Canon IP5200R wireless printing + OSX 10.6.* Snow Leopard

If like me you found that your previously perfectly working Canon IP5200R wireless printer is broken after upgrading to Snow Leopard – don’t worry, there’s (now) an easy fix. The long and the short of it is – in 10.6 they included an old version of the Canon printer driver. Useful, huh?

These tips are for UK based people – if you’re elsewhere, you should find the appropriate place on the Canon website to get the updates.

If you don’t have it, get a copy of the Canon IJ network tool v2.6.* from here.

Now, get yourself a copy of the latest printer driver, currently 10.26.1

If printer previously working fine

Install network tool (if you don’t already have it)
Restart machine.
Install printer driver.
Go to System Preferences > Printers. If your Canon printed is listed, but as USB, then remove it by cliking the – icon in the pane.
Next click the + to go to the Add Printer screen. Make sure the Default panel is selected.
Wait for about 30 seconds – your Canon printer should appear in the pane – you can then add it – and after that, all should be right in the world.

If you’ve never installed the printer

As above except that you’ll need to configure the network settings before trying to add the printer.
Plug the printer in to your Mac via USB (if you have Growl installed, you’ll hopefully see a notification)
Navigate to Macintosh HD > Library > Printers > Canon > Utilities > IJ Printer tool
Run that – it should find your printer on USB
Use the Network Setup to set your wireless settings. I won’t go in to the details, but by far the most reliable method I’ve found is to give your printer a static IP rather than DHCP.
Once you’ve done that OK the dialog to commit the settings to the printer. If all goes well, the above advice should work for you.

Hope that helps. Hands down, the first I’ve ever had to install a printer during my Mac career!