Question :
I have a Canon CanoScan 5600F scanner that worked great with my previous Mac, but now I have upgraded to a new M1 Mac running macOS 14 Sonoma.
I’ve looked on the Canon website and searched the internet, but there is no macOS 14 Sonoma compatible driver available for this scanner.
Is there any way to use this CanoScan 5600F scanner in macOS 14 Sonoma ?
Answer :
Yes, there is …and it still works this way on Intel i5/i7-Mas running macOS 14 Sonoma, and almost certainly on M1 (and M2) Macs also (since it worked on M1/M2-Macs in macOS 13 Ventura) :
- goto Canon’s US website : https://www.usa.canon.com
- choose Support > Scanners > Film & Negative Scanner > CanoScan 5600F
- or use this link : https://www.usa.canon.com/internet/portal/us/home/support/details/scanners/film-negative-scanner/canoscan-5600f/canoscan-5600f?subtab=downloads-drivers
- there, click on the “Drivers & Downloads” tile (huge button)
- then, choose “macOS Mojave v10.14” (even though your on macOS Sonoma v14 – don’t worry) as your operating system and “English” as your language
- now, you will see 2 drivers listed :
- > 5600F Scanner Driver Ver.14.11.5h (Mac) : msd_-mac_cs5600f-14_11_5h-ea8_2.dmg
- > ICA Driver Ver.4.1.4a (Mac) : misd-mac-ijscanner2-4_1_4-ea21_3.dmg
- > 5600F Scanner Driver Ver.14.11.5h (Mac) : msd_-mac_cs5600f-14_11_5h-ea8_2.dmg
- download both of them
- note that despite the fact that both are versions from 2018, these will still work with macOS 14 Sonoma
- goto your downloads folder
- first, double-click on the file named msd_-mac_cs5600f-14_11_5h-ea8_2.dmg
- this will mount the ScanGear_CanoScan 5600F_141105.pkg
- again, click on that and version 14.11 of the ScanGear driver installer will open
- now, follow the on-screen directions and the latest ScanGear driver will be installed
- then, double-click on the file named misd-mac-ijscanner2-4_1_4-ea21_3.dmg
- this will mount the Canon IJScanner2_040104.pkg
- again, click on that and version 4.1.4 the IJScanner2 driver installer will open
- now, follow the on-screen directions and the latest IJScanner2 driver will be installed
- when done, click on the Apple-logo top-left in the top menu bar
- in the pulldown menu that appears, click on “System Settings”
- in the window that opens, scroll down in the menu list on the left and click on “Printers & Scanners”
- if the CanoScan 5600F is already listed in the Scanners chapter, click it
- if not, click the “Add Printer, Scanner or Fax” button first to add the scanner
- when done, click the CanoScan 5600F in the Scanners chapter
- when the scanner details open on the right, click on the “Open Scanner”-button
- now, the built-in macOS ImageCapture.app will open and it will immediately do a preview scan of whatever is in the scanner
NOTE : you might run into a small problem every once in a while ; when the automatic scanning preview starts, you might get an error saying “Scanner reported an error – Cannot communicate with scanner for these reasons: – Scanner is turned off. – USB cable is disconnected. Please check and try again.” If so, just flip the scanner’s ON/OFF-switch in OFF-position manually and then back into ON-position. Then click “OK” in the error message window, then click the “Overview” button in the ImageCapture window. That should help in making the scanner preview work again.
enjoy š
MacManus.nl 
Great instruction, thank you š
Unfortunately, my scanner turned out to be sort of a princess and only wants to respond once in a while (maybe 1 out of 10 attempts) when directly connected to my Intel 2020 Mac, but not at all when connected via USB hub. Even when it responds, the program will only show the (correctly working) “Preview” button, but not the “Scan” button which is necessary to finally get a file to disk. What a pity, indeed š
I will now investigate if I can make use of the SANE project and set up a Raspberry as scan server. The 5600F is supported. Getting the scan result out from the Raspi might be the biggest challenge.
Plan C in my case is to resort to my Win10 VM, but that’s sort of uncool, the vendor-supported Scan software for Win10 is overly complex and confusing.
@Innocent_Bystander :
Sorry to hear that you are not able to get things running using your UBS-hub.
I’ve just tested a the CanoScan 5600F on an Intel-Mac from 2018 running macOS 14 Sonoma directly and (apart from the initial “Scanner reported an error” message that disappears without any problem if you just click “OK”) that works perfect…
…even when connected to a USB-C port using a USB-tot-USB-C adapter.
I also tested this with a generic USB-C hub (originally for iPad) in-between : same result, no problem.
And I tested with an unpowered generic USB hub in-between : a little slow, but same result, still connects.
So I would suggest that your no.1 option is to buy a new USB hub, preferably a powered one.
(tip : with these kinds of problems, it’s best to buy a new USB hub online and if it doesn’t work, return it and buy&try another one ’till you have one that works for you)
Good Luck !
additional info :
the scanner appears to not be recognised properly if you have your iPhone connected to your Mac at the same time, so disconnect your iPhone before trying to scan (and restart the scanner and the ImageCapture.app if you still get errors after disconnecting your iPhone)
hope this helps š
No, there is no iPhone connected, but nevertheless the scanner does not want to talk to ImageCapture. Also, the USB hub did not appear to be the culprit, as direct Mac connection also did not work. I am now checking my chances with github.com/sbs20/scanservjs and some Raspi Zero W or Banana Pi which I found in my “surplus” box. This seems doable.
@Innocent_Bystander :
Thanks for the reply – sorry to hear you haven’t got things working yet…
Even though I know the CanoScan 5600F should work on your Mac, I can’t figure out what the cause of your problem is… we are overlooking something… maybe the USB-scanner cable is faulty, maybe there is a firmware problem, maybe there’s some tiny piece of software missing on your Mac… do you have an other older Mac to test the scanner ? (you could even set that old Mac up as a print/scanner-server, but that might be tricky considering network security and energy consumption)
so, going the printer/scanner server should not be needed, but you might be right is the quickest solution… (hope you have sufficient computer skills to do so)
Good Luck !