Installing a Brother scanner driver into a Linux based system using
SANE (for Network Users)
Brother machines are able to scan in a Linux based system. To learn
how to install a driver for your Linux distribution, please refer
to the instructions below. For Red Hat, Mandrake, SuSE and FedoraCore
Users click
here, for Debian Users click here.

- If there is a file "/etc/sane.d/brother.conf",
delete it.
For Red Hat, Mandrake, SuSE and FedoraCore
Users:
- Before you install the Brother scanner
drivers, you should download and install the latest versions of sane
and xsane.
$ rpm -ivh sane-xxxxxx.rpm
$ rpm -ivh xsane-xxxxxx.rpm
- Install the Brother scanner driver
$ rpm -ivh brscan-0.2.4-0.i386.rpm
or
$ rpm -ivh brscan2-0.2.4-0.i386.rpm
- To use your machine as a network scanner, you need to set the friendly
name, model name and IP address or node name in the driver using the
commands
below. Please make sure which
scanner driver "brscan" or "brscan2" you are using.
If you are using "brscan" driver, please use "brsaneconfig".
If you are using "brscan2" driver, please use "brsaneconfig2".
Using IP address:
brsaneconfig -a name=FRIENDLY-NAME model=MODEL-NAME ip=xx.xx.xx.xx
or
brsaneconfig2 -a name=FRIENDLY-NAME model=MODEL-NAME ip=xx.xx.xx.xx
Using node name:
brsaneconfig -a name=FRIENDLY-NAME model=MODEL-NAME nodename=BRN_xxxxx
or
brsaneconfig2 -a name=FRIENDLY-NAME model=MODEL-NAME nodename=BRN_xxxxx
i.e)
When your model name is "MFC-7820N", nodename is "BRN_XXXXX" and
friendly name is "SCANNER1", set the command as below:
brsaneconfig -a name=SCANNER1 model=MFC-7820N nodename=BRN_XXXXX
or
brsaneconfig2 -a name=SCANNER1 model=MFC-7820N nodename=BRN_XXXXX
- You can check the result by running the command:
brsaneconfig -q
or
brsaneconfig2 -q
If the setting is done correctly, you will see the result as below:
0 SCANNER1 "MFC-7820N" N:BRN_XXXXX

- Please specify a "FRIENDLY-NAME" that suits you. (no spaces)
- Please run the "brsaneconfig-q" command
to confirm that your Brother machine model is supported. Enter your
model name exactly as it appears in the list.
- If you are using DHCP, please specify the nodename.
- You can delete the setting by running the command below:
brsaneconfig -r FRIENDLY-NAME
or
brsaneconfig2 -r FRIENDLY-NAME
- (only for root User)
You can export or import the setting by running the commands below:
To export:
brsaneconfig -s:label name
or
brsaneconfig2 -s:label name
To import:
brsaneconfig -l:label name
or
brsaneconfig2 -l:label name
Label name must be less than 384 characters. (no spaces)
The file will be located in "/usr/local/Brother/scanner" and
you can copy the file to the same directory of other PCs.
- To delete network
scanners, open the following files with a text editor and delete lines.
/usr/local/Brother/sane/brsanenetdevice.cfg (for
brscan user)
/usr/local/Brother/sane/brsanenetdevice2.cfg (for
brscan2 user)
For Debian Users:
- Install The latest versions of Sane and Xsane
$ apt-get install sane xsane
- Install the Brother scanner driver
$ dpkg -i brscan-0.2.4-0.i386.deb
or
$ dpkg -i brscan2-0.2.4-0.i386.deb
- To use your machine as a network scanner, you need to set the friendly
name, model name and IP address or node name in the driver using the
commands below. Please
make sure which scanner driver "brscan" or "brscan2" you
are using. If you are using "brscan" driver, please use "brsaneconfig".
If you are using "brscan2" driver, please use "brsaneconfig2".
Using IP address:
brsaneconfig -a name=FRIENDLY-NAME model=MODEL-NAME ip=xx.xx.xx.xx
or
brsaneconfig2 -a name=FRIENDLY-NAME model=MODEL-NAME ip=xx.xx.xx.xx
Using node name:
brsaneconfig -a name=FRIENDLY-NAME model=MODEL-NAME nodename=BRN_xxxxx
or
brsaneconfig2 -a name=FRIENDLY-NAME model=MODEL-NAME nodename=BRN_xxxxx
i.e)
When your model name is "MFC-7820N", nodename is "BRN_XXXXX" and
friendly name is "SCANNER1", set the command as below:
brsaneconfig -a name=SCANNER1 model=MFC-7820N nodename=BRN_XXXXX
or
brsaneconfig2 -a name=SCANNER1 model=MFC-7820N nodename=BRN_XXXXX
- You can check the result by running the command:
brsaneconfig -q
or
brsaneconfig2 -q
If the setting is done correctly, you will see the result as below:
0 SCANNER1 "MFC-7820N" N:BRN_XXXXX

- Please specify a "FRIENDLY-NAME" that suits you. (no spaces)
- Please run the "brsaneconfig-q" command
to confirm that your Brother machine model is supported. Enter your
model name exactly as it appears in the list.
- If you are using DHCP, please specify the nodename.
- You can delete the setting by running the command below:
brsaneconfig -r FRIENDLY-NAME
or
brsaneconfig2 -r FRIENDLY-NAME
- (only for root User)
You can export or import the setting by running the commands below:
To export:
brsaneconfig -s:label name
or
brsaneconfig2 -s:label name
To import:
brsaneconfig -l:label name
or
brsaneconfig2 -l:label name
Label name must be less than 384 characters. (no spaces)
The file will be located in "/usr/local/Brother/scanner" and
you can copy the file to the same directory of other PCs.
- To delete network scanners, open the following files with a text
editor and delete lines.
/usr/local/Brother/sane/brsanenetdevice.cfg (for
brscan user)
/usr/local/Brother/sane/brsanenetdevice2.cfg (for
brscan2 user)
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