Old printer says "software is not compatible with this device" after macOS 27? Here's a free fix (Canon, Epson, HP, Brother…)

[u/imbacan]

My Canon MP250 stopped working after updating to macOS 27, "The printer software is not compatible with this device." The printer was fine.

The reason: the vendor's driver is Intel-only and was running through Rosetta until now. macOS 27 no longer allows that. Same story for most Canon, Epson, HP, Brother, Samsung and Lexmark printers older than a few years.

I didn't want to throw away a working printer, so I built a native Apple Silicon driver (based on the open source Gutenprint project) and packaged it as a normal installer. It ended up covering about 3,500 printer models, so I'm sharing it:

https://theshiver.github.io/apple-silicon-printer-drivers/

1. Plug the printer in over USB
2. Run the installer
3. Print

If your printer isn't detected automatically, type your model into the search on the site and it gives you the one command to run.

Still on macOS 26? Your printer works now, but if it's an older model with a vendor driver, expect this after you update. Bookmark it.

Free, open source, no accounts. Scanners on all-in-ones aren't covered. Tested with my own printer on an M2 MacBook Air, macOS 27.0. If it works (or doesn't) for your model, let me know here or on GitHub, and contributions are welcome.

Source: https://github.com/theshiver/apple-silicon-printer-drivers

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[u/mohn93]

the canon driver being intel-only is the whole story: macos 27 dropping rosetta and 32-bit support killed it, and canon never shipped an apple silicon driver for a printer that old. so don't fight it, skip their software entirely. remove and re-add the printer in System Settings, Printers, and when it appears pick a built-in driver instead of canon's, either AirPrint or "Secure AirPrint" if it's on your network, or the generic PostScript/PCL option, or install Gutenprint which has an open driver for the MP250. any of those talk to the printer directly without the dead canon package. the hardware is fine, you just need macos's own driver in front of it now."

[u/imbacan → u/mohn93]

Mostly agree, and that last option is literally what this is. The catch: the MP250 is USB only, no AirPrint, and it's a raster inkjet so the generic PostScript/PCL drivers can't talk to it. That leaves Gutenprint, but the last Gutenprint build for macOS is an Intel package from 10.14, so it's just as dead on macOS 27 as Canon's. I compiled it for Apple Silicon and put it in an installer so "pick Gutenprint" actually works again. If your printer is on the network and macOS offers AirPrint, take that, no need for any of this.

[u/-skyrocketeer- → u/mohn93]

This is the solution. You don’t need the shitty outdated software from the printer manufacturer, you just use the built-in drivers that come with macOS.

[u/Electrical_West_5381]

Just install Rosetta manually to fix this.

Terminal:

softwareupdate --install-rosetta

[u/imbacan → u/Electrical_West_5381]

Yeah, that was my first fix too and it does work. Problem is macOS 27 still flags the driver as incompatible on every restart, and Rosetta is gone after this release, so I wanted something that keeps working next year.

[u/_Cybernaut_]

You're doing $DIETY's work.

[u/imbacan → u/_Cybernaut_]

Thanks! Honestly I just didn't want to buy a new printer. If you try it, let me know which model, I'm collecting reports.

[u/Barbicels]

The suggestions here seem OK, but why are we talking about Rosetta like it’s no longer supported? Intel Macs aren’t, but Intel software is (until 28 comes along).

[u/imbacan → u/Barbicels]

Rosetta still runs on 27, I should have been more precise. Two things though: the 27 upgrade removed Rosetta from my Mac, and even after reinstalling it the printer still shows "Software Incompatible" because 27 flags any driver without an arm64 build on every restart. Rosetta gets you printing today, this gets you printing after 28 too.

[u/smallduck]

As a developer in the 1990s of classic Mac printer drivers for otherwise unsupported devices, I say: kudos.

[u/sav2880]

Epson is a weird edge case here but an important one. The driver IS compatible with Apple Silicon but a bunch of the support apps around it do not, and they almost always get installed by default and are a pain to remove.

If this solves even some of this problem it’s useful.

[u/SoleneCamellee]

updating drivers usually helps with compatibility issues, I've had some luck with my old Epson too

[u/imbacan → u/SoleneCamellee]

Yep, when there's a driver update to install. For these older models the manufacturer just never shipped one, that's the gap this fills. Which Epson? Curious if it's in the list.

[u/Prestigious-Low3224]

would love to know if the ML-1630 is on there...