Printers on Macs

A number of peripheral manufacturers are planning to not support existing hardware on BigSur. Canon have specifically said they won't be providing drivers for my printer for Big Sur.
 
Last option on this

Use an ethernet cable and plug the printer directly into the router that supplies the WifI to the Mac that way they are at least on the same network and so at least should prevent confusion on that score.

Give it a minute or three then hit command P on the Mac which opens the print dialogue box. Can you see a printer listed ?

If not click the drop down box and click add printer

Can it find the printer ?

If not I am out of ideas

Using IP Addresses is Ok if they are static IP otherwise you could be chasing an IP Adress around for ever
 
OK, went down to the office this morning and the printer had turned itself off overnight. Switched it back on and got the '10-flash' signal which means a problem with the paper exit door being in the paper jam position (it wasn't, I've had this error several times before). Unplugged the printer and turned it back on, no error signal and lo and behold it's appeared in the list of printers and prints fine! I'd cycled the printer half-a-dozen times previously to no effect.

I suspect a hardware problem.
 
As an experiment, I turned the printer off and restarted the Mac. On restart the printer had disappeared from the print dialogue and started up with the '10-flash' signal again. Left the Mac on and unplugged the printer (merely turning it off doesn't seem to do the trick). Plugged it back in and all was dory-hunky again.

Definitely something to do with this '10-flash' error code.
 
When I upgraded my M/B Pro to Big Sur I found that the Canon software was not compatible. I contacted Canon and this is the answer I got.

"In response to your enquiry regarding the driver request for your PIXMA MG6250, we regret to inform you that this product is not compatible with macOS 11.0 (Big Sur) and no drivers will be made available.

When the launch of a new operating system is announced, Canon reviews the existing product range to see which of these products can be considered for the provision of compatible drivers. This is mainly down to the technical compatibilities between the new operating system and the Canon product.

We apologize for any inconvenience this will cause you, however If you wish to upgrade your product, you may be interested in checking our online store for current promotions and offers on new products. Alternatively should you have another computer running on an older operating system, please select you product and then the applicable operating system to view the support available for this product from the link below.
"

Basically the only solution is to buy another printer if I want to use Canon software.

I can still print, just not using the Canon software.

tom
 
I have been using Mac computers at home since OSX was launched in 2001 and mostly used Epson printers and had very few problems.

I only print things occasionally now I am retired. I forget when I changed to a Canon Pixima but the printer is like new from little use. However, it does not have the AirPrint option so that shows it may be nearly 10 years old!

The lack of use means I usually have to change the printer carts as they have dried up :blast

I needed to use the printer recently and had problems even though the printer was showing on the list and in the wi-fi link. I resolved the problem with new carts and full cleaning of the print heads etc.

I changed to a MacBook Air last year running Catalina and when I looked for new drivers (like sanqhar) I found Canon no longer supported my printer with a Mac.

I have delayed upgrading to Big Sur for now as I will lose the use of the printer. However, some of the advice I found was to create a partition with an older version of OSX if I intended to keep using the printer.

I will not be replacing my printer with another Canon. Their Mac software has been a joke.

I will look for a cheap mono laser printer.
 
When I upgraded my M/B Pro to Big Sur I found that the Canon software was not compatible. I contacted Canon and this is the answer I got.

"In response to your enquiry regarding the driver request for your PIXMA MG6250, we regret to inform you that this product is not compatible with macOS 11.0 (Big Sur) and no drivers will be made available.

When the launch of a new operating system is announced, Canon reviews the existing product range to see which of these products can be considered for the provision of compatible drivers. This is mainly down to the technical compatibilities between the new operating system and the Canon product.

We apologize for any inconvenience this will cause you, however If you wish to upgrade your product, you may be interested in checking our online store for current promotions and offers on new products. Alternatively should you have another computer running on an older operating system, please select you product and then the applicable operating system to view the support available for this product from the link below.
"

Basically the only solution is to buy another printer if I want to use Canon software.

I can still print, just not using the Canon software.

tom
When I was on the phone to Apple support they were very insistent that I didn't upgrade to mac OS 11 for this very reason.
 
I have been using Mac computers at home since OSX was launched in 2001 and mostly used Epson printers and had very few problems.

I only print things occasionally now I am retired. I forget when I changed to a Canon Pixima but the printer is like new from little use. However, it does not have the AirPrint option so that shows it may be nearly 10 years old!

The lack of use means I usually have to change the printer carts as they have dried up :blast

I needed to use the printer recently and had problems even though the printer was showing on the list and in the wi-fi link. I resolved the problem with new carts and full cleaning of the print heads etc.

I changed to a MacBook Air last year running Catalina and when I looked for new drivers (like sanqhar) I found Canon no longer supported my printer with a Mac.

I have delayed upgrading to Big Sur for now as I will lose the use of the printer. However, some of the advice I found was to create a partition with an older version of OSX if I intended to keep using the printer.

I will not be replacing my printer with another Canon. Their Mac software has been a joke.

I will look for a cheap mono laser printer.
Agree completely. I got an email from Canon after raising a tech support issue to 'Contact my hardware supplier'. Thanks a bunch. My next printer will not be a Canon.
 
Rather late reply

I don’t get on the site much now but when I saw this post I resonated with the problem.

I have a MacBook Pro running high Sierra. My last printer died a honourable death and was replaced with the finest PC world had on offer. ( the cheapest �� )

It’s a base model HP with WiFi capability. I never had any success with the last printer and WiFi so when I got it’s replacement carried on with a hard wire connection. It was a pain, the MacBook never recognised the printer and more time was spent setting it up than printing. When powered off all the settings disappeared.

One time I was setting it up for printing and I got distracted before I could cable connect the 2. Much to my surprise the MacBook recognised the printer on WiFi and printing was accomplished. I never installed drivers it just happened. The printer also connects to my wife’s iPad immediately.

I’ve recently had dealings with Apple support regarding a new M1 chip MacBook I bought. The 2 support staff could not sort the problem out and MacBooks were their specialty subject. The machine was well and truly bricked.

The M1 macbook was returned for a refund. Big Sur and the M1 are not a perfect match.

Hope you get the connection problem resolved.
 
I don’t get on the site much now but when I saw this post I resonated with the problem.

I have a MacBook Pro running high Sierra. My last printer died a honourable death and was replaced with the finest PC world had on offer. ( the cheapest �� )

It’s a base model HP with WiFi capability. I never had any success with the last printer and WiFi so when I got it’s replacement carried on with a hard wire connection. It was a pain, the MacBook never recognised the printer and more time was spent setting it up than printing. When powered off all the settings disappeared.

One time I was setting it up for printing and I got distracted before I could cable connect the 2. Much to my surprise the MacBook recognised the printer on WiFi and printing was accomplished. I never installed drivers it just happened. The printer also connects to my wife’s iPad immediately.

I’ve recently had dealings with Apple support regarding a new M1 chip MacBook I bought. The 2 support staff could not sort the problem out and MacBooks were their specialty subject. The machine was well and truly bricked.

The M1 macbook was returned for a refund. Big Sur and the M1 are not a perfect match.

Hope you get the connection problem resolved.
I think I have for now, but still not sure whether it's a hardware problem or not.

I'll use up the new set of inks I bought for the printer and then junk it, I can then upgrade to Big Sur.
 
I think I have for now, but still not sure whether it's a hardware problem or not.

I'll use up the new set of inks I bought for the printer and then junk it, I can then upgrade to Big Sur.

Ever. since printers moved to wireless connection I've had problems. Bring back the good old days of parallel, serial or more recent printer cables and an occasional driver update. I've gone with HP in the end as my 16 year old Laser Jet 1160 is still going fine - but connected to a 2011 iMac only.

My HP Envy inkjet/scanner was less than 40 quid and my HP Laser Jet Pro again cheap at around 80 quid are good. I've eventually got everything printing to both of them wirelessly now but it was painful. Trouble is, as other updates get installed, the printers then need attention too and you can waste hours on it. I don't need to print much these days but its always when you really do that they fail! Have to say the help desk at HP when I used it once was very good.
 
Reviving this thread because my Canon printer no longer works with my 2018 MacBook Air running Catalina.

Canon have stopped providing driver updates.

I will look at the options of creating a Windows or linux partition as I should not have to scrap a good printer.

I have been looking at getting a Mono laser printer as I rarely print these days but the issue of Mac compatibility appears to be problematic for most brands!

Anyone have suggestions on a printer that will work with MacBooks?
 
What model is it?
Have you tried with generic drivers?

I have been looking at getting a Mono laser printer as I rarely print these days but the issue of Mac compatibility appears to be problematic for most brands!

I have an old HP M401d that I got from a friend. Black and white laser writer - USB only connection.
I keep it connected to my Airport Base Station that shares the printer on the networks (you can do that with most routers) and the Mac uses a Generic PostScript driver and works a charm.
 
I use a Canon MG4250 with both my Macbook Air and a Windows 10 PC,works a treat
 
The printer is Canon MG5220 and support was dropped when Catalina was launched and there is no plan to update the drivers.

I am finding it difficult to find generic drivers online.

There is no ethernet port on this printer so I will try the USB connection to Airport Time Capsule and wifi.

I may have to set up the printer for network printing so will have a look at this later tonight.

On direct (usb) to Mac it will print Jpeg but only outlines in documents. Text is missing.
 


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