Problem with Canon MP970

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I have connected my Canon MP970 printer to my new iMac having used it on a Windows machine for several years. I downloaded and installed the most recent driver from the Canon site. In Word and Excel, operating in Windows7 under Parallels, the Print setup screen is identical to that on my previous system. However, when I click on the Printer properties box the correct printer is displayed at the top of the box but, in the Advanced window, the printer is described as a HP Color Laserjet 2800. The properties window itself is very different from the one on the Windows system. [Note that the printer has been setup on the iMac not the Windows virtual machine.]

I can print documents with the printer but they are incorrectly formatted and some functions do not work; for example, if I set the printer to print on both sides, it does not do so.

I have shared the printer with my laptop operating on Windows 7 through Bonjour. When I attempt to print the same document from the laptop, the system works perfectly; the correct Printer Properties window appears and the document is printed in the correct format and it prints on both sides of the paper.

Does anyone have any suggestions?
 

chscag

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While operating in the virtual machine, the printer driver is supplied by Parallels. I'm not familiar with the Parallels setup procedure for printers and other devices but if Parallels is identifying your printer as something else, it's not going to work right. Go over the Parallels setup again to see if you missed something.
 
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I had a look at the setup in Windows and found that the driver was for the HP2800; I don't know why since I haven't has such a printer. I changed it to the MP970 driver and tried to print again. This time the correct Printer Preferences window appeared when clicked but when I try to print any document (Word, Pdf, jpg etc) the print fails with the error message "Unable to convert PostScript file.

On changing back to the HP driver, it prints as before with the same problems. I tried installing the latest Windows driver from Canon in the windows control panel; the same message is received when I print using the Canon driver.
 
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same issue

I have a similar issue with Canon MX870, ie, unable to convert postscript file message when trying to print from Windows 8. Also selects an HP driver. this driver worked with Windows 7. Tried to download the Windows driver from Canon website but get message that printer is in use??? there does not seem to be a postscript option for a Canon driver in Mac OS.

I am using a macbook pro and 10.8.2

I have tried clearing the font cache among other things. would love to hear any ideas. thanks.
 
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would love to hear any ideas. thanks.

I have now implemented a partial solution by connecting the printer to the Windows virtual machine rather than the "Computer" (iMac in my case), disconnecting and reconnecting the printer, rerunning the installation software for the Printer in Windows, unchecking the box that ensures the same default printer for both the Mac and the Virtual machine, and setting the Canon Printer as the default printer for Windows.

The Canon works perfectly in Windows after this but remains disconnected from the Mac while Windows is running. Closing down Windows reconnects the printer to the Mac.

This solution is clearly not ideal but it does allow the proper use of the printer in Windows programs.
 
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solution

I have found a simple answer to the problem:

In windows 8 go to control panel/ view devices and printers.
Right click on Canon printer (in my case MX870 with wireless connection but should work for 970 also) and choose "printer properties" in the menu list.
go to advanced tab of printer properties.
in the Driver line, click on New Driver
in list of manufacturers, choose HP (not Canon)
in list of options, choose HP Color Laserjet 2820 AiO PS Class Driver.

I understand that the printer is neither a laserjet nor an HP machine and the fonts are not PostScript (PS).

But it nevertheless printed the test page successfully with no error message!

There may be issues later on, in which case I will return here to note them; there may also be better drivers to use, but this one works so far. If someone has better idea, I remain open.
 

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