Hi,

I have a problem with an old MICROTEX 336CX Parallel Port Scanner. I like to start with this Q: Does a working scanner supposed to activate its scanning lamp when its attached to the computer, while the computer is booting ? Cuz my 1 doesn’t But the ready LED flashes and lights up. But cannot scan. Scanner lamp never comes on.

Need help soon
Thanx.

Your lamp is probably shot. I had the same issue with an old Polaroid parallel scanner and it's actually a re-tagged Microtec. I was able to find another lamp at a local electrical supply and replace it.....and it had run quite some time afterwards until I upgraded.


And and big Hi! and Welcome to TechSpot with your first post. Hope you enjoy your time here. :wave:

Thanx Masque!

Yeah.. I think its burned out too. I never had a scanner b4. I got this old thing from a freind. Does a working scanner supposed to activate its scanning lamp (I mean run up and down or something) when its attached to the computer, and while the computer is booting ?

Not necessarily, but it will light up.

The problem took a U turn today. The drivers I got, included a scanner test program.
When I initiate a scan all this time it reported:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
"Unidentified Error"
Step:
1. Check to see if their is no SCSI ID number conflict.
2. Check the SCSI cable connections.
3. Run scan test again.

** Make sure the scanner is on the list of the system device manager.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ok, here are the things I did from A to Z
Today I hooked up the scanner, and installed
WinNT drivers instead of Win2000 drivers (which I had installed all this time).
(My OS is WinXP Pro) and rebooted. It detects the scanner as '330/336CX' and quickly
changes to 'SlimScan C3'(which happened with the Win2000 drivers too). and rebooted again.

Then I ran the scanner test program again. Suddenly the scanning lamp begin to flash and it scanned a image perfectly.
No errors at all I scanned another 5 images and they allso got scanned perfectly.
Then to my bad luck, the power to the scanner got loose and it switched off. when I turned it on again
the PC got stuck, and had to reboot. But now when I run the scan test again, the lamp flashes RGB
hears a relay clicking sound the motor spins 2 times and the lamp tries to move, and greets me with that same damn error message
So I’m back in square 1. I rebooted a dozen of times but the same error.

Can a driver cause this kind of a thing ? I’m confused.
Need Help soon.
Thanx

Well,I learned something. If i leave the PC off for a while (say about 30mins) and start scanning again, it scanns without a problem. .(well, it has a prob though, the scanned images seems to have RGB lines. see the attached file.) But if I restart the PC for some reason I get the error message again.

Cant this RGB lines be a resualt of a bad power supply ? I've heard that incorrect power supply to the scanner can also make horizontl lines apear. I dont have the original power supply that came with the scanner. On the back panel of the scanner it says '12v 1amp'. So I brought a powersupply adapter which rated 12v 1amp. I dont run it at 12v cuz the place where U plug the power cord heats up like hell. I use 9v's. But they both are the same, both make RGB lines apear. Cant this be the power supply ?

It could be.....not sure. I've seen those lines before (maybe about 5 years ago) on an older scanner but I'll be darned if I can remember what the cause was......sorry.

Can a incorrect power supply (I mean low voltage) cause damge to the scanning lamp or any other circuitry ?

Low voltage will not allow things to fire up properly.....hence, you've got an issue. Higher voltage (more importantly, amps) will have a very bad adverse effect on it.

Thanx for your answers Masque, :grinthumb but I still don’t have a clear idea about what’s causing these damn RGB lines.

Here are some information I came across. Maybe these will
refresh your RAM, and remember what made your old scanner make these lines
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Symptoms : Horizontal Lines Existed on scan-out
Cause : Incorrect power adapter connected
Resolution : double check the power adapter you used:
15Vdc, 1.25A or 1.33A for SM-V6USL, SM3600, SM3700, SM3750i, SM4600 and SM4700.
12Vdc, 1.25A for C3, C6, SM3800, SM4800, SM4900 and SM5900.
-Microtek website support section.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My scanner is a 336CX, but windows detects it as SlimScan C3. So maybe it needs 12v 1.25 amps to operate correctly ? I’m using ‘9v 1amp’ as I said before.
Then Y the hell does it heat up so bad when I use 12V 1A?


Here are some other information:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Take 3 passes at the document: An option only to flatbed scanners, this approach has the scan head scan the document 3 times-once each for red, green and blue light.
After this is done, the 3 images are merged using software to create the composited full-color image. Of course even a slight variation in scanner movement yields registration problems, possible causing the individual red, blue and green colors to become visible.

-Peter Norton’s complete guide to PC upgrades.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
But my scanner doesn’t scan 3 times and I cant see that kind of a option.
But come to think of it, the scanner makes loud noises at the final part of a scan.
I see the lamp glow in Red Green and Blue too. Is this normal ?

Its a question paper isnt it ? oh.. what the heck, give me ya comments pls!

put a bullet in it. sometimes you just have to know when to say when.

I dont think its a good idea to mess around with old equiptment and differing power supplies that "heat up so bad" and are connected to your computer and presumably are inside your flammable house.

LOL You're psychic (or is it psychotic?). Nonetheless, that's exactly what I was about to say.

At the current prices of scanners.....go buy new....you'll be better off. Remember, in the age-old war of man vs. machine, sometimes the machine comes out on top.

actually im both.

I hear Ohio does that to you.....comes from eating too many "Buckeyes".

Yeah. Thats exactly what I'm gonna do if I had a gun.
After all they dont call me wreckles for nothing!

:suspiciou We have lots of guns in ohio- we are always on the lookout for folks trying to sneak in from michigan:stickout:

Can I borrow 1 of them shotguns to blast this junk away ?

BTW, stop looking for sneaking ppl from Michigan and answer my questions!

Afraid of Wolverines?

Listen up ppl, this is a hardware forum not a battle feild.

I hapened to be living in a 3rd world country. Not in a great nation like US of A. So even $100 means a lot to me. Even the cheapest Scanner is about $150. I dont think I can afford a new scanner right now. I would be appreciated if U Geniuses can give me some kind of a idea about my problem.

Besides I dont think this problem is something U cant fix, I get a kick out of repairing old stuff Dont U ?