This guide explains why your receipt printer stopped working after the macOS 27 update (Sep, 2026) and shows you how to get it printing again in about a minute.
In this Article
What Happened?
After updating a Mac to macOS 27 Golden Gate, your receipt printer may stop printing, and you may see a "Software incompatible" message. This happens because the macOS update removes Rosetta, Apple software that lets older applications run. Your printer driver relies on Rosetta, so once it is removed, the driver can no longer start and print jobs fail.
Apple made this change, not Phorest, and it affects the Mac itself rather than your Phorest account or data. Reinstalling Rosetta resolves it, and you can do this in a few steps on the Mac without changing your Phorest setup.
How to Confirm the Issue
Open Applications > Utilities > Print Center and check the status shown for your receipt printer. If the printer reports "software is not compatible", this guide applies to you.
You can also reach the same place through System Preferences > Printers > Printer Queue.
Before continuing, clear out any print jobs that are stuck waiting in the queue by clicking the small 'x' icon beside each job in the list. This keeps old failed receipts from printing all at once later.
How to Fix the Issue
On your Mac:
- Go to Applications > Utilities > Print Center and confirm the printer shows "software is not compatible".
- Delete any print jobs still sitting in the printer queue.
- Open Applications > Utilities > Terminal, type softwareupdate --install-rosetta and press Enter
When asked to agree to the terms, type a and press Enter
- Close Terminal and restart Phorest. Your printer should now work again.
The installation usually finishes within seconds. Once Phorest has restarted, print a test receipt to confirm the printer is working again. In most cases, you don't need a full computer restart, and you don't need to reinstall the printer driver.