new iMac - Canon PIXMA MP490 Photo All-in-One Printer doesn't work

We got a new iMac set up and installed today. We migrated everything from the old iMac via FireWire and Migration Assistant, so it all seemed to be fine. Then we decided to hook up the printer.
This printer - the Canon PIXMA MP490 Photo All-in-One Printer, which was part of a bundled package via the Apple on-line store, with a rebate. That was why we bought as a package.

So we're told to get the latest drivers from the Canon website, because the files on the CD are not compatible with Snow Leopard. Sure that OS has only been out for a year, so we'll go and download it.
We download and install the drivers and attempt to add the printer through system preferences.
It does not show up in the dialog t . I turn it off and on, restart the computer, and nothing works.
So I go and google for the information and find out that there have been a lot of other people who
have had problems with using this printer with Snow Leopard. The website has a driver - version
10.26.0 which does not work. I find some info that says that I should use the 10.26.1 driver, but
I spend hours looking all over the place for this driver, and do not find it.

I even try to connect this printer to the old iMac, running OS 10.4 on it, and that does not work either.
Now I know the USB cable is just fine because after all this annoyance, we hooked up the old Epson printer, and it worked just fine, as we have come to expect with Apple products.

I don't know what they were thinking when bundling this printer with an iMac if there is not even a driver that works with it. Come on, did anyone test out this combination before they decided to sell it? I know that Microsoft has a 90% market share with this kind of approach. So now is Apple trying to be like this? We pay more for Apple products and we expect them to work without all this hassle.

iMac 21.5-inch, Mac OS X (10.6.2)

Posted on Mar 20, 2010 10:50 PM

Reply
5 replies

Apr 28, 2010 11:41 AM in response to John Blanchard1

OK, I am back in town. I tried the first thing you said -
Try deleting the <hard drive>/Library/Printers/Canon folder, connecting the printer and turning it on, then using Software Update to install the updated Canon drivers.

Software update had no mention of any Canon drivers, it just wanted to update iTunes.

I checked the link at http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3669?viewlocale=en_US which shows that this printer needs driver 10.30.3.0, but there are no links on this page to show me where I might find this version.

So I follow the link to the Canon website, and I'm directed to this page -
http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelInfoAct&tabact=DownloadDet ailTabAct&fcategoryid=334&modelid=18639&defaultos=snowleopard
but this one only shows the mp490sosxcp102600ea8-2.dmg driver, which is dated 9/27/09,
obviously not the latest one.

I tried to enter Canon 10.30.3.0 driver in a Google search to see if I could find it somewhere else, but the closest thing I could find was for a MP560 printer, which did not work either.

Apr 28, 2010 10:49 PM in response to abbaroo

The following link will take you to the Canon Driver v2.3 update.

http://support.apple.com/kb/DL899

After you download and run the installer, a large majority of the drivers contained within the Canon > BJPrinters folder, including the MP490, will be v10.30.3.0.

Note that for the Software Update to have worked, the printer would have needed to be installed or at least seen by the Mac. Since it appears that this is not working correctly, this explains why the update did not list the Canon driver update above.

With the driver update installed, when you connect the Mac to the MP490 via USB, the printer queue should add automatically. If this does not occur, then you can select to manually add, selecting the Default view in the Add Printer browser. If you still don't see the MP490 in the view, then there is either a problem with the machine or the USB cable. I know that you tried an existing cable for another printer and that made no difference. I would still recommend you buying a new cable just to be sure. If this still doesn't let the Mac see the printer then look at taking it back and getting it replaced.

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new iMac - Canon PIXMA MP490 Photo All-in-One Printer doesn't work

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