For some reason it seems like my scanner doesn't want to work all of the time. When I go to scan the picture it tells me to check the cable connections. The cable connections are fine. If and when the cables are connected I'll set it to scan to the computer. At this point it freezes up and won't respond. So far I've only been able to scan 2 images.

A friend and I jiggled with the cable that hooks into the back of the computer and in the toolbar it gave the symbol for the scanner (A BearPaw 1200CU). We weren't happy with the picture so we closed out of it. When we tried to re-scan it, it won't re-scan, and there is a big "?" indicating there's something wrong with connections. However, we cannot find any problems with the connections.

My OS is a Win 98 SE.

What brand is that?

How much did you pay for it? The reason I ask is that I've heard that MANY scanners under $99 are total crap. I paid $120 for my Microtek flatbed scanner and its been great. Not that you bought crap, but just curious. Most CHEAP scanners are just crap.

What type of connection? USB? Parallel? Serial? Could be that the cable OR port is faulty. I doubt its totally bad because if it were, the scanner wouldn't even detect.

Have you uninstalled and reinstalled the drivers? Did you check the manufacturers site for updated drivers?

Did you search google for that scanner model and any problems other users have had with it? Perhaps the manufacturer has a FAQ online where others have had the same problem?

Just same random ideas I have at 12:30 at night.

Let me know. Happy to help.

My scanner is a Mustek BearPaw 1200CU flatbed scanner. It has USB connections. It cost $70.

Checked out the manufacturers' website and looked through their FAQ. It didn't discuss the problems I'm having. I checked out a site called Epinions.com and there was one review for it. The person who reviewed absolutely loved it. I guess her only complaint was that it didn't come in different colors (big deal:rolleyes:) but from what I've been able to use of it it is pretty easy to use.:)

Not sure about updating the drivers.

Thanks for any help:)

It seems to me that the USB port is causing the problem - like you have mentioned, the scanner symbol had appeared when jiggling with the cable.

If possible, check with another device (a web- or digital cam for example) if the same problem occurs. When checking out and the same faults occur, you have to replace the mainboard. If not, either the cable or the USB port of your scanner is faulty - same procedure, replace it.

Hope this was of any help.

Originally posted by wavemaster
... When checking out and the same faults occur, you have to replace the mainboard ...

Mainboard ??? As in motherboard or am I missing something ???

You could always by some extra USB ports if the ones you have are faulty. That is if you're not within warranty anymore :)

Originally posted by 80sSmurf


Mainboard ??? As in motherboard or am I missing something ???

You could always by some extra USB ports if the ones you have are faulty. That is if you're not within warranty anymore :)

Mainboard, motherboard...it's up to you how you like to call it. ;)

Yeah, you could buy an additional USB hub, but if the mainboard (or motherboard...see above :D) ports are acting faulty, it´s not of much sense IMHO. And replacing the mainboard (or... ;)) ports is not just soldering a new one on it - since you have to deal with multiple layers of electric lanes (please forgive me my insufficient knowledge of the english language here), it's possible that you are ruining the mainboard for good - no good idea if you still have warranty on it.

I shut down the computer last night (a storm came through). When I went to start the computer back up again, the scanner worked fine. I was able to scan my picture with no problems.

A mainboard and a motherboard are the same thing. It all comes down to that shit about being politically correct.

A developer is a programmer, a folder is a directory. For the record, I HATE those terms.

You develop FILM, not software. A folder is a manilla envelope you put papers in, not ELECTRONIC files.

Microsoft came up with the terms developer for programmer and folder for directory, and all of the sudden, people started calling them that. It is pathetically lame. I come from old school where programmers are programmers, NOT developers.

Same thing with mainboard. It's MOTHERBOARD. Sure you can call it a mainboard, as it is the main board in the system, but technically it is a motherboard, and the plug in cards like sound cards, video cards, network adapters and such are daughter boards. So if you call it a mainboard, what are the others? Sub boards??

As you can see, I hate being politically correct. It has to be the stupiest thing to come out of the 90's since grunge rock.

As for the problem with the scanner, if you are having problems detecting it on occasion, these are the steps I would take:

1) Try the scanner in a different USB port. It is possible that port is bad or faulty.
2) Reinstall the drivers. Check for updates on their site. If there are none, you are stuck.
3) If you feel your USB ports are bad (chances of BOTH ports being bad are very remote), you can always get a plug in PCI board with USB ports. Works the same way.
4) Use a different USB cable. It could have a short in it.
5) Get a different scanner. I have heard of numerous problems with sub $100 scanners. I'm not trashing you for buying one, just telling you what I've heard. Two of my friends who also work in tech support have mentioned that many of those cheap $50-$100 scanners are pure junk. They are cheaply made, last 1 year if you are lucky, and overall, just perform very poorly.

If yours is still under warranty, or can be returned, I would recommend getting a better model. I'm only saying this because if you read reviews on most cheap scanners, not many users have many good things to say about them. This is why they are priced so cheaply. They just aren't made very well.

They will work, but they just don't last, often have driver problems, and are known to have problems with Windows. Hence, the cheap cost.

Just a forewarning...

BTW wavemaster... the electric lanes you speak of... they are the copper etched bus lines. Pretty dang close though!

If that scanner continues to cause problems, and you try another USB port and experience the same things, I would first try another USB device in the SAME PORT (mouse, camera, etc), and if the other device has problems, then the port is bad/faulty. You can buy plug in PCI cards with USB ports pretty cheap. If the other hardware works fine in that port, then the scanner and/or cable is crap.

Honestly, I would get a better scanner. Again, I'm not dogging you for buying an inexpensive scanner, but what I've heard about the under $99 scanners is not good, that's why I spent an extra $20 on a little better model.

Anyway, this should steer you in the right direction.

TY for the infos about the etched copper bus lines, aaron...guess that I have to consider buying a technical dictionary in the nearer future. ;)

The "mainboard vs motherboard controversy"...for unknown reasons, the Germans like to give certain things a different name, though it's still in english language. Another example...the cell phone. All over the world they're called cell phones - in Germany, they're called Handys. A pretty stupid name IMHO...but okay, only 80 billions of people are calling them by this name, so it's only a small minority. :lol:

Last...scanners. Ask anyone who is working with scanners on a professional base, and they will tell you that basically all scanners under 2.000$ are crap (for performance reasons). If it's not a Heidelberg or a Agfa (Germanys leading brands in printing and scanner technology), forget them.
For the common user, the majority of available scanners in the price range of $50 - 200 are okay. You can't expect more for this relative small amount of money, it's more like picking the best from the worse, but the performance should be good enough for creating pics for the internet and homemade printing. I agree with you on the drivers...at least for my Umax, the drivers are junk. The scanner itself works fine for over 2 years now (I've paid $140 for it back then).

Thanks for the scanner tips :) Wouldn't you know it it's working now. I may not need them but I'm printing them off to be safe:)

The scanner I use at work seems to refuse to do anything if I need to scan more than 2 pictures. After the first 2, if I wait a while before the next one, I'm forced to wait a good 10 minutes before the scanner decides to continue. Even unplugging and rebooting doesn't help.

The scanne ris an HP ScanJet ADF.


I love my Agfa but too bad Agfa doesn't deal with North America anymore! I'm screwed wehn it comes to reinstalling!!

Originally posted by sketcher
The scanner I use at work seems to refuse to do anything if I need to scan more than 2 pictures. After the first 2, if I wait a while before the next one, I'm forced to wait a good 10 minutes before the scanner decides to continue. Even unplugging and rebooting doesn't help.

The scanne ris an HP ScanJet ADF.


I love my Agfa but too bad Agfa doesn't deal with North America anymore! I'm screwed wehn it comes to reinstalling!!

Have you tried reinstalling the driver?
Probably the first installation was faulty. Check the HP website for a current driver version, then uninstall the (old) driver and reinstall the (new) one.

Too bad that Agfa won't sell their scanners in NA anymore...if I had known better before, I had bought a scanner of this brand instead of an Umax. If you need drivers or informations, take a look at the Agfa Support site (http://support.agfa.com/support/).

Hi, guys. Nothing really to add here (looks like you all have it under control). Just got back off of vacation and am ready to get busy posting again. :D

Originally posted by Shakey
Hi, guys. Nothing really to add here (looks like you all have it under control). Just got back off of vacation and am ready to get busy posting again. :D

WB twin bro... ;)

(Yeah, I know...hit me with the :8offtopic -stick... :lol: )

Nope! No off-topic sticks here... :)

Thanks, Wave. Feels good to be home.

Ha ha ha Nice to see another Aaron rant ;) :lol:

I asked coz I haven't heard the expression Mainboard before .... In Denmark we call 'em bundkort, which translates to Bottomboard (I guess this is a relic from when computers were flat boxes on your desktop) :)

Try working in phone based support sometime. I heard people call hardware everything imaginable. Some things took me a while to figure out what they hell they were talking about.

I had middle east users calling the period a "full stop". To me a full stop is hitting my brakes until my truck stops moving.

I've heard people call the base unit (which is actually what the desktop/tower unit is called) a modem tower or hard drive.

I even had one lady tell me she "plugged the keyboard back into the hard drive and now her machine works fine." I guess skipping the Intel 8042 keyboard controller chip is faster.

After she said that, I asked her if she remembered to plug the mouse back into the 15-pin VGA connector. She said yes.

What an idiot.

Or another favorite... "we programmed our computer with your software so it will be YK2 compliant." or they "downloaded" the disks into the computer.

I don't have a clue what the nine hells they are talking about, but if it works for them, I leave it at that.

My sister had a similar problem with her scanner, and it turned out that the plug that holds the power cord itself wasn't in the machine solidly, and they replaced it with another on and now it works fine.

Sometimes the inner guts get loose, in shipping or through poor initial soldering, etc. If it's not under warranty and you are handy, you may want to check into that--see if anything is loose. If it's under warranty, screw it, take it back. Why make more of a headace for yourself than you need to?

Are you using gold plated USB? I find they work better (about 25 bucks for a ten foot length)

I have actually done that before Brandy! The hardware had a simple problem that I could EASILY fix, but I had just bought it, so I said f**k it and took it back for a replacement.

Sometimes I don't even want to deal with it.

Interesting you mentioned that method. :)