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I just learned a potentially expensive lesson when it comes to upgrades. That is, check any necessary driver availability before doing the upgrade. I've got an expensive Samsung color laser jet multifunction. It was working great. Then I upgraded to HS from Sierra, without thinking to check the driver availability. Samsung has drivers thru 10.9. I called Samsung, and no plans for a HS release. Grrrr .....

I did try installing the 10.9 drivers. The installer barfed, claiming there was a missing file. Interestingly the missing file is included in the download package, as a separate file. But the installer can't seem to recognize it. So it looks like I've got an expensive desk ornament.

Posted on Nov 17, 2017 12:19 PM

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Answer 1

Old Toad

Level 10

207,439 points

Dec 15, 2017 10:46 AM in response to DesertRatR

If all else fails you might give this a try if you have Time Machine running:

1 - Go to your Mac HD/Library/Printers folder and select the Canon folder:

3 U

2 - Copy it to the Desktop.

2 - Enter Time Machine and go back to when your Canon printer was working as it should, i.e. just before the 10.13.2 Update.

3 - Select and restore the Canon folder to the Mac HD/Library/Printers folder.

4 - Reboot and see if the printer will work correctly.

With the new System Integrity Protection (SIP) you may not have the permission to replace that folder. In that case try replacing the contents and not the folder itself. I did this a couple of times before SIP was introduced to get a printer working again.

There is a way to temporarily disable SIP to replace that folder and see if it fixes the problem: How to turn off system integrity protection on OS X (but don't) | iMore

Be sure to re-enable SIP when you're finished.

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Answer 2

John Galt

Level 10

141,126 points

Nov 17, 2017 12:26 PM in response to DesertRatR

Apple's macOS upgrade instructions address creating a backup prior to upgrading: Upgrade to macOS High Sierra - Official Apple Support.

Samsung's Mac product support has always been abysmal.

I just learned a potentially expensive lesson when it comes to upgrades.

I wrote Upgrading macOS without fear so others don't have to learn the same expensive lesson.

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Answer 3

DesertRatR Author

Level 1

133 points

Nov 17, 2017 6:41 PM in response to John Galt

John, I was thinking about how to get my printer drivers installed when I ran across the following:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201465

I was really surprised that Apple would provide drivers. In that list is my printer family. So I went back to Printers/Scanners and hit the + to add, and presto there it was. What I couldn't figure out is how the installer knew my printer, when it was a clean install (nothing leftover to point to it). All I can guess is that once the WiFi was up and running the installer must have look around my network to see what is there, and grabbed the driver package for it. Pretty impressive! And it works.

What is odd is that Samsung had to have provided the drivers for HS to Apple. So why wouldn't they have something beyond 10.9 available? So much for customer service.

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Answer 4

DesertRatR Author

Level 1

133 points

Nov 17, 2017 1:12 PM in response to John Galt

I've got backups, plenty of backups: Time Capsule plus I use SuperDuper to clone my HD (every other Saturday a reminder pops up at 3 pm). I've got particular images that I back up separately to thumb drives. I also use iCloud for all sorts of stuff. However I don't think that is relevant in regard to drivers. They are too deeply embedded within the OS in too many places to simply pull off a backup and put back. And they might not be entirely compatible with a major OS change.

If I could figure out how to get the driver installer to see the included file (I've posted that question on the Samsung user forum) it might work.

Interestingly, on my other iMac I did the upgrade to HS from Sierra (i.e. I did not wipe and cleanly install from scratch). The printer setup on that iMac continues to work just fine. I am having some oddball problems on that iMac, so I decided I will wipe and reinstall from scratch. The pathfinder for the wipe and clean install was on the iMac in question. I backed everything up, wiped and did a clean install. Everything is working properly, except for the printer.

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Answer 5

John Galt

Level 10

141,126 points

Nov 17, 2017 1:36 PM in response to DesertRatR

However I don't think that is relevant in regard to drivers. They are too deeply embedded within the OS in too many places to simply pull off a backup and put back.

You're absolutely right about that. Restoring a Sierra system from its Time Machine backup ("restore everything") followed by upgrading to HS in the usual manner is the way to go.

The good news is that you have a backup. Lots of people omit that fundamental requirement.

Installing the Samsung printer drivers anew won't work unless the installers are designed to work in HS. The Samsung user forum is your best avenue to find a way to get the required drivers to install.

Interestingly, on my other iMac I did the upgrade to HS from Sierra (i.e. I did not wipe and cleanly install from scratch). The printer setup on that iMac continues to work just fine.

That's one of many reasons I do not advocate the so-called "clean install".

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Answer 6

DesertRatR Author

Level 1

133 points

Nov 17, 2017 1:43 PM in response to John Galt

That is a 2-edged sword. Both my iMacs are old (mid-2010 bought in 2011 and late 2012 bought in 2013). I've updated each each time a new OS release came out. Mostly things work fine. But it isn't just out-of-date SW. I like to monkey around, and occasionally I break something. I can usually get it repaired (with help from the experts on this forum, and occasionally a call to tech support). But that leaves things not quite perfect. The point is a clean install is brand new.

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Answer 7

John Galt

Level 10

141,126 points

Nov 17, 2017 1:55 PM in response to DesertRatR

The way to cope with that is to identify software no longer working, and either fix or eliminate it... exactly as you have been doing.

In general when a developer abandons software or just ceases to exist, their software isn't going to survive the very next macOS upgrade to come along. Much more of that is coming in the next version, which will require 64 bit apps (same as iOS 11... no surprise).

But it isn't just out-of-date SW. I like to monkey around, and occasionally I break something.

Sure, so do I. That's how I learned to fix things: by duplicating what someone else did to break their Macs.

If it ain't broke, break it 😝

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Answer 8

DesertRatR Author

Level 1

133 points

Nov 17, 2017 2:29 PM in response to John Galt

All right, I just broke something. I plugged a flash drive into my iMac (with HS) and just to see what would happen used Disk Utility First Aid on it. After a while FA completed successfully, or so it said. And it unmounted and there it sat. I was unable to mount it. It was dead. I tried removing, etc. Nothing worked.

I fired up an old white Macbook with Lion (can't upgrade it any further) I keep laying around. I plugged in the flash drive and that DU saw it just fine. I used DU to erase it. Somehow that repaired it. It is now plugged into the iMac and is working just fine.

Any idea what happened?

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Answer 9

John Galt

Level 10

141,126 points

Nov 17, 2017 3:18 PM in response to DesertRatR

I wish I did. I experienced the same thing myself, but repeated attempts on the same Mac were eventually successful. It might have been a problematic USB flash drive / SD card but perhaps it was something else.

I attributed the failures due to the media not responding to DU quickly enough but that's speculative.

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Answer 10

DesertRatR Author

Level 1

133 points

Dec 15, 2017 7:20 AM in response to John Galt

Quick update to this post. After this rigamarole, with my Samsung multifunction finally working, the thing failed. The WiFI simply broke. The device was not usable except with a cable. So off it went and I replaced it with a shiny new Canon MF that the local big box retailed had a smoking good deal on. Problem solved.

However, no good deed goes unpunished. With the very next patch Apple pushed (10.13.2 Update) that MF was unusable, except for printing. The scanning and fax functionality were gone. I tried reinstalling the drivers, no luck. However, the device had a firmware update function. And lo and behold, there was a firmware update lurking. After that the functionality returned. Kudos to Canon.

Now my hope is the next Apple patch doesn't further break it (or something else). VueScan won't work on my network for some unexplained reason. I tried that before uncovering the firmware update.

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