Digital Ice

I have a Epson 4990 photo scanner with built in digital ice. I just bought a

LS-2000 Nikon slide scanner with digital ice built in too with SF-200 adapter

to scan multiple slides. When I try to scanner with my SF-200 muti scan

adapter with digital ice checked I get a memory error after about 6 slides, I

have plenty of disk space, 1.5 gb memory and have save to disk checked. If I

uncheck digital ice feature, no memory problem. Without digital ice, my slides

are not as clean and filled with specks and dust. Could the "memory could not

be read" error be caused by a conflict with the Epson digital ice software?<div></div>

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Hi Charles,

ASF/Applied Science Fiction/Kodak Digital ICE is NOT software, but it is memory intensive, so clear out your system, simplify what's plugged in and turned on and running at the same time, and scan 5 slides at a time if that's what it takes! Also, try on another PC. USB connection, right? Make sure it's directly hooked up to an on-board USB, not a hub, NO other USB connected, move NOTHING during scanning, not even a mouse, and so on. Look up USB troubleshooting on the web - MILLIONS of hints, tips and tricks. You are not alone!

Also, you have 3 calls to make and report back to us on:

1 - Nikon http://www.nikonusa.com/

2 - The seller you bought the Nikon from.

3 - Your PC manufacturer.

What do THEY each say? Tell them exactly what's going on, as each has a responsibility to make sure their product works to your satisfaction. THEN TELL US!

Okay:

4 - Ask ASK.Kodak http://www.asf.com/support/scanners/ScannerSupport.shtml

Also do normal maintenance, update all software from Nikon and Microsoft/Apple (which?) and background utilities such as an anti virus and anti spybot sweep, unload every unnecessary thing from memory (including anti virus - WHY check scan files from your own scanner, and it s-l-o-w-s scanning down!) and reboot OFF the Internet, and defragment your hard drive and your (windows?) system files - see http://www.Sysinternals.com/ Disk Utilities such as PageDefrag for windows. Or do you have a Mac?

Also, tell us more - NEW problem or has it NEVER worked? How does it behave on another PC?

1.5gb RAM is odd, try replacing ALL memory chips with identical chips making 2gb or 4gb - see http://www.crucial.com/ or your computer maker. I suspect your odd memory chip setup, also.

Get a dedicated video card if you have an on-board video card that shares memory with the 1.5gb RAM - NEVER share memory!

Endless, eh?

Now, maybe only 1 thing resolves it ... but which one? You'll never know unless you try them all!

Let us know how it goes.

-- Peter Blaise, High Tech Support Since 1969 (look me up - I've been asked NOT to include my own links in my signature!)

PS - Also try a Konica Minolta DiMage Scan Elite 5400 II 5400dpi 16bit scanner -- just kidding, but MINE works just fine in 512mb 866MHz windows ME and a 40mb hard drive and an ALI-brand accessory USB2 card and driver. Nya-nya! ;-)

Charles, Make sure you've told the software to save each scan after scanning as opposed to leaving them in memory.

Go to preferences and make sure "save to disk" is checked. Good luck.

Hello Peter,

To start off, the LS-2000 Nikon scanner has a SCSI connection. I had to buy an adapter for my Windows XP pro PC. I do have a Dell laptop but I would have to buy another adapter(USB-SCSI)about $80 if you can find one in stock.

1. I did write NikonUSA twice, still waiting for a response.

2. I bought the scanner used but in perfect condition. The unit belonged to the sellers father in law who passed away.

3. My computer is custom AMD Athlon 64 processor 3200+ with 3 - 512 matching Kingston memory chips, 1.5 gb ram(1536).

I do have a dedicated Video card (Radeon 9500 pro)and 3 hard drives with a total of 650gb hard drive space. The hard drive I'm saving the scanned images to has over 200gb free and I do have save to disk checked.

I have over 2000 family slides and scanning 5 at a time will take me forever. Without the Digital Ice checked, I can scan the full 50 magazine but the images come out dusty and speckled.

I tried to start the scans as soon as I started the computer and I did get 12 before memory error.

I'm going to go into my startup and uncheck start programs to a minimum, maybe this will free up resources and memory.

Again Thank you for your help

Charlie

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Okay, Charlie:

1 - add more RAM. 2gb is minimum.

2 - download http://www.sysinternals.com/ Disk Utilities PageDefrag and run it at every reboot.

3 - set Windows cache file at 4096/4096 (STATIC) on the non-Windows drive D: (?) but NOT on C:.

4 - Reboot with minimum crap loaded, even dumping anti virus - you can use Start Run [msconfig] to kill your startup group EXCEPT the SCSI driver, and in the next to last tab (I'm on WinME now, so I can't check), check the box [hide microsoft] and unselect other drivers there EXCEPT the SCSI driver, and reboot. Note what to turn back on after scanning.

5 - unplug your internet connection.

6 - change CMOS for most conservative speed settings, expecially for RAM speed, and turn off ECC everywhere.

7 - defrag both drives multiple times to really defrag them.

8 - Only scan after fresh boot, and reboot after open / close program or any crash - do not try to pick up scanning again after starting and stopping ANY program. Always reboot first. Windows open close cycle is a memory hole mess!

9 - turn off ALL video acceleration and screen blankers and power management - NOTHING automatic or superfluous in the background.

10 - don't even move your mouse during the scan sequence - EVER!

Anyone else have tips on simplifying the system for SCANNING and SCANNING ONLY?

So, 12 good scans at first boot is a hint - you're on the right path. However, Windows caches crap you can't see and loads / unloads memory and somewhere it stumbles. The goal is to stabilize windows by the steps above.

Keep us informed!

-- Peter Blaise, using simple ol' Win98SE or WinME to scan. ;-)

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And another thing -- TRY ANOTHER COMPUTER! Maybe a cheapie used PC with that SCSI card may work fine though slow, and let that be your scan slave, set it and walk away.

Whose SCSI card are you using anyway? What do THEY say when you CALL them? I think http://www.Adaptec.com/ is the only trustworthy SCSI though I have an Iomega Jazz SCSI PCI that seems to be more stable than my ol' HP SCSI ISA card (yes, ISA!).

CALL Nikon - writing is such a waste. Who reads hard copy nowadays? ;-)