Assistance Please in installing Brother MFC-495 printer
 

Hello,
I am a veritable noobie with Linux and am running Linux Mint Debian Edition (mate). I am having the devil of a time installing my Brother MFC-495cw printer connected via USB port. There are Linux drivers, but I don't know which ones or how to install them (extract, open, etc).
There are Deb, cupswrapper, and RPM files. I would appreciate someone assisting me in a very basic step by step install. I'm reasonably intelligent, but at 73 am not the whiz kid a 12 year old would be. So, please apply the KISS principle when telling me something (Keep It Simple for Stupid). I do have an MD degree, so am fairly intelligent.
Thanks.
tlcmd

If the driver comes in .deb form, then that one is the one to get. Just navigate to it in your file manager, click on it, and the package manager should install it.

Told you I was a dummy
 

David,
Thanks for your reply, but told you I was not the sharpest knife in the Linux drawer. Now, please tell me how do I navigate it to my file manager. Right now it is in my download folder?

Thanks,
tlcmd (aka Dick)

More info re: Brother MFC-495cw Linux install:
Any assistance or suggestions would be appreciated. I'm running a dual boot Linux Mint Debian Edition and Windows XP SP3. My printer is the Brother MFC-495cw. It works fine on the Windows XP, but will not work on the LMDE. Otherwise, LMDE seems to be working fine and running faster than my Windows XP.

1) I installed it via the Brother deb files with my GEdbi Package installer and it successfully installed the printer.
2) It shows up under "Print Settings" in the control center with a green check.
3) When I want to print something, it goes through the menu and asks how many copies, fit to page, print order, etc. When I hit print either in the menu or under files, it appears to try to send the document to the printer, but nothing happens with the printer turned on or off.
I've uninstalled and re-installed it and currently am at a complete loss. it looks like it ought to work, but doesn't.

Help, please.

I'm only semi-Linux literate, but obviously have missed doing something.

Thanks,
tlcmd (aka Dick0

Let's try to see what's happening.

1. Try to print something.
2. Start your web browser and enter the url http://localhost:631/ which will give you access to CUPS.
3. Click on the Administration tab.
4. Click on the Manage jobs button.

There you can read what's happened, and why it hasn't printed. Let's hope it's something simple. Believe me, we've all been through this on occasion: life was so much simpler in the days of dot-matrix and daisy-wheel printers!

Thanks, David
 

David,
I went through the procedure you outlined and it reported "no jobs". Some additional information:
1) My package manager shows that the Brother Printer Definitions, Printer Drivers, and Mode Switching tool are all installed.
2) My printer shows up in the Control Center as the Brother MFC-495 Icon with a green check, but will not print even the test page.

So it seems like I've gotten the printer connected, the drivers downloaded, and they appear to be installed, but it still will not print from the Linux operating system. And worse, this particular model of Brother is not listed in the drivers list from LMDE.

Now, the same printer will print from my Windows XP partition on this same computer through the same connections.

I installed the deb driver files. i've tried to install the rpm files with little succes as my terminal suggested I use "Alien" toinstall these files. I have no idea what "Alien" is and it doesn't seem to be a command which my terminal will accept.

Any other suggestions?

I really appreciate what you've done so far. At least I've found out that everything seems in place, but not working. I am getting frustrated!!
Thanks again,
tlcmd (aka Dick)

Re: terminal command lines to install Brother MFC 495 cw
 

David,
Thanks again for your assistance. After doing a lot of reading, I think I can make this install work by using the terminal and the brprinter-installer-2.0.Step1. Download the tool.(linux-brprinter-installer-*.*.*-*.gz) I'm trying to install a Brother 495-MFCcw multifunction printer.

The tool will be downloaded into the default "Download" directory.
(The directory location varies depending on your Linux distribution.)
e.g. /home/(LoginName)/Download

Step2. Open a terminal window and go to the directory you downloaded the file to in the last step.

Step3. Enter this command to extract the downloaded file:

Command: gunzip linux-brprinter-installer-*.*.*-*.gz

Step4. Get superuser authorization with the "su" command or "sudo su" command.

Step5. Run the tool:

Command: bash linux-brprinter-installer-*.*.*-* Brother machine name

Step6. The driver installation will start. Follow the installation screen directions.


When you see the message "Will you specify the DeviceURI ?",

For USB Users: Choose N(No)
For Network Users: Choose Y(Yes) and DeviceURI.

The install process may take some time. Please wait until it is complete.0-1.gz My problem is that I do not know what to put into the command lines for the install. Here are the (to me vague) instructions for the printer-installer. If I knew what to put into the *.*.*.* I think I could get this thing properly installed.
Any assistance for this semi-literate Linux noobie would be appreciated.
Thanks,
tlcmd (aka Dick)

Step1. Download the tool.(linux-brprinter-installer-*.*.*-*.gz)

The tool will be downloaded into the default "Download" directory.
(The directory location varies depending on your Linux distribution.)
e.g. /home/(LoginName)/Download

Step2. Open a terminal window and go to the directory you downloaded the file to in the last step.

Step3. Enter this command to extract the downloaded file:

Command: gunzip linux-brprinter-installer-*.*.*-*.gz

Step4. Get superuser authorization with the "su" command or "sudo su" command.

Step5. Run the tool:

Command: bash linux-brprinter-installer-*.*.*-* Brother machine name

Step6. The driver installation will start. Follow the installation screen directions.


When you see the message "Will you specify the DeviceURI ?",

For USB Users: Choose N(No)
For Network Users: Choose Y(Yes) and DeviceURI.

The install process may take some time. Please wait until it is complete.

Did you get this printer installed? There are 2 bits of info you need if you didn't. First, I need to thank you. I've been trying to get this printer installed in Linux Mint Cinnamon for months. The instructions you posted drove me to the right page, driver and instructions on Brother's site. My printer is now correctly installed and working.

If you're connecting by wireless or network, you need the IP address. It's in the network settings menu on your printer.

You also need the driver version from the Brother site. If you're using the newest driver, it's version 2.0.0-1. Those are the numbers missing from the *.*.*-* in the filename.

Oh, and when it says "Brother Machine Name" you just put your model number "MFC-495CW" (with no quotes).

I was having EXACTLY the problem you were. Mine prints beautifully now.