Tag Archives: Samsung

tip : which scanners are compatible with OSX 10.9 Mavericks ?

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Question :

Which scanners will work with OSX 10.9 Mavericks ?

Answer :

Just like with previous versions of MacOSX, the built-in compatibility with older scanners is rather low…

…in the specs of OSX 10.9 Mavericks there isn’t any indication of extended scanner support, so it is expected that “wireless scanning” (over WiFi/AirPort) isn’t supported either, just as was the case (or should I say “problem”) in previous versions of MacOSX…

Apple hasn’t published a list of pre-installed scanner-drivers either, so there’s nothing official on this…

…there is however, a (very short) list of supported scanners pre-installed in OSX 10.9 Mavericks itself :

CanoScan 5600F             find it in the US, UK or Germany
CanoScan 9000F             find it in the US, UK or Germany
CanoScan LiDE 100         find it in the US or Germany
CanoScan LiDE 110         find it in the US, UK or Germany
CanoScan LiDE 200         find it in the US, UK or Germany
CanoScan LiDE 210         find it in the US, UK or Germany
CanoScan LiDE 700F       find it in the US, UK or Germany

This list can be found in :

/Library/Printers/Canon/IJScanner/Resources/CIJIcons

…strangely, there are no such icons installed for scanners from other brands like EPSON and HP… so support for those scanners is either not included (yet) or left up to the individual manufacturers…

NOTE #1 : in MacOSX 10.7 Lion, OSX 10.8 Mountain Lion and OSX 10.9 Mavericks scanner-compatibilty can be extended by installing the SANE-scannerdrivers, as outlined here.

NOTE #2 : if you are a professional and/or heavy user, you could also try using the SilverFast 8 scanner-suite, which adds support for these scanners to OSX 10.9 Mavericks (since even the cheapest version, SilverFast SE 8, will cost you €50, this only is a relevant solution for professional and/or heavy users…)

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fixed : setting up WiFi-printing for the Samsung CLP-365W

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Question :

I just bought a Samsung CLP-365W color laser printer and I am very happy with it. Setting it up for use over USB and Ethernet was easy. But since it is a wireless network-printer, I would like to use is as such. Even with the enclosed “Wireless Network Quick Guide” I have still no success in setting it up after several tries…

Do you have any idea how to set the CLP-365W up for wireless networking from my Mac ?

Answer :

Yes !

…and you are completely right : all instructions provided by Samsung are incomplete…

…and the setup-process is not always smooth and hassle-free…

So… here’s how to do it :

1- download the Wireless Setting app for OSX from the Samsung website :

http://www.samsung.com/us/support/owners/product/CLP-365W/XAC#

on that page, go to “Manuals & Downloads”, then to “Software” and click on the “ZIP”-button of the Easy Wireless Setup (Software) for Mac OS

2- install the Wireless Setting app on your Mac (it’s a drag&drop-installation)

Note : since the app’s name is just very generically “Wireless Setting” and doesn’t include any reference to Samsung, I suggest you put it in a folder labelled “Samsung” (you might already have one, if so put it there) inside the Applications folder

3- now, first make sure there is no connection from your Mac to the CLP-365W, so pull out the ethernet-cable to disconnect from your network, choose “Turn Wi-Fi Off” from the AirPort-menu in the top Menu-bar of your Desktop (the pie-shaped radiation icon) and pull out the USB-cable that might connect your CLP-365W to your Mac

4- open the Wireless Setting app

5- click “Next >” in the window that opens

6- turn the printer on, and when the printer is ready, click “Next >”

7- select “Using a USB cable”, and click “Next >”

Note : even though there is an option named “Using a direct wireless connection”, that will NOT work… too bad… neither manually connecting to the “Portthru” WiFi-network, nor pressing the “WPS” button on the CLP-365W will help…

8- connect the CLP-365W to your Mac using a USB-printer cable

9- now turn on AirPort/WiFi on your Mac, and make sure your Mac is connected to the AirPort/WiFi-network that you want the CLP-365W to connect to also (to do so go to the pie-shaped icon in the top-Menu bar of your desktop)

10- then click “Next >” and you will first see a screen indicating the search for a connection between the Mac and the CLP-365W, and after that a new screen called “Wireless Network Search”

Note : if this doesn’t work, disconnect all cables from the CLP-365W, and also take out the power cable for at least 30 seconds, then put the power cable back in and redo from step 3

11- the name of your wireless AirPort/WiFi-network will now appear in the list of SSIDs, select it and click “Next >” (if it is not listed, try clicking “Refresh”, if that doesn’t help, redo from step 3)

12- in the next screen type your AiPort/WiFi-password and click “Next >” (if you get an error, just retry)

13- in the next screen you can enable Wi-Fi Direct, which enables your iPhones, iPads and Android-devices to easily connect to your CLP-365W

the iOS app needed can be downloaded from the iTunes App Store :

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/samsung-mobile-print/id429611283?mt=8

14- in the next screen click “Add printer” and the “Print & Scan” System Preferences panel will open ; in the “Add” window, select the one with the “Bonjour” indication (so NOT the “USB” one), adjust the “Name:” if you like and click “Add”

15- click “OK” in the pulldown window regarding additional settings, and your CLP-365W will now appear in your list of printers

Note : if you get an error that your System does not have the drivers needed installed, first do a “Repair Disk Permissions” of your OSX-partition in the “Disk Utilities”-app and make sure you have all updates of OSX installed and just try again… only if that doesn’t work you’ll need to reinstall the printer-driver

16- do not forget to close the Wireless Settings app by clicking “Finish” and disconnect your

…and that’s it !

you can now use your CLP-365W from your Mac wirelessly

Enjoy !

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fixed : 5V 4A car adapter for Samsung Optical SmartHub SE-208BW

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Question :

I have a Samsung Optical SmartHub SE-208BW (all-in-one : WiFi-DVD player, media streamer,  WiFi-router and DVD+R burner), and since it is capable of streaming DVDs and HardDisk content to my iPhone/iPad using the Samsung SmartHub iOS-app, I thought it would be a great idea to use it in my car also.

However, if I power it using the USB-cable that comes with the SmartHub, it is limited to not act as a WiFi-device. So… I need a ‘dedicated’ car-adapter for it…

But… the power needed is 5V and 4A minimum… that’s a really rare combination… and Samsung does not sell any car adapters for the SmartHub, neither do they have any recommendation on a good solution…

What options do I have ?

Answer :

The Samsung Optical SmartHub SE-208BW is a rather unique piece of equipment. Combined with an iPhone/iPad and the SmartHub-app, it is a really versatile solution …if you keep in mind that it still has some little flaws…

If you ask Samsung how to power the Samsung Optical SmartHub SE-208BW in your car, they will recommend using a cigarette-lighter-to-220V-transformer…

…that’s a stupid ‘solution’, since transforming from 12V to 220V and back to 5V is both a complete waste of energy resources and it will drain your car battery…

So… after elaborate search and testing, I’ve found a ‘real’ car adapter solution for the SmartHub ; you should create a car-adapter yourself consisting of these three parts :

1- a USB to 5V DC Barrel H power cable like this one :

USB to 5V DC Barrel H power cable

2- a USB Y-connection cable (2x USB-male to 1x USB-female) like this one :

USB Y-connection able

3- a 5V 4.2A dual-USB car adapter ; at this moment, there is only one product like this that actually works :

5V 4.2A dual-USB car adapter

If you join these 3 parts together into, you’ll have exactly the car adapter you need for the Samsung Optical SmartHub SE-208BW.

Enjoy !

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info : streaming just one DVD to 2 iPads at the same time

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Question :

I would like to watch a DVD on my iPad (without having to convert the DVD), but… as I have 2 children, I would even prefer to enable them to both have their own iPad/iPhone and watch the same DVD.

Is there any solution to do so ?

Answer :

This can be done by steaming a DVD to your iPhone/iPad. There are several options to do so, but one of the most interesting ones I’ve found requires a WiFi DVD player.

The smallest WiFi DVD player I’ve found is the Samsung Optical SmartHub SE-208BW :

Samsung Optical SmartHub SE-208BW

(The SE-208BW has several intended uses, it can be a WiFi-router, or a DVD-burner for netbooks, or a wireless DVD streamer, media streamer or 1-click back-up for iOS or Android devices, for instance…)

To use it with an iOS (or Android) device like an iPhone or iPad, you will also need the FREE SmartHub app :

https://itunes.apple.com/en/app/mobile-smarthub/id483986474?mt=8

– plug the SE-208BW into the wall power

– open the DVD-tray by pressing the small button on the front

– put in a movie-DVD

– close the DVD-tray

– on your iPhone/iPad, go to Settings, then in Wi-Fi, find the SE-208BW’s WiFi-network and connect to it (note : the name and password of the WiFi-network are indicated on the bottom of the SE-208BW, the name of the WiFi-network will be something like “208BWxxxx”)

– open the SmartHub-app (*)

– if you get a “Turn on WiFi first” connection error (or if the two rings in the WiFi-icon top-right are not chained), just exit the app, go to Settings and reconnect to the SmartHub’s WiFi-network

– then click on the green rectangle marked “DVD Player”

– now the “DVD Server List” opens ; the screen will be mainly black at first and then show the “Smart Hub Server”

– then open the SmartHub-app on your second iPhone/iPad also, click the green “DVD Player” rectangle, and wait for the “Smart Hub Server” to appear in the “DVD Server List”

– then click “OK” on both the first and the second iPhone/iPad, and the DVD will start on both iDevices

…that’s it : you are now watching the DVD movie on both iPhones/iPads

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note : even though you are watching one-and-the-same DVD on two ‘screens’ at the same time, they are NOT synchronous, so it’s best these things in mind :

– use headphones on both iPhones/iPads

– you have to pause the movie on each ‘screen’ (iPhone/iPad) separately

– using the FastForward and/or Reverse options during playback of a movie on both ‘screens’ will usually cause interference (like frame-scipping, unexpected halts or viewing quality decrease) on the other ‘screen’

(*) if you need to do any additional set-up on the SE-208BW you can do so from within the iOS-app

NOTE :

streaming only one DVD to 2 iPhones/iPads at the same time using the Samsung SmartHub tends to work okay, but chances you’ll see ‘halts to cache’ are rather high… so do not expect as flawless movie-viewing as you can get with a ‘regular’ (non-streaming, but wired) DVD-player

FYI :

I have found only one car adapter for the Optical SmartHub. More info can be found here :

5V 4A car adapter for Samsung Optical SmartHub SE-208BW

fixed : delete SPanel from Mountain Lion

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Question :

When I installed OSX 10.8 Mountain Lion, the SPanel application for my Samsung printer was disabled. But it wasn’t deleted…

Now the SPanel application turns out to be incompatible with OSX 10.8 Mountain Lion, because nothing happens when trying to run it, but the SPanel icon now sits pointlessly in the upper menu bar of my Mac…

…is there any way of deleting it ?

Answer :

Yes – there is.

To delete the SPanel app (a.k.a. “Smart Panel”) and the menu bar item :

– open the Samsung folder inside your Applications folder

– drag the SPanel app to the Desktop

– open the Printers folder that’s in your main Library folder, so :

~/[your hard disk]/Library/Printers

Note : the SPanel folder may be inside the Samsung folder you’ll find there , but usually isn’t

– drag the SPanel folder to your Desktop

– restart your Mac

– then drag both the SPanel app and the SPanel folder from the Desktop to the Trash

– then empty your Trash

…done !

fixed : premature timeout of TimeCapsule-connected USB-printers

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Solving the premature timeout-problem of TimeCapsule-connected printers

Some printers work fine when connected directly on the USB-port of your Mac, but when you connect them to a Time Capsule they choke on large files. They will print part of your document, and then suddenly end by printing a nearly blank page with an error message “SPL-C ERROR – Including Corrupted Data”. This is caused by a pre-mature timeout of connection between the printer and the Time Capsule.

Two simple solutions, and a 3rd ‘DareDevil-solution’ that’s more complex :

  1. your USB-cable is too long ; replace the USB-cable with a shorter one (standard length is 1.8 meters, shorter ones are hard to find)
  2. your USB-cable is too thin ; replace the USB-cable with a thicker, more rigid one
  3. If the above options are not possible to implement in your case, try this (if you dare) :

Edit the .gz-file

  • find the .gz-file for your printer in Library / Printers / PPDs / Contents / Resources / [printer diver name].gz
  • for failure-protection, duplicate it and rename it from [printer driver name].gz to [printer driver name](orig).gz
  • double click the initial .gz-file to unpack it
  • then, in the same folder, find the file with the same name, without the .gz-extention
  • open this file in the application TextEdit
  • find this line :

*Throughput: “[number]”

  • change the “[number]” to “60” (or something at least twice as big as the initial number)
  • save the file ; make sure the name is the same as when you opened it (omit the .txt-extention ; if you fail to do that while saving, rename the file in the Finder, but omit the .txt-extention)
  • download a GZIP-encoder ; for instance The Zipper :

http://lipidity.com/software/zippit/

  • use the GZIP-encoder to turn the [printer driver name] file into a [printer driver name].gz file
  • make sure this new [printer driver name].gz file is located in Library / Printers / PPDs / Contents / Resources /
  • you’re done… …on this computer at least…
  • now you have to got to each of the other Mac’s on your network and replace the old Library / Printers / PPDs / Contents / Resources / [printer diver name].gz by the new one…

…time-consuming isn’t it ?

…and your out of luck : you have to go though this each and every time the printer drivers for your printer are being updated… (until the official Printer-driver will include a longer timeout-delay…)

so… isn’t replacing the USB-cable an easier option ?

tip : changing the icon that is displayed for your printer

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If you do not like the way the printer icon for your printer looks in the “Print & Fax” System Preference or in the Dock on your Desktop, you can edit it yourself.

  1. First thing to do is upgrade the driver for your printer ; sometimes older drivers show a generic printer icon in OSX, and that might be updated in the new drivers also. Go to the support-part of your printer’s brand and download and install new printer drivers for your version of OSX
  2. If have an alias to your printer on your Desktop or in your Dock (a.k.a. a “Desktop Printer”), you can change the icon just like you can change any icon in OSX ; by selecting the icon in the Finder, right-clicking “Get Info”, selecting the icon in Get Info, and then pasting the desired picture onto it (you could use a proper icon, but any picture can be used)
  3. …or you can do the ‘DareDevil-method’ : [this example shows how to do it for the Samsung CLP-315 printer, but it is similar for any other printer]
  • start by delete the printer from the printer list in “Print & Fax” System Preference (a.k.a. “Print & Scan” – depending on which OSX-version you have)
  • then find this file :

/Library/Printers/PPDs/Contents/Resources/Samsung CLP-310 Series.gz

  • Note : this file is located in the “Library”-folder that is directly on your hard disk, it is NOT in the “Library”-folder that is in the “System”-folder within the “Users”-folder !
  • copy this file to the Desktop
  • and rename the original file to Samsung CLP-310 Series (orig).gz so you will have a backup just in case…
  • then go back to the Desktop and unzip the copied .gz-file by clicking on it
  • open the unzipped file in the TextEdit application
  • add this line into the code :

*APPrinterIconPath: “/Library/Printers/Samsung/Icons/CLP-310.icns”

  • this is at the beginning of the code, immediately after the block of code that starts with :

*APDialogExtension: “/Library/Printers/Samsung/CLP-310/PDEs/.…

  • and immediately preceding this line of code :

*Manufacturer: “Samsung”

  • double-check to make sure that the desired icon is located at “/Library/Printers/Samsung/Icons/CLP-310.icns” in the Finder
  • save the file (just use “Save” in TextEdit)
  • convert the file back into a .gz-file with this name : Samsung CLP-310 Series.gz
  • Note : you will need to use a dedicated application like the free “The Zipper” for this (you can download “The Zipper” from MacUpdate.com)
  • assign a color to the file using your right mouse-click (CMD-click)
  • drag the file back to the place where the original used to be
  • go back to the “Print & Fax” System Preference, and add your printer to the list again
  • do NOT use the pre-selected driver, but choose “Other” and select the .gz-file you’ve just made :/Library/Printers/PPDs/Contents/Resources/Samsung CLP-310 Series.gz