For the device URI, try

Code: Select all

socket://10.0.0.53:9100

Then go to the CUPS web interface and print a test page. Watch for error messages.

[Edit] I did a simulated install of your printer and the driver does work. To what kind of network is this printer connected?

[Strampke]

Thanks for the explanation and files in this thread.

But still..........
I do like Linux, I do like Puppy, but why oh why does it take so much effort to install a printer.
Having to use 3rd party programming downloaded from a forum with an explicit explanation on how to handle things.

Why isn't Linux more straightforward.

Paraphrasing Neil Armstrong:
Installing a non top selling printer is a small step for the Linux guru but a giant leap for the average computer user.

[rcrsn51]

Why isn't Linux more straightforward.

Let's do some math. Brother has Linux drivers for about 200 models. When they are turned into installable PETs for Puppy, each one is about 1 MB in size. So the total Brother driver package is about 200 MB. Compare this to the 100 MB size of a Puppy ISO and you can see the problem.

On the other hand, HP combines all their Linux printer drivers into a single package which is only 400 KB and is easier to use than their Windows installers.

Do you have any suggestions on how to make your particular situation better?

[Strampke]

Yes I do.

For simple users like me maybe a pet would do.
Just download one file click on it, get the question whether you want to install it and off you go.

[rcrsn51]

For simple users like me maybe a pet would do.

Fair enough. I just built a PET for your HL2150N and posted it above. It took about 20 minutes. When I have some spare time, I'll start working on the other 199 models

[aracnachid]

Hey I'm happy to help with pets for the brother drivers.. I will post the DCP195C drivers as a pet here later today...... I am having a problem getting the printer to print in A4 I changed the paper size to A4 in the above fore-mentioned file and when I print a test page I reverts to Letter size paper......... any ideas anyone?

[rcrsn51]

I am having a problem getting the printer to print in A4 I changed the paper size to A4 in the above fore-mentioned file and when I print a test page I reverts to Letter size paper......... any ideas anyone?

Go into your CUPS settings and check Printer Options. The Media Size is probably set to Letter. Change it there.

I've never been clear on which of these paper settings over-rides the others. What happens when you print from an application? If you set A4 in your word processor, does it print correctly?

[MRT42]

I have been given a Brother MFC-7345N multifunction printer/scanner/copier/fax. I am trying to get it running. I saw that stevesr0 said the printer driver for the MFC-7440N worked for his MFC-7345N. I installed the pet for the MFC-7440N and the printer works fine for me. However when I tried to follow the instructions for installing a scanner driver I found that the MFC-7345N is not listed but the MFC-7440N is listed in the brscan3 deb pkgs. I hoped that since it worked for the printer driver it would also work for the scanner. I installed it using debbi but when I run xsane it says no devices available.

I ran 'sane-find-scanner' in terminal and this is what it says.
"found USB scanner (vendor=0x04f9, product=0x0214) at libusb:006:002
#Your USB scanner was (probably) detected. It may or may not be supported by
#SANE. Try scanimage -L and read the backend's manpage."

Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.

[rcrsn51]

Your Product ID is 0x0214. Look in the file /usr/local/Brother/sane/Brasane3.ini. You will see that other models are listed by what I would assume is also the product ID. In particular, Line 51 has an entry for 0x0215.

If you make up a similar entry for your MFC-7345N, maybe you can get it detected. OTOH, there may be a reason why Brother does not supply a Linux driver for this unit.