How to Install Canon LBP2900B Printer Drivers on Mac?

Installing the LBP2900B on a Mac requires using the correct printer driver to enable full functionality and compatibility with MacOS. While Canon doesn’t provide official LBP2900B drivers for Mac, there is a workaround using the drivers of the similar Canon LBP3000 model.

This guide will walk you through downloading, installing, and patching the necessary software to get your Canon LBP 2900/LBP2900B printer up and running on your Mac.

The Canon LBP2900B is a monochrome (black and white) laser printer with fast, high-quality printing. With print speeds up to 14 pages per minute (ppm), manual duplex printing, and a 150-sheet input tray, it’s an excellent choice for home and small office use.

Downloading Canon LBP2900B Driver for Mac

To get started, you will need to download the Canon printer driver package that contains the necessary files required to install the driver:

1. Visit this link to access the driver download page on Canon’s website.
2. Under the Mac OS X tab, click the download button to save the driver package ZIP file to your Mac. This file contains the base Canon LBP3000 driver, which will be patched to work with the LBP2900B.

Note: In this article, we have used the Mac Mini M2 running with MacOS 13 as an example.

Installing Canon LBP3000 Driver

With the files downloaded, we can now install the Canon LBP3000 driver package:

1. Open the LBP3000 .zip file and navigate to the “MacOSX” folder.
2. Locate and open the .pkg package installer file.
3. Follow the installation wizard prompts to install the LBP3000 driver on your Mac.

Patching the Driver for Canon LBP2900B

Next, make modifications to this base driver so it will work properly with the Canon LBP2900B:

1. Download the above patch file
2. Copy the downloaded patch files to your Mac.
3. Navigate to Macintosh HD > Library > Printers > Canon.
4. Open the Bidi folder, select the existing file, and choose Replace when prompted to patch the driver. Enter your admin password to confirm.
5. Similarly, open the cnaccm folder to patch its existing file. Confirm the replacement.
6. Keep the Bidi folder open for the next step.

Applying the Patch using the Terminal

To fully integrate the patch files, you must run a particular command in Terminal:

1. Open the Terminal app on your Mac.
2. Type the command: xattr -cr
3. Drag and drop the file named captmoncnab3 from the open Bidi folder into the Terminal window to auto-fill the file path.
4. Hit Enter to run the command and apply the file patch.
5. When finished, you can close the Terminal.

Adding Canon LBP2900B Printer to Mac

With the software patched for LBP2900B, we can now add the printer in MacOS:

1. Ensure the Canon LBP2900B printer is powered on and connected to your Mac via USB.
2. Go to System Preferences > Printers & Scanners.
3. Click the “ + ” to add a printer.
4. Select Canon LBP2900 from the printer list.
5. Choose “Select Driver” for the driver and pick “Canon LBP3000 CAPT UK”.
6. Customize the printer name if desired and click “Add” to finish.

Testing the Printer

As a final confirmation, print a test page to ensure proper functionality:

1. Open the newly added LBP2900B printer properties.
2. Click “Print Test Page” and confirm the printout.

If the test page prints successfully, the Canon LBP2900B printer is ready for use on your Mac!

Troubleshooting Tips

If you encounter any issues getting the printer to work properly after following this guide, here are some troubleshooting steps to try:

• Restart both your Mac and the Canon printer.
• Uninstall and reinstall the LBP3000 driver, carefully following each step again.
• Verify all patch files were correctly replaced in the Canon printer driver folders.

Getting Canon’s LBP2900 monochrome laser printer to run smoothly on a Mac takes more effort than a native driver install. However, with the correct LBP3000 printer driver and patch files, Mac users can enable full support through this workaround process.

Carefully following the download, installation, patch, and setup steps outlined in this article will successfully get your Canon LBP2900B connected to your MacOS system. Just take your time and double-check each step along the way.

Let us know in the comments if you have any questions or need assistance with your specific Mac model or OS version. Happy printing!