Brother MFC-J995-DW not discoverable under MAC OS 12 Monterey

Question

Level 2

404 points

Brother MFC-J995-DW not discoverable under MAC OS 12 Monterey

I bought a new Brother MFC-J995-DW printer last August for one of my houses and it worked fine with my MBP.

I just returned to this house with this printer this week and the printer is not working. I have installed Monterey OS 12 since leaving that house and am currently on 12.4.

I have tried all the usual recommendations on various websites:

Delete printer and re-add. Printer does not show up in Printers & Scanners in "Add Printer".
Rebooted router, then computer then printer. Printer does not show up in Printers & Scanners in "Add Printer".
Read Brother website and they said they are not supporting MAC OS 12 drivers (pretty incredibly business decision) and to install 10.15 which I did. Printer does not show up in Printers & Scanners in "Add Printer".
They also recommend using their software called Brother iPrint&Scan. This shows printer offline.

I cannot think of any other ideas--any suggestions? This is a brand new printer.

Note I texted the PDF I wanted to print to my iPad and printed it flawlessly there so I know the printer is working. It's just my MacBook Pro cannot "see" it.

Also Note: I have Parallels running Windows 10 and tried to set it up there to no avail.

Posted on Jun 1, 2022 8:19 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

James Coley Author

Level 2

404 points

Jun 1, 2022 12:19 PM in response to John Galt

The Network idea was helpful since this help me figure out the issue.

In a nutshell I have an Altice router from the cable company as the entry point into the house. I then have two Apple Airports for a personal network.

Somehow the MBP selected the Altice router for "Automatic" Network as opposed to my private newwork. Therefore the printer was not on that network.

I switched it back and the printer is now discoverable, so case closed.

Whew....

Reply

Answer 2

John Galt

Level 10

155,414 points

Jun 1, 2022 9:38 AM in response to James Coley

The Brother MFC-J995DW is an AirPrint-enabled printer. In other words it should simply work.

I understand that knowledge doesn't help you, as well as the fact you performed quite a bit of troubleshooting to no avail. The only potentially helpful suggestion I have is to forget about installing drivers or even Brother's iPrint & Scan software because it's not necessary, does not convey any particularly useful features, and won't help if the printer simply does not appear as an AirPrint printer in Printers & Scanners.

Brother's seemingly alarming answer is a little deceiving because no drivers are required for AirPrint printers. They could have explained it better. For Brother to say they are not supporting macOS drivers is like saying they don't support running shoes for dolphins. It doesn't make any sense.

It might be instructive if you were to create a new "network location" according to Use network locations on Mac - Apple Support. Try that and then write back; I may come up with other ideas.

Reply

Answer 3

James Coley Author

Level 2

404 points

Jun 1, 2022 9:54 AM in response to John Galt

It is clearly either than MBP (but I highly doubt it since we have a HP printer at the other house and it works fine) so I am leaning it is something with MAC OS 12 and maybe specifically to 12.4 which I just upgraded this past week.

Why do I think this: I just did a test on my wife's MBA. She never upgraded and is running 11.6.5 and it sees the printer and also prints just fine.

Reply

Answer 4

John Galt

Level 10

155,414 points

Jun 1, 2022 11:25 AM in response to James Coley

Doesn't make a difference; Time Capsule or any recent router works with AirPrint. The problem almost certainly lies with the Mac and its network settings which is the reason for suggesting a new "network location".

Use network locations on Mac - Apple Support

Reply

Answer 5

John Galt

Level 10

155,414 points

Jun 1, 2022 10:01 AM in response to James Coley

... I am leaning it is something with MAC OS 12 and maybe specifically to 12.4 which I just upgraded this past week.

I wouldn't rule out that possibility, especially given the troubleshooting you already performed.

The only conclusive evidence you might provide to Apple would be to restore a Time Machine backup of the previous installation, show that it works, then restore the upgraded version and show that it doesn't. Then, wait for Apple to fix it. It's asking for lot of work on your part.

Short of that you might try reinstalling macOS: How to reinstall macOS - Apple Support, but it almost never helps to fix problems such as these.

Try creating that new "network location". It affects only the subject Mac.

Reply