On Apr 17, 2007, at 7:43 AM, tlaronde@polynum.com wrote:

> On Mon, Apr 16, 2007 at 10:16:23PM -0500, Brian Grayson wrote:
>>   I purchased a Brother MFC-665CW printer/fax/etc. box recently,  
>> and have
>> it working wirelessly with the Windows half of the home network.
>>
>>   I noticed that when I telnet in to the printer, it mentions  
>> support for
>> lpr/lpd protocol, which looks promising.  If I add the following
>> /etc/printcap entry, _something_ happens, but it doesn't print:
>>
>> lp3:sh:lp=515@192.168.1.13:sd=/var/spool/lpd:lf=/var/log/lpd-errs:
>
> You do not declare any filter? That is you send the raw stuff? I  
> suppose
> this printer supports whether PostScript or a proprietary language.  
> You
> need first to transform the the job to something that the printer can
> handle.
>
> You have documentation in the NetBSD guide, and you can read too some
> good sections in the FreeBSD handbook (Advanced Printer Setup).

The printer/fax/scanner combos are often supported by proprietary  
drivers.
However if is supports lpr, that's a good start.  You still have to  
sort out drivers though.

You will want to print to it from CUPS I think, it's easy to  
troubleshoot at least (web page config interface etc), and using a  
foomatic print driver.

I took a quick look, see www.linuxprinting.org, the foomatic link,  
and then the printer database for driver info.
The 665-cw doesn't have a driver listed but the 640-cw does, without  
scanner support.
It might be close enough to work.  Or a little more research might  
show this as definitely possible, or totally impossible at this time :)

Brother is pretty good with opening their stuff though, so eventually  
you could be supported directly.

Brian