# Brother DCP-7040 Printer



## f150_raptor (Dec 14, 2017)

New to BSD and just installed TrueOS. I'm trying to find a printer driver for this printer.
Can anyone help or lead me in the right direction? This is the only thing holding me back right now.
Thanks


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## scottro (Dec 15, 2017)

As it's TrueOS, it may be done differently than on FreeBSD. I believe they have their own forums, and their printer setup may be easier than on FreeBSD.  

This post on Brother printers may be of use, but I don't know how different it is from TrueOS. 
https://forums.freebsd.org/threads/54717/

Sometimes, installing cups and pointing it at the printer by IP address will automatically find a driver and sometime you can use a generic postscript driver. I don't see it listed at openprinting.org though I see a 7045.  

http://www.reynoldsnet.org/freebsd_brother_cdw.html may also be useful, all untried by me.


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## Snurg (Dec 15, 2017)

It's a GDI printer. 
It has not even PPD files available.
Dump it on ebay.

Get a real printer with Postscript.
(I recommend used business class Kyocera printers.
Indestructible and cheap in operation.
You get good ones from commercial refurbishers.)


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## Oko (Dec 15, 2017)

f150_raptor said:


> New to BSD and just installed TrueOS. I'm trying to find a printer driver for this printer.
> Can anyone help or lead me in the right direction? This is the only thing holding me back right now.
> Thanks


The recommended driver is hl1250 which is a part of Ghostscript package

http://www.openprinting.org/printer/Brother/Brother-DCP-7020

so setting printing is trivial. 

I didn't bother even to look for the scanner driver

http://www.sane-project.org/sane-supported-devices.html

because Brother is notorious for vendor lock scanner devices. Note that Brother does provide Linux driver for both scanner and printer. Their "open source" driver has a hidden binary blob. As ridiculous as it sounds I have heard of people getting that Frankenstein driver to work with Linux emulation layer on FreeBSD. Personally that is waist of time. What is not waist of time is checking if you can scan directly into an umass storage device (USB stick) and then transferring to FreeBSD machine. Finally I have never sent a fax from the UNIX machine. You can ask somebody who has experience with HylaFAX or similar software (check ports for other options) to see how difficult is to unlock computer automated sending and receiving faxes.


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## f150_raptor (Dec 16, 2017)

Snurg said:


> It's a GDI printer.
> It has not even PPD files available.
> Dump it on ebay.
> 
> ...





I've been in the market for a new printer. Definitely will look into this brand. So, any Postscript printer will do?


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## f150_raptor (Dec 16, 2017)

Oko said:


> The recommended driver is hl1250 which is a part of Ghostscript package
> 
> http://www.openprinting.org/printer/Brother/Brother-DCP-7020
> 
> ...




I've tried this driver but no luck.
Thanks


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## shepper (Dec 16, 2017)

Snurg said:


> It's a GDI printer.
> It has not even PPD files available.
> There are ppd files available from Brothers Website.  They are in the Apple OS/X downloads.
> 
> Dump it on ebay.





Oko said:


> The recommended driver is hl1250 which is a part of Ghostscript package
> 
> http://www.openprinting.org/printer/Brother/Brother-DCP-7020



The DCP-7020 is different from the DCP-7030/DCP-7040 (Brothers Manual lumps these together).
https://www.openprinting.org/printer/Brother/Brother-DCP-7030



f150_raptor said:


> I've been in the market for a new printer. Definitely will look into this brand. So, any Postscript printer will do?


If it is within your budget Postscript/Postscript compatible is best.  The original Postscript was written and licensed by Adobe.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PostScript.   HP, Brother, Lexmark, Canon, Oki, Xerox, Samsung (now owned by HP), Kyocera, Pantum now provide their own postscript drivers and I have not seen anything stronger than individual testimonials that one brands postscript works better than others.  I've seen threads that Postscript-compatibility works with HP, Canon, Lexmark, Kyocera, Samsung and Brother.



> Today, third-party PostScript-compatible interpreters are widely used in printers and multifunction peripherals (MFPs). For example, CSR plc's IPS PS3[2] interpreter, formerly known as PhoenixPage, is standard in many printers and MFPs, including those developed by Hewlett-Packard and sold under the LaserJet and Color LaserJet lines. Other third-party PostScript solutions used by print and MFP manufacturers include Jaws[3] and the Harlequin RIP, both by Global Graphics. A free software version, with several other applications, is Ghostscript. Several compatible interpreters are listed on the Undocumented Printing Wiki.[4]



PCL5e/PCL6 capable printers (usually cheaper) are also quite functional in FreeBSD


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## Snurg (Dec 16, 2017)

shepper
Brother has (at least for some models) also Linux PPD files for download. However, what Oko said above, applies fully. There was a PPD file and a bash script that had to be funneled into cups some hackish way.
I wasted almost two hours trying getting that work on FreeBSD to be able to use a Brother printer at the university. But as I realized all the stuff Oko described, I ditched the idea to use the brother at that workplace.

f150_raptor
Regarding the Kyocera printers I currently use:
They an older high-end series of the FS-C5xxxDN color printers. So they have all, usb, ethernet, various interface modes (IPP, LPD, Appletalk etc), PCL6, Postscript, duplex printing, additional high-capacity paper cassettes, etc
And they are fast, up to about 20 double-sided pages/min in full quality color mode.
The Kyocera-supplied PPD file works flawlessly with FreeBSD.

I bought two identical high-end models for 30 euros each in good used state from a commercial refurbisher. I bought two, just to have a backup and spare parts in case.
S&H was actually more expensive than the printers themselves, as each one weighs 30kg (the additional paper cartridges not counted).
Toner is very cheap, too. Just buy unused leftover cartridges at ebay from people that bought a new printer. This way I pay about 20% of the new price, for original toner.


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## shepper (Dec 16, 2017)

Postscript capable Brother printers work fine, Oko and I both use them.  Both of us also use Brother ppds, specific for our model, via the native FreeBSD lpr spooler and foomatic-rip.  I downloaded mine from Brother and Oko generated his from the foomatic-db-engine.

There is a ppd available for the OP's Brother DCP-7040, but it references a binary blob that will not run in FreeBSD.

What I was trying to correct was:
1)  The statement that no ppd was available - one is available but it will not work as is in FreeBSD.  32bit Linux emulation is needed for the rasterconverter to work.
2)  In Oko's post the openprinting link was to the wrong model.


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