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Canon Pixma Pro 9500 mk ii and Mac OSX 10.13.3

pmoffatt
Contributor

Since the latest Apple OSX upgrade to 10.13.3, I have been having trouble printing from Lightroom/Photoshop from my elderly but reliable iMac 27' mid 2011, to my also elderly Pixma Pro 9500mk ii.  Since the latest update, I find that print jobs stay in the queue after they are complete, the printer reports it's istill n use, and no further jobs can be sent until the queue is purged.  Sometimes deleting the completed job is all it takes, but I find that if I change parameters - paper size or quality, margins &c - the previous settings hang on after the job has been deleted.  Then the printer accepts the job but reportws a conflict and won't print.  The workaround is then to go into System Preferences, Open Print Queue, and keep deleting until all outstanding jobs have been removed.  To remove the worst conficts I have to delete and then reinstall the printer.  I can handle this for occasional work, but it's hopeless if I'm preparing a series of prints.

 

Has anyone else experienced this, or is ot just me?  I have the latest Canon driver, but I notice it's not officially certified for OSX later than 10.12.  Have Canon abandoned this product?

14 REPLIES 14

pmoffatt
Contributor

Canon have confirmed to me that they do not expect to produce drivers for OSX 10.13.  They couldn’t confirm how long inks will remain available either;  they reminded me that the printer came out in 2009.  And their point is......?

" And their point is......" the same as with many companies and products - how long are they expected to spend their money updating support for a discontinued product when the need for updates are not their doing. In this case Canon provided updates for six macOS updates. I agree its a bummer, but you chose to update to High Sierra.

John Hoffman
Conway, NH

1D X Mark III, Many lenses, Pixma PRO-100, Pixma TR8620a, LR Classic

TCampbell
Elite
Elite

I have a similar (but not quite identical) problem with a Xerox printer that I bought many years ago.  

 

I'm a work-from-home employee but occasionally I need to print fairly thick documents and wanted a printer that could do this in a reasonable amount of time.  I bought a (then) very expensive Xerox printer which works similar to a laser (high speed) and prints color, but it's actually a wax printer (it takes blocks of color wax).  It's a technology they got when they took over Tektronics.  It actually prints color much faster and much better than any color laser I've used.  I think I paid close to $2k for the printer BUT... the wax blocks are actulally fairly cheap.

 

The trouble is... while the printer still works fine, it's old.  Xerox no longer supports it and wont make a driver.  Since Xerox wont make a driver available to Apple, Apple's operating systems no longer recognize it.

 

Fortunately there hasn't been much change to how printers actually work in many years and I'm a Unix guy... so I figured out how to take the old printer driver and install it in the right place.   That "right place" turns out to be the /Library/Printers folder ... within that you'll find another folder for each printer maker (e.g. you should see a Canon folder but in my case it was a Xerox folder) and I needed to copy that to the new OS after the upgrade.

 

This *might* work for you.

 

But the thing is... once the printer vendor stops making drivers available (and they will stop once they haven't made that model in many years) then Apple has no way of supporting it.  Basically at that point you're on your own (use internet communities to see if someone knows any tricks -- basically exactly what you're doing now.)

 

Canon's PIXMA PRO line are still current, but even those came out a few years ago.

 

The PRO-100 is very popular... that's a $500 "dye" printer.

The PRO-10 is a $700 "pigment" printer.

 

As a generalization, "dye" printers are less likely to clog the nozzles but typically the inks do not have "archival" quality (they fade with time).  "pigment" printers tend to be much better at "archival" quality (color fidelity lasts much longer) but might be more prone to clogging the nozzles.  "archival" refers to how good it will look in the future... I've seen dye prints that look terrible just a few years (e.g. 5) after they were printed. 

 

Generalizations aside, however... Canon are pretty good at dealing with both problems.  Canon's "dyes" actually do claim to last far longer than a typical dye-based inkjet and similarly Canon's "pigment" technology had a lot of work go into preventing the nozzles from clogging.  

 

The ImagePROGRAF PRO-1000 is the newest (it was introduced 2 years ago) but note that this is a "PROGRAF" line not a "PIXMA" line.  It's a higer level printer.  If you're worried about how long a device will be supported, that's the newest of their printer line that can still fit on a table (beyond that they are floor-standing printers).  I don't know if you use PictBridge (I do not) but it supports "Wireless PictBridge" (there are two different standards... "PictBridge" and "Wireless PictBridge" and they are NOT the same.  My 5D III isn't a WiFi camera and it supports "PictBridge".  My 5D IV is a WiFi camera and it supports "Wireless PictBridge" but not "PictBridge" (it only works if it's wireless) and my PRO-10 printer only supports the wired "PictBridge" (the little details you don't know when you buy a new printer.)  So I actually cannot print direct from my Canon 5D IV to my new PRO-10 printer ... I have to send the photos to the computer and then print them (which is what I'd do anyway... I can't imagine printing anything that hasn't been adjusted first.)

 

Canon often has rebates on these things and it turns out they have one now.  I think it's currently $200 on many of the professional quality printers.  

 

Tim Campbell
5D III, 5D IV, 60Da

Tim

 

Thanks for your comments and the helpful product survey.

 

Another poster noted that it was my choice to upgrade to High Siierra.  Well it was, and if I'd known there could be a driver issue, I might not have.  But it had never been a problem before, and it's too late now.

 

I still have the latest issued driver for the 9500, and it's in the correct location.  The difficulty is that it's not compatible with the latest version of the Mac OS, or the OS has lost compatibility with the driver.  I'm looking at ways of reverting to 10.12 from 10.13 but it's not easy.  Maybe there's a third party driver somewhere - Gutenprint used to do them but there's nothing recent - and anyway, my purpose is photo printing using Lightroom and Photoshop;  I use a different printer for text documents.

 

I chose the Pro 9500 mk ii because it is a pigment printer - I've never had a blocked nozzle.  The nearest current equivalent would be the Pro 10, but as you say, it's not exactly new.  And in UK terms, my existing printer cost £545 before tax and a new Pro 10, which is the natural successor, woud be about the same.  The Pro 1 is around £1000 over here (Amazon want much more!) and the Prograf, strangely, goes for about the same.  The inks are expensive to buy, though.  Anyway, It does go against the grain to have to replace something that can function perfectly well, and the movement taking hold in the UK for fixing things rather than replacing them suits my mood;  My iMac dates back to 2011 and there's no need to upgrade - I just crammed it full of RAM.

 

In the meantime my workflow now includes checking the queue after each print, and deleting and reinstalling the printer if it won't clear.  It only takes a few seconds each time, but a pain if you're producing a run of prints.

 

I am looking at the replacement market but this experience has made me wary of anything launched after 2016 (the Pro10 came out in 2013).  I guess I should look at Epson too, but what I read suggests they have their own issues.  Originally I chose the Canon printer because I'd invested in Canon cameras (5dii and then 5diii).  More recently I've reverted to Olympus, which I loved in my film camera days.  Much lighter when slogging up steep slopes in the countryside, and no need for a stabiliser in each lens - one 5-axis stabiliser in the body, making a tripod a choice, not an essential.  And the images print beautifully up to A3+ and beyond.

 

So it seems that while I have some brand loyalty to Canon, older loyalties may go deeper.

Now if only Olympus did printers.........

 

Peter Moffatt

5dii, 5diii, 16-35, 24-105, 70-200

Olympus OMD EM1 ii, Pen-F, 12-40, 40-150, 45, 75, 60mm macro

and - found in a charity shop - Hasselblad H1, 80mm, 16/32 film back 

 

jrhoffman75
Legend
Legend
Seek advice from a macOS expert, but I think you can boot into recovery, which will install the OS your computer came with. It may be different with HS because of the new file system, but at least check.
John Hoffman
Conway, NH

1D X Mark III, Many lenses, Pixma PRO-100, Pixma TR8620a, LR Classic

John

 

Thanks.

 

I'm trying to find a reliable expert, but feel very hesitant.  A reversion back to 10.12 (Sierra) should do it.  When High Sierra was launched last year there was lots of advice on how to skip back, but I can't now find Sierra in the app store, and Apple may no longer be fully supporting it.  My iMac dates back to 2011 and the OS has been revised so often I doubt I can get back to the original issue.  And the Mac store guys, helpful though they are, look too young to remember versions like Lion.  Probably paranoia, but as the Hitchhiker's Guide noted, "everybody in the Universe has that".  Mac operating systems used to be very stable, with infrequent and fully tested revisions, but recently they've started behaving the way Microsoft used to, with new releases getting corrections every few weeks and pressure to upgrade for security reasons.  I think I'm just going through a phase when everything is asking to be renewed - the latest thing to struggle is my Spider Elite profiller.

 

I may try the driver for the Pro 10 - which does have a High Sierra version - akthough Canon say it won't work.  And if the print queue problem gets too irritating, I'll have a good look at the imagePROGRAF 1000 that Tim Campbell mentioned.  Then I could print at A2, if the mood took me.  Another solution is to transfer files after processing to my even more elderly MacBook which is so old (2009) that High Sierra refused to install itself.  

 

Regards

 

Peter Moffatt

monie
Apprentice

Hello I have a Canon Pixma Pro 9500 mkii and Mac OSX 10.13.3

I am new to Mac and recently transfered all my Pc Word Documents to Mac

I am having problems printing custom sized  documents eg 10cm x 10 cm card from word mac to Canon printer, it just doesnt seem to want to print this size. I make wedding stationery and all my old word documents I use are all custom sizes, but this size doesnt seem to print. Does anyone know what the issue is or put me in the right direction who I should contact

I dont know if it is a Word Mac problem, printer problem or Apple problem

Many thanks

Hi monie,

 

This model was retired prior to the release of Macintosh OS 10.13 High Sierra, and no drivers have been written for the new operating system.  The printer will continue to work with OS 10.12 Sierra or earlier. Older versions of the drivers may not provide full functionality on new computers.

 

If you would like to replace your printer, you are eligible for Canon's Upgrade Program. This is for out of warranty units which have been diagnosed to require service, or for some reason are incompatible with a new or upgraded system. This option allows you a one-time opportunity to purchase a replacement product, discounted from the list price, and with free FedEx Ground shipping. If you would like to take part in this option, please call our Sales Department at (866) 443-8002 seven days a week, 8am to Midnight ET. Let them know you have been working with email technical support and the Canon Upgrade Program was offered.

Hi Bill

Thank you for your reply, that is very helpful. The Canon Pro9500 does print for example 13cm x 13cm sized card,

it just doesnt print smaller card, and doesnt have all the features like you say.

Is the Canon's Upgrade Program available in the UK, I am actually in the UK.

My only concern is that I also can not print small envelopes on my Brother HL2132 printer, so thought it was something I am not doing right in Word for Mac!

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