Problems with connecting my scanner.

[JulianL]

I just moved to a Mac after 35 years of Windows use and I'm finding that the device driver situation for MacOS quite challenging. I've already replaced my printer because MacOS (latest Tahoe running on an M5 MacBook Pro) wouldn't recognise it and now I'm having issues with my Brother ADS-1700W scanner (https://store.brother.co.uk/devices/scanners/ads/ads1700w).

I can access my scanner using Brother's own iPrint&Scan software but that's really basic and is slowing me down so I want to get the scanner recognised system-wide which I assume means being able to add it via Settings/Printers & Scanners at which point I would be able to play around with the built-in ways to scan in MacOS (e.g. Image Capture) or install NAPS2 which is the software I used on my previous Windows PCs and worked pretty well for me.

So far I have been unable to get MacOS to see my scanner over the network (and I don't want to use a wired interface so I haven't even tried that). I'm assuming the reason MacOS won't see it is because I need to install a device driver for it. My problem then is that the only macOS Tahoe device driver that Brother has on its support site (https://support.brother.com/g/b/downloadlist.aspx?c=gb&lang=en&prod=ads1700w_all&os=10088) is an Intel Architecture ICA driver that prompts to install Rosetta and from what I've read if I go that route then my scanner will probably stop working next year anyway when Apple removes Rosetta from MacOS 28 (apart from supporting some old legacy games but no mention that I could find that it will also be kept around for older device driver support).

So I'm a bit stuck now. If I can't find a way to get system-wide access to the scanner without installing an Intel Architecture driver I'm beginning to wonder whether I should just bit the bullet and get a newer scanner that does have proper ARM device driver support from the manufacturer.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to connect this scanner without installing the Intel ICA driver or are my only options to either install that Rosetta-required driver to give me a year or so of use or bite the bullet and upgrade the scanner now?

This is making me realise just how lucky Windows users are when it comes to device drivers, Windows recognised all of my devices straight out of the box whereas with MacOS I've already had to replace my printer and am now struggling with the scanner. This is not a great introduction to the MacOS world although I suppose a fair amount of blame lies with the peripheral manufacturers for not bothering to keep the drivers for older devices updated with ARM versions in anticipation of Rosetta going away.

 

[CoastalOR]

VueScan supports your scanner and the app is universal, supports Tahoe & a network. VueScan is not free.

Brother ADS-1700W Scanner Driver and Software | VueScan

Want to keep using your Brother ADS-1700W on macOS Sonoma, Windows 10, and more? VueScan has a built in Brother Scanner Driver - so it works even without a driver.

www.hamrick.com

 

[chown33]

You should have more than a year to find another scanner. Think of it in terms of when macOS 27 will become unsupported. You could start looking now, but I suspect the product landscape will differ enough in a year or so that looking later gives more options.

I'd try the current Brother driver and see how well it works. If it works, great, you have some time to evaluate the options:
1. Get VueScan
2. Wait and see if Brother updates their driver for Apple Silicon.
3. Look for another scanner with direct Apple Silicon support.
4. Look for other alternatives, like a cheap Windows box acting as a scanner server.

I'd also try a direct-wired connection, mainly just to see what happens. If it's automatically recognized, maybe that outweighs the negatives of other options.

 

[chrfr]

My problem then is that the only macOS Tahoe device driver that Brother has on its support site (https://support.brother.com/g/b/downloadlist.aspx?c=gb&lang=en&prod=ads1700w_all&os=10088) is an Intel Architecture ICA driver that prompts to install Rosetta and from what I've read if I go that route then my scanner will probably stop working next year anyway when Apple removes Rosetta from MacOS 28 (apart from supporting some old legacy games but no mention that I could find that it will also be kept around for older device driver support).

What's odd about that installer is that the Brother Scanner app that gets installed is universal, so it doesn't require Rosetta at all, it's just the installer package that wants Rosetta, for no apparent reason whatsoever.

 

[JulianL]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I was aware of VueScan but from what I can see, while it does natively support many scanners including specific mention of reverse-engineering the driver for my scanner to create a native ARM version, I think that scanner support is all specific to the VueScan scanning app and those reverse-engineered drivers are not exposed as system-wide ICA drivers. That might still be progress if I prefer the user interface of the VueScan app to the one for the Brother iPrint&Scan app but won't get me the ability to scan using the built in MacOS capabilities or the NAPS2 app.

What's odd about that installer is that the Brother Scanner app that gets installed is universal, so it doesn't require Rosetta at all, it's just the installer package that wants Rosetta, for no apparent reason whatsoever.

The Rosetta situation is odd. The installer for the full Brother iPrint&Scan app (which I downloaded from the Apple MacOS App Store) didn't ask for Rosetta at all so clearly Brother have created an ARM-native driver of some sort, just not an ICA-compliant one.

I have now installed the Brother ICA driver that prompted me to install Rosetta. Like I said I'm pretty new to MacOS so I'm not sure if there's anything like Windows Device Manager that might allow me to see what device driver that installer actually installed - an Intel Architecture one or an ARM one. I would be curious to know.

I'm also a bit confused about Rosetta because from my research everything I've read says it's a translation tool rather than an emulator so does that mean that now that I've used the driver for the first time (it worked perfectly by the way) I could in theory remove Rosetta from my system again since Rosetta has now translated the Intel code into ARM code and created the ARM driver that is what the system will run from now on?

I know it doesn't really matter and there is no point at this time fretting about Rosetta being on my system. I guess I'm still suffering from some residual Microsoft Windows induced anxiety. In Windows I always hated installing stuff I didn't end up needing because even after uninstalling it I always had that nagging doubt about what crud it might have left in the registry, random files left elsewhere, and that my system would never completely get back to the cleaner it's-as-if-I-had-never-installed-it state my system had been in before. I get the impression that, partly because MacOS doesn't have the concept of a registry, maybe less residual dross gets left behind when you install an app then decide you don't like/need it and uninstall it. I still can never completely get rid of the wish that I'd never installed something in the first place though.

 

[chrfr]

I have now installed the Brother ICA driver that prompted me to install Rosetta. Like I said I'm pretty new to MacOS so I'm not sure if there's anything like Windows Device Manager that might allow me to see what device driver that installer actually installed - an Intel Architecture one or an ARM one. I would be curious to know.

The only thing that gets installed is the "Brother Scanner.app" in /Library/Image Capture/Devices. That application doesn't run on its own but is effectively a plugin for the Image Capture app. You can get info on the Brother Scanner.app and see that it is a universal application which means that it runs natively on either Intel or Apple Silicon Macs.
It is purely the installer package itself that requires Rosetta. If you use another utility to extract the application from that package, something like the "Suspicious Package" app or the pkgutil command line tool, Rosetta would be unnecessary at all.