Scanner only works on some computers

Question

Level 1

8 points

Scanner only works on some computers

I recently purchased a Canon LiDE 220 scanner that is supported by El Capitan according to apple's supported scanners page, however whenever I try to scan on my computer it says "Scanner Reported an Error. Can not communicate with scanner". I installed the Canon software before trying to scan, and I wonder if that caused an issue because it works on two MacBook Pros (Non-retina display) without the Canon software. I restored my computer from a time machine back up that I made before I installed the software, and I still had no luck. Any ideas?

So in summary:

Does not work on MacBook Pro (Retina Display) OS X El Capitain with or without Canon drivers and software.

Does work on MacBook Pro OS X El Captian without Canon software.

I tried using preview, the Printers and Scanners page of system preferences, Image Capture, and Canon's proprietary scanner applications all to no avail.

Has anyone else run into this or know why it works on some computers but not mine? I would love a fix or work around.

Thanks in advance

MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2013), OS X El Capitan (10.11.3)

Posted on Jan 31, 2016 11:35 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Jason L

Community Specialist

Feb 1, 2016 2:58 PM in response to Mos Fett

Hello Mos Fett,

Welcome to Apple Support Communities.

It sounds like one of your MacBook Pros has an issue communicating with your scanner, and you've tested the device with multiple applications and drivers. If you haven't already, try running through the general printer troubleshooting tips in the article below.

Get help resolving printer issues on your Mac - Apple Support

If you have some other printing issue

These steps may resolve printing issues that have no other clear cause:

Open the Printers & Scanners pane of System Preferences, then select your printer and click the minus sign (-) to remove the printer from the list.

Follow the steps in the previous section to add your printer.

If the issue persists, reset the printing system, then follow the steps in the previous section once more.

If the issue remains unresolved, take these final steps to move aside any currently installed printer drivers:
Reset the printing system again.
Rename the folder at /Library/Printers:
From the Finder, choose Go > Go to Folder. Then type
/Library
and click Go.
Click once on the Printer folder to select it, then press Return to begin renaming the folder. Type
Printers-old
, then press Return to save the new name.
Follow the steps in the previous section once more.

If the issue persists, you can use the information in this article to further isolate and resolve the issue:

Isolating issues in Mac OS X - Apple Support

Cheers.

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Answer 2

Mos Fett Author

Level 1

8 points

Feb 2, 2016 7:06 PM in response to Jason L

Thanks for the help. I gave it a go, but it still doesn't work. I also contacted Canon technical support and they suggested that antivirus software could be the issue. I am using Avast, which I then uninstalled, yet the problem persisted. I am really baffled on this one. I don't think I can call apple for free support either because my warranty has expired. I assume reinstalling OS X would solve the issue, but I am reluctant to migrate all my files from an external hard drive back onto my computer. I don't know too much about how computers interface with printers and scanners, but I wonder if there is a driver or file wrecking havoc, or possibly something wrong with TWAIN?

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Answer 3

Mos Fett Author

Level 1

8 points

Feb 8, 2016 8:17 PM in response to Mos Fett

I found a fix! It isn't quite as direct as I would have hoped, but it is still a pretty easy work around that I hope can help anyone else who runs across this problem! I suspect a file or driver in my computer is causing the issue, so as a kind of desperate attempt I tried using my computer's guest account. The scanner works perfectly! Apparently something can go wrong that can not be solved by reinstalling the software, deleting printer drivers, or backing up from a time machine back up, but using a new user account on the same computer bypasses the villainous files. Just for perfect clarity, from my computer's guest account I scanned from system preferences.

Thanks for the advice Jason L, and I hope this can help some people out!

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