Tag Archives: macOS 15

fixed : have direct access buttons to printers and scanner in macOS 15 Sequoia

Posted on by
Reply

|Question :
I have always had so-called ‘Desktop Printer‘ and ‘Desktop Scanner‘ buttons on my Mac, so I could access both my printer(s) and scanner(s) with just one click straight from the Desktop.

How do I do that in macOS 15 Sequoia ?

——————————————————-

Updated Answer :
There is a better solution for this problem in this newer post :
fixed : create a Custom Desktop Shortcut for your printer, scanner (or any application)

——————————————————-
Answer :
There are two options to create such ‘Desktop Printer / Scanner’ direct access buttons in macOS 15 Sequoia :

1- create new buttons : this can be done in the same way it could be done in macOS 14 Sonoma, as outlined in these previous posts :
fixed : create a Desktop Printer (one click pinter access) in macOS 14 Sonoma
fixed : create a Desktop Scanner (one click scanner access) in macOS 14 Sonoma

2- copy buttons over from your other Mac : if you already had Desktop Printer Scanner buttons on your previous Mac running at least macOS 14 Sonoma, you can them over in this way :
– have your new and your old Mac running side by side and connected to the same WiFi network
– on your old Mac, create 2 new empty folders on your Desktop
– right-click on the Desktop Printer icon on your Desktop and click on Get Info in the pop-up menu
– in the Get Info window that opens, click on the icon top left and press the [CMD]+[C] to copy the icon
– then, right-click on the first empty folder and click on Get Info in the pop-up menu
– in the Get Info window that opens, click on the icon top left and press the [CMD]+[V] to paste the icon
– then, also in the Get Info window, change the name of the folder to “Desktop Printer icon” (or something alike)
– then, take similar steps for the Desktop Scanner’s icon, and you will have a folder called “Desktop Scanner icon” (or something alike) also
– then, right-click on the “Desktop Printer icon” folder and choose AirDrop from the pop-up menu to AirDrop the folder to your new Mac
– then, repeat this to also AirDrop the “Desktop Scanner icon” folder, the “Desktop Printer” (alias) button and the “Desktop Scanner” (alias) button to your new Mac
– then, on your new Mac, open the Get Info windows of both the “Desktop Printer” and the “Desktop Printer icon” side by side and copy-paste the icon from the “Desktop Printer icon” to the “Desktop Printer” (that has lost it’s custom icon in the transfer to your new Mac)
– repeat this for the Desktop Scanner, by opening the Get Info windows of both the “Desktop scanner” and the Desktop Scanner icon” side by side and copying over the icon
– now, test both the “Desktop Printer” button and the “Desktop Scanner” icon ; the Desktop Printer button should open up the Print Center app and the Desktop Scanner button should open up the Image Capture app

That’s it !

enjoy πŸ˜‰

fixed : CanoScan 5600F driver for macOS 15 Sequoia

Posted on by
Reply

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 πŸ˜‰

fixed : free currency converter (or unit converter) for iOS

Posted on by
Reply

Question :
I used to have a currency converter app on my iPhone which was very handy when travelling the globe. But the free currency converter app that I used to use, doesn’t work with my current iOS version and is no longer available form the AppStore…

Do you have any recommendation ?


Answer :
With the introduction of iOS 18, Apple has. integrated all kinds of conversion options (including currency conversion) into the Calculator app. To use it, do this :
– open the Calculator.app on your iPhone (or iPad or Mac)
– when in the regular calculator mode, click on the Calculator-button (bottom left)
– from the popup list that appears, set the slider to the right (so ‘Convert’ will be chosen and turn orange)
– now the input field will be devided in two : an upper part with white digits and a lower part with grey digits ; the upper part is the input field, the lower part is the result field
– tip 1 : using the orange up/down-sign on the left, you can swap the currency
– tip 2 : using the grey up&down-icon next to the currencies, you can choose any currency you like
– tip 3 : after pressing the grey up&down-icon (next to the currency), you will get the option to convert not only currencies, but also all other sorts of values by choosing another orange chapter : Angle, Area, Data, Energy, Force, Fuel, Length, Power, Pressure, Speed, Temperature, Time, Volume or Weight ; you can scroll though the list or use the search field to find the currency (or other type of unit) you need
– so, after having chosen the sort of conversion you need, just key in the value and the converted value will be shown

That’s it !

enjoy πŸ˜‰