Introduction: Modify Canon Pixma Printer to Print on CDs / DVDs
This tutorial describes how to use your Canon Pixma IPxxxx printer to print directly on printable CDs/DVDs. European models have this feature already enabled but unfortunately for us Americans it has been disabled due to Canon not wanting to pay for the licensing to use the technology in North America. Notice I said "disabled." Because the printers still have the feature all we need to do is enable it... Oh yeah, and obtain the Disk tray that obviously didn't come standard to us, as they did in Europe.
This tutorial describes how to make a cd tray for little or no money. It is pictured below. Or you could buy one on ebay for about $20.
Credit:
The initial idea was found on StevesForums. Most of the credit is theirs. The reason I have this tutorial is to give what I have learned in a straight-forward how-to. The original StevesForums post is now 77+ pages, so weeding through it to find what works and what doesn't work could possibly take 4-5 years... or more.
Although all of my testing is done on my Canon Pixma IP5000 this tutorial applies to several Canon printers with CD/DVD printing abilities. Where applicable I will tell you where the models differ.
What you'll need:
A Canon Pixma Printer that has the ability to print on disks. You can tell because there is a fold down plate on the front of the printer (image 0B).
A flat head screw driver
About 5 minutes of time (10 minutes if you read all my dumb comments).
Step 1: Enable the Printer- Remove the Cover.
First we must enable to printer to accept the CD-tray. Again, my printer is the ip5000 so the pictures may be a little different.
The steps involved are as follows:
1. Removing the front flate covering the CD-tray opening (pictured).
2. Set the printer's BIOS to non-US (next step).
Step 2: Enable the Printer- Changing the BIOS.
Now we need to change the printer's BIOS to non-US (ie. European). Trust me, this looks way harder than it really is.
These instructions are for Pixma IP3000/4000/5000. Instructions for most other compatible printers can be found herehere.
The steps are as follows:
a. Turn off the printer but don't unplug it.
b. Hold down RESUME (Triangle pointed down) then push and hold down POWER. Wait about 5 seconds before releasing RESUME but continuing to hold POWER. While still holding POWER press RESUME once. You will notice the power light turn orange. Press RESUME again so the light turns green. Finally release POWER. (Picture 1)
c. To be sure you are in the service mode before continuing press RESUME once - the light will turn Orange. Press POWER once. If you are in Diagnostic mode the Diagnostic sheet will print.
(The Diagnostic sheet will list its ROM number and read "CDR SENSOR=OK" in red on the last line).
Note the color of "iPxxx (LTR) V1.xx". Non-CDR support will be cyan. Keep this sheet to compare to the one after you change the settings. (Picture 2)
d. To get to the Destination settings press RESUME 5 times (the light will be orange) then press POWER once. You are in the Destination settings option.
e. Now you can choose a destination. Press RESUME this many times followed by POWER to pick one.
- 1 times IPxxxx Japan
- 2 times Not Japan no CD-r support a4 paper
- 3 times Not Japan No CD-R support letter paper
- 4 times Not Japan CD-R support a4 paper
- 5 times Not Japan CD-R support letter paper
- 6 times you wish to abort and get back to the first menu
(Tip: Incase of warranty return you may want to reset the BIOS to the default which I believe is 2).
f. For this example we will choose "Non Japan CD-R Support Letter Paper" by pressing RESUME 5 times followed by POWER once. This changes the printer to "non Japan, CD-R Support, letter paper" mode.
g. To see if your settings worked you may now print another diagnostic sheet. Press RESUME once - the light will turn Orange. Press POWER once. The new diagnostic sheet should show Cyan instead of Magenta signifying you correctly enabled CD-printing. (Picture 3)
h. To confirm the new settings and return to printing mode press POWER once. You must press POWER or it will return to "JAPAN IPxxxx" with no CD-printing.
Congratulations, your printer is now able to print directly to disks. Next we need to install the drivers and software.
Step 3: Install Drivers.
If you have already installed the drivers for your printer before you changed the printer's region you will need to uninstall the drivers first, unless you want to play with registry keysregistry keys.
If you have a Mac I can't help you with this part as I am running XP. If you have anything other than Windows my advice would be to uninstall all drivers and install the new non-US drivers.
Download your printer driver via Canon's Japan, Europe, or Hong Kong sites. I used Europe.
The drivers are listed below:
Japan
http://cweb.canon.jp/drv-upd/bj/bjwxp-180.html
Europe
http://software.canon-europe.com/
Hong Kong
http://www.canon.com.hk/En/product/Series.aspx?productcategory_id=1
USA
http://consumer.usa.canon.com/ir/controller?act=DownloadIndexAct&fcategoryid=305
Step 4: See If the Drivers Are Working.
You can tell that you have the correct (Disk-printing enabled) drivers because because you should now have a new "media type" available to you in the printer preferences.
If you have this option then the drivers are working correctly so you can skip the rest of this step and continue to the next step. If you don't have this option, keep reading. You may need to change some registry keys. But don't worry, it's easy.
a. From Windows' START menu click RUN
b. Type "regedit" (without the quotes of course).
c. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Print\Printers\Canon PIXMA iPxxxx\PrinterDriverData
d. Find "CnmFSI_CDRSWITCH"
e. Right-Click and choose "Modify"
f. Change the value from 0 to 1
g. Click OK and close regedit. When CnmFSI_CDRSWITCH = 1 there will be the extra options for printing on Printable disks.
Step 5: Install the Software.
Now you need to install the programs that will let you design and print onto the disks.
Canon has a simple program, CD-LabelPrint, availible for download from it's European downloadssite.
CD-LabelPrint is pretty restrictive as far as features go but is great as a free program. Another alternative is SureThing CD Labeler, but alas it is not free.
The best program I found for printing disks is UnderCover XPUnderCover XP. Best of all, the price can't be beat! If you like it, support it via paypal donation.
Finally you need to have a tray to insert into the printer. You can make it cheap, or buy it (still pretty cheap) on ebay. My tutorial for the tray is herehere.
-Stephen
