Printer not supported - any workaround?

[muddlemand]

Wondering if there's a way of sneaking past this block. On my Moto G4 (and G2 and -G1!), no problem, but when I input the printer's IP address the G8 says 'Printer not supported'.

Phone : Moto G8 power lite
Printer : Brother MFC-J430W

Software :
. Brother Print Service Plugin v. 1.7.0
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.brother.printservice
. Brother iPrint&Scan v. 6.4.0
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.brother.mfc.brprint

Previously I've ignored the print service plugin because it's so useless, and been absolutely fine with iPrint&Scan.

The printer must be ten years old (I know, I know...) and of course doesn't do Wi-Fi Direct. But it's going strong, good as new, and I'm not prepared to get another - I can print from my laptop. But it would be nice to print from the phone too (especially with rural wifi that's very often sulky about email attachments - or even simply reading an email - on the laptop, which I can download easily on the phone! Also sometimes I like to print a screenshot to, say, put up on the wall, without having to get it onto the laptop).

 

[muddlemand]

Solved it myself. Oops. 🙄

I went into iPrint&Scan's settings, and input the printer's IP address.
Uninstalled Brother plugin first, but I think this would have worked the same if it had still been there. I know better than to use Brother's default software, it reliably lets their great printers down.

In my defence, I don't remember doing this on previous phones. Pretty sure I didn't know this app had the IP address option.

This may help someone in future. It isn't in the phone's own Device Help (no hint that the app you choose may let you do this) - and only the default Brother plugin is listed, among all the other brands of printer, when you go through the phone's settings; the phone doesn't seem to see iPrint&Scan.

So often, announcing to the world that you can't do something is when you suddenly find you didn't need anyone's help! 😁

 

[ocnbrze]

thanx for posting your solution.......most people would not do that. i'm glad you were able to figure it out.