Scanner weirdness - Acer 640U

I have just tried to install a friend's Acer 640U on my W2K SP4
system, and am having some strange problems. Checking the BIOS reveals
that all USB devices are enabled, the add/Remove hardware wizard's
troubleshooting section tells me that the device is functioning
properly, and it shows up in Control Panel>Scanners and Cameras, as in
this screenshot http://maxqnz.com/screenshots/scanner.jpg

Despite this, trying to use it always brings up this:
http://maxqnz.com/screenshots/scanner1.jpg Of course, I have checked
and rechecked the cables, resbooted several times, each time leaving
the scanner on, and hearing it start up as the PC reboots. Still no
joy, though. Any suggestions will be welcomed.

 

You don't necesarily want all usb stuff enabled in your bios. If you have
a usb keyboard maybe, but otherwise disable 'em legacy usb ( I think).

the add/Remove hardware wizard's

Any updates on Acer's site for W2K?

*Hearing it start up* ? Mmm. Mine never makes a sound, Visioneer 8700.
That doesn't sound right to me. Maybe the light comes on, for it's warmup
cycle, otherwise mine doesn't make a sound.

Has the *lock* been unlatched? All scanners have locks on them.

 

"?" <--- That's a clue. I don't have one. Missed out on the dubious
joys of W2K. Have you tried uninstalling it in the device manager?
Updating the drivers etc etc. Does it work on the Suse Linux box?

 

It must be problem with W2K's SP4. I tried first in W2K because my old
Mandrake 9.0 and 9.1 would never recognise it, while W2K SP2 did, no
problem. Anyway, after posting, I booted back into the arm, friendly
embrace of Mandrake 9.2, and voila! My scanner is working perfectly!
The moral of this story? . . .






































LINUX ROCKS!!!

 

Mandy 9.2 is a top desktop distro. Just put a Soundblaster Live! 5.1
soundcard in and I'm scaring the local cats and dogs. No config needed, it
just ran out of the box. ->insert general M$ bagging here<- Noticed the
sudden influx of newbies in AOLM, I can't understand why...

 

Yep, that now makes two pieces of hardware, my ADSL modem and this
scanner that installed more easily and with less fuss in Mandrake 9.2
than in W2K SP4. When I went to chcek on my scanner in Mandrake
Control Center, it obligingly downloaded and installed all the latest
versions of xsane, xsane gimp and xsane backend for me. Now if only
Linux would get speech recognition!

 

http://www.voicerecognition.net/archive/html/voice-users/2000-02/msg00057.html
That would be nice. Everything I've thrown at Mandrake has been etected
and installed, no fuss, including a mobo, cpu and ram transplant, with the
exception of a rotten Lexmark Z65 printer. The thing barely works in
XP anyway.

 

It's not on the HCL:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/server/howtobuy/upgrading/compat/search/devices.asp

Did you try the lastest Windows drivers from:
http://www.benq.com/drivers/imaging_drivers.html

 

Did you install the scanner software first, before you ever plugged in the
scanner? If you didn't, I'd try removing both and trying it that way.

"It's how I had to install my Visioneer, so it may not work for the Acer, but
it's worth a shot."

 

Not yet. It's only a loaner, since I seldom need a scanner, and need
the room it takes up for my normal work. The last time I borrowed it,
my W2K was still SP2, and it worked just fine in W2K then, while not
working at all in Mandrake 9.1. Now, under SP4, the tables have
turned.

 

Thanks, QoE. I may try that next time I borrow it, along with
following Hawk's excellent advice to grab the lastest drivers. Or,
I'll just happily chug along with it in Mandrake.

 

Unfortunately, that's the most recent there is on the subject, IBM's
stopped Via Voice for Linux, and Scansoft, makers of the best there
is, have not even mentioned any thought of a Dragon for Linux.

 

Pity. Having a slight acquired digital deficiency, I could use something
like this.

 

Or go back to SP 2 and just download the security patches.

"Works quite well, here."

 

I have to say that this is the first problem I've had with SP4 - SP3
was a nightmare, but overall my W2K has performed better under SP4
than SP2. That said, anything that forces me to spend more time in
Linux is no bad thing.

 

I tried 4 on the other box but it didn't do anything that I can see except slow
things down. Certainly it didn't fix the defrag problem.

"I'll have to work on that one of these days, when I'm actually _awake._"