If there is one program I have grown to hate in the past 4 years I have been using Linux it is CUPS .... I would almost be glad to pay for a program that would allow me to connect my laptop to my new printer .....
CUPS was working just fine after installing my new Brother printer several weeks ago as I am using a USB cable to connect ..... no problems .... but 2 days ago here on Mint OS we had a software update and one of those items was CUPS ....
Had not used the printer until yesterday since the update and it would not connect .... check the printer under systems settings and it looked completely different .... see photo below .....
I fired up Zorin on my other drive and it works just fine so it has to be the update ... spent all day yesterday and most of today trying to fix it by following numerous suggestions on the web including deleting CUPS but it just won't die .... it is possessed .... I even tried purging it ....
So I guess I need to ask help in how to uninstall it and reinstall it again ... also what is the correct name because it will partly uninstall but not completely even with purging .....
It keeps asking me to connect to a server but I don't want to use WiFi only the USB cable ....
Never mind I fixed it ..... in desperation I went into Synaptic and deleted everything that said CUPS .... restarted the laptop and nothing happened ..... powered off and restarted again this time I got a prompt but not for Cinnamon DE but Ubuntu spent 2 or more hours with the Gnome Main Menu trying all different kinds settings restarted a number of times and finally found the Synaptic apt again .... typed in Cinnamon DE and restarted the laptop ....
Mint welcome screen came up typed in my password and I was back on Cinnamon .... just for kicks I went back on Synaptic and typed cups ..... choose the first apt .... plugged in my printer restarted the laptop went to the printer icon in System Settings and there was my printer settings in all it's glory ..... and it works .... no idea what I did ....
If you are still having problems it looks like you are having the exact same problems I was ..... I had the same results when I tried to download the Brother drivers from their website ....
If you are trying to use your Brother printer with WiFi I can't suggest anything but if you just want to connect via USB .... like I do .... I would go to Synaptic Package Manager and type in CUPS in the search bar .....
Go pass the Brother Cups suggestions and choose the download named Cups only .... see in the photo below .... as to how to delete CUPS please don't follow my instruction in my post above because it caused a total break down of my system and just by luck did I get it to work again .....
if you don't have Synaptic downloaded you can get it from the Software Store or off the web .....
Wish I could help more but not as skilled in computers as I once was years ago .... deleting CUPS may be the biggest problem as I tried everything I could to get rid of it .... and finally resorted to a drastic method which I don't recommend .... good luck ....
