MB 1,1-7,1 Is it possible to get Ventura to work with my HP scanner?

[TheShortTimer]

Hey all,

I've got an HP F4180 AIO which has been trooping along for many years. Nowadays I use it solely for the scanning functionality but HP and Apple haven't provided drivers for Ventura and this means that I have to switch over to Catalina (as the most recent compatible macOS version) whenever I want to scan stuff.

Is there some sort of generic scanner driver that will work? I've had a look online but couldn't find any leads.

 

[eyoungren]

Everything I am about to say is from hazy memory of a similar situation about 12 years ago. Unfortunately, I do not believe I can help because the solution then was a paid app and I doubt that app/company exists anymore.

Basically, I think the answer is no. I have a 2001 era flatbed scanner that I can only use on a system running Snow Leopard and Adobe CS1. For that reason (and a few others), my sole SL Mini is still in service. Do you have another Mac you could hook the AIO up to an then scan via Screen Sharing? That's how it goes with mine.

PS. Welcome back!!!!!!!!

 

[f54da]

it'll probably work with vuescan but that's not really "native" image capture.

 

[TheShortTimer]

Everything I am about to say is from hazy memory of a similar situation about 12 years ago. Unfortunately, I do not believe I can help because the solution then was a paid app and I doubt that app/company exists anymore.

There's VueScan, which @f54da mentioned. However even the cheapest option costs more than what I paid for F4180 brand new. Sames goes for ExactScan.

Basically, I think the answer is no. I have a 2001 era flatbed scanner that I can only use on a system running Snow Leopard and Adobe CS1. For that reason (and a few others), my sole SL Mini is still in service. Do you have another Mac you could hook the AIO up to an then scan via Screen Sharing? That's how it goes with mine.

I could do that - let's face it, I'm hardly short of Mac gear! It would just be easier to use it with my 2010 MBA under Catalina in that case, which is my current solution.

PS. Welcome back!!!!!!!!

Thanks so much, Erik.

 

[f54da]

why does the catalina driver not work with sonoma?

 

[TheShortTimer]

why does the catalina driver not work with sonoma?

Ventura... The F4180 is detected under Catalina and the driver is automatically installed but this is what happens with Ventura:

As you can see, Ventura reports that no driver is available. I don't know the location of the driver installation under Catalina and I'm uncertain whether it would even work with Ventura seeing as the most recent one which can be obtained from HP fails to trigger any activity from the F4180.

Here's what's available to me in Ventura if I choose Select Software:

The HP DeskJet Series option doesn't work either.

This is what System Information reports on the AIO:

 

[eyoungren]

There's VueScan, which @f54da mentioned. However even the cheapest option costs more than what I paid for F4180 brand new. Sames goes for ExactScan.

Yeah, that is the app that I mentioned. I just did not recall the name. But apparently it still exists and is just as expensive as it was around the time I was looking for the same thing you are.

I could do that - let's face it, I'm hardly short of Mac gear! It would just be easier to use it with my 2010 MBA under Catalina in that case, which is my current solution.

Well, Screen Sharing is a middle ground. It sucks having to open it up and manipulate a second Mac. But if you designate a folder on your network for scans, you can connect to that and get your scan right away. My Mini is connected to the network and I have a designated scans folder. Just a simple matter of pulling it across to my MacPro once PS saves the file.

But…all of that is far easier than shutting down everything you're in the middle of, rebooting into Catalina, scanning, saving (possibly editing the scan) and then quitting apps again, rebooting and then picking back up where you left off.

Just my opinion on the matter - which is why I set it up the way I did.

Thanks so much, Erik.

You are and always will be welcome here, no matter what anyone else may think or say. Fact.

 

[TheShortTimer]

Yeah, that is the app that I mentioned. I just did not recall the name. But apparently it still exists and is just as expensive as it was around the time I was looking for the same thing you are.

Some things just remain constant.

There's a freeware offering called NAPS2. Unfortunately, it didn't detect the scanner hardware even after switching through three different ranges of drivers. The developer invites feedback, so I'm going to contact them and ask if they can help.

Well, Screen Sharing is a middle ground. It sucks having to open it up and manipulate a second Mac. But if you designate a folder on your network for scans, you can connect to that and get your scan right away. My Mini is connected to the network and I have a designated scans folder. Just a simple matter of pulling it across to my MacPro once PS saves the file.

But…all of that is far easier than shutting down everything you're in the middle of, rebooting into Catalina, scanning, saving (possibly editing the scan) and then quitting apps again, rebooting and then picking back up where you left off.

Just my opinion on the matter - which is why I set it up the way I did.

Oh of course, I totally agree but what I meant is that I can switch over to another machine for the scanning - which spares me the hassle of rebooting back and forth on the daily driver MBP. Your method is certainly something that I'll consider, though.

You are and always will be welcome here, no matter what anyone else may think or say. Fact.

Those kind words mean a lot. Rest assured, I'm here to stay.

 

[eyoungren]

Oh of course, I totally agree but what I meant is that I can switch over to another machine for the scanning - which spares me the hassle of rebooting back and forth on the daily driver MBP. Your method is certainly something that I'll consider, though.

I see. Yeah, if you can do that it works out better. For me, I don't typically use the Mini for anything other than this and as a download repository for anything I download on all my Macs. So, it's headless and just idles 24/7 until I need a scan or it takes a download.

One day, when the kids are finally out on their own, I get a room back and at that point I'll be able to have different work stations again. But until then, it's largely a matter of accessing my other Macs via VNC. It's been a wait, because I have an old HP flatbed scanner in the garage that is SCSI. I want to hook it up still because it's 11x17!

It's funny, because in design school (around 1993) there was a designated scanning station. We were told that other than using Photoshop to scan stuff it, we were not to mess with that Mac for any reason. But the instructions I remember most were "Be sure of your settings before you scan because there are others waiting behind you". And, "Start your scan then go do something else for about 20 minutes".

So whenever I set up a scanning station, somewhere in the back of my head is the idea of heading off to get a cup of coffee then coming back in 20.

 

[ToniCH]

It's a good thing to have few extra Mac Minis to use them as headless servers for whatever comes necessary at any one time.

For awhile when my Samsung wifi -printer didn't want to work with wifi I connected it to a Mac Mini server and turned the printer sharing on. Worked just fine like that too. Then suddenly few months ago the wifi started to work automatically again and has done so ever since. 🤔

I think it would work just fine as a scanner server. Just make aliases for screensharing and scanned document folder and voilá! 👍

Of course one can figure out more use for those servers so they are more useful like backup or file server, ad blocker, firewall etc.

 

[weckart]

One alternative would be to have a VM of the latest macOS or OS X, for which a driver exists and works. It eats up disk space but it would be like starting up a big slow application rather than rebooting into another OS on your Mac.

 

[weckart]

Some things just remain constant.

There's a freeware offering called NAPS2. Unfortunately, it didn't detect the scanner hardware even after switching through three different ranges of drivers. The developer invites feedback, so I'm going to contact them and ask if they can help.

I had a look at this. I had forgotten about SANE/TWAIN and all the freeware efforts that were around since my OS/2 days. This one worked with my Canon LIDE 700F off the bat but as an application, it has some way to go. It seems to lack a preview mode so you have to specify a scan area as a profile and manually adjust light and contrast, which seems a bit too much for the average user, aka me. I couldn't easily find a middle ground that didn't look either washed out or blurry. I'm just wondering if I could pull the driver out of the app and see if I can get Image Capture to cooperate with it. That is a slightly better, if limited, option for a basic scanner.

 

[TheShortTimer]

I had a look at this. I had forgotten about SANE/TWAIN and all the freeware efforts that were around since my OS/2 days. This one worked with my Canon LIDE 700F off the bat but as an application, it has some way to go. It seems to lack a preview mode so you have to specify a scan area as a profile and manually adjust light and contrast, which seems a bit too much for the average user, aka me.

I'm delighted that it works for you. It's always gratifying to know that others have enjoyed success.

Having to fiddle around with those settings doesn't enthuse me either - not when Preview and Image Capture make life so easy for the user.

I couldn't easily find a middle ground that didn't look either washed out or blurry. I'm just wondering if I could pull the driver out of the app and see if I can get Image Capture to cooperate with it. That is a slightly better, if limited, option for a basic scanner.

Please let us know how get on with this. As an aside, I installed HP Easy Scan but it didn't detect the F4180 under Ventura.

 

[weckart]

I'm delighted that it works for you. It's always gratifying to know that others have enjoyed success.

Having to fiddle around with those settings doesn't enthuse me either - not when Preview and Image Capture make life so easy for the user.

Please let us know how get on with this. As an aside, I installed HP Easy Scan but it didn't detect the F4180 under Ventura.

I looked inside the application and the SANE drivers are inside the Resources folder, looking pretty much as they do under Linux with a host of dylibs alongside. Opening up the NAPS2 app does not make the drivers available to Image Capture. Rather than throwing a bundle of random files into my root folders and hoping for the best, I had a look at the last manufacturer's driver available for my scanner. There were two from 2021 - one ICA and one TWAIN for up to Mojave. Given the age of my scanner theese were bound to be compiled for Intel only but I threw both into my Mini M4 running the latest Sequoia and Image Capture sprang into action. Didn't even have to reboot. Up to now, I had been using the clunky Canon Scanogear suite on an older macOS installation on my Trashcan. I won't have to boot that up just to scan a page or two. Chuffed that a 14 year old scanner still works even after an architecture change.

With regard to your AIO, it is a bit older but the real problem is that it is primarily a printer with a scanner tacked on. I think most of the scanner solutions are aimed at sole purpose scanners. If there were a way of identifying the scanner hardware within your AIO, we could possibly try for that particular driver, providing that the scanner works in isolation from the printer hardware in your HP. From what I can see, HP didn't provide a driver beyond Snow Leopard so it relied on CUPS and god knows what else from Apple.