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User profile for user: thgts
thgts Author
User level: Level 1
10 points

adding printer to mac asks for driver that doesn

Hi guys,


I have a recurring intermittent problem printing from two different Macs. I have a 27 inch iMac (2020) and also a 16 inch Macbook Pro (2021) and both are randomly doing the same thing (both are 100% up to date, both have been rebooted as has the printer). I go to print something and it shows the printer is offline. The printer in question is a Brother MFC-L2710 DW and it is connected to the local network via WiFi. The interesting points:


1) When this issue is happening on one computer, I can usually print just fine from the other computer or from my iPhone.

2) I can still access and browse the internet on the problem computer while this issue is happening, so it doesn't seem to be an issue with the network adapter or configuration.

3) I only have one network set up in the house, so they can't be on different networks.

4) If I delete the printer and try to set it up again from scratch, the printer shows up in the list of available printers (so interestingly it CAN see it), but it can't resolve the driver. Choosing Auto Select from the dropdown generates some text saying "Gathering Printer Information" but then reverts the dropdown to "Choose a Driver..."

5) There is no driver for Mac available on Brother's website, as it says it recommends using Airprint so nothing I can download.

6) As this problem popped up again today I went out and bought an HP printer thinking it must be something wrong with the Brother printer. Same exact issue with the HP (see screenshot).



Hopefully someone has seen this before and knows what is happening.


T.


MacBook Pro (2021)

Posted on Mar 8, 2023 2:57 PM

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User profile for user: thgts
thgts Author
User level: Level 1
10 points

Posted on Mar 9, 2023 8:41 AM

Yes, I am aware that they are not the same printer. That was by design. I went yesterday and bought the HP to rule out an issue with the Brother printer that was originally installed. However, the exact same thing is happening with the HP that happened with the Brother. The point of the screenshot posted yesterday is to illustrate that the printer setup routine on the Mac cannot find a driver. It just says "Gathering Printer Information" for a few seconds and then reverts the dropdown to "Choose a Driver...". The questions is, why is it looking for a driver? It should be using AirPrint which doesn't require a driver. Both the Brother printer from before and the new HP printer now are listed as AirPrint compatible on the Apple Support website: About AirPrint - Apple Support


Update to just a few minutes ago, I tried setting up the printer again. This time, it seemed to find a driver it liked. This time after "Gathering Printer Information" it came back with "Generic PCL Printer", so I let it finish setting up with that driver. It now shows the printer as "Idle" but it won't scan or print from the computer. I can print from my iPhone over the same WiFi to the HP no problem. Why is it doing different things from one day to the next?






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User profile for user: thgts
thgts Author
User level: Level 1
10 points

Mar 9, 2023 8:41 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Yes, I am aware that they are not the same printer. That was by design. I went yesterday and bought the HP to rule out an issue with the Brother printer that was originally installed. However, the exact same thing is happening with the HP that happened with the Brother. The point of the screenshot posted yesterday is to illustrate that the printer setup routine on the Mac cannot find a driver. It just says "Gathering Printer Information" for a few seconds and then reverts the dropdown to "Choose a Driver...". The questions is, why is it looking for a driver? It should be using AirPrint which doesn't require a driver. Both the Brother printer from before and the new HP printer now are listed as AirPrint compatible on the Apple Support website: About AirPrint - Apple Support


Update to just a few minutes ago, I tried setting up the printer again. This time, it seemed to find a driver it liked. This time after "Gathering Printer Information" it came back with "Generic PCL Printer", so I let it finish setting up with that driver. It now shows the printer as "Idle" but it won't scan or print from the computer. I can print from my iPhone over the same WiFi to the HP no problem. Why is it doing different things from one day to the next?






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User profile for user: Grant Bennet-Alder
Grant Bennet-Alder
User level: Level 10
133,729 points

Mar 9, 2023 7:11 AM in response to thgts

These are not the same printer, and NOT the same issue. In the Brother case, you may have an issue with creating Ad-Hoc Wi-Fi networks. But you have not provided enough information (or even an appropriate screenshot) to make progress.


In the HP case, you have not yet installed any driver software.


¿which printer would you like to work on?

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User profile for user: Grant Bennet-Alder
Grant Bennet-Alder
User level: Level 10
133,729 points

Mar 9, 2023 9:10 AM in response to thgts

Your Brother Printer is Ethernet cable, and could be made easily accessible to all devices on your network over either Wi-Fi or Ethernet.


Information on its drivers and Utilities are available on this site, where it points out its Driver is available on the Mac App Store:


https://support.brother.com/g/b/downloadlist.aspx?c=us&lang=en&prod=mfcl2710dw_us_eu_as&os=10065

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User profile for user: Grant Bennet-Alder
Grant Bennet-Alder
User level: Level 10
133,729 points

Mar 9, 2023 9:15 AM in response to thgts

Printer makers seem to think its is a really "cute trick" to allow your phone to print directly to the Printer. To that end, their default is to turn the Printer into its own Base Station, establishing a momentary “ad-Hoc” wifi connection. In a crowded area, or more physically distant from the Printer itself, this does not work well, and does not allow printing from all devices (including those distant from the Printer) over your Home Network.


So the biggest thing you have to overcome is the maker's zeal for this "cute trick" and set your printer up "the right way" so that it can be used by all devices on your Network.


to do this over Wi-Fi, the Printer needs to know three things:

1) what network-name is it supposed to join

2) what is the password to get on that network

3) how is it supposed to get an IP address (DHCP or manual at a specified address)


There are basically two ways to get these into the Printer:

a) fat-finger it in through the printer's "front panel"

b) connect using a USB cable first, tell it the stuff, then disconnect the cable


without all three of these, it can't join your home network, so it can't be 'discovered'.

MacOS has a great feature called Discovery protocol. It uses IPv6 set to "link-local only" to snoop around you local network and discover Printers, File sharing , and similar resources.


There is one more way, but it is unbearably inconvenient. Leave the USB cable connected and the computer powered on at all times, and print over the network to a queue on the connected computer.


--------

In addition, the path of least resistance is to use the AirPrint Drivers. Again this is part of the cute trick of printing directly from your phone. The problem with that is you get NO Access to printer special features such as alternate paper sizes, two-sided printing, manual feed, and features you paid extra for.


Once the Printer is selected, your Mac will have a discussion with the printer about its capabilities, and may propose several choices of Drivers. BE PATIENT. You must take great care to select the full-featured driver intended for Network use, not the (Often default) AirPrint driver.

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adding printer to mac asks for driver that doesn

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