Coolscan V ED freezing during scans

[carl_neilson]

I bought a Nikon Coolscan V ED a two days ago to replace my broken down Canon

FS4000US 35mm film scanner. When I initially set the Coolscan V up I did a

test scan on one frame from an old neg strip before changing to the slide

adapter to test that. The first scan of the neg went fine, but that was the

only scan that worked because after I changed to the slide holder the machine

would not complete a scan without freezing up. After a little while it

wouldn't even complete a preview scan without freezing. It was all extremely

frustrating because the slide attachment is going to get the most use, as

initially the bulk of my scans will be old slides while I'm waiting for the FH-

3 strip holder that I placed on order to arrive. Even though I initially

thought the problem was with the slide holder that didn't turn out to be the

case, and I think I just got lucky having that one frame from the neg scan

okay without freezing.

 

I have received much useful advice from this forum about all aspects of

photography over the years so I started to search the archives here for

answers. I found a few old threads from people with similar problems and a

recurring issue seemed to be how fussy the Coolscan is with the USB port on

the computer. Previous advice was given about modifying the computer's

hardware and/or bios, which I don?t have enough experience with to attempt for

fear of causing more problems than I?m solving. But hidden away in those

threads were one or two examples of people who bought a new high quality USB

cable, which solved the problem.

 

So with nothing to lose I removed the new USB cable that was supplied with the

Coolscan and tried the old cable from my old Canon scanner. The scanner then

worked perfectly!! As of writing this I've spent the best part of two days

with the scanner almost constantly in action during every waking moment and I

haven't had a single repeat of the freezing problem. The canon cable is

thicker than the Nikon cable and is obviously of better quality. The best part

of all is that it was an easy and quick fix to an extremely frustrating

problem.

 

I just thought I'd add my experience here for the future benefit of others

looking to solve the same problem. So my advice is to try a different cable

first before trying the other advice about modifying the computer.

[bill_keane2]

Good tip! My Coolscan V has been a real workhorse. Glad yours is underway.