Can't print to Brother networked printer

Hi,

I'm just wrapping up installation of a new computer, including a clean install of Windows 10. We have a networked Brother MFC-8480DN. I went to Brother's site, retrieved and installed the full driver and software package for this printer and 64-bit Win 10. There were no errors or warnings indicated during the installation. I rebooted the computers, and attempted to print a test page from Word. Nothing happened -- Word didn't give any error messages, but nothing was queued to the printer.

The printer is set as my default printer. The status shows 'working properly'. The device troubleshooter is unable to detect any errors. In attempting to print a test page from the Printer Properties dialog, it immediately pops up with 'Test page failed to print'.

I can "talk" to the printer. There's a web management page which I can reach without problem through a browser. One of the programs installed with the Brother package was a scan and fax utility, which I tried and had no problem scanning something.

So I'm really at a loss what the problem might be, or where to go from here. I hope someone can help.

Thanks,

Ken

Ken,
Is the printer connected to your network via wirelessly or by Ethernet cable? Can you connect the printer directly to the workstation in question and make sure it prints? Also, if your printer is connected via wireless, I've had to reboot my wireless router before to get my brother printer to print. For some strange reason....it will occasionally hang up, and a simple reboot of the router is all it takes.

Thanks for the reply.

The printer is connected to the router via ethernet cable. I just hooked it up via USB -- Windows immediately created a new printer (same name, plus "Copy 1"). I tried printing a test page, and it was successful. I went back to the original (LAN) printer and tried, but again the test page failed to print.

OK, now we know its not the printer. What you need to know now is the ip address of the printer. Once you have the IP address of the printer, then change the port of the printer driver to match the ip address of the printer, and you should be able to print.

play2mefish said:

change the port of the printer driver to match the ip address of the printer, and you should be able to print.

That's proving to be easier said than done. :)

I know the ip address of the printer (same as I used in the browser I mentioned in my OP), but I don't know how to change the port address of the driver. Looking at the printer properties, there's a 'Ports' tab, but there's no option to edit an entry. I can add a new entry, but I have no idea how to associate it with the printer.

I deleted the device and re-scanned, it recreated the entry but nothing else changed. Tomorrow perhaps I'll try removing everything and reinstalling the Brother stuff again.

Thanks again.

Well, just discovered the problem by comparing it to another computer here (it's still Win 8.1).

It turns out that on the 'Advanced' tab of the printer properties, there's a dropdown box to select the driver. And for some reason, the driver was set to something called 'Brother Laser Leg Type1 Class Driver' rather than 'Brother MFC-8480DN Printer'. Selecting the latter fixed the problem.

Thanks to both of you for your suggestions.

Ken