Duplex printing on Brother broken update 2.8?

Exactly the problem I just experienced, Paul on a Brother MFC-8860DN. All was fine before this update. I tried deleting the printer from preferences and adding it back, with no change in behavior.

Nothing will achieve duplex printing, although the printer pulls the sheet back in as if printing on the back side, but then it is blank as you say.

Apple, did anyone test this at all? Please fix ASAP.

Thanks,

Karl

Solved by re-installing Brother CUPS driver from the Brother web site.

Hopefully Apple will fix their 'software update' - but at least we can work around this for now.

The main Brother download site, with links for all countries, is:

http://welcome.solutions.brother.com/bsc/Public_s/index.html

After paging through the menus to get to the 10.7.2 software for my 8860DN, I only downloaded and installed the CUPS driver.

Perhaps unnecessary (?) but I then deleted the existing 8860DN from my System Preferences and then added it back. All back to normal.

Karl

Karl & Paul –

I just employed your technique (I had just downloaded the CUPS driver from the Brother website when I came across this thread) for my HL-5250DN (the same as the originals poster's), and it worked 100%.

I should be clear that, per your advice, I deleted/re-added the printer in the System Preferences menu before attempting to print again. But, when I did, the duplex feature worked as expected.

So, this technique works. Still, let's hope that there's a more-permanent solution on the horizon (a 2.9 update?).

– Greg

Thanks for pointing to the temporary fix! By the way, it is not necessary to delete/re-add the printer. After reading this thread, I tried duplex printing immediately after installing the CUPS driver, and it worked fine.

Thanks guys. Agree, Paul, that this thread should not be marked as 'solved' (via marking a post 'correct') until Apple updates the Brother drivers in Software Update... since most users never search forums like this and will only have the Software Update drivers and hence will be unable to duplex.

Matthew - thanks for noting that just updating the CUPS driver is all that is necessary!

[On a side note, after printing all of 10 pages duplex with the downloaded Brother CUPS driver, my 8860DN duplex tray has stopped re-feeding the paper - jamming on every sheet just as the sheet would start getting pushed back out of the tray. Pulling the duplex tray completely out and cleaning all rollers hasn't helped. Belts are fine. Just not my week on the duplex front, I guess...]

Cheers,

Karl

How did you guys get this to work?

I downloaded the software driver from Brother directly, but when I add the printer Software Updates automatically starts and it searching and fails to find the driver. Is there a way to avoid this step?

I just downloaded the driver from the Brother website and ran their install program. When it said the driver was installed, I tried the printer and duplexing was back. I didn't delete the old driver or do anything else.

Same problems with our Brother HL-5280DW as reported: duplex broken by Lion printer update 2.8.

Fixed using overwrite of existing driver with driver downloaded direct from Brother.

I had the same 'duplex broken' problem with my Brother HL-5370DW printer after installing the Apple 2.8 printer update several days ago.

To fix the problem, I deleted my Brother printer in the System Preferences->Print&Fax->Printers list, installed the latest CUPS driver from the Brother.com web site, and then added the printer back to the System Preferences printers list.

I also had to turn my printer OFF and back ON again before the change took effect (I also unplugged the printer).

When Software Update ran this morning, it again wants to update my system with the Apple 2.8 printer list.

Thanks for the info re Software Update, curtg. I was afraid that would happen. At least we can be selective regarding which updates we wish to apply.

Everyone, please report your problems with this update to Apple: http://www.apple.com/feedback/macosx.html

It takes just a few moments to report. They DO read these reports. Remember, the issue is for "Brother Printer Drivers 2.8."

Thanks. This fixed it for me. And I've "ignored" the Software Update for this one so it won't pester me again.

This is still an issue... I was hoping for a quick turnaround. Why isn't Apple jsut pushing out Brother's Drivers?