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alexkemp

Member

Registered: 2018-05-14

Posts: 357  

[SOLVED] Fixing broken Brother DCP-L3510CDW Printer Installation (howto)

A HP DeskJet printer got replaced with a Brother DCP-L3510CDW led printer.

The HP was used so infrequently that the ink clogged up all the time. That did not happen with the Brother. However, whilst the DeskJet printed fine, the Brother did not:

1. The Brother was 5 x the cost of the HP

2. The screen (print preview) + paper results did not correspond
   (b/w was OK but colour values were wrong)

A bug report to Brother got nowhere.

After 2 years (still using the same print drums all this time, and never clogs up) I've more-or-less fixed the broken colour values today. Here is how:

1. Brother provided a code-free CUPS driver from their website that moved in mysterious ways & provided an icon in the XFCE system-config-printer utility accessed from menu:Settings.
    
   I know now that all that is required is a PPD file installed within /etc/cups/ppd/
   ('PPD' files are Postscript config files, detailing the specific features of the printer)

2. I recently looked at Brother under Open Printing
   (CUPs *does* provide a ppd file for my model, but I only found that after fixing it!)

3. My original PPD file was marked as RGB whilst a Brother-DCP-9045CDN-Postscript-Brother.ppd file was marked as CMYK. That gave me hope that changing my driver to CMYK may fix the broken driver (the led printer uses 4 drums to print).

   $ la /etc/cups/ppd
   total 120
   -rw-r----- 1 root  lp    30989 Feb  4 02:33 BRPPL3510CDW-CMYK.ppd
   -rw-r----- 2 alexk alexk 30989 Aug 23  2017 BRPPL3510CDW.PPD
   -rw-r----- 2 alexk alexk 26326 Jul  3  2019 DCP3510W.PPD
   -rw-r----- 1 root  lp    26310 Feb  4 02:39 DCP3510W-RGB.ppd
   $ # the original postscript driver:
   $ fgrep DefaultColorSpace /etc/cups/ppd/DCP3510W.PPD
   *DefaultColorSpace: RGB
   $ # now the new one:
   $ fgrep DefaultColorSpace /etc/cups/ppd/BRPPL3510CDW.PPD
   *DefaultColorSpace: CMYK

4. The Brother came with a driver CD, but it was only good for Windows or Apple Mac. I found the PPD files within a Windows .msi file (brpsc17a.msi), and 7-Zip is the best way to extract it):

   $ 7z x /media/alexk/BROTHER/install/msi/brpsc17a.msi

5. That creates a mass of (compressed) PPD files that each look something like this:
   BRPPL3510CDW.PP__10.8743C30B_11BB_422B_A1A0_160735E2777E

6. Once again, 7-Zip will expand these files to the (plain-text) PPD files
   (a lot of commands moving all relevant files into a sub-dir are missing here):

   for i in ./*; do 7z x $i; done;

7. All these files are virtually identical. The major difference is a language declaration
   (the language within all files was identical; just the declaration was different):

   fgrep LanguageVersion *
   $ # example follows
   $ fgrep LanguageVersion BRPPL3510CDW.PP__03
   *LanguageVersion: English

8. I placed the 2-digit ISO 639-1 code into the filename like this:
   eg BRPPL3510CDW.en.PP__03 (in the end I had 6 'en' files & used the first one)
   (the important feature here is that that PPD file was also CMYK)

9. I now had 2 PPD files:
   1) DCP3510W.PPD :: this is the original faulty RGB driver provided via the Brother website
   2) BRPPL3510CDW.PPD :: this was sourced via the Brother-supplied driver CD

   I copied these as hard-links into the CUPs directory (/etc/cups/ppd). It is important to note that they must retain my file owner and group:

   $ cp BRPPL3510CDW.en.PP__03 -l /etc/cups/ppd/BRPPL3510CDW.PPD
   $ cp DCPL3510CDW.original.ppd -l /etc/cups/ppd/DCP3510W.PPD

That is the first part. Next, we shall use the Xfce-supplied Print Settings utility to add printers for each of these setups. However, that shall be tomorrow after I've had some sleep (almost 5am here in the UK).

berni51

Member

From: Middle of Germany

Registered: 2018-12-20

Posts: 95  

Website

Re: [SOLVED] Fixing broken Brother DCP-L3510CDW Printer Installation (howto)

Great & interesting, thanks for sharing.
We have a pool of 6 Brother DCPJ525W, all running as networkprinters via a Devuan print server. This works well with the Brother Linux drivers, however our printers are getting old and I am just looking for the next Brother generation.

Sleep well, you*ve earned it.

Berni

---

The good ol' days will not return, and the rocks might smelt and the sea may burn.

alexkemp

Member

Registered: 2018-05-14

Posts: 357  

Re: [SOLVED] Fixing broken Brother DCP-L3510CDW Printer Installation (howto)

The OP detailed my problem; in a nutshell:

• Having paid out shed-loads of money to Amazon for a LED-powered printer/copier/scanner/wlan CMYK-toner network printer and,

• having downloaded an up-to-date Linux driver from the Brother website,

• discovered that it completely screwed up the colour balance in both text & photographs and,

• Brother just responded with handy-wavy gestures & did nuthin'

To rub salt into the wound, I saved a file that was giving print difficulties as a PDF, took it to a friend with a business, and used his HP DeskJet to print it out (flawless). Bah!

Very recently I discovered that the key to ALL printing (regardless of your OS) is a PPD file. These were originated by Apple (as I understand it), and Adobe is in there somewhere. They are plain-text configuration files for PostScript and, mostly, are to specify ways in which printer-specific services are to be configured, and how things differ from the defaults. Here is the CUPS Help file (link only works if you have CUPS installed):

Printers use a description file with one or more driver ("filter") programs that communicate with the printer through a "backend" program. CUPS currently uses PPD (PostScript Printer Description) files to describe the printer and driver programs needed, some of which come with CUPS while others come with your operating system or Linux distribution.

The Printer Queue shows icons for each installed printer. CUPS uses a PPD file at install-time, in the process creating that icon(s):

Printers

Showing 2 of 2 printers.

Queue Name         | Description   | Make and Model                  | Status
BRPPL3510CDW-CMYK    DCPL3510CDW     Brother DCP-L3510CDW BR-Script3   Idle
DCP3510W-RGB         DCP3510W-RGB    Brother DCP-L3510CDW CUPS         Idle

Here is the head of each file so that you can get a handle on what they are like:

$ sudo head /etc/cups/ppd/BRPPL3510CDW-CMYK.ppd -n 40
*PPD-Adobe: "4.3"
*%================================================
*%	Copyright(C) 2017 Brother Industries, Ltd.
*%	"Brother DCP-L3510CDW BR-Script3"
*%================================================

*%==== General Information Keywords ========================
*FormatVersion: "4.3"
*FileVersion: "1.0"
*LanguageEncoding: ISOLatin1
*LanguageVersion: English
*Manufacturer: "Brother"
*PCFileName: "BRPPL3510CDW.PPD"
*Product: "(Brother DCP-L3510CDW)"
*PSVersion: "(3010.106) 3"
*ShortNickName: "Brother DCP-L3510CDW BR-Script3"
*ModelName: "Brother DCP-L3510CDW BR-Script3"
*NickName: "Brother DCP-L3510CDW BR-Script3"

*%==== Basic Device Capabilities =============
*LanguageLevel: "3"
*TTRasterizer: Type42
*ColorDevice: True
*DefaultColorSpace: CMYK
*FileSystem: True
*?FileSystem:"
save 
	/devname (%disk0%) def 
	/ret false def 
	0 1 7{ 
		devname exch 48 add 5 exch put 
		devname devstatus { 
			0 ne {/ret true def}if 
			pop pop pop pop pop pop pop 
		}if 
	}for 
	ret {(True)}{(False)} ifelse = flush 
restore 
" 
*End

$ sudo head /etc/cups/ppd/DCP3510W-RGB.ppd -n 40
*PPD-Adobe: "4.3"

*%================================================
*%	Copyright(C) 2018 Brother Industries, Ltd.
*%	"Brother DCP-L3510CDW for CUPS"
*%================================================ 

*%==== General Information Keywords ========================
*FormatVersion: "4.3"
*FileVersion: "4.0.9"
*LanguageVersion: English
*LanguageEncoding: ISOLatin1
*PCFileName: "DCP3510W.PPD"
*Manufacturer: "Brother"
*Product: "(DCP-L3510CDW)"
*1284DeviceID: "MFG:Brother;MDL:DCP-L3510CDW"
*cupsVersion: 1.4
*cupsManualCopies: false
*cupsFilter: "application/vnd.cups-postscript 0 brother_lpdwrapper_dcpl3510cdw"
*%cupsFilter: "application/vnd.cups-pdf 0 brother_lpdwrapper_dcpl3510cdw"
*cupsModelNumber: 5
*ModelName: "Brother DCP-L3510CDW"
*ShortNickName: "DCP-L3510CDW"
*NickName: "Brother DCP-L3510CDW CUPS"
*PSVersion: "(3010.106) 3"

*%==== Basic Device Capabilities =============
*LanguageLevel: "3"
*ColorDevice: True
*DefaultColorSpace: RGB
*FileSystem: False
*Throughput: "17"
*VariablePaperSize: False
*TTRasterizer: Type42
*FreeVM: "2700000"
*DefaultResolution: 600dpi
*%DefaultOutputOrder: Reverse

*%=== UI Constraints ==================================
*UIConstraints: "*BRInputSlot AutoSelect *BRMediaType Label"

So, first I had to find a PPD file that would actually work. That was simple, if fiddly, once I found it, and is detailed in the OP. I then hoped that simply replacing the file located in /etc/cups/ppd with the new file renamed-to-the-old would be sufficient but, naturally, that was a foolish hope. There is an actual install process to go through, and that will be detailed in the next post.

alexkemp

Member

Registered: 2018-05-14

Posts: 357  

Re: [SOLVED] Fixing broken Brother DCP-L3510CDW Printer Installation (howto)

This is the post to explain the actual installation of a Brother DCP-L3510CDW printer under Devuan Chimaera-4 using a PPD extracted from the printer-supplied CD (see OP) & placed into /etc/cups/ppd. The OP was easy, since the Terminal creates a history file at ~/.bash_history. The GUI does not, so I have to repeat everything to be certain of getting it right.

(This printer is now £200 cheaper than when I bought it. Harrumph.)

My Desktop Manager is XFCE v4.16, and the printer config utility system-config-printer (accessed via menu: Settings) is as follows:

1.5.14
A CUPS configuration tool.

README.md:
system-config-printer
It uses IPP to configure a CUPS server. Additionally it provides dBUS interface for several operations which aren't directly available in cupsd, and automatic USB printer installation daemon for non-IPP-over-USB printers.

The alternatives for the graphical configuration tool are CUPS Web interface, desktop control-center or lpadmin command line tool if you need to install printer manually which may not be needed in recent cases.

My user is neither root nor the print-admin user lp, so my version shows an "Unlock" button which needs to be pressed (then pw authentication) before making any additions or changes. So, here is the step-by-step:

1. Open system-config-printer via menu: Settings

2. Press "Unlock" button & authenticate
   (needs to be done often; I will not repeat it here)

3. Highlight an existing printer & duplicate (Ctrl+D)
   (if none present then lpadmin is a terminal app to create one, but you are on your own there)

4. Click on the dupe & select Properties (right-click or menu:Printer)

5. Under Settings | Make & Model click on Change... button

6. (Click Cancel on the Search box, or wait for the timeout)

7. (The default is to offer a set of CUPS-supplied drivers (PPD files) for a vast range of printers)

To install a CUPS-supplied driver:

• Click on Brother then click the Forward button

• Scroll down the list & select the DCP-L3510CDW CUPS model at left, then the sole driver at right, and click the Forward button

• Select the top option on the next screen ("Use the new PPD as is") & click Apply

• Then click OK

• (we are back at the main screen; I renamed the new printer "DCP-L3510CDW-CUPS")

(more to come; I will just check out how that printer performs)

Ah well, there is zero point in my checking that CUPS-supplied PPD since it is identical to the driver that Brother supplied me from their website over 2 years ago:

$ la /etc/cups/ppd
total 148
-rw-r----- 1 root  lp    30989 Feb  4 02:33 BRPPL3510CDW-CMYK.ppd
-rw-r----- 2 alexk alexk 30989 Aug 23  2017 BRPPL3510CDW.PPD
-rw-r----- 2 alexk alexk 26326 Jul  3  2019 DCP3510W.PPD
-rw-r----- 1 root  lp    26310 Feb  4 02:39 DCP3510W-RGB.ppd
-rw-r----- 1 root  lp    26310 Feb  4 16:28 DCP-L3510CDW-CUPS.ppd
$ sudo diff /etc/cups/ppd/DCP3510W-RGB.ppd /etc/cups/ppd/DCP-L3510CDW-CUPS.ppd
$ # (no result)

To install Your Own PPD driver:

• Click on "Provide PPD file" then click the Folder/Directory icon that appears below it

• Navigate to the directory where the PPD file is stored

• Select the PPD file that is the driver & click Open
  (you may need to change the file option to "All files (*)")
  (note that this file *must* be accessible under your user, and there is zero option available for sudo or whatever if it is not)

• Then click Forward

• Select the top option on the next screen ("Use the new PPD as is") & click Apply

• Then click OK

• (we are back at the main screen; rename the new printer if you wish)
  (note that the original PPD file is left unchanged; a new PPD will be created in /etc/cups/ppd)

Even though this CMYK driver is older than the RGB driver it performs much better. But not perfect.

My standard LibreOffice Writer pages each have a snazzy vertical Drawing Object, adventurously labelled "Shape1", at the LHS of the first page. These are text-boxes that have a colour gradient background ('Area') which goes from a deep-blue at the top to a mid-blue at the bottom (#204A87 to #729FCF). On top is a text-field that contains the Page Title in a mid-grey (#CCCCCC). It is deeply attractive; I'm both proud & delighted with it. HP printed it perfectly & the damned Brother will not!

The newer RGB driver gets all colours wrong, including this Drawing Object on text-pages. The older CMYK seems to get the colour right but will not graduate the text-box Area. Sigh. An improvement, but no cigar.

Last edited by alexkemp (2023-02-04 17:39:41)

delgado

Member

Registered: 2022-07-14

Posts: 211  

Re: [SOLVED] Fixing broken Brother DCP-L3510CDW Printer Installation (howto)

HP printed it perfectly & the damned Brother will not!

Of course I do not know the print outs, just want to remind on technical limits.
A current inc-jet printer can produce photo alike results. A laser printer is good for something with sharp edges like text or lines, gradients are ... difficult / not looking good. The colours itself are non-natural and loud.

At my work is a Brother network laser printer. No installation at all - appeared in cups (no idea how, it's a shame) and is simply working.
A bit colour tweaking might be nice.

Altoid

Member

Registered: 2017-05-07

Posts: 1,581  

Re: [SOLVED] Fixing broken Brother DCP-L3510CDW Printer Installation (howto)

Hello:

HP printed it perfectly & the damned Brother will not!

When I decided to take an early retirement offer, I found myself needing a printer.
The little printing I've needed year in/year out was done at the office at my employer's expense, maybe 75/100 pages a year.

The last printer I had at home was a DeskJet HP520, purchased in 1995 and retired in 2005.
This time I looked for the simplest/least expensive B/W laser I could find, eventually purchasing a Samsung M2020W.

I went through hell trying to get it to work with my Linux box, I think running Ubuntu at the time.
Nothing worked and was about to give up when something happened ...

------------------------>  I installed CUPS!   8^D

Granted, the driver does not seem (?) to be as complete as the the one HP wrote for MS, but it works *prefectly* well.
Not *one* issue since I installed it and it's worked through quite a few distributions before I settled on Devuan: Debian, Ubuntu, Mint, PCLinuxOS, #! ...
Save some issues when printing from LO, but that is just typical LO behaviour of not fixing bugs and letting them fester.

I think that any problem CUPS may have with a specific printer lies in the structure of the PPD and/or colour profile files.
ie: if they are not properly written and match exactly with the printer's hardware, you get issues such as the ones you are going through.

Some OEMs actually do a good job and provide well written PPDs and others do not.

If there's only *one* good thing I can say about Apple it is regarding CUPS.

Best,

A.

Last edited by Altoid (2023-02-04 21:16:21)

alexkemp

Member

Registered: 2018-05-14

Posts: 357  

Re: [SOLVED] Fixing broken Brother DCP-L3510CDW Printer Installation (howto)

any problem CUPS may have with a specific printer lies in the structure of the PPD and/or colour profile files

I certainly agree with the (non-existent) Profile file as being a likely source for the problem. That was my early suss when first trying to fix this beast. The fact that there is less problems with the CMYK driver than the RGB driver points in the same direction (as far as I understand these things). However, how do I get such a file? I managed to get one for my monitor from an old Windows driver, but that was a Monocoque, so there was only one place to look.

@delgado:
The Brother is 600dpi and generally colours are good (recall that it is CMYK, same as printing inks). They are simply wrong!

Altoid

Member

Registered: 2017-05-07

Posts: 1,581  

Re: [SOLVED] Fixing broken Brother DCP-L3510CDW Printer Installation (howto)

HellO:

... fact that there is less problems with the CMYK driver than the RGB driver points in the same direction ...
... how do I get such a file?

No idea ...
I just do B/W ...  8^°

But I came across this, have not read it but it smells right, so to speak.
ie: there's an explanation of sorts and it says [Solved].

---
Why do some printers print RGB and some CMYK if all printers are CMYK..?
https://community.adobe.com/t5/acrobat- … p/10411460
---

Depending upon the print driver's settings, many print drivers will not do a simply ICC profile-based RGB to CMYK conversion, but rather, use “secret sauce techniques” to try to punch up the colors, especially what one may describe as “office colors” such as the bright colors that you may typically see in a PowerPoint presentation or Excel spreadsheet.

Maybe the Adobe chaps can give you more ideas than the Brothers ...

Best,

A.

alexkemp

Member

Registered: 2018-05-14

Posts: 357  

Re: [SOLVED] Fixing broken Brother DCP-L3510CDW Printer Installation (howto)

Thanks for the link, Altoid.

I'm well used to Pantones (although did not get my hands dirty with them other than with a University where the logo was specified in Pantone colours; a very good way to send print costs sky-rocketing). I used to deal with a print-house, talking often with the guys that got ink on their fingers. Also working at a furniture company that used a commercial printer to print Sales & Product sheets for mail-order (I was using a Mac with early DTP software that were then sent to the Printer; he was dubious because this was the late 1980s, but we got good results).

So all-in-all I'm up to speed with the issues. And the main issue seems to be the need to have an ICC profile to cover RGB-to-CYMK issues, and iirc I recall that being buggy with (I think) Ghostscript, and I still have not heard of any fixes for that, nor of a Profile supplied with Brother printers. However, HP manage to print correctly, so it can be done.

This talk of "punching up the colours" is missing the point. I'm not going to be using any more than 4 inks, and 600 dpi is twice what I'm used to and better than a cheap HP DeskJet. The point here is that the Brother is printing the wrong colours. I produced some sheets with a large, standard range of HTML colours (specified in 6 hex digits so that they could be checked back) & they were all printed wrong.

Altoid

Member

Registered: 2017-05-07

Posts: 1,581  

Re: [SOLVED] Fixing broken Brother DCP-L3510CDW Printer Installation (howto)

Hello:

Thanks for the link ...

You're welcome.

... well used to Pantones ...
... up to speed with the issues.

Yes, the Pantone Pirates ...
You seem to have all that covered then.

... main issue seems to be the need to have an ICC profile to cover RGB-to-CYMK ...
... Brother is printing the wrong colours.

Well ...
In my limited experience, once these things start to edge into professional areas you find blocks and removing them is very costly because that is what the blocks are there for.

eg: specifying exact colours for industry wide use within a specific professional area like architecture.
When I was still a student, I was enthralled by this huge Pantone colour catalogue, till I asked how much it cost.  8^°

If Brother, a company perfectly capable of generating the correct ICC profile for this printer does not do it, it is because it is not interested.
eg: maybe they don't want this printer competing with other printers they manufacture, under their own brand or rebranded for third parties.

It is always a $$$ issue, they are not dumb.

Colour wise, I went by eye so to speak for many years and managed well enough.
These days you go to a hardware store with a peeled off patch from a wall you need to paint and in a while you get a 4lt. can of the right colour, mixed to order.

While I was looking to try to understand how all this ICC works, I came across a web page which may be interesting for to you to check:

https://rawpedia.rawtherapee.com/ICC_Profile_Creator

It is related to a raw image processing program called RawTherapee.
If it exists it is because more than one commercial application (expensive, obviously) exists.

This one is free to use.
Hope that helps.

Best,

A.

alexkemp

Member

Registered: 2018-05-14

Posts: 357  

Re: [SOLVED] Fixing broken Brother DCP-L3510CDW Printer Installation (howto)

(re: ICC_Profile_Creator)

Well, that looks awesome (hurrah)
Ah, it is integrated into rawtherapee (boo)
But rawtherapee is open-source (hurrah)
The AppImage is 108 MB (boo)

Bugger. And I strongly suspect that the profile created is directly related to the screen (meaning, do colours from *any* program show accurately on the screen). I've already got & use a profile for that (and it isn't even a high-performance screen).

Still, no matter. That was a superb find. I now need to find whether the Profile-Maker can be installed independently of the entire program†, and whether that can be used for a printer. I'm also shortly going to trawl through the Brother win-drivers again looking for a profile. I also need to find the way to communicate to CURL (which I think is also openprinting.com) that their current Brother DCP-L3510CDW PPD is pants, and to offer the derived-from-windows collection (69 separate files‡).

† Feb 6 update: I did check & the GitHub site shows a single file to create the utility. However, it is thoroughly integrated into the whole program, with dozens of calls to other sections
‡ Feb 6 update: 35 PPD files after removing dupes

Last edited by alexkemp (2023-02-06 11:34:00)

Altoid

Member

Registered: 2017-05-07

Posts: 1,581  

Re: [SOLVED] Fixing broken Brother DCP-L3510CDW Printer Installation (howto)

Hello:

... looks awesome (hurrah)
... integrated into rawtherapee (boo)
... rawtherapee is open-source (hurrah)
...

Two out of four?  8^D

... suspect that the profile created is directly related to the screen ...
... do colours from *any* program show accurately on the screen).

Probably (no idea) and no never (experience talking).

Which is why there's a whole industry dedicated to extract money from those who need to use standard/universally accepted profiles.
ie: that will allow printed/displayed pages to look/be seen as being the same, everywhere. 

... a superb find.

I'm glad you think so.

In any case, it seems that there is no shortage of people attempting to bowl the same sticky wicket, so to speak.
From the little I have read on the matter, it has been, is and will continue to be so till something breaks.

As a result, there are quite a few apparently viable (?) alternatives, albeit with widely varying degrees of success, as usual.

Check https://www.color.org/opensource.xalter and https://www.color.org/creatingprofiles.xalter

Something's got to give.

... need to find the way to communicate ...
... that their current Brother DCP-L3510CDW PPD is pants ...

Like I mentioned, I suspect that not only they know but that it is the default option for your printer.

You may want to spend some time looking through the Brother catalogue for a model which could meet the following criteria:

1. it is more expensive
2. it has more options
3. uses a similar ink/cartdrige/printing system
4. repeatedly uses the term professional in the User's manual.   8^D

If you don't find a suitable one, check to see if you can find out which brands are really Brother units with another label and look among them.
Maybe some printer repair shop or DIY page on the web has that data.

If and when you find it, get the ICC file and see how it works with your printer. 

Best,

A.

Last edited by Altoid (2023-02-05 13:43:47)

alexkemp

Member

Registered: 2018-05-14

Posts: 357  

Re: [SOLVED] Fixing broken Brother DCP-L3510CDW Printer Installation (howto)

current Brother DCP-L3510CDW PPD is the default option for your printer.

It is the only option from CUPS for that model.

Altoid

Member

Registered: 2017-05-07

Posts: 1,581  

Re: [SOLVED] Fixing broken Brother DCP-L3510CDW Printer Installation (howto)

Hello:

It is the only option from CUPS for that model.

Yes.
I meant to say that Brother knows it does not work properly.
ie: by design.

Hope you get it fixed.

Best,

A.

alexkemp

Member

Registered: 2018-05-14

Posts: 357  

Re: [SOLVED] Fixing broken Brother DCP-L3510CDW Printer Installation (howto)

It doesn't look like any ICC profile will do any good here. I may have run out of options to fix this model so that it will print colours OK. Bugger.

This link to cityinkexpress.co.uk will help explain what ICC Profiles are normally used by print shops to achieve.

In a nutshell, the biggest problem for a printshop is when a customer's home-produced printout on *their* printer looks lovely in their business/home, and all wrong from the Print Shop. So, City Ink Express provide a Colour Chart for the customer to printout using their printer. The customer then posts (or delivers) the printout back to the shop. City Ink Express have a piece of software ("advanced color calibration software") that scans the printout & produces an ICC Profile (software file) which is emailed back to the customer. The intention of the profile is to shift colour differences between the customer's printer & the commercial printer, so that (as much as possible) the commercial printout looks as close to the home printout as possible. The main issue for me is that no details of how that profile is used are revealed.

You can probably see why the above excited me re: my problem, and specifically because I had seen references to "Profile" whilst printing. Nope, wrong kind of Profile.

Brother has a Printing Profile, but you can tell from the link that it is nothing to do with shifting colour balances.

"ICC Profiles" feature exactly nowhere in brother.com. What *does* feature is "Windows ICM Profiles". That link states that these are provided on the driver CD at "x:\driver\ps\icm". Not on the CD for the DPL3510CDW they arn't. Yet another blind alley.

The final blind alley was me trawling through all the MSI files on the CD yet again, this time looking for "Profiles". Or even "ICC" or "ICM". Just in case. Nope. None. Nada.

I've also tried to find an address at which to report the Dead Fish that is the CUPS driver for the DPL3510CDW. I found a Reporting Issues information page. The one missing item was either an email address, a website page, a telephone number or even the location of a stone in a park to place the secret paper underneath. It seems like they don't want to know.

And with that final big NO I must leave this report.

Where's the NOT SOLVED button?

Altoid

Member

Registered: 2017-05-07

Posts: 1,581  

Re: [SOLVED] Fixing broken Brother DCP-L3510CDW Printer Installation (howto)

Hello:

... tried to find an address at which to report the Dead Fish that is the CUPS driver ...

From what I see, issues have to be reported to the CUPS project issues page.

For starters you have to log-in and to do that you have to sign up/join/register with GitHub.

Once you get that (needed) administrative crap out of the way, you log-in and open a new issue.

As you may gather, given the complexity of the problem, the instructions for filing an issue must be followed to the letter.

ie: Like when you file a bug with Debian, in the hope it may be looked at eventually.

Note:
I recall that an HP Colour Laser printer I used 20+ years ago had to be calibrated every so often or when one of the (absurdly expensive) toner deposits had to be replaced, otherwise everything was off colour wise, more than the usual.

This Brother printer has something like that? Never seen one so I don't have a clue.

Best,

A.

alexkemp

Member

Registered: 2018-05-14

Posts: 357  

Re: [SOLVED] Fixing broken Brother DCP-L3510CDW Printer Installation (howto)

I've now reported the issue to CUPS; see https://github.com/OpenPrinting/cups/issues/611

Unfortunately the upload-utility failed, so the zip of all the ppd variants remains on my disk lonely as a cloud.

Altoid

Member

Registered: 2017-05-07

Posts: 1,581  

Re: [SOLVED] Fixing broken Brother DCP-L3510CDW Printer Installation (howto)

Hello:

... reported the issue to CUPS; see https://github.com/OpenPrinting/cups/issues/611

Good.  8^)
It's a start.

Let's see what comes up.

... upload-utility failed ...

You may want to try the upload with a different browser.
eg: Pale Moon gives me all sorts of grief in many places.

Best,

A.

alexkemp

Member

Registered: 2018-05-14

Posts: 357  

Re: [SOLVED] Fixing broken Brother DCP-L3510CDW Printer Installation (howto)

try the upload with a different browser

It's fully-updated Chromium. If that doesn't work then sod it.

alexkemp

Member

Registered: 2018-05-14

Posts: 357  

Re: [SOLVED] Fixing broken Brother DCP-L3510CDW Printer Installation (howto)

Puzzling this problem with the GitHub page it seemed to me that the problem was probably with ScriptSafe, which is a script-blocker that I use in Chromium to try to get ahead of problems with egregious scripts. So I returned to the GitHub page & watched ScriptSafe…

1. ScriptSafe == green on entry to the page
   (I was also logged in)

2. ScriptSafe == one exception
   (this was following a failed attempt to upload the zip-file)
   (the failure was a new githubusercontent url)

3. ScriptSafe == green
   (added clearance for that URL & the upload now worked & we have a download link for the zip)

I'll add the link into a fresh post to try to help make the link easier to find.

alexkemp

Member

Registered: 2018-05-14

Posts: 357  

Re: [SOLVED] Fixing broken Brother DCP-L3510CDW Printer Installation (howto)

Brother-DCP-L3510CDW-ppd.zip

$ 7z l Brother-DCP-L3510CDW-ppd.zip

7-Zip [64] 16.02 : Copyright (c) 1999-2016 Igor Pavlov : 2016-05-21
p7zip Version 16.02 (locale=en_GB.UTF-8,Utf16=on,HugeFiles=on,64 bits,4 CPUs AMD A8-7410 APU with AMD Radeon R5 Graphics     (730F01),ASM,AES-NI)

Scanning the drive for archives:
1 file, 244572 bytes (239 KiB)

Listing archive: Brother-DCP-L3510CDW-ppd.zip

   Date      Time    Attr         Size   Compressed  Name
------------------- ----- ------------ ------------  ------------------------
2017-08-23 14:45:14 .....        30733         6653  BRPPL3510CDW.ar.ppd
2017-08-23 14:45:08 .....        31172         6734  BRPPL3510CDW.bg.ppd
2017-08-23 14:45:08 .....        30823         6673  BRPPL3510CDW.cs.ppd
2017-08-23 14:45:10 .....        30748         6661  BRPPL3510CDW.da.ppd
2017-08-23 14:45:10 .....        30768         6681  BRPPL3510CDW.de.ppd
2017-08-23 14:45:08 .....        30989         6649  BRPPL3510CDW.en-1.ppd
2017-08-23 14:45:10 .....        30609         6617  BRPPL3510CDW.en-2.ppd
2017-08-23 14:45:14 .....        30617         6617  BRPPL3510CDW.en-3.ppd
2017-08-23 14:45:12 .....        31115         6711  BRPPL3510CDW.es.ppd
2017-08-23 14:45:10 .....        30897         6685  BRPPL3510CDW.fi.ppd
2017-08-23 14:45:10 .....        30958         6704  BRPPL3510CDW.fr-1.ppd
2017-08-23 14:45:10 .....        30970         6707  BRPPL3510CDW.fr-2.ppd
2017-08-23 14:45:10 .....        30878         6683  BRPPL3510CDW.hr.ppd
2017-08-23 14:45:10 .....        31071         6740  BRPPL3510CDW.hu.ppd
2017-08-23 14:45:10 .....        30804         6666  BRPPL3510CDW.id.ppd
2017-08-23 14:45:10 .....        31011         6693  BRPPL3510CDW.it.ppd
2017-08-23 14:45:10 .....        30431         6617  BRPPL3510CDW.ko.ppd
2017-08-23 14:45:12 .....        31125         6723  BRPPL3510CDW.ls.ppd
2017-08-23 14:45:10 .....        30761         6673  BRPPL3510CDW.nl.ppd
2017-08-23 14:45:12 .....        30693         6651  BRPPL3510CDW.no.ppd
2017-08-23 14:45:12 .....        31092         6767  BRPPL3510CDW.pl.ppd
2017-08-23 14:45:12 .....        31118         6735  BRPPL3510CDW.pt-1.ppd
2017-08-23 14:45:12 .....        31024         6709  BRPPL3510CDW.pt-2.ppd
2017-08-23 14:45:12 .....        30962         6726  BRPPL3510CDW.ro.ppd
2017-08-23 14:45:12 .....        31190         6760  BRPPL3510CDW.ru.ppd
2017-08-23 14:45:12 .....        31043         6744  BRPPL3510CDW.sk.ppd
2017-08-23 14:45:16 .....        31125         6723  BRPPL3510CDW.sl.ppd
2017-08-23 14:45:12 .....        30971         6698  BRPPL3510CDW.sr.ppd
2017-08-23 14:45:12 .....        30833         6684  BRPPL3510CDW.sv.ppd
2017-08-23 14:45:12 .....        30679         6701  BRPPL3510CDW.th.ppd
2017-08-23 14:45:12 .....        30849         6726  BRPPL3510CDW.tr.ppd
2017-08-23 14:45:14 .....        31246         6791  BRPPL3510CDW.uk.ppd
2017-08-23 14:45:14 .....        30828         6646  BRPPL3510CDW.vi.ppd
2017-08-23 14:45:08 .....        30213         6521  BRPPL3510CDW.zh-cn.ppd
2017-08-23 14:45:08 .....        30492         6558  BRPPL3510CDW.zh-tw.ppd
2019-07-03 13:53:57 .....        26326         4497  DCPL3510CDW.original.ppd
------------------- ----- ------------ ------------  ------------------------
2019-07-03 13:53:57            1107164       238524  36 files

Altoid

Member

Registered: 2017-05-07

Posts: 1,581  

Re: [SOLVED] Fixing broken Brother DCP-L3510CDW Printer Installation (howto)

Hello:

... seemed to me that the problem was probably with ScriptSafe, which is a script-blocker ...
---
(added clearance for that URL & the upload now worked ...

Glad you were able to work it out.

I see that there are only 36 open issues at the CUPS GitHub page and only 3 have not been looked at/sorted/classified yet.
The last 2 being from this month and one from less than a month ago.

Not bad at all, I've seen much worse.
eg: LibreOffice, XFCE and others.

Hopefully you'll get a request for more information or feedback of some sort within a fortnight.
Please keep us posted.

Best,

A.

Andre4freedom

Member

Registered: 2017-11-15

Posts: 174  

Re: [SOLVED] Fixing broken Brother DCP-L3510CDW Printer Installation (howto)

To alexkemp and owners of Brother multi-function printers

I followed your story about your nightmarish printer driver and configuration problems.
I used to have HP printers (MFPs) and they worked extremely well with Linux. HPLIP and CUPS do it all best. Now the printer is failing and I have to replace it. Most new HP printers do things via the cloud only, which is rubbish I will avoid.
So my interest turned to the Brother brand.

Your report made me skeptical and I did some research on the Internet and did some tests.

1. A Brother DCP-L2550DW (black-and-white laser) worked out of the box with no configuration and software installation.
My PC had all CUPS packaged installed already, and the System-Config-Printer program showed right there that new printer. All tests and scanning went fine. This was at a friends site, they use Apple PCs only.

2. A test with an older Brother DCP-L9055 was a complete disaster. Nothing at all worked. That was another neighbour's site, they use Windows and also Apple laptops. (That printer was most probably mis-configured, so it works only with Windows)

3. I bought myself a Brother MFC-J5340DW, installed it in my network following the Quick-Setup-Guide, went to my workstation PC and that thing worked without any configuration or software installation. Out-of-the-box - Big success. Every test was successful.

If you show me how, I can post the CUPS test-printout - it shows some CUPS-specifics.

A quick check revealed that all CUPS packages are installed. It looks like the CUPS and the CUPS-browsed play an important role.
My PCs are all installed with Devuan Chimaera.

Now, my idea is this:

1. remove all downloaded Brother .deb packages. Not even special .ppd files are required. Only the amd64 architecture is required in my case, so no i386 or i586 packages here. Also delete all configured printers in your "System-Administration-Print Settings" program.
You need the CUPS packages.
2. Reset your Brother DCP-L3510DW printer to factory-defaults and set it up as shown in the Quick-Config-Guide.
3. Then go (as user) to "System-Administration-Print Settings" menu and see if you see your brother printer is already there and test it.

When you Devuan system is installed in a standard way (Chimaera), it should work.
I hope in your LAN there is no filtering inside your network. All protocols shall pass within the LAN.

Please let us know if that helps.
My very best greetings and good luck. Andre

alexkemp

Member

Registered: 2018-05-14

Posts: 357  

Re: [SOLVED] Fixing broken Brother DCP-L3510CDW Printer Installation (howto)

Hi Andre, thanks for responding.

I'm not going to try your suggestions.

The printer was initially setup from brand-new, so is already at factory-defaults, never having been changed from those defaults.

CUPS requires printer-specific setup. CUPS itself is printer-agnostic & requires instructing on the specifics required for a specific printer; that is the purpose of the PPD text-files. The only way that your DCP-L2550DW could have been auto-setup without an external driver is if it used the CUPS-supplied ppd file. I've already confirmed that the CUPS-supplied driver for my model is identical to the Brother-supplied driver that does not perform. I'm not going through that all over again. But again, thanks for trying.

Extra: I see that your printer has an option for IPP Network Printer. That also uses the CUPS database, so may well have the same problem as the USB connection that I'm using. Ah, spit.

Andre4freedom

Member

Registered: 2017-11-15

Posts: 174  

Re: [SOLVED] Fixing broken Brother DCP-L3510CDW Printer Installation (howto)

Update - Devuan Daedalus
I have tested 3 different Brother MFC / DCP multifunction printers.
With the latest Daedalus RC7 install, all printers work well, immediately, without any config to do. This holds true for printing and scanning (flatbed and sheet-feeder).

With the Chimaera release the experience was and still is identical with the exception of the scanner not working correctly with the ADF (document feeder). For this version of Devuan I had to download the Brother br-sane-config-tool to setup the scanner (with ADF) correctly. If not, I could scan only with the flatbed scanner.

It looks as that detail was corrected with the sane release in Devuan Daedalus.
1. Install printer in to the IP network - 2. go to your Devuan box - 3. and start printing!
I'm so happy.
BTW: Daedalus RC7 looks very polished, slick and nice - and ready. I'd like to call it "the best".
@alexkemp: give it a try