# Brother HL-4150CDN: reconstructing the XL2HB print stream

> The Brother HL-4150CDN driver reconstructs the proprietary XL2HB print stream produced by Brother's 32-bit x86 filter. Its Python and optional Cython implementation handles raster encoding, color processing, PJL job settings and CUPS integration, with comparison fixtures for byte-level output matching.

- Type: Case study
- Targets: Protocol
- Category: Independent reconstruction cases
- Relationship: Independent reconstruction project
- Sources reviewed: 2026-11-06
- Added to the catalog: 2026-11-08
- Original resource: <https://github.com/cl445/brother-hl4150cdn-driver>
- Primary source: <https://github.com/cl445/brother-hl4150cdn-driver/blob/296ca54c74ae5fde0686deb25db83460bcbcc727/README.md>
- Catalog page: <https://awesomerea.org/resources/brother-hl4150cdn-driver-case/>
- Record JSON: <https://awesomerea.org/resources/brother-hl4150cdn-driver-case/record.json>
- Chinese version: [简体中文](https://awesomerea.org/zh/resources/brother-hl4150cdn-driver-case/index.md)

## Requirements & limits

- **Prerequisites:** Linux with CUPS and Ghostscript, plus Python 3.13 or newer as system python3.
- **Prerequisites:** Brother's HL-4150CDN LPR package is needed to extract calibration tables locally.
- **Testing evidence:** The author reports eight further models using the same filter, but they remain untested on hardware.
- **License:** GPL-3.0-or-later license.

## Primary sources

1. <https://github.com/cl445/brother-hl4150cdn-driver/blob/296ca54c74ae5fde0686deb25db83460bcbcc727/README.md>
2. <https://github.com/cl445/brother-hl4150cdn-driver/blob/296ca54c74ae5fde0686deb25db83460bcbcc727/docs/other-printers.md>
3. <https://github.com/cl445/brother-hl4150cdn-driver/blob/296ca54c74ae5fde0686deb25db83460bcbcc727/LICENSE>

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## About this entry

The description was reviewed against primary sources.
Original editorial content: MIT. Linked projects, papers and assets retain their own rights and licenses.