Unusable Canon MF743Cdw - Printer Not Recognized

[tmanz]

The printer is unusable on macOS - I am currently on macOS Big Sur V11.5.2 and:

1. macOS sees the printer as Offline, and the printer accepts no jobs.
   • Pressing the sleep/wake button on the printer does not push the job through
   • Pressing the power on/off button does force a reconnection and the small window between when just turned on and before it goes to sleep is usable - then it is recognized as Offline and unusable again.
2. Deleting and adding the printer has the following errors:
   • Only discoverable when awake, and if the printer falls asleep during the setup process the setup fails 
   • Setting up 'Canon MF7...' then 'Unable to verify the printer on your network' > 'Would you still like to create the printer?' <Cancel> <Continue>
   • Clicking <Continue> sets up the device -  gives this error 'An error occurred while trying to add the selected device: Unable to communicate with the printer at this time' - Secure Airprint or Airprint drivers
   • Using freshly downloaded Canon MF741/743C or Canon MF741/743C CARPS2 drivers from Canon gives the same error as above unless I click on <Skip> in the setting up process - this is the only way to add the printer to 'Printers & Scanners'
   • Same errors occur as in 1) and trying to open the Scanner utility gives this error 'You do not have permission to open the application "Canon MFScanner1": Contact your computer or network administrator for assistance.'

Canon please fix your drivers with each macOS release in a timely manner, my device is a home/office printer turned paperweight for several weeks now - otherwise please provide a means for customers to return faulty printers.

As of this thread, I have tried

1. Updating the printer firmware to the latest version
2. Downloading all the updated drivers from Canon's website for this printer

Nothing works - I'm extremely frustrated.

[ditesh]

I'm having the same error: "You do not have permission to open the application "Canon MFScanner1".

Please help fix as the scanner is unusable now.

[Hector]

Hello Tmanz,

The issue that you are describing could be caused by poor network connectivity or a driver issue. When using the printer from your Mac, I would suggest downloading the UFR/UFRII drivers using the link HERE. You can also download the scanner drivers and utilities V2.15.9.

Once the drivers have been installed, you can go back into printers and scanners and then you can try clicking the + and adding the printer again. In the USE box, select the UFR driver for the printer and then click add. If the computer does not see a connection for the printer to add, that will usually point to a connection/detection issue. The printer should appear as an option to add even if the drivers are not installed.

Once the scanner driver is installed, you will have our MF scan utility and you can use that to scan. You will find the program in applications under Canon Utilities. Airprint and secure airprint are not drivers made for the printer so all the features will not be available and the connection between the computer and printer will not work as expected.

[pinthea]

I've learned a lot of these issues are related to how the printer is configured/defined to MacOS.

SOLUTION:

What made the whole problem go away is that I did this:

1.  Setup the printer with a static IP address (don't use DHCP).  It doesn't matter if you're printing wirelessly or have it connected via ethernet.  This is critical because you'll need the static IP address later in these steps.  After you have done so, restart the printer and ensure that it's using the static IP address.

2.  Download the latest drivers from Canon's website.  Install them.  (YMMV whether or not this will all work when trying to connect via AirPrint from your Mac, I used Canon's drivers.)

3.  Remove the printer from MacOS.  Remove the Fax too if you have an entry for that.  Reboot if you want to, never hurts after doing something like this.

4.  Add the printer.  DO NOT use the first tab where it auto-detects and finds it via Bonjour.  Instead go to the 2nd tab (that looks like a globe) and add it using the IP address that you established in the previous step.  IPP is the default protocol, keep it.  Then you MUST select in the "Use" field the printer driver you installed in the previous step.

5. If possible, I'd also recommend not using WiFi as the way to access the printer on your network, use an ethernet cable to connect the printer directly to the router.  (I have not done this but it is always recommended!)

6. You can also configure the printer's WiFi settings (if you didn't listen to me in step 5) to disable the printer's WiFi power management setting (turn it off), that was highly recommended in another post and as far as I can tell it couldn't hurt.

As far as I can tell, step 4 is important because it tells the driver "always find the printer at this IP address" and bam, even when it's asleep, I can print to it from my Mac, even via WiFi, when I couldn't before.

This raises the question "what about my iPhones and iPads?" where you don't actually install any print drivers and it relies on AirPrint?  I don't know, I haven't toyed around with that just yet. 

But these steps got me printing from my Mac even after the printer went to sleep and would otherwise have shown as offline.  I hope this works for you.