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  1. #1

    Default HP Scandesk 4890

    A few years ago I bought this scanner with the bold purpose of digitising the hundreds of slides and over a thousand negs from days gone by. Well of course the task became too time consuming and was placed on the backburner. I have now decided to resurrect the task but in the meantime I bought a new computer- and the darn thing wont work.
    the computer thinkss the scanner is not connected.

    I have tried the scanner on my old laptop and it works. I have tgried the HP help site but no help- and of course the warranty help period is long since gone. Friends have suggested that it could be USB connection- Scanner and old laptop USB1- new computer USB. Have googled this but no help either.

    anyone got any ideas ?

    cheers..Ed

  2. #2
    Guest
    Guest

    Default

    A Google search for HP Scandesk 4890 confirmed that it is a USB2 device so there shouldn't be a USB port conflict.

    Did you follow the instructions on the order in which to install software/plug in the device? Some devices demand a specific order to install properly.

    If the OS of your new PC is different from the previous one then it may be the device driver to blame. A Google search for HP Scandesk 4890 driver found This Page on the HP support web site.

    Another possibility is a faulty USB cable - try using an alternative one - or, more seriously, a faulty port (which would probably mean the fix-it shop).

    Graham

  3. #3
    Valued member of Brit-Gen
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    I would think its most likely to be the operating system. I had to un load a new driver for my canon 9950F when i got a new computer running vista, which most have nowadays
    mike

  4. #4
    Dorset Girl
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    Two thoughts - we had an Agfa scanner, purely for negs
    - works well with Windows 95 and at a push we managed eventually to get it working with XP - but in a roundabout way.
    Then we got an HP ?6110 I think - a very expensive model anyway - the 4 in 1 variety. Worked well - until - we downloaded IE7. After that the scanning portion wouldn't work at all! We spent hours and hours on the phone, in live chat conversations, uninstalled, reinstalled, scrubbed, no-one could help. Uninstalling IE7 and reinstalling IE6 didn't work (we found out later that IE7 leaves links even when it is uninstalled). After four months I had to admit defeat and went out and splashed out on a Canon - works marvellously and never had a problem since - sold the HP for a song and was glad to be rid of it. Not sure if this will help!

  5. #5
    MarkJ
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    If it works on the old laptop, but not on the desktop, then the first question is - what operating systems are on the respective machines? Vista may need different drivers to the ones supplied on the disk for example (and there may not be Vista drivers available...)

    If both machines have XP for example, then we need to look at other possible problems. As Graham says, it could be a USB port issue. On a lot of computers, you find USB ports at the back and at the front of the machine for convenience. The front ones are usually connected by wires to a header on the motherboard, whereas the rear ones are directly connected. Most front USB ports are fine with basic USB devices which don't tend to need much power - e.g USB sticks. However, scanners and printers tend to need a bit more "oomph" and can play up if plugged into the front ports. I would try plugging into a rear port if possible to eliminate that as a possible source of your problems.

    Another issue - which tends to be more common on older Windows 98 machines - but does sometimes show up on XP - is conflicting twain drivers. This problem usually happens if you have installed both a scanner device AND a digital camera driver. The simple answer to that one is to uninstall the drivers for both devices and reinstall them in reverse order. So if your camera driver was installed ages ago and then you installed the scanner driver recently, try installing the scanner first and then the camera.

    Mark

  6. #6

    Default HP Scanjet 4890

    Thanks for all the suggestions.

    I had in fact carried out all the obvious (to me anyway) things.
    Both machines have Win XP. The scanner works on the laptop with the cable which would not work on the PC.
    Tried both front and back ports on the PC. Have another scanner a MFP (also HP) which works plugged into the ports on the PC which the scanjet would not work on.
    Have uninstalled and reinstalled the software. Spent far too long on all this !!!!
    But I dont like to be beaten, and I am convinced that, as in the past, there is something simple that I am not doing :-) However I may just carry on scanning on the laptop and transfer the images to the PC.

    Cheers..Ed

  7. #7

    Default HP Scandesk 4890

    I forgot to mention.
    Appart from the problems I have been having with this scanner and the PC, otherwise it works like a dream and can be recommended for anyone who, like me, has a backlog of digitising to do.
    comes with a full set of masks for all sizes of negs as well as the slide carrier which does 16 slides in one go.
    It does have a problem with the odd slide which is of a different exposure to the rest, but that apart it works well.

    cheers..Ed

  8. #8
    Guest
    Guest

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    Hello Ed,

    Interesting that you say you have another scanner which works OK.

    I have a number of scanner drivers installed on this PC (different scanners for different uses) but at any one time only the scanner I wish to use is cobbected. However, what I have to do is to make sure that the correct driver/source is selected before trying to scan.

    This is via the File/Import menu in Photoshop & Paint Shop Pro but may be slightly different paths in other software.

    If I select the wrong scanner and try to scan I get an error message which differs depending on the scanner - for example "The scanner is not connected. Please check cable." and "Unable to open selected scanner or data source".

    Could this be your answer?

    Graham

  9. #9
    Guest
    Guest

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    Quote Originally Posted by Ed McKie View Post
    Graham

    I had thought that perhaps there might be a conflict of drivers of the two scanners but couldnt see any way round it.
    did you mean that actually deactivated the driver of the scanner you did not have connected ?
    I must admit I had both scanners connected to the PC at the same time, but as both of them appeared on the software (HP) I was using I didnt see that was a problem.
    will have see if the 4890 will work with the MFP disconnected.

    cheers..ed
    Sorry if I didn't explain it correctly.

    There isn't actually a conflict of drivers but they seem to be written specifically for different models.

    At any one time there may be multiple scanners plugged into USB ports on my PC but there will never be more than one scanner switched on (i.e. physical connections may be multiple but there will only ever be one in use).

    However, because the scanning interface software tends to differ between models it is necessary to make sure that the correct driver/source is selected (from within the scanning program being used) before trying to scan. This doesn't disable/deactivate/uninstall the software for the other scanner, just points the scanning program to the correct driver.

    Something else which just occurred to me is that I have to ensure my webcam is not plugged in to a USB port when I want to use a scanner as it can prevent proper operation. I think some digital cameras can cause interference as well.

    Graham

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