iMac M4 and linking a Printer ?
Discussion
I have just bought a new iMac M4 and have been transferring my ‘stuff’ across from my old MacMini using Migration Assistant which seems to have worked…mostly !
I tried to pair my M4 with a new wireless Brother MonoLaser HL-L1242W…but after a lot of effort I got very frustrated and returned the printer ( obviously unused !) to the retailer.
On reflection, I wonder if the issue lies in the Antivirus & VPN that I have on my M4 ?
TBH the instructions that come with the Brother printer were not that easy to understand…And the fact that there is no other way of linking the printer ( ie no USB ports at all on the printer) and as far as I could see did not mention disabling the AV/VPN.
I am not a computer ’techie’, but I am not a newbie either.
Upon a time when you got a new printer you just uploaded the driver to the computer, and that was more or less it. Or the computer already had the relevant printer driver and you selected from there.
I wonder if these new peripherals are just too clever, and do not take into account that the end user may not be a techie…( or simply wants the thing to work…! )
Any advice from those more knowledgeable than me are welcome !
I tried to pair my M4 with a new wireless Brother MonoLaser HL-L1242W…but after a lot of effort I got very frustrated and returned the printer ( obviously unused !) to the retailer.
On reflection, I wonder if the issue lies in the Antivirus & VPN that I have on my M4 ?
TBH the instructions that come with the Brother printer were not that easy to understand…And the fact that there is no other way of linking the printer ( ie no USB ports at all on the printer) and as far as I could see did not mention disabling the AV/VPN.
I am not a computer ’techie’, but I am not a newbie either.
Upon a time when you got a new printer you just uploaded the driver to the computer, and that was more or less it. Or the computer already had the relevant printer driver and you selected from there.
I wonder if these new peripherals are just too clever, and do not take into account that the end user may not be a techie…( or simply wants the thing to work…! )
Any advice from those more knowledgeable than me are welcome !
Any AirPrint printer should work, including the Brother.
Did you manage to get it connected to your WiFi? Unless you are using different vlans (doesn t sound like you would) the Mac should see the printer once both on the same network. No fiddling with drivers or other software needed. Running a vpn without an option enabled to access local networks could break it.
There are different opinions about Mac AV. As long as you aren t downloading dodgy stuff and stick with the App Store you probably are creating more hassle than it s worth imho.
Did you manage to get it connected to your WiFi? Unless you are using different vlans (doesn t sound like you would) the Mac should see the printer once both on the same network. No fiddling with drivers or other software needed. Running a vpn without an option enabled to access local networks could break it.
There are different opinions about Mac AV. As long as you aren t downloading dodgy stuff and stick with the App Store you probably are creating more hassle than it s worth imho.
I moved from a Late 2013 27" iMac to an M4 Mac Mini over the last few days, had to do it piecemeal due to an unusual Home Drive that I wanted (bought the minimum spec M4) on an external SSD. Anyway, finally got everything as I wanted yesterday and all is working fine and I didn't need to do anything with the Canon TR8500 printer it seems to have linked itself to the M4 when I switched the printer on and I printed a Word document to test if the printer was working OK. Previously it was attached to the iMac with a USB cable as I couldn't get it to work any other way.
Thanks to all the replies.
In the end, I was so frustrated that I boxed the printer up and returned it to Argos….!!
Upon reflection, I should have disconnected my AVG VPN and it would probably all have worked fine from the start…!
In fact, the SKY engineer who installed my Optical Network Terminal yesterday immediately said it was my VPN…!
However….the good thing is that my old Samsung ML 2165 seems to work better with the iMacM4…so it will soldier on for a while yet…so I have saved myself £80…for now at least.
All that said, I was not too impressed by the Customer Support from Brother, and the instructions that came with the printer were not that easy to understand.
Anyway, lesson learned as they say.
In the end, I was so frustrated that I boxed the printer up and returned it to Argos….!!
Upon reflection, I should have disconnected my AVG VPN and it would probably all have worked fine from the start…!
In fact, the SKY engineer who installed my Optical Network Terminal yesterday immediately said it was my VPN…!
However….the good thing is that my old Samsung ML 2165 seems to work better with the iMacM4…so it will soldier on for a while yet…so I have saved myself £80…for now at least.
All that said, I was not too impressed by the Customer Support from Brother, and the instructions that came with the printer were not that easy to understand.
Anyway, lesson learned as they say.
My new Kyocera laser printer for my home office arrived today.
As usual with these wretched printers it arrived with a ridiculous war and peace book of instructions. All I want to do is print from my mac and scan the odd bit of paper.
All as clear as mud until I found a setting on the printer that asked for a preshared password. WTF, its a brand new printer. Anyway, I punched in the BT router password and all was fine. All I then had to do was to click on my printers model number when aked in the macs 'add a printer' in the 'system settings' dialogue.
All worked perfectly. As the printer was now on my local wifi, I can also print from my phone and my wife's Mac. I can also scan to a folder on my desktop. There is also a Kyocera webpage i can access from my browser that allows me to view its status - toner levels etc.
I'm not that tech savvy. Happy bunny.
As usual with these wretched printers it arrived with a ridiculous war and peace book of instructions. All I want to do is print from my mac and scan the odd bit of paper.
All as clear as mud until I found a setting on the printer that asked for a preshared password. WTF, its a brand new printer. Anyway, I punched in the BT router password and all was fine. All I then had to do was to click on my printers model number when aked in the macs 'add a printer' in the 'system settings' dialogue.
All worked perfectly. As the printer was now on my local wifi, I can also print from my phone and my wife's Mac. I can also scan to a folder on my desktop. There is also a Kyocera webpage i can access from my browser that allows me to view its status - toner levels etc.
I'm not that tech savvy. Happy bunny.
So…after wrestling with trying to connect the Brother mono laser printer, ( since returned to Argos )
I then did some homework…and decided upon a new Xerox B320 Mono Laser printer. Ordered from Amazon Prime yesterday, and it arrived this afternoon.
It’s quite a big footprint, but that is not an issue for me as it sits on the floor next to my desk.
I specifically wanted a wired connection, which this one is. (
Note: the cable from the printer to the usb computer input is not in the box, but I just used my old one from the Samsung )
After dismantling the printer/toner cartridge to remove all the transit protection….it took about few minutes to download the driver from Xerox website, then
another 10 to get the printer working.
Overall I am very impresed with this one, and especially the ease of set up.
PS The Xerox came with a CD….!!! But not used…I do not have a CD drive…( yet )
I then did some homework…and decided upon a new Xerox B320 Mono Laser printer. Ordered from Amazon Prime yesterday, and it arrived this afternoon.
It’s quite a big footprint, but that is not an issue for me as it sits on the floor next to my desk.
I specifically wanted a wired connection, which this one is. (
Note: the cable from the printer to the usb computer input is not in the box, but I just used my old one from the Samsung )
After dismantling the printer/toner cartridge to remove all the transit protection….it took about few minutes to download the driver from Xerox website, then
another 10 to get the printer working.
Overall I am very impresed with this one, and especially the ease of set up.
PS The Xerox came with a CD….!!! But not used…I do not have a CD drive…( yet )
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