DOA *bay purchase

[vinny_walsh]

A couple months ago i purchased a Imacon Flextight from a Santa Monica businessman on

ebay. It uses scsi connections and i was told i'd need a scsi firewire adapter. I was working

70hours a week up until recently so i hadn't had the time to take it somewhere for

inspection. To make a long story short, i've tried the scanner on 3 different mac and pc

systems with and w/o the adapters i purchased separately. I've tried 3 different versions

of the Flexcolor software and the scanner isn't recognized by any computers. Imacon

couldn't help me over the phone but said for $150 they would look at it. Its too late for a

paypal refund and they only refund upt o $1000 anyway. The guy only had a 7 day refund

policy. Either way he sold me a lemon.

 

I'm thinking i should ask for a full refund or ask him to pay the shipping and labor for a

repair if need be at Imacon. If a repair wasn't needed then i would offer to pay the

charges.

How should i approach this guy?

[tim_atherton9]

vinny

 

i wasn't quite clear on what you say above - have you actually tried it on a computer with a real SCSI card? (and one that's had all it's ASPI stuff updated?

[c_p_goerz]

Seven days by the time an item gets to you means you really have no time whatsoever to check something out properly. Have you perhaps asked Imacon if they have had similar problems? I would then explain the situation to the seller and ask if he had problems and when the last time it was used and how they set it up. If you are in LA offer to bring it back and have him show you how it works, if not then I guess the best thing is to ask him to pay the repair fee, if no joy with those options fly to LA and burn his car out!!! ;-)

 

 

CP Goerz.

[vinny_walsh]

I live in LA and i have tried it on a pc notebook with a scsi card. He says he hadn't used it

in a while.

[mskovacs]

SCSI is a finicky beast. Forget about firewire/usb emulation, PCMCIA cards and the like. You need to get a real PCI Adaptec SCSI card and install it along with the ASPI layers for your operating system, especially if its Win2K or WinXP. You need to make sure your cables are good and the terminations are setup correctly.

 

Then you should try to install software. Also, be aware that a SCSI device needs to be turned on when you boot the computer for it to be recognized.

 

I hope that you don't have a lemon. I would almost kill to get my hands on such an awesome scanner!

[paulh]

Apart from the answers so far, check the following:<P>

 

- check you have the right cable.<P>

- check the SCSI ID on the scanner. I've no idea where the switch may be on this scanner, but you should be able to set an ID number from 0-7. The card on a PC is usually 7, so pick any other number :-)<P>

- both ends of the SCSI chain MUST be terminated. Usually on a PC card, the other side of the external connector will be terminated by default. The scanner also needs to be terminated (i.e. you shouldn't have any "open" connectors on the scanner.<P>

- most SCSI cards have a BIOS utility or similar to check the devices attached. Have a look through here, and also check the windows device manager. If your scanner is not recognised at this low level, the software won't find it.<P>

- check out the <A HREF="http://www.imacon.dk/sw339.asp">Imacon site</A><P><BR>

 

Good luck<P>

 

Paul

[jeff bishop]

Mikes probably dead on with this.

 

Adaptec scsi with the proper software installed (follow the instructions to the word) ESPECIALLY if using Windows XP.

 

The Imacon website may have all the info you need.

 

I run into problems anytime I try to install my Nikon Coolscan. It's ALWAYS a software issue, and usually a driver that windows xp is choking on.

 

My guess is the thing is probably fine. If you know of anyone else who has the same scanner, try plugging yours in it's place. Odds are it will fire up and run perfect. Also, make sure that if there is a lock on it, it's opened (I ran into that one with an Epson).

 

Good luck, keep us posted!

[silent1]

In fact, SCSI for older devices might need to go a little further -- you may need a particular MODEL of Adaptec SCSI adapter. When I bought my scanner (an Agfa Arcus 1200) I bought the PCI SCSI card I was told was the most compatible, an Adaptec 2920 (IIRC -- it's inside the computer, so not visible, and the driver is generic to several Adaptec models). It came with only the standard SCSI connector on the backplane and an internal dual-header connector, and I had to remove a Mac ROM that would have allowed a Mac equipped with this card to boot from the SCSI drive. I paid $10 plus shipping (used), and another $20 locally (also used) for the cable. Windows 98 recognized the adapter without requiring me to install any additional software (the driver was on the Win98 CD). All newer versions of Windows should also support this very basic hardware.

 

The older type SCSI cards are slow, but very, very compatible -- get one of them, and the correct cable, install them, and get the scanner operating, then experiment with card/cable upgrades for Fast, Wide, Fast/Wide, etc. as recommended by Imacon. FWIW, the Imacon is THE premier film scanner short of oil-mounted drum scanning. If you need to get the most out of your negatives, it's worth spending a little more to get it running.

[vinny_walsh]

So just to be clear: I asked the seller and Imacon about the compatability of this scanner

and my Imac G4 with osx 10.2.9 before i purchased anything. I purchased a 2ndwave.com

scsi to firewire adapter for $100 and then purchased the optional power supply for that

when it didn't work. I've spoke with imacon tech support and they said this should work

fine and if it doesn't then there may be a problem. The green light that continues to blink

on the scanner should glow steadily if all is well. As far as i know the imac cannot accept

cards because it doesn't have a tower.

I posted something about this a few weeks back. Is there anyone in LA who has a

compatible system willing to help me out?

[david_f._stein]

I think your best bet is to have Imacon or a local Imacon service center check the machine out-starting at Square One. This is why dealers in our direct purchase era are of value. At the least, they may be able to direct you to a customer who has a similar setup in your area. Fins other installations of your scanner model on a Mac and see how they are doing it. I would be dubious of Firewire-SCSI adapters. Your best bet would be the last model of Mac with built-in SCSI (Beige G3, and I bet it would run it with maxed memory and upgrade to G4 processor). Otherwise a later tower and Adaptec or Atto cards-which are getting hard to find. I boot my B&W tower from an ATTO Ultra Wide SCSI2 card and my external Atlas drive approaches 50MB transfer rate. You would be better off investing in a dedicated computer for this scanner and leaving the setup stable. With a Quicksilver Tower, I think you can max memory out at 1.5 G which would do the trick. The key besides the proper SCSI connection is working with 7200 or 10000 rpm hard drives with generous buffers, 8G if possible. You could do this all with legacy Mac stuff. Also, check out www.xlr8yourmac.com and check for folks reporting on scanner use. I have worked many years with low end Macs-good, maxed memory, the best PC cards and drives, whether ATA or SCSI, and you can do about anything. GOOD LUCK.

[edward_richards]

Did you put the powered terminator on, or any terminator at all? This scsi stuff is voodoo and you have to do all of the little things. I have no idea how big this is, but if you can move it, I would truck to a local computer geek shop, one with a geek who is at least 40, and let them play with it.

[michael_j._kravit1]

An Notebook SCSI Adapter WILL NOT always run a scanner. You really need to get a desktop with an Adaptec SCSI adapter as indicated.

 

I had a Howtek 4500 drum scanner and tried to no avail to get it to work with my notebook. Finally got an old PC for a few bucks that I dedicated as a scanning machine. Worked fime.

[kelly_flanigan1]

Which speed SCSI does the Imacon Flextight require?<BR><BR>SCSI has been around a very long time; and there are many variants. <BR><BR>Typical field service calls are just not turning your scsi device on before boot; no terminations; usb or scsi switch set to usb instead of scsi. Scsi id set wrong; bent pins; no cable used :) . Some poorer SCSI adapters dont daisy chain well. In product support at one place I worked; less than 2 percent of SCSI returns or support calls were real product failures. This is like going thru 50 returned SCSI products; and only one really is bad; the rest a user issue. Here I have about 8 computers with SCSI cards. The "$150 they would look at it." fee is cheap; some places charge 250 bucks. They will go thru all the common SCSI cockpit problems; like is there gas in the fuel tank; is the fuse lit; is the gun loaded; is there film in the camera? :)

[edward_richards]

How old is the scanner? That will tell you what kind of hardware you need. If it is 10 years old, then go buy a discarded PC with an ancient card - it is much more likely to work than your newest Mac.

 

These old high end scanners are not like a consumer product. You have to be prepared for some serious setup time and effort. There is no plug and play, what is why you save xxxx$ by buying old equipment. Once you get it working, and drink enough beer, these setup problems will seem insignificant.

[tedharris]

All of the responses you have gotten have merit but to give you any more accurate

information we need more deetails. Specifically:

 

1) The model of scanner (flextight is part of the Imacon generic name thus is it a Precision

II, 646, etc.).

 

2) Complete specifics on the cables, cards, etc. that you are using.

 

As for what computer, you may need to go to an earlier generation Mac or PC. Many of

the earlier high end scanners are designed to work with one system or the other but npot

both. More commonly with Mac's. Additionally, many do not work with the hardware/

firmware combinations of newer model computers and you need to know what model is

required to run the scanner. Probably the best place online to find answers to your

specific question is the High End Scanning Group ScanHi-End@yahoogroups.com ....

 

The most important piece of information you have gotten so far is that these are highly

specialized commercial machines,, neither simple to install or operate and you may find

the entire learnign curve is more than you want to take on.

[vinny_walsh]

I wish if the tech support guy at imacon would have mentioned all of this. I hadn't planned

on or have room for another computer. I don't want to buy another system only to find

out it's not the right one. I attached hardware requirments from the manual. The scanner

is the original Flextight Precision made in 1998. The scsi connection is terminated. I

attached some photos. The manual has coloflex software on 3.5inch floppies for mac in

the sleeves.

[vinny_walsh]

scanner photo

[silent1]

Seven year old SCSI device, this year's Firewire-to-SCSI adapter. There's your problem. Your SCSI adapter or its driver probably isn't fully backward compatible to the SCSI flavor your scanner is looking for and/or your OS X isn't correctly emulating something OS 7.5 would have done (more likely the port/driver issue than the OS, with a Mac, based on my limited Mac experience).

 

First thing is to try to find someone still running Win98 who has a PCI SCSI adapter installed, and use the appropriate cable to connect the scanner to that machine. If it works that way (and I'm guessing it will), then you need to find out why it isn't working on your iMac. I'd offer to test on my Win98SE machine here (with Adaptec PCI SCSI and working SCSI flatbed/glassless scanner), if you're local to the Piedmont Triad in North Carolina.

 

Worst case, you can probably sell the scanner for what you paid if you can verify it works on a suitable machine, but that won't pay back money, time, and frustration spent trying to get it to work.

[j_robinson2]

"Either way he sold me a lemon."

 

Who in the world knows what you may or may not have done with it in a few months time. You didn't try it within the time specified and didn't ask for 10-15 days so YOU eat it.

 

If you had been smart enough to try the product when you got it you could claim against insurance or the sender. Since you were too slow/lazy/busy to check out your expensive purchase just spend more money of your own & get it taken care of.

 

This is as stupid as the guy who came into our body shop saying we were to blame for work done on his car that went bad when the rear bumper came off when he ran over a fire hydrant.

[l_a_k_h_i_n_d_e_r]

I use my Imacon with a Adaptec 2906. This is the basic SCSI card, and it works

well either on a PC or a MAC -- The card is not made anymore, so I should say it used to work well with a PC or a MAC. I used windows 2000.

You might find this card on the auction site.

 

 

You could rent a working Imacon, if such a facility is available to you, and then compare the results. The card comes with some diagnostics, and you should be able to get the flextight SCSI ID. Turn on the scanner before the computer of course. If your current card has any diagnostics, you should be able to read the devices present on the SCSI bus. If you can not read any, you might have a setup problem, e.g a termination problem. And of course you could have a burnt out SCSI interface on this scanner. Try taking your SCSI card out and putting it back.

 

I wonder if Imacon would be willing to replace your SCSI card with a USB or a Firewire card. SCSI is a pain.

[vinny_walsh]

Well all it took was hooking it up to someone's old mac G3 and it works! Now i need to

find another computer.