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Troubleshooting USB Scanner Installations
Title

Description
Top USB Troubleshooting Issues Notes on common issues not specifically covered in other Tech Notes.
Troubleshooting Link Fail errors Flowchart of common tech issues causing Link Fail errors, designed for first-line support. Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader 3.0 or later.
Windows 95 & USB Support Troubleshooting information for users of Windows 95 and USB scanners, installing USB support files
Test Your USB Setup (usbready.exe v3.01) Useful utility from Intel that checks the hardware, system software and drivers for USB support, and provides information on fixing problems. Other useful information is available from http://www.usb.org/.
Scanner Not Found or Not Detected Error Top issues for PC and Mac users experiencing "scanner not found", "not detected" errors or crashes during scans.
Windows NT4.0 Users Windows NT4.0 has NO support for USB devices - NT users will have to wait until the release of Windows 2000 (aka NT5).
USB Troubleshooting - Top Issues
Windows 95 & 98
1220U/2000U/2100U - Scanner Not Found
Quick tips:
1. If you have two USB ports swap the scanner to the other port - this often solves problems where another device, eg printer, is connected to the second port.
2. If the scanner has stopped working the problem may be caused by the USB sleep mode feature - often removing and reconnecting the scanner's power cable will allow it to be found (the "Installing new hardware" dialogue may also appear briefly). Try disabling this feature in the PC's BIOS.
3. If you use Windows 95, run the Add/Remove Programs control panel and check if the "USB Supplement" is installed - if not you must run the usbsupp.exe file from the Windows 95 CD - see tech note for further information.
4. A few problems can be caused by early implementations of the USB chipsets on a PC's main logic board - in System control panel, Device Manager check the item "xxxxx PCI to USB open host controller". The early INTEL82371SB may have problems communicating with high-load devices such as scanners. VIA chipset users may need to download a USB Filter Update from http://www.viatech.com/.
5. If you run Windows 98 Second Edition, an AMD processor (350MHz or faster) and use a VIA chipset read this Microsoft tech note, download and install the patch for uhcd.sys.
Astra 2000U, 2100U, 2200SU - Scanner Shown as "Unknown Device"
If a Win95/98 PC is booted with a UMAX USB scanner connected BEFORE the VistaScan software has been fully installed, an "unknown"USB device will often be listed in the System control panel devices list. If this problem occurs: install VistaScan, delete the "unknown" device, disconnect then reconnect the scanner after about 20 seconds. Win95/98 will then use the .inf files of the newly-installed VistaScan driver to correctly add the system device.
1220U - Long Warm-Up Before Scan
A number of users have reported their Astra 1220U scanner taking 20-30 seconds to warm before every scan, using VistaScan 3.1 under Windows 95 or 98 - this will happen when the Power Saving applet has been closed, as the driver alone cannot detect when the scanner last performed a pre-scan lamp calibration. This issue has been reported and may be fixed in a later release.
MacOS
Scanner Not Found/Quits During Scan
Quick tips:
1. Connect the scanner directly to a USB port on the computer - don't use the connector at the side of the keyboard.
2. Make sure the "Astra..." extension is installed and loaded.
3. Refresh the USB bus: run Apple System Profiler, go to the Devices & Volumes tab. Unplug the scanner USB cable then reconnect it. Select "Update All Information" in the Command menu. The scanner should be listed in the USB tree.
4. Try removing other USB devices, see advice on USB power below.
Application quits when scanning
The Astra 1220U relies on a System Extension to control the scanner - following a crash this extension may become corrupt and its file size will drop from 170k to only 20k - this will cause Mac applications to quit every time you try to scan. The solution is to delete the corrupt Astra 1220U Extension, reinstall the VistaScan driver from the CD then reboot. Also see the advice below on device power.
Copy Utility Crashes - Epson 740
A bug in the Copy Utility program can cause the iMac to crash when spooling an Astra 1220U scan to the USB Epson Stylus 740. This problem is still being investigated however Presto PageManager can be used to scan-to-print succesfully, and normal printing from any Mac application is not affected.
General USB FAQs

1220U/2000U/2100U - No Pass-thru USB Port
The Astra 1220U & 2000/2100U design only has a single USB connector, so it can only be positioned at the end of a USB daisy chain. Additional devices can be placed before the scanner in a chain, from a second port on the host computer or via a USB hub.

1220U - How fast is the USB scanner compared with SCSI?
All of the Astra 1220 scanners share identical optical and imaging components, but differ in their connection to the host computer. The three interface types - SCSI, USB and Parallel - all differ in performance and cost, with the SCSI model giving the fastest scans. Although the speed differences vary depending on the scan mode and size, the USB scanner is roughly half the speed of the SCSI model, and the parallel model one third.

USB - Problems Caused by Low Power
Problems of "scanner not found" or quit/crash during scans can be caused by an excessive power load on the USB ports - make sure that all USB devices with external power supplies are switched ON (to prevent them drawing power from the bus). If some devices are self-powered (ie no external power supply) you may need a "powered USB hub". In some cases the problems are caused by a tiny power drain which can be fixed by plugging the scanner's external power supply directly in to a wall socket.
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