Brother AIO laser printer doesn't want to work

[przxqgl]

I would assume this is because you ran it as root several times. Running a GUI program as root will almost always cause problems. Search your home folder for files owed by root and chown them to your user. Don't forget the hidden files also.

as much as i would like to do this, i am afraid that, if i did, it would result in screwed-up other things of which we aren't currently aware...

really...

my computer has always been somewhat like walking blindfolded through a minefield, and if i arbitrarily ran chown to take possession of files which may or may not have originally been assigned to "root", there's no telling what may blow up... as long as it's only giving me the permissions error when i quit, i'm willing to put up with it until a more definite solution can be found. 😉

[Snowhog]

Changing 'anything' in your /home directory from 'root' to 'yourself' isn't dangerous; nothing in ones /home directory should be owned by root.

[Iangh]

don't have a spare ethernet cable. currently, i have a USB cable connected to the device, which appears to work satisfactorally

i do, now... 

Great. gscan2pdf only saves to pdf so you may want to install skanlite for saving to images.

[jlittle]

Who actually has a Brother AIO installed and working?

Well, I do.

[oshunluvr]

as much as i would like to do this, i am afraid that, if i did, it would result in screwed-up other things of which we aren't currently aware...

really...

my computer has always been somewhat like walking blindfolded through a minefield, and if i arbitrarily ran chown to take possession of files which may or may not have originally been assigned to "root", there's no telling what may blow up... as long as it's only giving me the permissions error when i quit, i'm willing to put up with it until a more definite solution can be found. 

If you have root owned files is your home folder you've already got things screwed up that you aren't aware of. I thought UN-screwing them was the point of this thread.

[przxqgl]

Changing 'anything' in your /home directory from 'root' to 'yourself' isn't dangerous; nothing in ones /home directory should be owned by root.

If you have root owned files is your home folder you've already got things screwed up that you aren't aware of. I thought UN-screwing them was the point of this thread.

i realise that i'm not supposed to have files owned by root in my home directory, and i'm not saying that i do have files owned by root in my home directory... what i'm saying is that IF i have files owned by root in my home directory, i don't know about them and if i were to take possession of them with out knowing what they are, it's a good bet that i wouldn't know why things are screwing up.

i COULD take the time to sort everything out so that it works the way i want it to, but then, inevitably, something would change in the software that would cause things to screw up without my having to do anything. it inevitably happens, and there's nothing i can do, short of not upgrading my computer ever again, that will prevent it.

at this point, i've got this dysfunctional mess of a computer working MOSTLY the way i want it to, and i don't have the time or energy to screw it up more in order to make it work better, in the long run.

[oshunluvr]

i realise that i'm not supposed to have files owned by root in my home directory, and i'm not saying that i do have files owned by root in my home directory... what i'm saying is that IF i have files owned by root in my home directory, i don't know about them and if i were to take possession of them with out knowing what they are, it's a good bet that i wouldn't know why things are screwing up.

i COULD take the time to sort everything out so that it works the way i want it to, but then, inevitably, something would change in the software that would cause things to screw up without my having to do anything. it inevitably happens, and there's nothing i can do, short of not upgrading my computer ever again, that will prevent it.

at this point, i've got this dysfunctional mess of a computer working MOSTLY the way i want it to, and i don't have the time or energy to screw it up more in order to make it work better, in the long run.

You've either missed the point Snowhog and I are trying to make or simply do not want to accept it. Let me state unequivocally: In no uncertain terms, no files in your home folder should be owned by root. If there are, then that in and of itself, is "screwed up." If your goal is to not have a screwed up computer, then un-screw it one thing at a time and start by re-taking possession of the files in your home.

A further goal might be to learn what caused this, or other, screwed up conditions and to not repeat those behaviors. Et. al. running GUI programs as root.

However, as always it's your system so do with it as you wish.

[claydoh]

I think the issue is that you have to add or modify the udev rules to give normal users permission to scan, as I mentioned and described earlier in the thread. I am not sure being in the "scanner" group does it, and many Brother scanner users seem to need udev adjustments in general. Running xsane with sudo might be an issue , as it probably prevents a normal user from saving settings perhaps, but probably not keep it from actually scanning (if the proper udev entry exists).

I could be wrong though, as my scanner trouble shooting knowledge is now a bit long in the tooth.

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