Installing old Samsung printer drivers on latest macOS

Good find. One caution: I wouldn’t upload or recommend a repacked installer. Once the original Apple package has been modified and redistributed, other users have no easy way to verify what was changed.

Apple still provides the original Samsung Printer Drivers v2.6 package, although it officially lists much older versions of OS X as its supported systems.

For anyone trying this workaround, I’d download the original package directly from Apple and make the modification locally as you described. Also keep in mind that an old driver working on Tahoe today doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll continue working after a future macOS update.

I have to chuckle when I see all of the energy expended on trying to make a 15-year-old printer work by package hacking that the next release of macOS may break. I think of my time as costing money, and a new AirPrint-capable printer may actually cost less than the time expended performing gymnastics with the drivers on a long depreciated printer. 😉

Thanks for the info. I have installed Samsung ML-1675 printer in Tahoe via Pacifist but I'd also like to try your workaround.

It seems I can expand that mounted SamsungPrinterDrivers.dmg with something like:

pkgutil --expand /Volumes/Samsung\ Printer\ Drivers/SamsungPrinterDrivers.pkg ~/Desktop/expanded_folder

...and then open the expanded ~/Desktop/expanded_folder/Distribution file with BBEdit and a with Line numbers enabled I see the following:

	        if (system.env.OS_INSTALL == 1) {
	            return true;
	        }
        
	        if (system.compareVersions(system.version.ProductVersion, '10.6.1') >= 0 &&
				system.compareVersions(system.version.ProductVersion, '11.0') == -1) {
	            return true;
	        }
        
	        my.result.type = 'Fatal';
	        my.result.message = system.localizedString('ERROR_INSTALL');
	        return(false);			
		}

        function volumeCheck()
        {
            if (system.env.OS_INSTALL == 1) {
                return true;

...so which lines should I edit?

...I guess I can then save the edited .pkg with something like:

pkgutil --flatten ~/Desktop/expanded_folder ~/Desktop/SamsungPrinterDrivers_edited.pkg

...so there is no more the following error in Tahoe:

VikingOSX wrote:

I have to chuckle when I see all of the energy expended on trying to make a 15-year-old printer work by package hacking that the next release of macOS may break. I think of my time as costing money, and a new AirPrint-capable printer may actually cost less than the time expended performing gymnastics with the drivers on a long depreciated printer. 😉

A few years ago my wife bought that Samsung ML-1675 from flea market for 5€ and only then asked if it might work, and recently I also inherited HP LaserJet P1005 which still works with a similar workaround in Tahoe. I very seldom print anything. I am a packrat that runs old stuff as long as it works. I want to reduce e-waste and a trip to the recycling facility. I like to tinker just for fun. ...and to quote James Bond, as a retiree "I have all the time in the world" 🤠

I associate more than $10 per minute for my time and despite a 30-year hands-on technology career, we do not share the same hobby… 😉