How-to: Brother MFC-440CN on Ubuntu Linux 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon
The Brother MFC-440CN is arguably the best budget Linux printer out there. It definitely takes my top honors.
Main Features
- Built-in Ethernet interface. Allows you to share the MFC now or in the future. Just plug it into your wired or wireless router and share it to print, scan, PC Fax and access to the digital camera media cards.
- Flip-up 2″ color LCD display. Preview and print your photos directly from your digital camera’s media card without a computer.
- 4×6 photo paper tray. Bypass tray holds up to 20 sheets of 4×6 glossy paper without removing standard paper.
- Print rich, vibrant borderless photos. Resolutions up to 6000 x 1200 dpi and a minimum droplet size of 1.5 picoliters shows the fine details of your photographs.
- Fast color printing. Speeds up to 25ppm black and 20ppm color.
- Auto document feeder for fax, copy and scan. The automatic document feeder holds up to 10 pages for unattended fax, copy and scanning of multi-page documents.
- Media card slots and PictBridge interface. Print photos directly from your digital camera’s media card or from your PictBridge-enabled camera - without a computer.
The feature set speaks for itself. I have it hooked up to my router, where I can then print wireless and effortless from any room in my home. No worries about having any specific computer turned on at all times, just leave the printer on and hooked up to the router. Also, the auto sheet feeder/copy functions have been great. Print quality is excellent and printing 4×6 photos couldn’t be easier. All I have to do is stick my SD card in the media reader, the pictures pop up on the LCD, select the photos I want, insert photo paper in the slot, and print.
How to Install in Ubuntu Linux 7.10 Gutsy
These directions are specific to this version of Ubuntu, but if memory serves me correct, will also work in all of the previous versions as well.
- Download the drivers from the Brother Website. Get the LPR driver here and the CUPS driver here. You will want to get the Debian drivers located in the second column. Also, be sure you get the appropriate package for the MFC-440CN.
- Open up a terminal (Applications > Accessories > Terminal)
- Install CSH through the terminal
sudo apt-get install csh - Because of some package inconsistencies, we need to create a couple of new paths
sudo mkdir /var/spool/lpd
sudo mkdir /var/spool/lpd/MFC440 - Go to the path where you downloaded the two driver packages
cd ~/Desktop(if this is where you downloaded them) - Install the LPR package first
sudo dpkg -i mfc440cnlpr-1.0.1-1.i386.deb - Install the CUPS package
sudo dpkg -i mfc440cncupwrapper-1.0.1-1.i386.deb - Open the Printer Administration Tool (System > Administration > Printing)
- Select New Printer. It will now search your network for new printers. IMPORTANT: The PC you are installing the drivers on must be on the same network as the printer.
- You should now be able to select the printer Brother MFC-440CN. Be sure to click on the entry for the Brother Printer. (thank you Mark for pointing this out) It will have an IP address next to it. That is the network IP of the Printer. More information about setting the printer’s static IP address can be found in the manual or online. Click forward.
- Select the printer from a database and click forward.
- Select the recommended driver for the MFC-440CN and click forward.
- Now you can name your printer and give it a short description. Click apply.
- You should see your printer now listed in the list of local printers.
- Select the printer and print a test page. If you followed these directions, you should get your test page shortly.
You can now select this printer as the default printer if you’d like. More settings are available through the menus. I will be posting about how to get the scanner working properly shortly.
Make A Comment: ( 8 so far )
8 Responses to “How-to: Brother MFC-440CN on Ubuntu Linux 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon”
Mark
March 26th, 2008
Hi There, This was great so far and I had no trouble installing the drivers. My problem is that the Printer Administration Tool still does not see the printer. it IS on the same network, and I can ping it from this Ubuntu box. Any idea what I might be able to do to help it see the printer?
Nate
March 29th, 2008
There is a much simpler way..
just type
sudo aptitude install brother-cups-wrapper-bh7
Once the drivers are setup… make sure that the printer is connected and searchable on network.. then goto
System-> Printing
New Printer .. and follow the instruction… it is very simple. above article will scare most people .. as it is too complex .. and no one other than Linux Techies can do that ..
But thanks anyway for the article .. which provides directions .. and keep posting these articles …
Click
Bhuvan
April 12th, 2008
I don’t know how I do it. But somehow, line for line, I can follow anyone’s directions, even copying and pasting, and yet nothing works.
ken
April 30th, 2008
[...] felt it was time to revisit this post and update some seemingly outdated information. This should make the process much [...]
Thanks This was VERY helpful… seems to be working now
Dan
May 24th, 2008
Thank you for writing such a simple to follow set of instructions that actually work. Note to those following these instructions. You actually have to click on the brother printer entry in step #10 prior to clicking forward.