[psmith2.0]

The only roadblock I'm running into is getting my Mom's slightly old Canon scanner to work in Leopard.

It's the Canoscan N1240U model. USB-powered, etc. I've used it before, but it was on my PowerBook and probably more around the Panther and/or Tiger era.

I'm trying to get it all up and going on my iMac (so I can borrow it every now and then, but I'm also using it tonight as a "guinea pig" so I can get the mini up and going tomorrow with little hassle).

When you go to Canon's site to get the driver's and stuff, they're there. But I believe they're OS, and they're not installing or doing much for me. I get errors, or aborted installs, etc.

I searched around and wound up trying some really complex "back-end" workarounds, consisting of multiple downloads install just so, still with no success. And some of the pages I was coming across were from 2006, so I'm kinda up a tree.

Ideally, I'd like for her to be able to just scan directly out of Image Capture, if possible. So...anyone who has a firmer grasp on scanners, scanner drivers, etc., I'd really appreciate some help.

I've got almost everything else configured, or set up and ready to migrate (or, in the case of her software, sitting right here in the box and waiting for the delivery tomorrow). In the meantime I need some assistance to get this scanner up and running.

She doesn't have Photoshop (any variant). If she has to use a Canon interface/app, that's fine. But I can't even get it installed (I think it's for Classic...the installer is a bit ugly and bitmappy).



Help.

[709]

Hmm. You're right, the driver installer isn't very intuitive now, is it? The posted date on the driver is 12/18/2008 (version 7.0.1.1aX), so it seems like it should work alright, but most of the files are older PowerPC types according to the info boxes.

Have you tried just installing the CanoScan Toolbox on it's own? That at least seems like it wants to install something when I launch it.


[edit]: There's a folder in the driver window called "Into Users_Shared." I'd try dropping the enclosed folder (N067U) into your Shared folder and restarting the machine.

[edit2]: I'd also drop the 4 files in the folder "Into Lib_CFMSupport" into your CFMSupport folder as well. Cripes...how hard is it to make an OSX installer, anyways?

[psmith2.0]

I don't know, but it's totally wearing me out. I've been trying to figure this out for hours now...

It should be so much easier, huh?

I tried to install that Toolbox thing earlier, and it gave me two errors during, and installed nothing. And the errors were actually an OS 9-looking box/type...very strange to see after all these years.

It's frustrating as can be, but I'm running out of gas at this point. I'll revisit it tomorrow or Wednesday. I've got everything else ready to go (migrate or install). Just this one thing is being a pain...

[psmith2.0]

This is what happens when I attempt to install the Toolbox thingie (which I apparently need to do first, according to whatever cobbled-together gibberish I'm reading at Canon and Apple's site)...honestly, WTF?



Anyway, the install screen I first see:



The first error message I get after clicking "Install":



And the second (final) error message I get, talking about "access privileges" I'm the admin on this computer. I can do everything.



I have a feeling if I can get past this point, maybe I could have a shot.

[FFL]

Canon's installers apparently are botched when it comes to setting permissions for certain components.

It seems that you first have to uninstall, and then fix permissions manually, and then reinstall.

See:

http://www.versiontracker.com/php/fe...07020506300749

[psmith2.0]

FFL, you are officially The Man.



A gazillion thanks! I really appreciate the info...that totally fixed it, and now the scanner works. And now I'm not dreading tomorrow/Wednesday. I use the Canon Toolbox interface to scan, and you can tell it's not been updated in a while (the real poochy, pinstriped Aqua look from around 2002-2003), but it works great and as little as she uses it, it'll be just fine. Starts right up (the even the auto/quick buttons on the scanner work).

I'll gladly buy you a drink if we run into each other some day. You officially saved my bacon, and wiped out the one roadblock I was encountering during all this.



Proof (my grandparents from the 40's):

[709]

Originally Posted by FFL See: http://www.versiontracker.com/php/fe...07020506300749

WTF, Canon?

[psmith2.0]

Yeah, very strange. You have to go in and reset that to "read & write" access. No big deal, but it's the kind of thing no regular schmo would've ever figured out on their own (even I don't like to go prowling around inside the Library or System folder, and in 10 years I probably wouldn't have landed on that as the culprit).

Canon needs to fix their stuff, obviously. Historically I've always been really happy with their OS X support. It seems like they, maybe along with Epson, were first out of the chute with OS X drivers and softwares back in 2001-2002 for their inkjets, scanners, etc. And I've always gravitated toward Canon gear over the years (my Mom, too...camera, scanner and printer are all Canon).

But, in a million years, she never would've known to do that.

I don't know why Canon can't tweak their installer/code(?) to bypass this annoying thing. But I'd been searching all around for hours, all these convoluted, 7-8 step "fixes", etc. Had FFL not posted the above, I'd still be dicking around with all this.

I know it's too much to ask that maybe Canon get an updated installer and OS X-friendly program icon and interface (that's not the Windows version...it looks exactly like that on my Mac ), but hell's bells...at least make the stuff install right, from the download.



I wish I had taken a screenshot last night of godawful, jaggy-for-days OS 9/Classic style icon (which only looks 10x worse when blown up huge for the preview window in the Finder ). I promptly replaced it with a generic, stylish aluminum/white icon I found online...it's not even a scanner, but looks vaguely like one (enough for her to make the visual connection). And the big "X" on it actually ties in to the name of the software, which was a nice unexpected bonus. We'll just put that in her Dock and it should be obvious...





A huge improvement over the primary-colored, bitmap/jaggy, unmasked old-style icon.

[FFL]

Glad I was able to help!

I remembered reading something somewhere sometime about some older Canon scanner software having permission issues when installing, and when I saw your post, it clicked. A Google search led me to the fix in just a minute or two.

I'm sure Canon would fix and re-post the software if it was for a current model, but since it's for older stuff, they can't be bothered, apparently.


H-P's software is still even worse, though.

[Unch]

Thanks for pointing that out FFL. I've got an old CanoScan LIDE30 that I haven't got around to install on my new MacBook yet. That will hopefully save me some headaches in future.

[psmith2.0]

For what it's worth, I installed this on my Mom's new Mac mini earlier tonight and it went just fine. First time, no glitches.

[Maciej]

Yay Paul. I'm glad your Mom is going to have an easy transition.