El Capitan and Canon MX870 printer

[Pretorien]

Having made, for a variety of reasons, the decision to switch from Windows to Mac, I found a nicely specc'd and well priced mid 2014 15" Macbook Pro (2.5G I7, 16G ram, 500G SSD, 70 battery cycles) and am in the process of loading programs, transferring files, installing Parallels etc. For the most part, things are going OK but I can't switch over until I can print and scan. I have two printers: a Canon MX870 multi purpose ink jet and a workhorse HP 4P laser. (I have no illusions about running the HP under OS - it will be installed under XP in Parallels.

A day of frustration has left me wondering if I am making a mistake. Windows has a number of issues but one of the things it does well is detecting new hardware, finding drivers and installing them. OS seems a lot harder. I have downloaded and installed the latest drivers from Canon (suitable for El Capitan per the Canon site). With the drivers downloaded the Mac found the (wireless) printer and it shows up on the printer list. It also prints - sort of. A print command from Libre Office brings up the printer and gives me the option to print - but that's all. I cannot find the rich menu options that are offered under windows like duplex printing, 4-in-1 printing, portrait or landscape, print quality, paper size, paper source (front, back or auto) etc.

I have also downloaded and installed the latest version of the Canon Navigator scanning function and it appears on the launchpad but simply returns an "unable to connect" message.

Any suggestions? I really like the machine but if it won't do what I need - Craig's list!

 

[campyguy]

I have two suggestions, coming from a legacy Canon all-in-one (MP620) user. First, remove/ditch/uninstall the Canon SW - IMHO a kludge**** of programming that made me wonder if Canon is all in on funding therapists dealing with tech issues...

Second, I found out by trial and error that Apple's own drivers - designated for newer hardware - works perfectly with my MP620. The MP620 is recognized as an MP620, works exactly as an MP620 should (scanning/printing), offers all of the options that my MP620 is capable of - natively, and just works. It's just that my MP620 isn't on Apple's "list" of supported drivers.

I'm using the 13.7.1.0 driver - which supports your MX870, according to Apple's support page (https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201465).

I also use a really old boat anchor ML2010 Samsung laser printer with the driver designated for the newer printers and get the same support - everything works, my Mac sees the ML2010 as that model and all of its options. I don't need Samsung's crappy driver either.

 

[NoBoMac]

If I remember correctly, LibreOffice has an option for it to use the OS X print options vs the LibreOffice print dialog. Seem to recall that LO defaults to their print screen, so, check that setting in LO options/preferences/settings.

An ooooold Brother printer/scanner user here, and it works well, with full print dialog, with LO.

 

[Pretorien]

Some progress: scanner function working. Seems that Navigator was finding 2 printers - when I selected the one with an (odd) ip address, it found the scanner and functions normally. Printing options still missing. I checked and it is running with the current Apple driver - 13.7.1.0. Thinking that this driver might not support all the functions, I downloaded (for the nth time) the latest Canon driver with the intention to "add" another printer with this driver. Problem: I can see the driver as a download and it will install but, when I use the "other" option in the add printer dialog, the downloads are grayed and not selectable and I can't find the installed driver as an option. Where does OS X store drivers?