Installing a Brother scanner driver into a Linux based system using SANE (for USB Users)

Brother MFC machines are able to scan in a Linux based system. To learn how to install a driver for your chosen Linux distribution, please refer to the instructions below.

• Instruction for rpm Users
• Instruction for dpkg Users

• There are two types of Scanner drivers for different brother models. Please be sure to check which driver (brscan or brscan2) can be used for your product before downloading and installing.

• If there is a file "/etc/sane.d/brother.conf", delete it.

• A superuser is a only user which can handle your scanner by default.
  Settings for scanning by normal users differ between distributions.
  Please refer the FAQ below for the settings.
  
  Link to the FAQ:
  I cannot use the scanner function with a normal user. When scanning I receive the error "Error during device I/O". (only for USB Users)

For rpm Users:

1. 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
   

2. Install the Brother scanner driver
   
   $ rpm -ivh brscan-0.2.4-0.i386.rpm
   or
   $ rpm -ivh brscan2-0.2.4-0.i386.rpm
   
   
   

3. Modify the /etc/fstab file
   
   If the line which starts with "none /proc/bus/usb" or "usbfs /proc/bus/usb" does not exist in the /etc/fstab file, run the following command:
   (To know the Kernel version, please use the command "uname -a".)
   
   -For Kernel 2.4.* version of distribution Users:
   $ echo 'none /proc/bus/usb usbdevfs auto,devmode=0666 0 0' >> /etc/fstab
   
   -For Kernel 2.6.* version of distribution Users:
   $ echo 'none /proc/bus/usb usbfs auto,devmode=0666 0 0' >> /etc/fstab
   
   If the line which starts with "none /proc/bus/usb" or "usbfs /proc/bus/usb" does exist in the /etc/fstab file, edit the line as below:
   
   -For Kernel 2.4.* version of distribution Users:
   none /proc/bus/usb usbdevfs auto,devmode=0666 0 0
   
   -For Kernel 2.6.* version of distribution Users:
   none /proc/bus/usb usbfs auto,devmode=0666 0 0
   
   



Notes:
For SuSE users: change the line in the /etc/fstab file from:
'none /proc/bus/usb ...' to 'none /proc/bus/usb usbdevfs auto,devmode=0666 0 0'
or
'usbfs /proc/bus/usb..' to 'usbfs /proc/bus/usb auto,devmode=0666 0 0'

4. Modify the USB access control
   
   
$ umount /proc/bus/usb
$ mount /proc/bus/usb
$ mknod -m 666 /dev/usbscanner c 180 48

For dpkg Users:

1. Install The latest versions of Sane and Xsane
   
   $ apt-get install sane xsane
   
   

2. Install the Brother scanner driver
   
   $ dpkg -i brscan-0.2.4-0.i386.deb
   or
   $ dpkg -i brscan2-0.2.4-0.i386.deb
   
   

3. Modify the /etc/fstab file
   
   If the line which starts with "none /proc/bus/usb" or "usbfs /proc/bus/usb" does not exist in the /etc/fstab file, run the following command:
   
   -For Kernel 2.4.* version of distribution Users:
   $ echo 'none /proc/bus/usb usbdevfs auto,devmode=0666 0 0' >> /etc/fstab
   
   -For Kernel 2.6.* version of distribution Users:
   $ echo 'none /proc/bus/usb usbfs auto,devmode=0666 0 0' >> /etc/fstab
   
   If the line which starts with "none /proc/bus/usb" or "usbfs /proc/bus/usb" does exist in the /etc/fstab file, edit the line as below:
   
   -For Kernel 2.4.* version of distribution Users:
   none /proc/bus/usb usbdevfs auto,devmode=0666 0 0
   
   -For Kernel 2.6.* version of distribution Users:
   none /proc/bus/usb usbfs auto,devmode=0666 0 0
   
   

4. Modify the USB access control

   $ umount /proc/bus/usb
   $ mount /proc/bus/usb
   $ mknod -m 666 /dev/usbscanner c 180 48
   
   
   
   

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