fixed : CanoScan 5600F driver for macOS 15 Sequoia

Question :

I have a Canon CanoScan 5600F scanner that worked great with my previous Mac, but now I have upgraded to a new M4 Mac running macOS 15 Sequoia.

I’ve looked on the Canon website and searched the internet, but there is no macOS 15 Sequoia compatible driver available for this scanner.

Is there any way to use this CanoScan 5600F scanner in macOS 15 Sequoia ?

Answer :

Yes, there is …and it still works (nearly) the same way on Intel Macs and Apple silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4) Macs running macOS 15 Sequoia :

  • 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 Sequoia v15 – 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
  • download both of them
    • note that despite the fact that both are versions from 2018, these will still work with macOS 15 Sequoia
  • 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
  • if you have an M1/M2/M3/M4 Mac, you will need to allow to allow the Rosetta Intel-simulator software too (probably only needed for the installer, the actual driver can probably do without)
  • 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 😉

fixed : my GoCube is out of sync with the pictures in the app

Question :
I have a GoCube digital Rubik’s cube and it works great !
I hadn’t used it for a long time, so I even had to reinstall the GoCube.app. All seemed okay at first, but when I saw the (picture of) the cube in the GoCube.app one layer was in a different position in the picture than in the actual cube. Restating the app didn’t solve the problem. Niether did disconnecting the cube from bluetooth and reconnecting. I can’t beleive my GoCube is broken… this must be a software problem…

Is there any way tho get the GoCube.app and the physical GoCube cube back in sync ?


Answer :
Yes, there is !
To get your GoCube.app back in sync with your physical GoCube cube, do this :

  • make sure your GoCube cube is charged (it doesn’t need to be ‘solved’)
  • keep your GoCube cube next to your iPhone
  • open the GoCube.app on the iPhone
  • in the window that opens, below the “LOGIN WITHOUT A CUBE” stripe, there should be another stripe with “GoCube” (or the name you gave to your GoCube cube) in it
    –> if if the stripe with “GoCube” in it doesn’t appear, move the physical cube closer to your iPhone and check if Bluetooth is switched ON on your iPhone
  • then, tap on the “GoCube” stripe
  • now, on your iPhone “Connecting” will appear, then the actual cube will light up and on your iPhone you will see your personal Account with the “Quick Timer”, “Solver”, “Stats” and “Cubing” buttons beneath it
  • then, click ont he Avatar&List-button (top-left)
  • when the pulldown menu appears, make sure thet “3D Tracking (IMU)” is switched ON (blue slider to the right)
  • then, just below “3D Tracking (IMU)”, click on “Load Cube State”
  • if your physical GoCube cube is in ‘solved’ state, you can now try clicking the “Load Solved Cube” button and your problem might be solved
  • if that doesn’t work, or if your physical GoCube cube is not in ‘solved’ state, you need to recreate the color patern of all the sides of the physical cube on the image of the cube inside the GoCube.app
  • you can do this step-by-step :
  • make sure the same middle tile color is facing you in both the physical cube and the image
  • then make sure that the top and the right middle color are in sync
  • then click on a color in the curve of coloured dots and then click on all tiles on the front face of the in-app image that have that color on your physical GoCube
  • repeat this for all colours, until the pattern of colors in the in-app image is an exact copy of the pattern on your physical GoCube
  • to color tiles on a different face of the in-app image, you need to click on the triangular arrow at the right of the GoCube image : it will rotate after each click, in a loop of Front face (white centre), Right face (blue centre), Back face (yellow centre), Left face (green centre), Top face (orange centre), Bottom face (red centre)
  • when you have made an identical copy of the physical GoCube’s color pattern in-app, click the blue “Load Colored Cube” and you your problem should be solved : your cube and your app should now be recalibrated and in-sync with eachother
  • if you happen to still run into the out-of-sync problem, just repeat the above and try again

That’s it !

enjoy 😉

fixed : error message -2101F when trying to reinstall macOS

Question :
I have a 2019 MacBook Air and when I tried to install the latest macOS system update, it froze… I called Apple, and they told met to reinstall macOS, but evert time I turn my Mac off and back on with the OPTION+SHIFT+R key-combo pressed on my keyboard, I run into a black screen with a light grey globe with a white triangle with an exclamation mark in it (a warning icon) and a text below it that just says “support.apple.com/mac/startup -2101F”

What can I do to fix this ?

Answer :
The -2101F error message that you are getting means “cannot connect to the internet”, and connection to the internet is essential for your Mac to do a regular reinstallation of macOS nowadays…
There are some options to solve this problem. First try this one :
– check if your WiFi internet is working properly by connecting to your WiFi using your iPhone (or any other mobile phone)
– if it turns out that your WiFi is not functioning properly, restart your modem to make sure all lights on it (like “Power”, “Internet”, “LAN” end “WiFi”) start blinking
– then restart your Mac and try to initiate the reinstallation process again

If that didn’t help, try this :
– connect your Mac to the internet using a UTP/Ethernet-cable
– for this, you need a UTP/Ethernet cable that is has connection to your modem (preferably directly)
if you buy anything from Amazon by using the links below, MacManus.nl makes a tiny profit, but it will not affect the price you pay
– if you don’t have a UTP/Ethernet-cable, you can borrow one or buy one
to buy one from Amazon US, click here
to buy one form Amazon UK, click here
to buy one from Amazon DE, clcik here
– modern MacBooks don’t have a dedicated UTP/Ethernet-port, so you will need a UTP/Ethernet-to-USB(-C)-converter-cable also
– if you don’t have a UTP/Ethernet-to-USB-C-converter, you can borrow or buy one
to buy one from Amazon US, click here
to buy one form Amazon UK, click here
to buy one from Amazon DE, clcik here
– if you have a UTP/Ethernet-to-USB-converter-cable, but you only have USB-C ports on your Mac, you will need a USB-C-to-USB-converter also
to buy one from Amazon US, click here
to buy one form Amazon UK, click here
to buy one from Amazon DE, clcik here
– after you have connected your Mac to the internet using a UTP/Ethernet-cable, restart your Mac and try to initiate the reinstallation process again

If that didn’t work, try this :
– connect the UTP/Ethernet-to-USB(-C)-converter-cable to a different port on your Mac, because sometimes that USB/USB-C port on your Mac may be faulty, misfunctioning of broken
– then restart your Mac and try to initiate the installation process again

If that didn’t work, try this :
– make sure that one of the USB(-C) ports on your Mac is functioning properly by connecting a USB-mouse or USB-keyboard or USB-stick with a light in it (you might also need a USB-C-to-USB-converter-cable for this) and check if the light is switching on
– if the light in the mouse, keyboard or USB-stick doesn’t turn on when connected to your Mac (do make sure that the light is actually working when using it on another computer), your USB-port is broken and you will need a hardware repair (or a new Mac, which might be more tempting in a lot of cases)
– if the light does turn on, disconnect the mouse, keyboard or USB-stick and use that USB(-C)- port for the reinstallation of macOS from a USB-stick
– first you will have to create a USB-stick with a macOS-installer, to do this, you will need another Mac that is the same age or newer than your Mac and if your Mac doesn’t have an M1/M2/M3-or-newer processor, you will need an Intel-based Mac for this
– follow the directions to create a USB-stick with a macOS-installer that are outlined here :
https://www.macworld.com/article/671308/how-to-create-a-bootable-usb-macos-installer.html
or the instructions from Apple itself :
https://support.apple.com/en-us/101578
– if you don’t have an empty USB-stick at hand, you’re best of buying a 32GB USB-C-stick
to buy one from Amazon US, click here
to buy one form Amazon UK, click here
to buy one from Amazon DE, clcik here
– after you have created the USB-stick with the macOS-installer on it (on the other Mac), plug the USB-stick into your faulty Mac (make sure you use the USB(-C)-port that you know is working) and restart your Mac and initiate the installation process

That’s it !

enjoy 😉