Is anyone experiencing OS X Marvericks problems with Brother Printers?

Question

Level 1

0 points

Is anyone experiencing OS X Marvericks problems with Brother Printers?

I upgraded to Mavericks on my Mac Mini a day or two after the new OS became available. After I did this, I began experiencing a problem wth my recently acquired Brother MFC-4610DW printer.

I say "a problem" because everything else still works on the Brother with the exception of a feature callled Manual Feed Printing. This allows you to feed an piece of paper into the back of the printer and only print on that one sheet. It allows printing on non-standard sheets of paper, like 11'' x 14" sized paper, but mostly I use it for printing cheques which I use with my Quicken program.

On the wallet-sized cheques I use with Qucken, if you only have one or two cheques left on a given sheet of cheques, this is the only way to print on what remains of that sheet.

I did extensive trouble-shooting with Brother tech support, including re-setting the printer back to factory settings, but the problem persists. No more printing on single sheets. The printer simply gives me an error message tells me that the sheet of paper I'm feeding it is the wrong size and passes it through the printer without printing.

Since I've never had this problem before and it's only occurred since I installed the new OS, both Brother and I are convinced this is Mavericks-related.

Anyone else experiencing this problem?

Mac mini (Mid 2010), OS X Mavericks (10.9), Printer acquired two months ago.

Posted on Nov 2, 2013 8:49 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Nov 2, 2013 9:30 AM in response to seanp58

Does this happen with other applicatoins? I realize this doesn't help, but it may narrow down what the problem is.

Reply

Answer 2

seanp58 Author

Level 1

0 points

Nov 2, 2013 9:40 AM in response to John Blanchard1

John, This happens across all applications -- and I double-checked this with the Brother guy this morning. Pre-Mavericks I could use Manual Feed Printing from a Firefox bowser, from Word, Quicken, whatever. Post-Mavericks, this feature no longer works.

Reply

Answer 3

Paul_31

Level 6

14,160 points

Nov 2, 2013 9:52 AM in response to seanp58

I can't see your particualr printer listed, but have you checked out the latest downloads at Brother:

http://welcome.solutions.brother.com/bsc/public/Model_list.aspx?reg=eu&c=gb&lang =en&titleid=4

I've got a DCP-585CW and there were Mavericks 10.9 updates posted for download last week - maybe there's new software for yours.

Reply

Answer 4

jcmartic

Level 1

0 points

Nov 2, 2013 9:53 AM in response to seanp58

Have you updated the soft provided by Brother? I have a HL2130 and it works.

Reply

Answer 5

Nov 2, 2013 10:02 AM in response to seanp58

Sean,

Echoing what others have suggested about installing the updated drivers…

If Software Update doesn't help, try deleting the /Library/Printer/Brother folder (or something similar - I don't have a Brother,so I don't know the exact path) and then download and install the drivers from:

http://support.apple.com/kb/DL894

Hope this helps.

Reply

Answer 6

seanp58 Author

Level 1

0 points

Nov 2, 2013 10:08 AM in response to John Blanchard1

Well, this discussion is intriguing. And as I look at the links given me above, a software update was uploaded by Brother about two weeks ago to address Mavericks compatability issues with this particular printer. I guess my question now is ... how could I spend nearly two hours with Brother tech support and this never came up once n the conversation? Sheesh! I guess one part of that company doesn't talk to the other. I'll try this update and report back later today to this thread on how it worked out. Thanks everybody!

Reply

Answer 7

seanp58 Author

Level 1

0 points

Nov 3, 2013 10:52 AM in response to seanp58

Well, I updated my printer with the post-Mavericks software Brother released for this machine a couple of weeks ago and ... it didn't make a lick of difference. Everything still works, except single sheet manual feeds. The printer displays an error message saying the paper is the wrong size and passes it through the machine without printing anything on it. So, I'm still stumped.

Reply

Answer 8

Paul_31

Level 6

14,160 points

Nov 3, 2013 10:55 AM in response to seanp58

The only other thing I can think of - and I'm not confident it'll make much difference, but it wo't do any harm to try - is a 'Reset the Printing System', if you haven't already. All printers will be deleted and need to be added again:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1341

Reply

Answer 9

Nov 8, 2013 7:50 PM in response to seanp58

Here's another post-Mavericks Brother printing issue:

I've had the same setup since Mac OS X Lion. A Brother HL5040 is connected by USB to an Airport Express (white, "n" model) that creates a wireless network in bridge mode. My MacBook Air connects to the wireless network.

Once I upgraded to Mavericks, when I attempt to print from the Brother printer, if it's asleep my computer can't locate the printer. I have to manually press the "Go" button on the printer to wake it up. This never happened prior to Mavericks. And the printer is set to sleep after 5 minutes of inactivity.

Once I wake up the printer, everything prints perfectly.

Reply

Answer 10

jpipod

Level 1

5 points

Nov 15, 2013 11:53 AM in response to Scott Newman

Here's another post-Maverics Brother printing issue:

I have a Brother MFC-8500 connected via USB directly to MacBook Air and the printer shows offline in Printers & Scanners. If I remove the printer from the list of printers and re-add, it will show green and idle. After the first print job, which works fine, the printer will again go red and offline.

Pre-Mavericks, I have used this printer this way for years on my previous MBP. Latest Brother driver was installed 2 days ago.

I just got off a very frustrating call with AppleCare. Laura did not even bother to ask what brand or model, she just told me to call the printer manufacturer. Spoke with next level, Ryan. Told me it was a Brothers issue. Told him that it had worked prior to Mavericks and he told me to use Time Capsule to go back to Mountain Lion. Informed me that this is 10.9 and no updates were issued yet. This is very frustrating and the service at AppleCare seems to have dramatically gone down hill. They just want to pass the buck.

Reply

Answer 11

Nov 15, 2013 12:12 PM in response to jpipod

I am one of the people who have a Brother HL monchrome laser connected via USB to an Airport Express that provides my wireless network. When the printer goes to sleep, my computer doesn't see the printer on the network. That began when I upgraded to Mavericks.

Anyway, someplace else on the net was described a possible fix that has worked pretty well for me. Enable printer sharing on your Mac for the problem printer.

System Preferences -> Sharing -> Enable Printer Sharing and while that line is selected, put a checkmark next to whichever printer is causing the problem. Not sure why it works but it does. The printer will still go to sleep but the Mac will see it and wake it up.

That has worked pretty well for me. About 20% of the time I still have the problem but not for the other 80% of the time.

Reply

Answer 12

jpipod

Level 1

5 points

Nov 15, 2013 12:18 PM in response to Scott Newman

Thank you. Will try that.

Reply

Answer 13

Nov 18, 2013 12:35 PM in response to Scott Newman

Can you please provide some of your system info so I can try to reproduce this?

- Printer firmware versions

- Printer driver versions

- Airport Express firmware version

- System hardware info

-/Applications/Utilities/System Information, File->Save

- if you choose to do this, my email address is jblancha@mac.com

- Any other steps or info to reproduce

Thank you.

Reply

Answer 14

May 9, 2014 9:19 AM in response to seanp58

It seems that the Brother driver is not compatible with 10.9. I have 10.9.2 on a MacBook Pro. I downloaded the Brother driver for 10.9 today. The Brother Control Center freezes when I try to scan, and I have to force-quit Control Center.

The MFC 9700 continues to scan and print from an older computer in the network.

Reply

Answer 15

Jim Bell

Level 1

8 points

Oct 17, 2015 3:59 PM in response to Scott Newman

Hey Scott,

I have been having problems with wireless printing to my Brother MFC-650DW from all my devices. In fact, I had similar problems printing to an older AirPrint-compatible Epson printer, and got rid of it for that reason. I have followed your suggestion, and so far the results are promising. I won't know for a week or so whether the problem is solved because it's intermittent. When it gets to the point where my devices are unable to find the printer on the network, or documents take forever to print, I delete the printer and set it up anew, or I reset the printing system. That solves the problem temporarily but it always recurs. I'm writing this for the benefit of others who are having similar problems. Fingers crossed!

Reply