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Are generic printer drivers no longer available on MacOS 11?

I was attempting to install an older Brother printer, which used to work well with a generic PS or PCL drivers. (Nothing fancy, mostly printing Black/White PDFs, occasionally duplex.)

Brother no longer offers dedicated drivers (HL2320d), but instead instructs us to download their own print utility. This works in a fashion, but I'd prefer just adding the printer using generic drivers.


So, just wondering if generic PS/PCL drivers are no longer available on MacOS 11?

MacBook Pro (2020 and later)

Posted on Nov 3, 2021 7:42 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Nov 3, 2021 5:09 PM

Hi,


It would probably be correct to assume that this is the HL-L2320D. Nothing is mentioned in the following specifications for this USB-only model about PS or PCL emulation.

https://www.brother-usa.com/-/media/brother/product-catalog-media/documents/2020/04/28/14/26/hl-l2320d_brochure_919.pdf


Have you tried the macOS Catalina 10.15 printer driver (there have been reports about some other models working with a Catalina driver even under Big Sur)? If not, look upon this as an experiment. It may or may not work. If you decide to carry out a test, make sure that you have backup copies of all important files (documents, photos, et cetera) before you start.

https://support.brother.com/g/b/downloadlist.aspx?c=us&lang=en&prod=hll2320d_us_as&os=10060

4 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Nov 3, 2021 5:09 PM in response to tmoldovan

Hi,


It would probably be correct to assume that this is the HL-L2320D. Nothing is mentioned in the following specifications for this USB-only model about PS or PCL emulation.

https://www.brother-usa.com/-/media/brother/product-catalog-media/documents/2020/04/28/14/26/hl-l2320d_brochure_919.pdf


Have you tried the macOS Catalina 10.15 printer driver (there have been reports about some other models working with a Catalina driver even under Big Sur)? If not, look upon this as an experiment. It may or may not work. If you decide to carry out a test, make sure that you have backup copies of all important files (documents, photos, et cetera) before you start.

https://support.brother.com/g/b/downloadlist.aspx?c=us&lang=en&prod=hll2320d_us_as&os=10060

Nov 3, 2021 7:58 AM in response to tmoldovan

tmoldovan wrote:

I was attempting to install an older Brother printer, which used to work well with a generic PS or PCL drivers. (Nothing fancy, mostly printing Black/White PDFs, occasionally duplex.)
Brother no longer offers dedicated drivers (HL2320d), but instead instructs us to download their own print utility. This works in a fashion, but I'd prefer just adding the printer using generic drivers.

So, just wondering if generic PS/PCL drivers are no longer available on MacOS 11?



Solve printing problems on Mac

https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/solve-printing-problems-on-mac-mh14002/mac


If it is listed as AirPrint printer, delete the existing printer in


> System Preferences> Printers & Scanners, and add it again, select AirPrint.


Connect an AirPrint printer to a Wi-Fi network - Apple Support.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201900


about AirPrint

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201311


Reset print system if necessary:

If you can't print from your Mac or iOS device - Apple Support

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203343





If you can't find an updated driver for your printer give the open-source, free Gutenprint driver a try.

http://gimp-print.sourceforge.net/MacOSX.php

Nov 4, 2021 8:53 AM in response to leroydouglas

There is no network/air print capability on this printer, but thank you for your reply.

If it comes to it, I may try the Gutenprint route, but it may be cleaner for now to stick with Brother's solution.

(They (Brother) have an app that connects to the printer, and then one can choose to print a PDF or a photo. This works in a fashion, but requres everything to be printed to PDF, then printed, then the PDF removed...)

Are generic printer drivers no longer available on MacOS 11?

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