Epson Scanner problem. Please help.

[grasientus]

Hi

I've been trying to set up an Epson Perfection 3490 scanner on my mother's iMac. It's an Intel with 1 gig of RAM.

Given it's an intel machine I went to Epson's site for the new drivers that support the new chips. Epson offer driver 2.77a as the only driver that's for intel machines for this scanner. So, use that one.

The scanner software keeps freezing and, after doing a scan (at which point you can't scan again unless you reboot) the printer (an Epson R800) stops working at all.

I checked on the scanner software and drivers. They all show as version 2.73 and as PowerPC versions. Seems to explain the problems quite well. I tried re-installing the drivers and software several times and getting the download from various places. All the same effect. It's worth noting that between each install I uninstalled the previous versions. The Epson uninstaller doesn't work but I found instructions on how to manually remove the software and drivers by going round libraries and preferences to manually delete the components.

But no further forward. I tried Vuescan and it works but I begrudge spending out more money (and my mother seems to prefer the Epson Scan software (when it works))

So, I have two questions.

1. Does anyone know where I can can get the actual intel drivers and software for this scanner.

2. If not does anyone know a decent budget scanner that WILL work with the intel with a minimum of fuss.

Thanking you in advance.

 

[pianoman]

i had some driver issues with my HP when i upgraded from panther to tiger and i e-mailed them and they said to completely remove everything from HP-related from the computer before attempting to reinstall. fortunately for me, they gave me a list of items to remove and how to find them in the library folders, etc. (not just deleting the HP folder in the application folder but deleting EVERYTHING HP.)

so, maybe try calling support or just deleting everything epson from your computer (i guess you can use spotlight to find anything with "epson" in the name, but that might not get rid of everything).

next, if you don't want to try what i said to do above, i would suggest getting an all-in-one printer/scanner/copier (fax, too, if you need it). they are much easier to use (in my opinion) and only require one set of installation drivers that come on the install CD and one USB cable. i like HP but i know epson makes all-in-ones, too, if that's your preference. FWIW, other than the upgrade issue from panther to tiger - which didn't take that long to fix, i haven't had any problems with my HP all-in-one.

Edit: of course, you should make sure before you buy anything new that it is compatible with the new machines... apple stores will definitely stock compatible peripherals.

 

[SmurfBoxMasta]

Did you d/l & install both the driver AND the Twain plug-in ?

Have you tried using the scanner with Photoshop or other imaging app, by choosing File >> Import >> Epson 3490 or Epson Scanner enabler ?

huuummmmmm.......

 

[grasientus]

Thanks for the replies

I did the delete all Epson from the computer (including everything in the library folders etc) before starting again. No luck there. Not really wanting to go to an all-in-one as the printer is really good and don't want to replace.

And, yes, I definately installed both the software and the TWAIN plugin.

Couldn't try through photoshop as she doesn't have it but the scanner will work with the trial version of Vuescan. But, from what I understand that bypasses the regular drivers anyway.

Thanks again anyway. I'm planning to switch the scanner to my father's G5 iMac. Hopefully that should work okay as it seems to be a problem finding intel specific installs.