[SOLVED] trying to add driver for brother HL-L2300D

vonbiber · 03-03-2015, 08:56 AM

Today I bought a laser printer (Brother HL-L2300D).
It was listed in my cups database. So I was able to add it.
When I tried to print a test page, it came out blank and I got
a message about a missing driver.
From the brother web site I downloaded these 2 files (after selecting
my model, and linux as my OS):

Code:

brgenml1cupswrapper-3.1.0-1.i386.rpm
brgenml1lpr-3.1.0-1.i386.rpm

I unpacked the rpms to have a look.
On the *cups* unpacked package I have exactly this folder:

Code:

opt/brother/Printers/BrGenML1/cupswrapper

containing these files:

Code:

brother-BrGenML1-cups-en.ppd  brother_lpdwrapper_BrGenML1*  paperconfigml1*

On the *lpr* unpacked, I got these

Code:

etc/opt/brother/Printers/BrGenML1/inf/

(which is empty)

Code:

opt/brother/Printers/BrGenML1/inf

which contains these files

Code:

brBrGenML1func	brBrGenML1rc  braddprinter*  setupPrintcap*

Code:

opt/brother/Printers/BrGenML1/lpd/

which contains these files:

Code:

brprintconflsr3*  filter_BrGenML1*  rawtobr3*

and these empty folder

Code:

var/spool/lpd/BrGenML1/

Anybody has an idea about which files should be copied and where in order to have a working driver for this printer?

maciuszek · 03-03-2015, 09:11 AM

If you're stumped it's always good to have a look at pkgbuilds i find, and in that i would recommend writing a slackbuild; even directly ported from that pkgbuild. To keep yourself more organized and have easier management with any future upgrades.

It's funny I haven't used arch ever in my life, but I'm sure I've been staring at their repositories more than the average arch user.

https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/b...enml1/PKGBUILD

onebuck · 03-03-2015, 10:06 AM

Hi,

If you use 'CUPS' then use the 'brother-BrGenML1-cups-en.ppd' driver when adding the printer. Browse to that 'ppd' driver when asked for the driver file location and select 'brother-BrGenML1-cups-en.ppd'. You should then be able to use 'CUPS' for that printer.

Hope this helps.
Have fun & enjoy!

vonbiber · 03-03-2015, 11:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by onebuck

If you use 'CUPS' then use the 'brother-BrGenML1-cups-en.ppd' driver when adding the printer. Browse to that 'ppd' driver when asked for the driver file location and select 'brother-BrGenML1-cups-en.ppd'. You should then be able to use 'CUPS' for that printer.

I tried what you suggested. But when I tried to print a test page (within CUPS)
I got this error message:

Code:

Missing Printer Driver

Printer 'Brother_HL-L2300D_series' requires the '/usr/lib/cups/filter/brother_lpdwrapper_BrGenML.1'
program but it is not currently installed

I tried this as it seemed quicker, but I guess I'll have a look at the PKGBUILD as suggested by maciuszek.

bassmadrigal · 03-03-2015, 12:20 PM

You should just be able to move the file, brother_lpdwrapper_BrGenML1, that was contained in the brgenml1cupswrapper-3.1.0-1.i386.rpm download into the directory required by CUPS (/usr/lib/cups/filter/). You may need to rename the file to brother_lpdwrapper_BrGenML.1 (notice the dot twoards the end).

vonbiber · 03-03-2015, 03:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bassmadrigal

You should just be able to move the file, brother_lpdwrapper_BrGenML1, that was contained in the brgenml1cupswrapper-3.1.0-1.i386.rpm download into the directory required by CUPS (/usr/lib/cups/filter/). You may need to rename the file to brother_lpdwrapper_BrGenML.1 (notice the dot twoards the end).

I just wrote a SlackBuild (thanks maciuszek, for your suggestion), built a package and installed the txz.
The file '/usr/lib/cups/filter/brother_lpdwrapper_BrGenML1' was there.
I'll test it tomorrow and see if the dot is necessary. Will let you know.

Thanks everybody

allend · 03-03-2015, 04:03 PM

An alternative technique for installing Brother drivers from .rpms http://docs.slackware.com/howtos:har...r_installation

vonbiber · 03-04-2015, 02:05 AM

okay
after installing the drivers, I went to cups, and this time the
Brother BrGenML1 for CUPS
appeared at the top of the list after I added my printer.
But when I tried to print (self test, and a regular file by regular user) nothing happened,
not even error messages.
After trying to print the test page, here what the `Show All Jobs' displays:

Code:

Brother_HL-L2300D_series-182  	Unknown  Withheld  1k  	Unknown  	completed at  Wed 04 Mar 2015 08:57:44 AM EST

There's no entry in the error log page for that job

Am I missing something?

allend · 03-04-2015, 05:47 AM

Any chance you are using a 64bit setup? If so, check the Prerequisites section of the link I posted at post#7

vonbiber · 03-04-2015, 07:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by allend

Any chance you are using a 64bit setup? If so, check the Prerequisites section of the link I posted at post#7

No, my system is 32bit.

Funny thing is, when I first ran cups (before I installed the drivers) and I tried
to print a test page, the printer went into action (I got a blank page), then I saw
the message about a missing driver.
Now, nothing happens on the printer side (blinking light or whatever)

allend · 03-04-2015, 07:09 AM

Have you tried printing a plain text file? (I have had the CUPS test page fail to print, but other documents are fine.)
What does 'lpstat -t' show?

vonbiber · 03-04-2015, 07:27 AM

I just noticed something.
I'm looking at

Code:

usr/lib/cups/filter/brother_lpdwrapper_BrGenML1

It's a perl script. At the top of the script I saw this:

Code:

$PRINTER =~ s/^\/opt\/.*\/Printers\///g;

Looks like it expects the files to reside in /opt, as it was in the rpm.
I'll try to create the same tree structure in /opt and create symbolic links
and see what happens.

maciuszek · 03-04-2015, 08:55 AM

https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/brother-brgenml1/

Download the tarball and apply the patch in your slackbuild.

I confident you ignored:

Code:

prepare() {

patch "$srcdir/opt/brother/Printers/${_brotherdrivername}/cupswrapper/brother_lpdwrapper_${_brotherdrivername}" < "$srcdir/brother_lpdwrapper_${_brotherdrivername}.patch"

}

maciuszek · 03-04-2015, 09:09 AM

https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/brother-brgenml1/

Download the tarball and apply the patch in your slackbuild.

Im confident you ignored:

Code:

prepare() {

patch "$srcdir/opt/brother/Printers/${_brotherdrivername}/cupswrapper/brother_lpdwrapper_${_brotherdrivername}" < "$srcdir/brother_lpdwrapper_${_brotherdrivername}.patch"

}

vonbiber · 03-04-2015, 10:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by maciuszek

https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/brother-brgenml1/

Code:

prepare() {

patch "$srcdir/opt/brother/Printers/${_brotherdrivername}/cupswrapper/brother_lpdwrapper_${_brotherdrivername}" < "$srcdir/brother_lpdwrapper_${_brotherdrivername}.patch"
}

Yes, I ignored that.
I was thinking of using sed to modify the default paths in the scripts after noticing.
But I'll just use the patch that I just downloaded.
Thanks for the link. I'll rewrite my SlackBuild and reinstall everything.