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Brother MFC-490CW & Ubuntu

Setting up the Brother MFC-490CW printer to work with Ubuntu, wirelessly, was easier than I expected. Here some useful tips.A couple days ago I got myself the Brother MFC-490CW printer. It's a nice multi-function printer, and for me the new feature is to finally have a wireless printer that is network capable.

Setting up in Windows and Mac was rather easy, pop in the CD and you are done.

In Ubuntu it took a few commands, but I was up and running in about 5 mins.

I used the following tutorial which is still valid for Ubuntu 9.10.

One minor point, step 11 in the tutorial:

From the task bar go to: System ---- Administration ---- Printing, select your printer and click Print Test Page. That's It!

Once you reach that step, if you still cannot print, make sure to check the Device URI, it may be set to usb or parallel even thought you intent to use wifi only. Clicking on "change" will search your network and allow you to select the correct printer location.

Then you are good to go.

Update 2009.12.26:

Scanner Installation for Networked Environment

To install the scanner support for the Brother MFC-490CW under Ubuntu 9.10 carry out the following steps:

Download the brscan3 deb file from here.

Install it:

sudo dpkg -i brscan3-0.2.8-1.i386.deb

Then edit the config entries:

brsaneconfig3 -a name=SCANNER  model=MFC-490CW  ip=192.168.1.40

Note: the ip number should equal your designated IP number for the printer.

Now launch Application > Graphics > Xsane Image Scanner

After a few seconds it should find the scanner and launch automatically.