Coolscan 4000 Not Seen/Recognized

I walked home from the local camera store today with a claimed working 4000.

 

I need another scanner like I need a hole in the head, but the price was right(not cheap, but on the low end of what they usually bring) and the availability of things like the slide stack feeder and uncut roll feeder-even at their crazy prices-are appealing to me. I can't use those, AFAIK, with my V(which doesn't have the back flap exit like the 4000/5000). m

 

In any case, I brought it home and set it up on my Mac Pro 5,1(2012) running Snow Leopard that I regularly use to operate both my 8000(Firewire) and V(USB) in Nikon Scan 4 and Vuescan. The scanner isn't recognized-with my other scanners off, both programs give me a "no scanner found" error on launch. The scanner doesn't appear in the device tree. I tried multiple ports and cables just to rule that out. BTW, this computer has built in Firewire-all the ports are 800(9 pin) but I use them on 6 pin(400) devices via 6 pin to 9 pin cables.

 

Just to rule out other possibilities, I have a PowerMac G4 "Quicksilver" with Vuescan and a few versions of Nikon Scan installed along with both OS 9 and OS X(10.4.11). With the scanner connected directly to onboard FW via a different 6-pin to 6-pin cable, I get the same thing. The software doesn't recognize it, and I don't see the scanner in System Profiler.

 

When I power the scanner on, I get a slowly flashing light(~1 second on, 1 second off) that never goes away. I've tried various scanner/computer power up sequences, even though my 8000 has never needed any such thing. I've also tried both the strip film feeder and the slide adapter, and no adapter at all installed. The same thing happens with all.

 

Any thoughts on this? Do I have a dead Firewire board in the scanner?

Make sure the Windows FireWire driver is set to "Legacy". Firewire has evolved in Microsoft as a data transfer protocol. The new drivers look for handshakes that can never occur with the scanner.

 

Another thing to check is the FireWire host. the Texas Instruments chip is the one of choice.

 

Finally, try a computer you don't use every day. Windows machines are prone to DLL-Hell. New libraries are loaded with the same names as you add software. My Nikon scanners are recognized by my Lenovo laptops, but not by my Windows tower.

 

I confess that I haven't tried to use my iMac (2017). I run Silverfast 8, but only for processing negative color camera "scans." It's something I should look into, as Windows is a memory quickly fading from my consciousness. I have a Thunderbolt - FireWire 800 adapter I could try. It works fine with FireWire audio gear I use. So much to learn, so little time ;(

Edited September 21, 2019 by Ed_Ingold

No Windows issues here-I haven't run Windows on any of my personal computers in years. I'm doing this all on Macs with built in Firewire ports.

I think it's dead...3 different computers, all with built in FW and all that run other Nikon FW scanners perfectly and it's not working.

 

The LED WILL eventually light steady, but I can't get it to show up as an attached device.

 

If the FW boards were readily available like they are for the 8000/9000, I might try changing it since this has capabilities neither my 8000 or V have, although those cost a fortune to use. As it is, I think it needs to go back....

On my 8000, old grease on the rails kept the scan head from moving. The green light would never go steady though, instead it would flash rapidly.

 

I had a similar experience with a 4000. Was advertised online as working for $149 which was crazy cheap. Since they're local I called and asked them to put it on hold which they did. When I got there they had difficulty finding it and when finally somebody produced it they said it was actually not working. I'm a little suspicious that somebody just realized that it was way underpriced. I almost offered to take it anyway and kind of wish I would have. Just the adaptors were worth $149.

 

I'm surprised you were able to get the 8000 working on a Mac Pro. I couldn't even get it to work on an iMac from 2010 no matter what OS I tried. I'm running it off an old G5 cheese grater tower.

As for scanning from a Mac Pro, here it is to show it's possible, but please forgive my disaster of a desk/work area.

 

I'm running 10.6.8 on this computer-it's actually quite zippy given the specs and the relatively early OS. I had issues getting Nikon Scan 4 to run natively, but it works fine as a Photoshop plug-in. Unfortunately, due to some weirdness there, I'm in CS4 running under Rosetta, but none the less it works.

 

I'm showing it here running both my V and 8000 at the same time. In real use, you'd only want to have one powered up at a time, as Nikon Scan seems to only want to actively control the most recently powered on scanner.

 

Vuescan actually works fine regardless of how many scanners are powered on(pick your active one from the drop down menu on the first tab) but I only use it for B&W since I prefer ICE in Nikon Scan.

 

Yeah, I should have clarified. I couldn't get Nikon Scan to work. VueScan would work fine, but I've never been fond of it. Last I tried it, it didn't have a way to do quick thumbnails on the 8000, or at least I couldn't figure out how to do it.

 

I run the G5 headless and use screen sharing to run Nikon Scan, then I grab the files off it when it's done. It works well enough.

 

 

You've got some classic stuff there. My workspace would look like that except that I moved my iMac upstairs when my son left for college. The G5 and the scanner are still in the basement but that's also where I process the film. It's not the most convenient but then again, the 8000 isn't exactly quiet so some separation has its advantages.

 

 

New(er) iMac coming this week, but I miss the versatility of the old towers.

Edited September 22, 2019 by tomspielman

Have you tried contacting Gleb ? at ....

 

Nikon Coolscan LS-8000 ED / LS-9000 ED service and repair notes

G.Shtengel's Home

 

Gleb knows all about Nikon scanners. Send him an email explaining the symptoms and ask for a quote. The price he charged to replace my 8000 firewire chip was very reasonable. The firewire chip is probably the trouble with your 4000