10 replies to this topic

[john god]

Problem:


Hi, I am using a Hewlett Packard 4200C scanner.
The problem I am having is that when you hit a button to start a scan
the scanner makes niose over and over again. Also the
light goes from green to orange. Now when you try to hit the button,nothing happens,no sound or movement. Property Manager says device working properly. Scanner ican has some kind of clamp at bottom. Does anyone know a solution.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
John God

[krit86lr]

john god, on Mar 21 2006, 12:00 PM, said:

Problem:


Hi, I am using a Hewlett Packard 4200C scanner.
The problem I am having is that when you hit a button to start a scan
the scanner makes niose over and over again. Also the
light goes from green to orange. Now when you try to hit the button,nothing happens,no sound or movement. Property Manager says device working properly. Scanner ican has some kind of clamp at bottom. Does anyone know a solution.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
John God

Hi john god, and welcome.

I don't know anything about scanners so I can't be much help. I'm really posting here to bump your post back up so that hopefully someone who is familiar with this might see it.

I will suggest however that you go to Hewlett Packard's website and see if there are any driver updates. It probably won't fix your problem, but it is still beneficial to performance.

Good Luck!
K

[Andavari]

All HP's support site will tell someone to do is reinstall the drivers, and then play with BIOS settings that don't accomplish a damn thing.

Like I said in the other thread good luck getting it to work - you aren't alone with the problems with that specific scanner model, it either works or it doesn't work. I know that's harsh but it's as simple as that, time to get a scanner that works.

I don't know what OS you have, but I've read a few things here and there that suggest it "may" work properly under Windows XP - but I haven't tried it and won't.

[john god]

Thanks for your replies. I guess since I can't get it to work, I'll take it apart to see what makes it tick. I can't be no worse off. I went to the HP website, no luck. I called them, they tried to sell me one, and charge me for Tech Support. Have to find a better model, or scanner to get.
Thanks Again,
John

[Andavari]

Depending upon where you live you should actually be able to find an all-in-one which is a Printer and Scanner combination starting at approximately $50 USD and then going up in price from there.

[jc836]

I know this is stupid-but did you make sure the unit is "unlocked". There may be a slide tab that you need to move underneath or on the back. I have used many different HP scanners and have NEVER had a problem with the hardware functioning. All of my issues have been with the software package and in the case of our 4570-a haze on the underside3 of the glass.
I make the suggestion I do because you mention a "clamp" that should not appear anywhere. BTW: I have used Hp scanners in DOS 6.22 up thru WIN XP Pro. The best one in my opinion was a parallel port unit some years back. If you want an all-in-one have fun deciding. They too can be a pain as to the software and drivers; regardless of brand.
For those wondering about the bundled software, it has few updates and little additional support. I found that thge copy function of the 4570 did not work properly. So I installed Nico Cuppen's Photocopier and it works better than any bundled product that I have tried.

[Andavari]

In general it's the software that causes the problem, at least that's what I think.

I was able to figure out exactly what the problem was on mine back in the day; It was because I had to daisy chain the scanner and the printer together and with both sets of software installed it always killed the scanner's software or connection for some unknown reason. Installing the scanning software alone and not the printer software would allow the scanner to work for a short time, that is up until it decided to stop working again.

----

Edit:
I'm completely guessing as I've never tried it; adding another printer style serial port "may" be a solution.

[john god]

Yes the scanner is unlocked, I made sure of that.
As far as the printer and scanner, printer is a HP DeskJet 895Cse. I had them pluged in together for 5 years. Got them same time. Problem just started. I only used the scanner, roughly about 20 times since I had it. Running Windows 98se.
John

[Andavari]

@John God
You could perform a quick test to see if your scanner works all by itself:
1. Shutdown your computer.
2. Removing the daisy chaining of the scanner and printer, and then plug the scanner alone directly into the back of your computer.
3. Start you computer.
4. If the scanner works alone there inlies the problem, e.g.; your scanner is loosing communication because of being daisy chained with the printer.


Also you could uninstall the scanner software and then reboot, and then re-install it followed by another reboot. No gaurantee this will work and it probably won't last for very long if it does initially work, but at least it "should" cause the scanner software to attempt to re-detect your scanner.

[john god]

How can you check to see if the USB CABLE is good and if the
USB PORT is working ????
John God

[Andavari]

Use the USB cord that you have your scanner plugged into with another USB device and plug it into the same USB port you use for your scanner.

It also wouldn't hurt to plug the scanner into a different USB port altogether, as strange as it may seem I remember Win98 not letting me use some USB speakers in one of the USB ports.