a .deb or an .rpm?

I just ordered a Brother printer (HL2280DW), and Brother supplies drivers for linux but only as .deb or .rpm

I just remembered about rpm2tgz but can't remember for the life of me if there's a way to change a deb to a tgz so I can install it on my Slackware 14 system.

Debian package to tgz :

$ ar -x <package.deb> && mv data.tar.gz <name>.tgz

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I'm pretty sure you can use src2pkg on either .dep and .tgz to create a slackware package.

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D1ver, you are right. Using src2pkg to convert rpm or deb packages will not ensure that the programs run on Slackware, but it will at least avoid borking your system due to bad perms or permissions.

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Thanks guys. I also kept looking and looking and eventually found this - deb2tgz. It's 5 years old, here's the website http://code.google.com/p/deb2tgz/downloads/list

I'll try src2pkg first...just because it's a stock install (isn't it?) than the deb2pkg thing.

Heh...nope, I see it isn't. Got it now and installing it to see how it'll do.

Actually "deb2tgz" is as primitive as $ ar -x <package.deb> && mv data.tar.gz <name>.tgz

deb2tgz, line 105 : mv $TMPDIR/data.tar.gz $(basename $i .deb).tgz


Why not use the suggested src2pkg : Very easy to install ..
http://distro.ibiblio.org/amigolinux...8-noarch-1.txz
> src2pkg-2.8-noarch-1.txz

-

I regularly setup Brother printers using their RPM drivers on Slackware.

Here's my own little HOWTO on the subject (scroll down a bit):

http://www.microlinux.fr/slackware/L...CUPS-HOWTO.txt

If you install it on Slackware64, be sure to install the basic set of Multilib packages.

Cheers,

Niki

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irgunII,

I own Brother HL-5340D printer. I tried both DEB and RPM drivers with it and there’s no difference. Finally I decided to use PPD driver (the text one). Unfortunately Brother doesn’t offer PPD driver for your HL-2280DW but you could try the PPD driver provided for the similar printer such as HL-4070CDW:

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

***

By the way: are you willing to perform some font tests using your Brother laser printer? My printer causes some problems with GNU FreeFont family. I tested that a lot and described these problems here and there. I could provide you the test file. To perform the test it’s enough to install GNU FreeFont, print the file, and evaluate the results.

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RPMs can be installed directly. Just use Slackware's included RPM with --nodeps.

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This is what worked for me with a Brother MFC-J825DW printer/scanner.
http://docs.slackware.com/howtos:har...r_installation

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A little off topic to your original question, but if you have no luck with installing it as a package, this thread might help you: http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...h-cups-846633/

I had a problem installing printer drivers for a Brother printer, and ended up managing it with the ppd file instead.

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Wow! Thanks for all the tips and help folks! What a great place, heh!

@w1k0 - Once I have the printer here and actually have it running (supposed to get here Monday), I'll get the font you're talking about and let you know when I'm ready to test it...so long as it's not going to eat a buttload of paper or toner (I'm a monetarily poor SoB and this printer was a 'splurge' and that's because I was able to get it at half price, heh. I still have yet to get some paper also...and a usb cable as I'm not too comfortable with the network setup stuff...unless networkmanager will see it automagically for me and set it up for me when I plug in an ethernet cable).

And just in case anyone coming by and reading all this and asking themselves why get a Brother if it's not nearly as easy to get up-and-running as, say an HP of some kind - it's because I've read nothing but good reports about Brother printers lasting forever and working well. Every other company I've read about (well, not 'every', but many) makes nothing but throw-away stuff. I used to like Epson for their work with Linux, but the price of inkjet and the things just falling apart after a year or two just couldn't be afforded by me anymore. Hell, I've got an old Epson Stylus C86 sitting in the closet right now that I don't know what to do with, heh.

If you have a spare port in your router, then I suggest using a network connection, as it is likely to be less troublesome than a USB connection. There have been some fun and games in the past with udev rules for USB connections.
There was a thread in the Hardware forum recently where someone was trying to get a Brother printer working using a USB connection. After much discussion it was found that the user was using a USB 3 port, which was not working with the printer on the hardware being used.

Personally, I like Brother devices (I am on my second), as they provide good Linux support and I have received very quick, courteous and knowledgeable responses when I have emailed queries.

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Oh...hmmm...my router is in another room, too far for me to get a cable to it, thus, it's wireless. D'you think it will still be less trouble than a usb cable? If I can get it to work wireless, the other person in the house hopefully won't be pestering me nearly as often to 'borrow' the printer when I get it (and she's one of those idiots who thinks a question mark in the middle of a white web page needs to be printed...or in other words, whole forests have been persecuted during the time she used to own her own printer several years back but she'll learn real quick that that crap isn't going to happen on *my* printer...I'm not a nice person and PC and me are like cats and mice). <BEG>

Okay...got the printer to print (I had to go get a USB cable and it actually worked...the network cable on the ethernet was just too confusing and was working nor was the wireless even though the printer itself got on the wireless setup).

The problem I'm having now is I can't get it to scan. I've installed the brscanner things and done everything on all the pages you guys have shown me to read.

The only thing left I want to try is this:

#brsaneconfig4 -a name=SCANNER model=HL-2280DW ip=

Only I don't know how to get the ip address for the printer. Any ideas? Remember, it's usb connected.