Brother Mfc 6890cdw User Manual

							
Safety and Legal145
A
Legal limitations for copyingA
Color reproductions of certain documents are illegal and may result in either criminal or civil 
liability. This memorandum is intended to be a guide rather than a complete listing of every 
possible prohibition. In case of doubt, we suggest that you check with counsel as to any particular 
questionable documents.
The following documents issued by the United States/Canadian Government or any of its 
Agencies may not be copied:„ Money
„ Bonds or other certificates of indebtedness
„ Certificates of Deposit
„ Internal Revenue Stamps (canceled or uncanceled)
„ Selective Service or draft papers
„ Passports
„ United States/Canadian Postage Stamps (canceled or uncanceled)
„ Food Stamps
„ Immigration Papers
„ Checks or drafts drawn by Governmental agencies
„ Identifying badges or insignias
Copyrighted works cannot be copied. Sections of a copyrighted work can be copied for ‘fair use’. 
Multiple copies would indicate improper use.
Works of art should be considered the equivalent of copyrighted works.
Licenses and Certificates of Title to motor vehicles may not be copied under certain 
state/provincial laws.
 
						

							
146
TrademarksA
The Brother logo is a registered trademark of Brother Industries, Ltd.
Brother is a registered trademark of Brother Industries, Ltd.
Multi-Function Link is a registered trademark of Brother International Corporation.
© 2008 Brother Industries, Ltd. All rights reserved.
Windows Vista is either a registered trademark or a trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the 
United States and other countries.
Microsoft, Windows and Windows Server are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in 
the United States and/or other countries.
Macintosh and TrueType are registered trademarks of Apple Inc.
Nuance, the Nuance logo, PaperPort and ScanSoft are trademarks or registered trademarks of 
Nuance Communications, Inc. or its affiliates in the United States and/or other countries.
Microdrive is a trademark of International Business Machines Corporation.
CompactFlash is a registered trademark of SanDisk Corporation.
Memory Stick is a trademark of Sony Corporation.
SanDisk is a licensee of the SD and miniSD trademarks.
xD-Picture Card is a trademark of Fujifilm Co. Ltd., Toshiba Corporation and Olympus Optical Co. 
Ltd.
PictBridge is a trademark.
Memory Stick PRO, Memory Stick PRO Duo, Memory Stick Duo, MagicGate Memory Stick, 
Memory Stick Micro and M2 are trademarks of Sony Corporation.
BROADCOM, SecureEasySetup and the SecureEasySetup logo are trademarks or registered 
trademarks of Broadcom Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.
AOSS is a trademark of Buffalo Inc.
Wi-Fi, WPA, WPA2 and Wi-Fi Protected Setup are either trademarks or registered trademarks of 
Wi-Fi Alliance in the United States and/or other countries.
FaceFilter Studio is a trademark of Reallusion, Inc.
Each company whose software title is mentioned in this manual has a Software License 
Agreement specific to its proprietary programs.
All other brand and product names mentioned in this Users Guide are registered 
trademarks of their respective companies.
 
						

							
147
B
B
TroubleshootingB
IMPORTANT
For technical help, you must call the country where you bought the machine. Calls must be 
made from within  that country.
 
If you think there is a problem with your machine, check the chart below and follow the 
troubleshooting tips.
Most problems can be easily resolved by yourself. If you need additional help, the Brother 
Solutions Center offers the latest FAQs and troubleshooting tips. 
Visit us at http://solutions.brother.com
.
If you are having difficulty with your machineB
Troubleshooting and Routine 
Maintenance
B
Printing
DifficultySuggestions
No printout Check the interface cable or wireless connection on both the machine and your  computer. (See the Quick Setup Guide.)
Check that the machine is plugged in and that the  On/Off key is on.
Check to see if the LCD is showing an error message. (See  Error and 
Maintenance messages  on page 156.)
If the LCD says  Cannot Print  and Replace Ink , see Replacing the ink 
cartridges  on page 167.
Check that the correct printer driver has been installed and chosen.
Make sure that the machine is online. Click  Start and then  Printers and Faxes . 
Choose  Brother MFC-XXXX  (where XXXX is your model name), and make sure 
that  Use Printer Offline  is unchecked. 
When you choose the  Print Odd Pages and Print Even Pages  settings, you may 
see a print error message on your computer, as the machine pauses during the 
printing process. The error message will disappear after the machine re-starts 
printing.
 
						

							
148
Poor print quality Check the print quality. (See Checking the print quality on page 173.) 
Make sure that the Media Type setting in the printer driver or the Paper Type 
setting in the machine’s menu matches the type of paper you are using. (See  
Printing  for Windows
® or Printing and Faxing  for Macintosh® in the Software 
User’s Guide on the CD
-ROM and  Paper Size and Type  on page 28.) 
Make sure that your ink cartridges are fresh. The following may cause ink to clog:
„ The expiration date written on the cartridge package has passed. (Cartridges 
stay usable for up to two years if kept in their original packaging.)
„ The ink cartridge was in your machine over six months.
„ The ink cartridge may not have been stored properly before use.
Make sure you are using Genuine Brother Innobella™ Ink.
Try using the recommended types of paper. (See  Acceptable paper and other print 
media  on page 20.) 
The recommended environment for your machine is between 68 °F to 91 °F (20 °C 
to 33 °C).
White horizontal lines appear in text 
or graphics. Clean the print head. (See 
Cleaning the print head on page 172.)
Make sure you are using Genuine Brother Innobella™ Ink.
Try using the recommended types of paper. (See  Acceptable paper and other print 
media  on page 20.) 
The machine prints blank pages. Clean the print head. (See  Cleaning the print head on page 172.)
Make sure you are using Genuine Brother Innobella™ Ink.
Characters and lines are stacked. Check the printing alignment. (See  Checking the print alignment on page 174.)
Printed  text  or  images  are  skewed. Make sure the paper is loaded properly in the paper tray and the paper side guides  are adjusted correctly. (See Loading paper and other print media  on page 10.)
Make sure the Inner Back Cover and Outer Back Cover are closed properly.
Smudged stain at the top center of 
the printed page. Make sure the paper is not too thick or curled. (See 
Acceptable paper and other 
print media  on page 20.) 
Make sure the paper is not curled when you print on the back side of the paper 
with the  Print Odd Pages  and Print Even Pages  settings.
Smudged stain at the right or left 
corner of the printed page. Make sure the paper is not curled when you print on the back side of the paper 
with the 
Print Odd Pages  and Print Even Pages  settings.
Printing appears dirty or ink seems 
to run. Make sure you are using the recommended types of paper. (See 
Acceptable 
paper and other print media  on page 20.) Dont handle the paper until the ink is 
dry.
Make sure you are using Genuine Brother Innobella™ Ink.
If you are using photo paper, make sure that you have set the correct paper type. 
If you are printing a photo from your PC, set the  Media Type in the Basic tab of 
the printer driver.
Stains appear on the reverse side 
or at the bottom of the page. Make sure the printer platen is not dirty with ink. (See 
Cleaning the machine’s 
printer platen  on page 171.)
Make sure you are using Genuine Brother Innobella™ Ink.
Make sure you are using the paper support flap. (See  Loading paper and other 
print media  on page 10.)
Printing (continued)
DifficultySuggestions
 
						

							
Troubleshooting and Routine Maintenance149
BWide black lines appear on the 
pages.Clean the paper pick-up roller. (See 
Cleaning the paper pick-up roller  
on page 172.)
The machine prints dense lines on 
the page. Check 
Reverse Order  in the Basic tab of the printer driver.
The printouts are wrinkled. In the printer driver  Advanced tab, click Color Settings , and uncheck 
Bi-Directional Printing  for Windows
® or Bi-Directional Printing  for Macintosh®.
Make sure you are using Genuine Brother Innobella™ Ink.
Cannot perform ‘Page Layout’ 
printing. Check that the paper size setting in the application and in the printer driver are the 
same.
Print speed is too slow.  Try changing the printer driver setting. The highest resolution needs longer data  processing, sending and printing time. Try the other quality settings in the printer 
driver Advanced  tab. Also, click  Color Settings, and make sure you uncheck 
Color Enhancement (True2Life
®) .
Turn the borderless feature off. Borderless printing is slower than normal printing. 
(See  Printing  for Windows
® or Printing and Faxing  for Macintosh® in the Software 
User’s Guide on the CD
-ROM.)
True2Life
®  is  not  working  properly. If the image data is not full color in your application (such as 256 color), True2Life® 
will not work. Use at least 24 bit color data with the True2Life
® feature.
Photo paper does not feed 
properly. When you print on Brother Photo paper, load one extra sheet of the same photo 
paper in the paper tray. An extra sheet has been included in the paper package 
for this purpose.
Clean the paper pick
-up roller. (See 
Cleaning the paper pick-up roller  
on page 172.)
Machine  feeds  multiple  pages. Make sure the paper is loaded properly in the paper tray. (See  Loading paper and 
other print media  on page 10.)
Check that more than two types of paper are not loaded in the paper tray at any 
one time.
The paper jams when you use 
duplex copy or duplex print. Use one of the jam prevention settings, 
DX1 or DX2 . For copying, see  Duplex (2-
sided) copying (Tray #1 only)  on page 104; 
for printing see  Automatic Duplex Printing (MFC-6890CDW only)  in the Software 
Users Guide.
Printed pages are not stacked 
neatly. Make sure you are using the paper support flap. (See 
Loading paper and other 
print media  on page 10.)
Machine does not print from 
Adobe
® Illustrator®. Try to reduce the print resolution. (See
 Printing for Windows
® or Printing and 
Faxing  for Macintosh
® in the Software User’s Guide on the CD-ROM.)
Printing (continued)
DifficultySuggestions
 
						

							
150
Printing Received Faxes
DifficultySuggestions
Condensed print and white streaks 
across the page or the top and 
bottom of sentences are cut off. You probably had a bad connection, with static or interference on the telephone 
line. Ask the other party to send the fax again.
Vertical black lines when receiving. The senders scanner may be dirty. Ask the sender to make a copy to see if the  problem is with the sending machine. Try receiving from another fax machine.
Received color fax prints only in 
black & white. Replace the color ink cartridges that have reached the end of their life, and then 
ask the other person to send the color fax again. (See 
Replacing the ink cartridges 
on page 167.)
Check that the Receiving Priority is set to Color (Max.LTR). With this setting your 
Ledger color faxes will be reduced to Letter size. (See  Setting the Receiving 
Priority  on page 54.)
Left and Right margins are cut off or 
a single page is printed on two 
pages. Turn on Auto Reduction. (See 
Printing a reduced incoming fax  on page 53.)
Telephone Line or Connections
DifficultySuggestions
Dialing does not work. (No dial 
tone) Check that the machine is plugged in and that the 
On/Off key is on.
Check all line cord connections. Make sure the telephone line cord is plugged into 
the telephone wall jack and the LINE jack of the machine.
(Canada only) Change Tone/Pulse setting. (See the  Quick Setup Guide.)
Verify that the telephone line and jack are working by connecting a known working 
telephone and telephone line to the jack. Lift the external telephone’s handset of 
the telephone and listen for a dial tone. If there is no dial tone, ask your telephone 
company to check the line and/or jack.
The machine does not answer 
when called. Make sure the machine is in the correct receiving mode for your setup. (See 
Choose the correct Receive Mode
 on page 49.) Check for a dial tone. If possible, 
call your machine to hear it answer. If there is still no answer, check the telephone 
line cord connection to make sure it is plugged into the correct jack on the 
machine. If there is no ringing when you call your machine, ask your telephone 
company to check the line.
Receiving Faxes
DifficultySuggestions
Cannot receive  a  fax. Check all line cord connections. Make sure the telephone line cord is plugged into  the telephone wall jack and the LINE jack of the machine.
Make sure the machine is in the correct receiving mode for your setup. (See 
Receive modes on page 49.) Check for a dial tone. If possible, call your machine 
to hear it answer. If there is still no answer, check that the telephone cord is 
plugged into the telephone wall jack and the LINE jack of the machine. If there is 
no ringing when you call your machine, ask your telephone company to check the 
line.
If you often have interference on the telephone line, try changing the menu setting 
of Compatibility to  Basic(for VoIP) . (See Telephone line interference  
on page 155.)
 
						

							
Troubleshooting and Routine Maintenance151
B
Sending Faxes
DifficultySuggestions
Cannot  send  a  fax. Check all line cord connections. Make sure the telephone line cord is plugged into  the telephone wall jack and the LINE jack of the machine.
Make sure that the Fax   key is illuminated. (See  Entering Fax mode 
on page 40.)
Ask the other party to check that the receiving machine has paper.
Print the Transmission Verification Report and check for an error. (See  Reports 
on page 91.)
Transmission Verification Report 
says ‘Result:NG’. There is probably temporary noise or static on the line. Try sending the fax again. 
If you send a PC FAX message and get 
‘Result:NG’ on the Transmission 
Verification Report, your machine may be out of memory. To gain extra memory, 
you can turn off Memory Receive (see  Turning off Memory Receive Operations  
on page 60), print fax messages in memory (see  Printing a fax from the memory 
on page 55) or cancel a Delayed Fax or Polling Job (see  Canceling a fax in 
progress  on page 42). If the problem continues, ask the telephone company to 
check your telephone line.
If you often get transmission errors due to possible interference on the telephone 
line, try changing the menu setting of Compatibility to  Basic(for VoIP). (See 
Telephone line interference  on page 155.)
Poor fax send quality. Try changing your resolution to  Fine or S.Fine . Make a copy to check your 
machines scanner operation. If the copy quality is not good, clean the scanner. 
(See  Cleaning the scanner  on page 171.)
Vertical  black  lines  when  sending. Black vertical lines on faxes you send are typically caused by dirt or correction fluid  on the glass strip. Clean the glass strip. (See  Cleaning the scanner on page 171.)
Handling Incoming Calls
DifficultySuggestions
The machine ‘Hears’ a voice as a 
CNG Tone. If Easy Receive is set to On, your machine is more sensitive to sounds. It may 
mistakenly interpret certain voices or music on the line as a fax machine calling 
and respond with fax receiving tones. Deactivate the machine by pressing 
Stop/Exit
. Try avoiding this problem by turning Easy Receive off. (See  Easy 
Receive  on page 53.)
Sending a fax call to the machine. If you answered on an extension telephone, press your Fax Receive Code (the  factory setting is l 5  1 ). If you answer on an external telephone (connected to the 
EXT jack), press Start to receive the fax. When your machine answers, hang up.
Custom features on a single line. If you have Call Waiting, Call Waiting/Caller ID, Voice Mail, an alarm system or  other custom feature on a single telephone line with your machine, it may create 
a problem sending or receiving faxes.
For example: If you subscribe to Call Waiting or some other custom service and 
its signal comes through the line while your machine is sending or receiving a fax, 
the signal can temporarily interrupt or disrupt the faxes. Brothers ECM (Error 
Correction Mode) feature should help overcome this problem. This condition is 
related to the telephone system industry and is common to all devices that send 
and receive information on a single, shared line with custom features. If avoiding 
a slight interruption is crucial to your business, a separate telephone line with no 
custom features is recommended.
 
						

							
152
Copying Difficulties
DifficultySuggestions
Cannot make a copy. Make sure that the Copy   key is illuminated. (See  Entering Copy mode 
on page 96.)
Poor copy results when using the 
ADF. Try using the scanner glass. (See 
Using the scanner glass on page 25.)
Vertical black lines or streaks 
appear in copies. Vertical black lines or streaks on copies are typically caused by dirt or correction 
fluid on the scanner. Clean the glass strip and scanner glass and the white bar and 
white plastic above them. (See 
Cleaning the scanner on page 171.)
Fit to Page does not work properly. Make sure the document is not skewed on the scanner glass. Reposition the  document and try again.
Scanning Difficulties
DifficultySuggestions
TWAIN/WIA errors appear when 
starting to scan. Make sure the Brother TWAIN/WIA driver is chosen as the primary source. In 
PaperPort™ 11SE with OCR, click 
File, Scan or Get Photo  and click Select to 
choose the Brother TWAIN/WIA driver.
Poor scanning results when using 
the ADF. Try using the scanner glass. (See 
Using the scanner glass on page 25.)
OCR does not work. Try increasing the scanner resolution.
Software Difficulties
DifficultySuggestions
Cannot install software or print. Run the  Repair MFL-Pro Suite program on the CD-ROM. This program will repair 
and reinstall the software.
‘Device Busy’  Make sure the machine is not showing an error message on the LCD.
Cannot print images from 
FaceFilter Studio.  To use FaceFilter Studio, you must install the FaceFilter Studio application from 
the CD-ROM supplied with your machine. To install FaceFilter Studio see the 
Quick Setup Guide
.
Also, before you start FaceFilter Studio for the first time, you must make sure your 
Brother machine is turned On, and connected to your computer. This will allow you 
to access all the functions of FaceFilter Studio.
 
						

							
Troubleshooting and Routine Maintenance153
B
PhotoCapture Center® Difficulties
DifficultySuggestions
Removable Disk does not work 
properly. 1 Have you installed the Windows
® 2000 update? If not, do the following:
1) Unplug the USB cable.
2) Install the Windows
® 2000 update using one of the following methods.
„ Install MFL-Pro Suite from the CD-ROM. (See the  Quick Setup 
Guide .)
„ Download the latest service pack from the Microsoft Web site.
3) Wait about 1 minute after you restart the PC, and then connect the USB  cable.
2 Take out the memory card or USB Flash memory drive and put it back in  again.
3 If you have tried ‘Eject’ from within Windows
®, take out the memory card or 
USB Flash memory drive before you continue.
4 If an error message appears when you try to eject the memory card or USB  Flash memory drive, it means the card is being accessed. Wait a while and 
then try again.
5 If all of the above do not work, turn off your PC and machine, and then turn  them on again. (You will have to unplug the power cord of the machine to turn 
it off.)
Cannot access Removable Disk 
from Desktop icon.  Make sure that you have correctly inserted the memory card or USB Flash 
memory drive.
Part of my photo is missing when 
printed. Make sure that Borderless Printing and Cropping are turned off. (See 
Borderless 
printing  on page 122 and  Cropping on page 122.)
 
						

							
154
Network Difficulties
DifficultySuggestions
Cannot print  over  the  Network. Make sure that your machine is powered on, is online and in Ready mode. Print a  Network Configuration list (see Reports on page 91.) and check the current 
Network settings printed in this list. Reconnect the LAN cable to the hub to verify 
that the cabling and network connections are good. If possible, try connecting the 
machine to a different port on your hub using a different cable. If the connections 
are good, the machine shows  LAN Active for 2 seconds.
(If you are using a wireless connection or are having Network problems, see the 
Network User’s Guide for more information.) 
The network scanning feature does 
not work. (For Windows
® users only) Firewall settings on your PC may be rejecting the 
necessary network connection. Follow the instructions below to configure the 
Firewall. If you are using a personal Firewall software, see the User’s Guide for 
your software or contact the software manufacturer.
For Windows
® XP SP2 and Windows Vista® users, see  Firewall settings  in the 
Software User’s Guide on the CD-ROM.
For Windows
® XP SP1 users, please visit the Brother Solutions Center. 
(http://solutions.brother.com
)
The network PC-Fax Receive 
feature does not work.
Your computer cannot find your 
machine.

Firewall settings on you PC may be rejecting the necessary network connection. 
For detail, see the instruction above.

Re-select your machine in the Device Selector application located in 
Macintosh HD/Library/Printers/Brother/Utilities/DeviceSelector or from the model 
list in ControlCenter2.
Touchscreen Difficulties
DifficultySuggestions
The dial pad does not work when 
entering numbers or characters. Use the touchscreen buttons to enter information.