Trouble Connecting EOS R8 to EOS Utility on a Mac

[tjdowling]

I am having issues connecting my R8 to my Mac via the EOS Utility. I have the latest software and have gone through the user manual. The message I keep getting is:

"Communication with the camera via USB cannot be established.
Start EOS Utility after closing all the apps that communicate with the camera, and then turn on the camera again."

I am unaware of any apps that I have that would be trying to communicate with my camera in the background. Anyone know what's going on? Thanks in advance.

[Anonymous]

Make sure that Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are turned off in the camera in order to use the USB cable.

[tjdowling]

No luck

[Anonymous]

Are you using the USB cable that came with the camera? If not, make sure that the cable is a data cable and not a charging only USB cable.

Also, what is your Mac operating system version? Someone else here will have experience with a Mac, as I use a Windows computer.

[Anonymous]

If you are just trying to transfer pictures to your computer, you could remove the memory card from the camera and use a card reader to transfer the files.

[tjdowling]

Yep - the one that came with the camera.

MacOS Ventura.

[rs-eos]

Maybe this is a privacy & security issue?  On your Mac, launch System Settings and then choose Privacy & Security.  Scroll through its settings and see if there's anything related to attaching accessories.

This Apple Support article has some details.  

[jrhoffman75 · Accepted solution]

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@tjdowling wrote:

I am having issues connecting my R8 to my Mac via the EOS Utility. I have the latest software and have gone through the user manual. The message I keep getting is:

"Communication with the camera via USB cannot be established.
Start EOS Utility after closing all the apps that communicate with the camera, and then turn on the camera again."

I am unaware of any apps that I have that would be trying to communicate with my camera in the background. Anyone know what's going on? Thanks in advance.

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It is a problem that seems to have developed with the 13.4.1 update to Ventura.

I was able to sync my 1D X MkIII prior to that update and now I get that error.

If you are only looking to download images you could get a card reader. If you are wanting the tethering features then we have to wait for Apple to fix the problem.

[tjdowling]

This is appears to be a setting only on Mac's with the M1/M2 chip. I have an Intel Mac and don't have the setting. Good suggestion though. Thanks.

[cperugini]

Having the same exact issue. It's looking like it's a MacOS problem which hopefully gets addressed soon.