MFC990CW Mac Network Connection Repair Instructions
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© 1995 - 2010 Brother International Corporation
www.brother-usa.com
Difficulty printing from your Mac can occur for various reasons. The most common reason a Brother machine
may stop printing is because the connection between the computer and the Brother machine is lost. This can
occur as a result of wrong settings or configuration on the printer driver.
There are several basic troubleshooting steps you can take to resolve this issue.
PART 1: VERIFY THE CONNECTION
1. Print the Network Configuration or User Settings List on the Brother machine and obtain the IP
Address. For instructions on how to print this report, refer to the solution: "How do I print the
Network Configuration report?"
2. On the Mac, open HDD => Applications => Utilities => Network Utility. Click the PING button
at the top of the window and enter the brother machine's IP address in the appropriate section.
3. Select Send Only _ Pings and change the value to 4.
4. Click the PING button to the right. If the Brother machine responds, continue troubleshooting. If the
Brother machine does not respond, then you will need to setup your machine on the network properly
using the Initial Setup steps in order to print.
PART 2: VERIFY THE BROTHER MACHINE IS POWERED ON AND THERE ARE NO ERRORS
1. If the LCD screen is blank, then the Brother machine is not powered on or is in sleep mode. Press a
button on the machine to see if it wakes from sleep mode. If it does not, then verify that it is plugged
into a working outlet and any power switches are turned to the ON position.
2. Check the LCD screen for any error messages. An example would be "Paper Jam" or "Ink/Toner
Empty". If the LCD screen shows an error, troubleshoot to clear the particular problem.
PART 3: VERIFY THAT THE PRINTER DRIVER IS INSTALLED
1. From the Apple Menu or in the Dock select System Preferences.
2. Under Hardware click the Print & Fax icon.
3. Verify that the Brother printer in the list. If the Brother printer is listed, continue to PART 4. If the
Brother printer is not listed, the driver may not be installed properly. Refer to PART 8 to reinstall the
Brother driver.
PART 4: VERIFY THAT THE BROTHER PRINTER IS SET AS DEFAULT
This is especially important if you use the print icon to print from within applications.
1. To set the printer as default: While in Print & Fax click the Default Printer drop down and select the
appropriate Brother "Printer Driver".
PART 5: VERIFY THAT THE PRINTER STATUS IS READY AND THE PRINT QUEUE IS EMPTY
1. While viewing the printer list, verify that the Brother "Printer Driver" shows Idle not Paused.
If the printer is paused, double click the "Printer Driver" and click RESUME PRINTER at the top of
the printer queue window or in the File Menu click Printer => Resume Printer.
2. Verify there are no jobs in the Printer Queue.
If there are any documents waiting in the queue, you can delete print jobs by selecting the job and
clicking DELETE in the top left of the print queue window or in the File Menu click Jobs => Delete
Job. This should clear the queue.
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