My husband has uninstalled and reinstalled twice with no luck. The scanner still only scans a white nothing. Any suggestions as to what is causing this? Thanks Jodi for your response btw:)

-- mona temby (dtemby@netwestonline.com), July 21, 1999

Answers

I'm assuming the adaptor you picked up is of the same exact type as the damaged one? AC or DC output, the same voltage, the same polarity, etc. If so, chances are good that when the original adaptor died it took either the scanner, or both the scanner and the computer interface with it. OUCH! I'm not sure whether it's plugged into a parallel port, a scsi card, or a dedicated interface card, but if it were me I'd either contact the manufacturer and get them to check the scanner, cable & interface card(if there is one), and adaptor or I'd investigate one of the new cheaper scanners which may just be less money than shipping to/from and repair by the manufacturer.

Sorry to be a wet blanket, but your results and symptoms don't offer much in the way of encouragement. Chances are you got nailed with a power surge or perhaps a fullblown lightning surge while you were gone. A company I once worked for had a laser printer that would die every time there was a lightning storm. It would also occasionally take out the I/O interface card that held the parallel port to which the printer was connected. The eventual hi-tech solution was to make sure we unplugged the printer during any and all storms.

Good Luck!

-- Gerald Payne (gmp@francorp.francomm.com), July 22, 1999.

I may be coming in late on this & not knowing the full story, but here goes:

Some scanners have a carriage lock mechanism that is used to hold the scanning head in a secure position during shipment. If that were inadvertantly left locked, the the result might be all-white or all-black scan, since the "electronic eye" would be seeing the same starting position under the glass scan bed during the whole duration of the scan. The scanner has no way to tell if the head is moving or not.

So look for a locking lever or screw underneath the scanner or sometimes by the power cord. The user manual may help uncover it.

-Bruce

-- bruce komusin (bkomusin@bigfoot.com), July 25, 1999.