Filed under: Hardware, Software, Snow Leopard
Apple lists Snow Leopard-compatible printers and scanners
I'll come right out and say that I don't like scanners. Granted, I haven't used any high-end models, but in my experience, scanning a simple image to my Mac was akin to piloting a space module. As a chimp. While Mac OS X Snow Leopard includes a great number of scanner (and printer) drivers, some readers are reporting trouble with their particular machines. This week, Apple has published a list of both scanners and printers that are known to work. You can read it here. I've got an Epson R300, and luckily it's covered. Heck, even my beloved HP 952c still works under Snow Leopard. It's a comprehensive list, and we're hoping your machine is there.
Of course, if your peripheral stopped working after installing Snow Leopard, you ought to visit the manufacturer's website for an update. And by "visit" we mean "pester."
[Via Victor Cajiao]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Andre said 7:16AM on 9-01-2009
With your R300, have you had any luck installing Epson's Snow Leopard compatible driver? I installed it and half of the options in the drop-down are crossed out (the important ones). When selected, each says something about the bundle couldn't be loaded because it lacks a version for the current architecture.
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antiorario said 7:27AM on 9-01-2009
Dave, I don't want to sound too picky (or maybe I do), but please don't link to stuff using "here" as the link text. It's bad practice, and it makes it hard as hell to find the relevant link. Especially when it's the main link you're talking about in the post. And yes, I know you linked to it three times, but the other two times were about specific models, and it's not too natural to click there if one is not interested in those models.
I even had to look at a pic of a chimp before finding the right link ;-)
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Erik said 11:20AM on 9-01-2009
*Ahem*
1) Right click on the word containing the link
2) Select the 'Copy Link' contextual menu option
3) Click on whatever text field or document in which you need the link
4) Press command-v to paste the URL into said text field or document
That doesn't sound hard to me, at all. So, in my opinion, you are definitely being too picky.
antiorario said 11:34AM on 9-01-2009
I know how to copy and paste links, thank you very much. So then
maybe I'm both picky and unclear.
What I meant was: it's a bad, yet way too common, web-writing
practice that of using words such as "here" or "click here" or
similar to anchor a link. Because the word is too short, because it
means very little unless you go back and read the whole context.
Imagine a reader (like me) who wanted to skip the chimps and the rest
of the post and just go to the page with the list of printers and
scanners. First, he would look for the customary link to the related
page at the end of the post, but that was not provided. So he would
start a quick scan of the post, maybe avoiding those links that
relate to printer/scanner models he's not interested in (little would
he know that those links point exactly to the page he's looking for,
and that's another semantic issue).
Using "here" doesn't help the reader with his quest. (Why is a reader
so unwilling to read the post? Because maybe he's otherwise busy
working and needs to know if his scanner will work on Snow Leopard.)
As someone who does write on the web, and who "builds the web" for a
living, I would have used the previous sentence to provide a more
visible, more semantic anchor ("semantic" in both web terms and
semiotic terms), and specifically the words, 'a list of both scanners
and printers that are known to work'.
That's all I meant.
David said 7:48AM on 9-01-2009
My HP F300 series all-in-one is listed but it is a no go for me. SL offers to download the driver for me via software update but after a few minutes reports that the software is not available.
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Yos said 8:43AM on 9-01-2009
same here.. I have 1400 I didnt see it on the list from a brief checking but I also get the same offer to install the driver automatically but it just stops in the middle.. I hope I dont need to buy a new printer, I will wait...
Jens said 7:54AM on 9-01-2009
The first paragraph made my day. Chimp included.
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dsauce said 7:56AM on 9-01-2009
I have a Brother MFC-7440N and while the drivers were loaded, it removed the software package to control it and eliminated the ability to talk to it over my network. Simple fix was to reload the software package and tell it to look for my computer/printer and all functions were go. No big deal, just passing on word.
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thiselton said 8:16AM on 9-01-2009
My old Lexmark X75 isn't covered, heck it hasn't been covered since Panther, her miraculously it works. Oddly it only works if I have it plugged into my airport extreme base station and not the computer itself, but hey.
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Jon said 8:59AM on 9-01-2009
My reasonably new HP PSC 1215 isn't on the list :-(
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Zack said 10:21AM on 9-01-2009
I have an HP PSC (can't remember the model) and the scanner hasn't worked since Tiger. I have to use an old iBook or PowerBook if I want to scan anything. Big pain in the butt.
Jeff said 9:15AM on 9-01-2009
W00t! I can't believe it. My very old serial printer HP Laserjet 6MP is listed. I've got it connected to an AsanteTalk translation box. Still works perfectly. Planned obsolescence be damned! ;-)
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clement00 said 9:23AM on 9-01-2009
Emmmh. I don't want to sound picky either but then Snow has been out for like 3 days and scanner / printer issue has been like a real bummer to not just a few but rather a whole loooot of angry people (especially HP users, me included). So, for the sake of information, you might want to refer readers to eg, http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2131363&start=0&tstart=0 and maybe warn that upgrade should be made on a careful basis!
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dagamer43 said 9:25AM on 9-01-2009
Still no scanning over WiFi. =/
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Chris said 9:31AM on 9-01-2009
My Lexmark Z2490 works great - so long as I have it connected to my MacBook via USB - Snow Leopard completely killed the wireless function. I have been trying to get it to work over the entire weekend to no avail. I'm crossing my fingers for updated wireless drivers soon.
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Monte said 9:49AM on 9-01-2009
I've got Canon MF4370dn and am no longer able to print over ethernet. Thankfully it does still work via USB, but with 3 Macs in the house this is now a huge pain. Canon has said they will have an updated driver by October 9th.
I don't get some of these companies, they surely have the SL seeds, why is it so difficult for them to get updated software out before a new OS launches?
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LD said 10:08AM on 9-01-2009
What I can't believe the industry hasn't done a long time ago is come up with a standard for printer drivers. There should be a bare minimum protocol that all printers support that at least allows a person to print a document in B&W. Beyond that there could be custom or additional protocols supported by manufacturers. But at least we'd have a basic driver that always works.
It floors me that in the decades we've had personal printers attached to PCs that this hasn't happened.
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K said 10:13AM on 9-01-2009
Dell 2330DN doesn't work properly with Dell drivers- waiting on Dell.
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meislin said 10:16PM on 9-18-2009
I just discovered that the Lexmark E360dn driver, which is included in Snow Leopard, works fine with the Dell 2330dn. (I read somewhere that the guts of the printer are equivalent and figured I'd try it.)
Jason said 10:19AM on 9-01-2009
I want one of those Epsons that shoots rainbows out its paper slot!
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