use i386 Printer driver

[wewa]

Hello,

I'm trying to install the printer Brother DCP-J140W on my Raspberry Pi (distro: Raspbian wheezy). The problem is, that Brother only provides drivers for i386 architecture (see http://welcome.solutions.brother.com/bs ... #DCP-J140W). Is there any possibility to use this drivers and get my printer working?

Best regards
wewa

[Oakham]

Intel and Arm are completely different, you need the source code to compile.

The Printer is not listed in the OpenPrinting Database: http://www.openprinting.org/printers

[wewa]

Yes indeed. I tried to install the printer via CUPS. But the PPD file was missing in the drop-down list. Therefore I extracted the PPD file from the *cupswrapper*.deb from the Brother homepage and used this file. But without success.

Now I also found out, that Brother provides the source code of the cupswrapper for the DCP-J140W (an other devices): http://welcome.solutions.brother.com/bs ... d_src.html. How can I use this to install the driver?

[wewa]

No ideas, how to solve this problem?

[tvoverbeek]

I do not have a Brother printer, but Linux seems to be well supported by Brother.
Have you seen this page http://welcome.solutions.brother.com/bs ... index.html?
Try to follow the instructions from there for Debian (Ubuntu is also Debian based).
Remember, Raspbian (assuming you are using Raspbian) is a Debian based distribution.

[frangipane44]

Hi,

i've got a Brother DCP-7030 on my raspbian and the printer working well.
To install it, i've installed lpr driver first (http://welcome.solutions.brother.com/bs ... d_prn.html) with force mode and then for cups, i follow steps described here :
http://poingg.com/35630.html

Now i'm trying to use the scanner and it seems difficult...

Tell me if it's ok for you with this solution.

[wewa]

Hello,

I've tried to installed the lpr driver with force, but it does not seem to work.
Because when I try to install the printer via cups, I can't find the printer in the list (at the page where you are asked to select the printer model or to provide the ppd-file). I uploaded the ppd file. But the printer still does not work.

Any suggestions?

[wewa]

[bump]

[abishur]

I think Oakham has provided the best advice, you're gonna have to get the source code and compile. There are lots of google entries on how to do this, you might even be able to find information on how to get your exact printer working with Ubuntu the information should transfer to the Pi

[mahjongg]

but Linux seems to be well supported by Brother.

You mean x86-Linux is well supported by Brother.

That doesn't mean ARM-Linux is well supported too.

Unless you have the source, "supported" doesn't mean much in this context.

[wewa]

Hello,

I've already tried to compile the driver source my self. But without success. I can find the source code of the cupswrapper driver but I could not find the lpr driver.
Therefore I contacted brother I described my situation and asked the following questions.

* Where is the source code of the according "LPR driver"?
* How is the install procedure after compiling your source code and without the usage of your *.rpm or *.deb packages?
* Or could you provide the according *.deb driver packages (LPR and cupswrapper) for armhf architectures?

This was the answer I got:

Thank you for contacting Brother.

I understand you have a ARM Linux machine. Are drivers do not work with ARMHF architectures. Due to it been a closed source.

I apologise for the inconvenience this may have caused you. Thank you in advance for your patience in this matter.

I trust that this information will be of some assistance to you, however should you have any further inquiries please do not hesitate to contact us.


Kind regards,

David
Brother Customer Support

They did not really answer my questions therefore I find this answer is unsatisfactory.

I'll try to contact brother again. But do you have any new ideas or solutions?

[mahjongg]

I suspect that "Are drivers do not work with ARMHF architectures" should be "Our drivers do not work with ARMHF architectures"
And also you cannot get the source code, as they say "Due to it been a closed source.".
So no the drivers wont work, and no you cannot get the source code to make it work.
I understand that this is not the answer you wanted to hear, but I fear its the final stand of Brother on the matter, and there is very little you can do about it.
The only solution that might be possible is to run the x86 (i386) driver code though an x86 emulator, but even if you ever get that to work the performance would be horrible.

rpix86 x86 emulator for PI http://www.raspberrypi.org/phpBB3/viewt ... 78&t=32934

[wewa]

Hello,

I already suspected something like this. Therefore I tried to install the driver on my own again. I installed both i386 drivers (lpr and cupswrapper) with the force option. Then I compiled the cupswrapper source and replaced the old binary from the *.deb package with the new binary. Than I added the printer via CUPS webinterface. And tried to print a testpage. But still without success. To get some additional information I set the cups logger to "debug". Here http://codeviewer.org/view/code:3662 you can see the debug log.

Can you find any errors?

[mahjongg]

Again, you cannot install i386 drivers on the PI, as the PI doesn't have an i386 to execute them, so without a i386 compatible CPU installing them is pointless!

[wewa]

You were right, the lpr driver is not open source.

This was the answer from brother:

I regret to inform you that Brother Linux drivers can not be used for non-Intel Architecture.
Also the drivers can not be re-built for other architectures fully since although the cupswrapper driver is a GPL open source driver, it uses the lpr driver as a co-process.
And the lpr driver is not a open source driver.

[Oakham]

Buy a HP as supported by HPLIP Linux Software http://hplipopensource.com/hplip-web/about.html

[jamesh]

Buy a HP as supported by HPLIP Linux Software http://hplipopensource.com/hplip-web/about.html

I fear that a new printer is the only option here. I doubt Brother would enough lose sales because of this to hit them where it hurts (the wallet), but at least you will feel better.

[dllud]

Two years have gone by and Brother's position is still the same. I've just contacted Brother Europe and they told me that several European branches requested Brother Japan (headquarters) to develop ARM drivers. Still, they received no info on whether ARM drivers will be developed.

Thus, as said before, better buy an HP and use HPLIP.

[tommygoessing]

Hey,

i found this on github:

https://github.com/winterheart/brother-drivers

But i just dont get it if these are drivers for x86 or ARM Architecture, or if this is useful material to built ARM-drivers...

Can anyone tell?

I am trying to install Brother MFC-J615W on my RasPi 2.
Have been discussing that here: viewtopic.php?f=28&t=113754&p=849253#p849253
and here: viewtopic.php?f=28&t=15526&p=849273#p849273

cheers,
tommy

[fruitoftheloom]

Hey,

i found this on github:

https://github.com/winterheart/brother-drivers

But i just dont get it if these are drivers for x86 or ARM Architecture, or if this is useful material to built ARM-drivers...

Can anyone tell?

I am trying to install Brother MFC-J615W on my RasPi 2.
Have been discussing that here: viewtopic.php?f=28&t=113754&p=849253#p849253
and here: viewtopic.php?f=28&t=15526&p=849273#p849273

cheers,
tommy

Considering the web page you linked to is 4 years old, would be doubtful they will support ARMHFArchitecture, as was stated in the other post you posted, Brother do not seem willing to Support..

viewtopic.php?f=66&t=54781

[rpdom]

That github page seems to consist mostly of wrapper scripts that enable the standard Brother (x86) drivers to be used with CUPS. There don't seem to be any actual drivers there. If there were source code for a driver then it could probably be compiled for ARM. But there isn't.

[tommygoessing]

ok rpdom, thanks a lot!

and just to make sure again may I ask in this thread once more:

When CUPS Frontend is asking me, whilest installing a printer, if I wand to selct a driver, OR want to provide a PPD File, that the OR is not actually stating that a PPD File is an alternative to a driver itself, but only to selecting the driver from a list all by myself?
You still always need a driver, not a PPD-File instead of a driver?

correct?

cheers,
tommy

[rpdom]

Well, as an example my printer supports PostScript, so uses a generic PostScript driver. It has a PPD file, which contains the printer-specific PostScript options and extensions and describes the capabilities of the printer in PostScript terms. So, yes, you still need some form of driver. For some printers you can get away with generic ones to an extent.

[tommygoessing]

ok wonderful, that is a comprehensible answer. Thank you!

that brings me to a different idea though... consecutively of what you just explained, would that mean, that the existance of a PPD-file already states, that the printer must be able to operate with generic drivers?

[rpdom]

ok wonderful, that is a comprehensible answer. Thank you!

that brings me to a different idea though... consecutively of what you just explained, would that mean, that the existance of a PPD-file already states, that the printer must be able to operate with generic drivers?

I'm afraid not. All printers have their own languages. The mid to high end Lasers (like mine) tend to support Postscript and/or HP/PCL (Hewlett Packard Printer Control Language). Epson and quite a few other Inkjets support ESC/P2 (Epson's printer codes). The cheaper ones have proprietary code sequences of raw dots that need to be sent as the printers have very little CPU power and rely on the computer generating the whole page for them.

Even if you can use a generic Postscript or ESC/P driver, you may not have access to all the features of the printer. If I used HP/PCL for my printer instead of Postscript one, I wouldn't be able to print double-sided at all.