Connecting Nikon Super Coolscan 9000 to Modern PC with Windows 11

[ant!]

If I see this right, the Sonnettech Echo III costs more then a middle class desktop PC with the card slots... So unless it's 100% necessary to run this on a modern laptop, for me it would make more sense to add a desktop... And the expansion box and the scanner are anyways not mobile devices

 

[Anaxagore]

This could relate to an issue I also ran into, i.e. that some cards from the PCI-PCIe transition period incorporated a bridge to interface between the PCIe bus on the motherboard and the PCI bus on the actual peripheral. These bridge ASICs are inherently problematic in my experience. E.g. some of the "supposed to work" Adaptec "PCIe" SCSI cards (really PCI with an onboard bridge) refuse to work with most PCIe motherboards.

The problem does not exist with native PCI SCSI cards because that's how they were originally made. Cards from the "UW160/320 era", i.e. the later SCSI cards that still used classic SCSI hardware (parallel cables etc.) are often (or perhaps always) PCI cards with a PCIe bridge bolted on, and that's just a nightmare (or: impossible) to get to work.


Have you tested with other SCSI devices for correct functioning?
In my recent SCSI adventures I've made setups that would properly detect the SCSI card, but where the attached scanner really would not work, or not reliably. So correct detection and driver install are not necessarily indicators of a functional setup, although it certainly is a good sign and a prerequisite.


I've had modest success with PCI(e) passthrough on Linux VM's, but ran into trouble due to the issues outlined above w.r.t. PCIe/PCI bridges. But the passthrough as such seemed to work.

I use my scanner (AgfaScan T5000) on NT4 VM with Ubuntu 24.04 as host. No problem running the scanner at all (except for small size of VM display on a high-dpi screen). It works fine using an Adaptec 39320A-R (PCI-X in standard PCI slot).
In the past with an older laptop that had a PCMCIA/Expresscard full slot, I usef the StarTech Expresscard to PCI extension. That system had one advantage: at booting time, one could see the Adaptec bios message with connected devices. This is unfortunately not the case anymore with TB solution.

 

[Anaxagore]

If I see this right, the Sonnettech Echo III costs more then a middle class desktop PC with the card slots... So unless it's 100% necessary to run this on a modern laptop, for me it would make more sense to add a desktop... And the expansion box and the scanner are anyways not mobile devices

True, it is not cheap, but it allows one to have a single system (laptop) ro do everything, will live longer than the laptop so can be reused with the next one. The scanner, Echo stay at home and (in my case) stay connected to the laptop’s docking station so connecting the laptop to its station will connect the scanner. No transfer of files between a tower (that needs its own monitor) and the laptop needed - transfer through USB on old computer can be slow, through network could be unsafe with old OS.
The chosen solution - small tower or TB extension - is, I guess, a matter of what one wants to optimize.

 

[ant!]

True, it is not cheap, but it allows one to have a single system (laptop) ro do everything, will live longer than the laptop so can be reused with the next one. The scanner, Echo stay at home and (in my case) stay connected to the laptop’s docking station so connecting the laptop to its station will connect the scanner. No transfer of files between a tower (that needs its own monitor) and the laptop needed - transfer through USB on old computer can be slow, through network could be unsafe with old OS.
The chosen solution - small tower or TB extension - is, I guess, a matter of what one wants to optimize.

Sure, I get your point, and yes, I'd optimize differently. I have anyways already an extra screen with the laptop, and a NAS/home server for easy back up and for file transfer. I'm happy with Linux and vuescan and don't rely on old windows versions, but if needed I could isolate a device in my network easily (running tp-link omada network, so VLAN and detailed rules can be set up)