Canon Pixma MP470

reset the printing system and add the printer again

Quetal wrote:
I had a devil of a time getting what I need from Canon. After downloading etc., and thinking I got a connection, the printer utility in Mac kept giving us a note the "Printer is busy" please try again. I don't know what else to do.

Why not download the software using Software Update? It has the latest version of the MP470 software.
If you still have a problem after updating the software, remove the Canon folder from <hard drive>/Library/Printers, delete the printer and reinstall the update.

Hope this helps.

The fact that it was purchased with the Dell makes no difference to the printer specifications. The device is made by Canon - not Dell - so it is the same printer that you would get from any other retailer.

Also, you don't need Bonjour for it to work on a Mac if you have the printer connected directly to the Mac via USB. But if you are connecting the printer via some sort of print server or via a Windows share, then your problem will not be due to the lack of Bonjour (which I am sure this model would support) but with the Canon provided driver.

Can you reply with how the Mac connects to this printer.

The Canon drivers cannot be used when the printer is connected via USB to a Windows computer or wireless print server (unless it is an Apple Airport product). For these types of connections you need to use either the Gutenprint driver suite or PrintFab. Gutenprint is preferred because it is free, however the MP470 is not listed as a supported model. So you could try and use another Canon model - some people have found the MP150 driver to work well with their non-supported Canon MP device.

If you have no luck getting a supported driver to work from the Gutenprint suite then you could look at purchasing PrintFab. The software costs €49 but there is a 30 day trial so you could at least check it out. MP470 is listed as a supported model.