Railfan Technology > Minolta Dimage Scan Dual IV Question

I have a Minolta Dimage Scan Dual IV. When it works, I get very nice scans.

The problem is, it won't work. I was able to get a number of good scans, and then one day, it locked up and would not eject the film holder. I made the mistake of pulling the film holder out before turning it off.

I ended up reloading the program and got it to work for a few slides. I got an error message (1)unknown error. I restarted it and got error message(4) exceeded time limit (or something like that).

I decided to try the scanner on another computer and it would not work. I downloaded an updated program from Konica Minolta website and I got it to work for one scan and it "timed out" again.

Has anyone here on TO had similar experience. I have heard that others have had similar problems. I contacted Sony (they own Konica Minolta) and they said to send it in and for $100+ they would "go through it" with additional charge for any parts.

I liked the quality of the Minolta scans, but this thing is a piece of junk as far as I'm concerned.

I only paid $ 250 for it, and am afraid to dump any more money in it. I was going to buy a Microtek Advantix 4000f (recommended by two of my friends that have it), but they are no longer available.

Any suggestions besides throwing it in the trash can?

Thanks in advance.

Nomosantafe
Ft Worth, TX
"Where the West Begins"

What operating system are you using, Windoze or MacOS?

I had a similar issue with my DiMage Elite 5400 II using both Mac OS9 and OSX. One day the stupid Minolta driver would see the scanner, the next day it wouldn't. Finally one day, it stopped working completely no matter what I did. The Minolta support people never gave me a satisfactory solution or reason so it just sat here collecting dust for over a year.

I was able to resurrect it though by dumping the Minolta software and and using VueScan instead. Forget about SilverFast, it needs the Minolta drivers to be working properly to function at all. I didn't figure that out until I bought it and couldn't get it to work either. But VueScan saw the scanner and got me up and running with no problems. It has a funky, kind of propeller-headish interface but once you figure it out, it works really well.

You can download a trial version for either Windows or Mac to try it out first. If it gets your scanner working, at least you know it's software related and not hardware. Check it out here:

http://www.hamrick.com/

You might also try posting your inquiry to some of the Minolta scanner groups to see if anyone has had similar issues. Make sure you state what OS and how it's connected to your computer (USB, Firewire, or whatever...I don't know what the DiMage IV uses but some scanners have multiple interfaces).

Here's a few I have found good info on in the past:

http://www.photo-i.co.uk/BB/

http://groups.google.com/group/comp.periphs.scanners/topics?lnk=lr&hl=en

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/minoltadimagescanelite/

Hope this helps.

Mike

I have Windows XP and a USB interface.

That's about as much computer as I know.

I was able to get it working on my laptop after fussing with the USB cable, so I thought it was the cable.

I bought a new cable and reinstalled the software on my desktop computer. The scanner whirrs and then gives the same error messages I had before. I also get the message that the device is not connected on the Dual Scan Utility - even though the computer acknowledges the device being unplugged and then plugged back in.

I'll take a look at the Vuescan option. The scanner does a nice job when it works.

Thanks for the input.

I second the Vuescan recommendation.

nomosantafe Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I have Windows XP and a USB interface.
>
> That's about as much computer as I know.
>
> I was able to get it working on my laptop after
> fussing with the USB cable, so I thought it was
> the cable.
>
> I bought a new cable and reinstalled the software
> on my desktop computer. The scanner whirrs and
> then gives the same error messages I had before.
> I also get the message that the device is not
> connected on the Dual Scan Utility - even though
> the computer acknowledges the device being
> unplugged and then plugged back in.
>
> I'll take a look at the Vuescan option. The
> scanner does a nice job when it works.
>
> Thanks for the input.


Turn the scanner off, uninstall all Minolta software, unplug the scanner USB cable, reboot until your desktop is fully loaded again, shutdown your PC, plug the USB cable back in and turn the scanner on, reboot, reinstall the drivers again.

When you yanked the holder out it throws a error that typically corrupts the USB driver for the device. Rebooting will clear the USB device but only after the drivers have been uninstalled.

I made the mistake of pulling the holder out when it hung, ONCE and once was enough.

I have had the Scan Dual IV now for 3 years and 6000 scans. I use Vuescan and haven't ever used the Minolta software. I could never get Quicksilver to work with the Scan Dual IV, eventhough it works fine with the 5400II.

Good luck

CNW6500 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> nomosantafe Wrote:
> Turn the scanner off, uninstall all Minolta
> software, unplug the scanner USB cable, reboot
> until your desktop is fully loaded again, shutdown
> your PC, plug the USB cable back in and turn the
> scanner on, reboot, reinstall the drivers again.
>

>
> Good luck

I think I can agree pretty much with what is said here but Windows commonly wants the software installed BEFORE the hardware is plugged in. Read the instructions to find out if that is the case with the Minolta scanner. If it does not work one way then try it the other way after deleting the drivers once again.

CNW6500 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> nomosantafe Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I have Windows XP and a USB interface.
> >
> > That's about as much computer as I know.
> >
> > I was able to get it working on my laptop after
> > fussing with the USB cable, so I thought it was
> > the cable.
> >
> > I bought a new cable and reinstalled the
> software
> > on my desktop computer. The scanner whirrs and
> > then gives the same error messages I had before.
>
> > I also get the message that the device is not
> > connected on the Dual Scan Utility - even
> though
> > the computer acknowledges the device being
> > unplugged and then plugged back in.
> >
> > I'll take a look at the Vuescan option. The
> > scanner does a nice job when it works.
> >
> > Thanks for the input.
>
>
> Turn the scanner off, uninstall all Minolta
> software, unplug the scanner USB cable, reboot
> until your desktop is fully loaded again, shutdown
> your PC, plug the USB cable back in and turn the
> scanner on, reboot, reinstall the drivers again.
>
> When you yanked the holder out it throws a error
> that typically corrupts the USB driver for the
> device. Rebooting will clear the USB device but
> only after the drivers have been uninstalled.
>
> I made the mistake of pulling the holder out when
> it hung, ONCE and once was enough.
>
> I have had the Scan Dual IV now for 3 years and
> 6000 scans. I use Vuescan and haven't ever used
> the Minolta software. I could never get
> Quicksilver to work with the Scan Dual IV,
> eventhough it works fine with the 5400II.
>
> Good luck


fbe wrote:
I think I can agree pretty much with what is said here but Windows commonly wants the software installed BEFORE the hardware is plugged in. Read the instructions to find out if that is the case with the Minolta scanner. If it does not work one way then try it the other way after deleting the drivers once again.


NOMO says:

THANK YOU EVERYONE!

I did the reinstall just as you instructed and guess what - it appears to be working.

Here's one I just made.

WB miltary train on Wichita Falls Sub near Rhome, Texas (BNSF former FW&D) with KCS power taken in 2001.

---

nomo,

I am glad things are working again for you. Also, thanks for reporting the results to those who took the time to wrestle with the problems. I never understand the folks who just grab the goodies and never come back to let those who did the research for them, know if their efforts were of value. It looks like the scanner is doing a fine job for you.