maryfromhayesville

Q: Drivers for Canon printer not installing in mac

My PowerBook G4  1995 will not install drivers for a Canon MG 5220 printer. Have tried many times However, everyone I consult including Canon says that it should work and all the specs in my Canon Instruction Book say the printer works with this model mac. Does anybody have any experience with this problem. Does Apple sell a fix for this problem.  The printer works just fine with other computers, but I need it to work with this mac.

MacBook, Mac OS X (10.4.11)

Posted on Sep 19, 2011 12:36 PM

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Q: Drivers for Canon printer not installing in mac

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  • by BGreg,

    BGreg BGreg Sep 19, 2011 7:53 PM in response to maryfromhayesville
    Level 6 (17,522 points)
    Sep 19, 2011 7:53 PM in response to maryfromhayesville

    The drivers/software require 10.4.11 ... just confirming when you click the apple on the menu bar, and about this mac, it says Version 10.4.11 (or greater) ?

     

    What error message are you receiving that tells you the printer drivers or software isn't installing?

     

    It looks like there are quite a few updates to drivers and software this year, assume you've downloaded the current releases?

  • by Allan Jones,

    Allan Jones Allan Jones Sep 19, 2011 8:49 PM in response to maryfromhayesville
    Level 8 (35,151 points)
    iPad
    Sep 19, 2011 8:49 PM in response to maryfromhayesville
    My PowerBook G4 1995....

     

    Can you clarify what model you have? The first G4 PowerBook wasn't released untill 2001 and I don't think a 1995 PowerBook can run OSX.

     

    Do "About this Mac.." from the Apple menu and see what it says about your processor type and speed and the OS version installed.

  • by maryfromhayesville,

    maryfromhayesville maryfromhayesville Sep 20, 2011 4:49 AM in response to maryfromhayesville
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 20, 2011 4:49 AM in response to maryfromhayesville

    Thank you for your responses.  First of all, my bad, my computer is a 2005.  (What was I thinking in saying 1995)  It's definitely a PowerBook G4..  It is 10.4.11 - so it says under the Apple.  I've used the CD-ROM which comes with the Canon printer GM 5220 and also downloaded the manual which comes with essentially the same access to installing drivers.  I've also spent time on the phone with a Canon tech who tells me everthing is showing correctly and "it should work".  She essentially wants me to call Apple saying "it's an Apple problem".  Right now I'm not up for a $40 or $50 call on behalf of my $98 Canon.  I do think Canon should be doing better by me and intend to call again, but any ideas from you are appreciated.  I'm close to sending the Canon back.

        Processer is 1.5 GHz  and memory is 1 GB  DDR SCRAM.  (we upgraded memory).

     

    Thanks  Mary

  • by BGreg,

    BGreg BGreg Sep 20, 2011 4:59 AM in response to maryfromhayesville
    Level 6 (17,522 points)
    Sep 20, 2011 4:59 AM in response to maryfromhayesville

    Have you tried downloading the current driver and sofrtware releases? They are at http://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/consumer/products/printers_multifunction/photo_all _in_one_inkjet_printers/pixma_mg5220#DriversAndSoftware

     

    While the printer driver is from 2010, it looks like almost all of the software has been updated this year.

  • by maryfromhayesville,

    maryfromhayesville maryfromhayesville Sep 20, 2011 5:12 AM in response to maryfromhayesville
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 20, 2011 5:12 AM in response to maryfromhayesville

    About the "reply" I get on the screen after trying to install drivers. It says "Installing failed"  "Ttry again" and also directs me back to the manual which comes full circle as an answer since I've already consulted the  manual and tried to use the download from the web. 

  • by maryfromhayesville,

    maryfromhayesville maryfromhayesville Sep 20, 2011 5:15 AM in response to maryfromhayesville
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 20, 2011 5:15 AM in response to maryfromhayesville

    Thanks, Greg, I will try your suggestion about seeing if the updated drivers on the website you gave me work.

  • by maryfromhayesville,

    maryfromhayesville maryfromhayesville Sep 20, 2011 5:26 AM in response to maryfromhayesville
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 20, 2011 5:26 AM in response to maryfromhayesville

    Same result when I tried to install from those websites, Greg.

  • by BGreg,

    BGreg BGreg Sep 20, 2011 4:05 PM in response to maryfromhayesville
    Level 6 (17,522 points)
    Sep 20, 2011 4:05 PM in response to maryfromhayesville

    Do you have any other Canon hardware installed on your Powerbook? If not, do the following:

     

    In Finder, on your hard drive (not under your user ID), in library/preferences, delete or rename anything with 'canon' and '.plist'

     

    Then look under your user ID, and again in library/preferences, delete or rename anything with 'canon' and '.plist'.

     

    After that, in Finder, search on 'canon' and delete or rename anything else it finds.

     

    Reboot. 

     

    Now try reinstalling the driver and software, from the website. Does it work now?

  • by maryfromhayesville,

    maryfromhayesville maryfromhayesville Sep 21, 2011 10:56 AM in response to BGreg
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 21, 2011 10:56 AM in response to BGreg

    Greg:  Hi thank for you help.  I've not been able to get back to computer very quickly as you can see.

     

    Here's what happened.  I did not find anything Canon or Canon and plist on either Hard Drive library/pref or on Uer ID library/pref.  However, on each of those I find HP and plist.  HP was my last printer.  Is it possible that I should delete those?

     

    In Finder there is nothing Canon or HP under my name, User ID, however, Canon Utilities and Manual do appear under Applications in that window and HP, too, I think.

     

    Is it possible that I should delete those.  If I do that, how difficult will it be to get my old printer, back if I  must reactivate it and send the Canon back.

     

    Thanks again

  • by BGreg,Helpful

    BGreg BGreg Sep 21, 2011 3:01 PM in response to maryfromhayesville
    Level 6 (17,522 points)
    Sep 21, 2011 3:01 PM in response to maryfromhayesville

    No, I wouldn't delete the HP files. They shouldn't interfere with installing the Canon drivers and software.

     

    You know, this may be a wild card, but would you install the last Tiger 10.4 combo update from http://support.apple.com/kb/DL170. Repair permissions first, install it, then repair permissions again. (Use Disk Utility in applications/utilities). Sometimes strange things can happen in the operating system. Applying the latest combo update reapplies all updates to 10.4, and if the operating system has something weird going on, that may fix it. It's a real long shot ... won't hurt anything, and might fix it so you can install the drivers and software.

     

    Otherwise, I'm stumped. The message is being generated by the Canon programs. I've used Canon printers for years, and never run into a similar situation. I don't think this is serious enough to reload the operating system and rebuild your system from scratch ... you could do that, but, that's somewhat a pain. 

  • by maryfromhayesville,

    maryfromhayesville maryfromhayesville Sep 21, 2011 5:42 PM in response to BGreg
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 21, 2011 5:42 PM in response to BGreg

    I will try as you suggest and  see if I can work my way through that.  I'm not the best tech for sure and may need my neighbor to assist if I get stuck.  He's certainly tried to help and is out of ideas as well, but he'll help.

     

    I definitely appreciate your time and effort.  Is there a point system if I hit "helpful"?  I'm new to all of this.  I'm going to hit helpful anyway.

     

    Will let you know how it turns out.

  • by maryfromhayesville,

    maryfromhayesville maryfromhayesville Sep 27, 2011 4:14 PM in response to BGreg
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 27, 2011 4:14 PM in response to BGreg

    BGreg:

     

    Wanted to get back to tell you the outcome of my Canon efforts.  Today as a last ditch stand I called Canon again and basically told the Apple Specialist Tech that I really thought Canon owed me more than I'd gotten and I'd personally spent about 10 hours on the problem with additional help from friends. 

     

    A patient Tech, Patricia, went through many steps including trying to repair permissions - close to what you suggested, I think.

     

    Finally she said, "Let's create a new User Account.  Sometimes established User Accounts block intallations".

    We established a new Administrator User Account.  The drivers installed from the CD-ROM and I knew it was going to take almost right away.  Once installed, I could print from any and all accounts.  What a saga!  I thanked her a lot. 

     

    Thank you again for your interest.  Who knows maybe you might use this info sometime.

     

    Mary

  • by Texas Mac Man,

    Texas Mac Man Texas Mac Man Sep 27, 2011 5:28 PM in response to maryfromhayesville
    Level 8 (46,611 points)
    Sep 27, 2011 5:28 PM in response to maryfromhayesville
    Who knows maybe you might use this info sometime.

     

    Thanks for posting back with your solution.

     

     Cheers, Tom

  • by BGreg,

    BGreg BGreg Sep 27, 2011 5:37 PM in response to maryfromhayesville
    Level 6 (17,522 points)
    Sep 27, 2011 5:37 PM in response to maryfromhayesville

    Mary,

     

    Thanks from me too for posting back the solution that worked!