Obsolete SCSI scanner rescued with Vuescan

David A. Goldfarb

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I have this old Minolta Scan Dual (I) 35mm scanner that doesn't have drivers for XP that I'd been trying to get rid of, so that I could toss the clunky Win98 desktop computer that we're only keeping around for the sake of the scanner, and after a few months of no interest whatsoever, I finally got around to downloading Vuescan, which has its own driver for such things, and it works!

I'm keeping my Scan Dual, but thought I'd post this for anyone looking to save a scanner they thought was obsolete. When you download the program, you can run the trial version before paying for it to see if the scanner is compatible.
 

SusanV

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Thanks for mentioning this David. I just got a new pc that has Vista os.
I was sad to find that Nikon isn't going to provide drivers for the old
NikonScan III that I have. I haven't used it in a long time, and I don't
shoot 35mm anymore, BUT I do have a lot of old negs and I'd still like
to be able to access them. I'll check out Vuescan!

Susan
 

toyotadesigner

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VueScan is nice, but it does 'sprinkle' tiny white dots all over the image, that means if you intend to make real large prints from your scans you'll see the white dots.

Nothing can beat the Nikon Scan software, but considering the price we've had to pay for a Nikon scanner it's a shame that Nikon doesn't offer upgrades for newer operating systems.

Just recently I've called Nikon Germany to check if they plan to release a Linux version of Nikon Scan because now I have the Coolscan LS 5000 and LS 9000 here and want to switch to Linux (I'm tired of this Windoze bullshit).

Answer: No. Get ViewScan. Hell, then they should give Ed Hamrick the driver code so he can guarantee a 100% compatibility for Nikon scanners.

I mean they have Nikon Scan for Mac which runs on BSD, so a port to Linux should be such a big problem at all. But it seems they have a contract with Bill Gates...

Damn rotten world.
 

donbga

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I've never seen qhite dots sprinkled on the image when using Vuescan but have heard the report once before. Perhaps this is a hardware issue not software.

Don Bryant
 
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David A. Goldfarb

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I didn't get white dots with my Minolta Scan Dual or Agfa Duoscan either using Vuescan. Vuescan is also a better interface than Minolta's though I prefer Agfa's FotoLook (which does run in XP) for the Agfa scanner.

The URL for Vuescan is http://www.hamrick.com
 

frugal

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I remember the old trial version of Vuescan did something similar, are you working with a registered copy? Not sure what his current registration models are (I've been grandfathered in for so long).
 
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David A. Goldfarb

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Yeah, I registered for the current "pro" version 8.4.25.
 

wiz

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Definitely. I have a Minolta Scan Speed F-2800 that was obsolete from the day it was born (along with the pile of poo that Minolta calls software) and VueScan turned it into something useful.
 

Ole

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I've just got a SCSI card for my old laptop - running Windows ME

Now to see if the Agfa Duoscan will run with it; if it does I can finally get rid of the old Win 95 PC I'm keeping only because it's got SCSI!
 
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David A. Goldfarb

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I have an Adaptec Slim-SCSI card that I've used with various laptops since my white Packard Bell 486 (I just took it out of a drawer recently, and I can't believe how heavy it is!), and it's worked with every version of windows from 3.1 through XP, and it does run my Duoscan with the most recent version of FotoLook as well as Vuescan. It also seems happy with the Duoscan and the Minolta Scan Dual both on the SCSI chain at the same time, which can be a problem with some scanners.
 

P C Headland

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Just a quick suggestion for all those running into problems with scanner (or printer) drivers for later versions of windows, or if you've moved from windows to an intel Mac.

If you have a reasonably well spec'ed machine, you can run an older operating system (that your scanner drivers support) in a virtual machine. You just need to get hold of something like VMWare Server (free), VirtualBox (free/open source) or if you're on a Mac, Parallels (commercial) or VirtualBox. You then run both the main and virtual machines at the same time.

Install the VM software, create a virtual machine with minimal specs, then install your old operating system. Install all the utilities and drivers you need as if it were a "normal" machine. You will need to ensure that your virtual machine can "see" the USB or SCSI ports (this is configurable, not always a default). Then setup a shared drive on the host computer so you can transfer files back and forth.

If you are on Linux, you can also run VMWare Server or VirtualBox. If you have a recent (VT enabled) chipset, you can run a Xen enabled kernel.

Hope this helps someone.
 
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