Thursday, February 07, 2013

Brother HL-2270DW out of toner workarounds and admin screens

I just bought an HL-2270DW to replace a 2140 at drum end-of-life. This review is excellent (here is my short one), Wirecutter recommended it as best cheap laser printer and Brother drivers seem better behaved than most. User manuals are here.

I've have preferred the lower print costs of a higher grade printer, but the Brother model I considered draws too much current for many overloaded home circuit breakers.

Like most Brother printers (all printers?) it will stop printing when toner is "low" -- typically a few hundred pages short of an empty cartridge. With the 2140 I could cover an optical sensor and order a new ($$) cartridge. That doesn't work on the 2270; this page provided 3 options which I've revised here:

  1. The unscrew and rotate method
  2. Press the GO Button 7 times (quickly). " All of the LEDs should flash twice, and the Ready LED should turn on." Repeat to revert.
  3. Use the web GUI to change the Replace Toner printer setting to "continue" instead of "stop"

I like the last one. I used Bonjour Browser to find my printer's IP address, but I don't recommend this [2]. Instead read the Network guide/manual. In OS X  I used Open Print Queue I clicked a button called "Show Printer Webpage ...". That did the trick; OS X resolves the Rendezvous URL to the correct network address.

Click printer settings (un/pw is user/access) then change the Replace Toner settings. There are other settings  and reports of interest as well [1].

I left the settings on Stop -- when the printer stops I know to order a new cartridge; I can change the settings then.

PS. The printer is supposed to come with an optional sticker that explains various flashing lights. I found mine floating about the floor. Watch for this when unpacking.

[1]

  • Drum Unit is rated for 12,000 pages, memory size is 32MB.
  • The Administrator pw is admin/access. You can use this to change both the Admin (admin/access) and User (user/access) credentials if you wish.
  • You can give the printer a static IPv6 address (good luck)
  • It has NetBIOS support (brings back nightmares)
  • BRAdmin uses the printers SNMP services
  • It has an FTP and TFTP server with mDNS and LLMNR (who needs all this in a home printer?!)
  • It has an SMTP service and a POP3 Server?!! - presumably for notifications (but why POP3?). You just know that this would feature in some evil network hack.
From the Network Guide supported protocol list:

(IPv4) (IPv6) 1 10/100BASE-TX IEEE802.11b/g (Infrastructure Mode / Ad-hoc Mode) ARP, RARP, BOOTP, DHCP, APIPA (Auto IP), WINS / NetBIOS name resolution, DNS Resolver, mDNS, LLMNR responder, LPR / LPD, Custom Raw Port / Port 9100, IPP, FTP Server, SNMPv1 / v2c, HTTP Server, TFTP Client and Server, SMTP Client, ICMP, LLTD responder, Web Services (Print) NDP, RA, DNS Resolver, mDNS, LLMNR responder, LPR / LPD, Custom Raw Port / Port 9100, IPP, FTP server, SNMPv1 / v2c, HTTP Server, TFTP Client and Server, SMTP Client, ICMPv6, LLTD responder, Web Services (Print) APOP, POP before SMTP, SMTP-AUTH WEP 64/128 bit, WPA-PSK (TKIP/AES), WPA2-PSK (AES), APOP, POP before SMTP, SMTP-AUTH Wi-Fi Certification Mark License, Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) Identifier Mark License, AOSS Logo

I wonder if it's running Linux.

[2] After I ran Bonjour Browser ML persisted in showing the Rendezvous identifier for the printer as a "SHARED" item in the Finder left bar. I had to run BB again, and twiddle with reload services, to make it go away. I think BB might need an update -- in one config screen it refers to "Jaguar".

Update 2/21/2013: I had to do this when the "starter" toner ran out and the real cartridge didn't arrive. First times I tried setting the web config to 'continuous' instead of 'stop' it failed with a 'printer busy' message. I paused the queue and restarted the printer and I was able to change the setting.

Update 4/4/2013: I bought a TN-450 2,600 page extended cartridge, and after 200 pages I have a toner light. I wonder if it was a counterfeit -- though I did buy it through Amazon direct. Alternatively it or the printer may be defective. Alas, it's 4 days past the return period so I'm stuck.  Looking at the 1 star reviews I'm not the only user to run into this. 

Update 5/21/2013: These aren't counterfeit cartridges, we really are only getting 600 or so pages per $55 cartridge. See: Gordon's Tech: Is Brother running a scam with its HL-2270DW printer and TN-450 toner cartridge?

3 comments:

Martin said...

I will never again buy a printer with a paper tray that does not handle 500 sheets of paper. At least here in Switzerland, printing paper is sold in 500-sheet packages and it is very annoying if you have open paper packages lying around …

I've have preferred the lower print costs of a higher grade printer, but the Brother model I considered draws too much current for many overloaded home circuit breakers.

Wha is the typical amperage of the circuit breakers in an American home?

I have never had issues with printers. Vacuum cleaners were a problem in older apartments. Today, we have three circuits with 16 A for the room outlets each plus additional circuits for fridge, kitchen stove, oven, washing machine, tumble dryer etc. (Washing machine and tumble dryer have 400 V instead of 230 V outlets anyway).

I used Bonjour Browser to find my printer's IP address, but I don't recommend this.

Another option would be to let your Brother printer display its IP address.

Brother printers with network support are fascinating beasts since they seem to support about every possible protocol. On the other hand, each protocol is a possible security issue, so I tend to disable tthe more exotic ones. There are enough kiddies having fun with publicly accessibly network printers … ;)

P.S.: blogger.com still does not support the blockquote tag, really?!

John Gordon said...

I'd read several Amazon comments on circuit flipping when the office-style printer flipped on. We have an older house with dubious wiring, so I decided not to take the chance.

I think the cost-per-page was considerably lower on the office-class Brother and the page capacity was greater. OTOH, it might not fit the space we put this one in.

I didn't realize there was a way to make the printer display its IP address. Is that something it will print out as part of a diagnostic page?

I think I'll disable the protocols I don't need too. Funny to see all they ship with.

I just tried, and my blogger editor did use blockquote when I clicked quote. Comments don't though.

Martin said...

I didn't realize there was a way to make the printer display its IP address. Is that something it will print out as part of a diagnostic page?

On my Brother printer here in the office, I get the IP address via Menu / LAN / TCP/IP / Network address.

BTW, I have just ordered a new Brother printer since my current printer tends to damage some paper sheets and envelopes. The reason is a broken plastic part somewhere in the paper feeding mechanism and beyond repair … my new Brother printer is another all-in-one printer but color instead of s/w and with an additional 500-sheet paper tray.