SOLVED: Brother Printer USB Composite Device (Error Code 10)

The Brother printer might suddenly stop working and appear as an unknown USB device in Device Manager. You may also see Error Code 10. This error means the computer can’t start the device, usually because of a problem with the driver or registry.

The most common reason is a broken or wrong registry entry for the USB port. This can happen if you keep plugging and unplugging the printer or if the driver wasn’t installed correctly. Other possible reasons include old computer drivers, USB controllers that are causing conflicts, or power settings that are stopping the computer from finding the devic

Here’s a simple step-by-step guide to update a Brother printer’s firmware when your computer sees it as a USB Composite Device instead of a printer:

1. Connect your printer to a different computer—one that identifies it as a printer, not as a USB Composite Device. If possible, use a computer running Windows 7.
2. Wait a few minutes for the computer to detect and install the printer properly.
3. Click here to visit the Downloads section of the official Brother website.
4. Either search for your Brother printer by entering its model number, or:
   – Choose your product category.
   – Select your product series on the next page.
   – Find and click your exact printer model on the page that appears.
5. On your printer’s Downloads page, select your OS family (for example, Windows) and OS version (e.g., Windows 8.1 (32-bit)), then click Search.
6. Under the Firmware section, find and click the Firmware Update Tool.
7. When a new window appears, choose your preferred language.
8. Click Agree to the EULA and Download. The Firmware Update Tool should begin downloading automatically.
9. Once the Firmware Update Tool finishes downloading, launch it.
10. The firmware update wizard will automatically detect your printer. Just follow the steps on screen until the process is complete.
11. After updating the firmware, close the wizard, disconnect your printer, and reconnect it to the original computer that was previously recognizing it as a USB Composite Device. Your computer should now detect it as a printer, letting you use it as intended.

Note: If you don’t have access to another computer that recognizes your Brother printer correctly, some users have had luck fixing this by connecting their Brother printer to the same computer through the Network port (instead of USB) and then following the steps above.