Why can't "Add Printer" see my Brother HL-2170W?

Question

Level 1

4 points

Why can't "Add Printer" see my Brother HL-2170W?

Purchased Brother HL-2170 2 weeks ago - connected via USB (struggled with wireless and was unsuccessful. No problems until today. First, received "offline" message which I could not resolve. (The USB connection is working fine.) I "Reset Printers" and then tried to add HL-2170W with "Add Printers". When I click + the only printer name that appears is Adobe PDF 8.0. Not only is Brother missing, but also two other printers.

I reinstalled the Brother software, downloaded and installed the latest driver. Also "Fixed Permissions" No luck!

My printer folder is in my Home folder. Could this be the problem?

Help please and many thanks!

Intel iMAC, Mac OS X (10.6.3), MacBook, 3G iPhone,

Posted on May 27, 2010 8:34 PM

Reply

Answer 1

May 30, 2010 6:23 AM in response to WindyPoint

The usual reason for this is that the printer is having a problem with Bonjour. When I see this, I either have the router reserve an IP for the printer or give the printer a fixed IP outside of the DHCP pool. i then set up the print driver on the Mac to talk to the fixed IP. You do that by clicking the '+' on the Print & Fax pane of System Preferences, and then click on the 'IP' pane, and type in the printer's IP. The system will then look at that IP for the printer, detect it, and mark the proper driver available. You then finish setting up the printer and that's it.

Reply

Answer 2

WindyPoint Author

Level 1

4 points

May 30, 2010 7:09 AM in response to Charles Dyer

Charles, Thank you for responding to my query. The problem is solved but I did not need to assign a IP number (although I'll tuck that solution away for the future).

Here's my cautionary tale. You know that the first step in solving an issue like this is to check that the printer is plugged in and turned on. Step two: Are the cables in the correct ports? My USB cable was plugged into the Ethernet port. Ugh!

This I discovered after 3 hours of pointless downloading, reinstalling, etc when I decided to hook up the Brother to my other computer. A moment of humility for a gal who bought her first Apple in 1981 and who thought she was far too clever to make a mistake like that. The moral of the story: Check and recheck.

Thanks again -

Windy Point

Reply

Answer 3

Dateu

Level 1

0 points

Jun 14, 2010 2:20 PM in response to WindyPoint

I had a hard time adding the updated Brother HL-2170 driver for a simple computer to wireless printer network. My network is simple and maybe useful for home or home office set-up. Hopefully I can save some people time. The driver software that came with my recently purchased HL-2170 printer is outdated and won't work with Snow Leopard (OSX 10.6). The upgrade needs to be downloaded from the Brother website - "Brother Solutions Center" - Downloads - Drivers/Mac OS®X(10.6). You can install that and then, for now manually setup the Network Configuration as instructed. It is 32 pages long but really doesn't take to long. It's in the Solution Center for FAQ's & Troubleshooting - Initial Setup - Macintosh - temporarily using a network cable to set up the printer. I did all this correctly and the driver still didn't list in my print preferences. I called Brother and had to wait a long time but was connected to the Mac department and successfully finished installation. The instructions don't mention it necessary to address the printer in the print & Fax preferences in System Preferences. If the HL-2170 driver isn't listed among printer drivers, + to add a printer. In Add Printer click the IP menu. I was instructed to use the default Protocol - Line Printer Daemon - LPD. I typed the address of the printer in the address line. The Brother Solutions Center instructions explain how t find the printer address which are on pages printed during the set-up. After adding the printer address a driver was created and listed in the print and fax window. It's name is the address of the printer. It can be changed if desired.

I believe this is probably just one of several solutions but maybe helpful for some. I spent the last few days trying to get the driver created and feel for those who have tried everything and nothing seems to work.

Reply