Minolta Dimage IV needs some TLC.

[Captain Slack]

I’ve had this scanner for over a decade and it’s showing its age. Still power up and is detected by the computer (Mac & PC), does a prescan for each frame, but freezes up when doing a full scan. Occasionally it will do a scan, but the holder is offset from the element. Anyone have any knowledge of getting one of these refurbished? It does a better job scanning 35mm and my Epson V700, so I’d like to keep using it if posssible.

[Philip]

It sounds like something that happens with my Epson V700 from time to time. (I don't have a Dimage.) With my Epson, it seems to be a software problem and when I kill the software and start again, it works. You might also try replacing the driver if you haven't already.

Good luck getting it to work.

[Captain Slack]

That's what I thought at first, too. When the problem first cropped up, killing the software (Vuescan) did fix the issue, but doesn't anymore. Unfortunately, this scanner is so old, Windows no longer has a valid driver for it. Vuescan still works, but if it's driver is messed up, then I don't know what to do.

[Philip]

This new kind of obsolescence -- where the hardware may be fine but the companies pull the plug on the soft/firmware -- is no less low than old-fashioned planned obsolescence!

[melek]

I found that Linux will support a number of older scanners. Not all of them, but many of them.

One solution I found was to install Windows XP in a VMWare virtual session. This allowed me to access an older HP PhotoSmart S20 USB scanner that was last supported in WinXP.

If you need a WinXP installation disk, let me know.

Here's a link to the VMWare Player:
https://www.vmware.com/products/workstation-player.html

[Captain Slack]

Thanks, Mike! I thought about installing Linux on my PC to see if it worked any better. After trying it again on my Windows PC and not having a lot of luck, I think it's probably a better use of my time to throw in the towel here and buy a new 35mm scanner once I have the money. Guess I'll have to make due with the V700 until then.

[Bennybee]

I bought a £90 Lenovo Thinkpad laptop and a Win XP licence exclusively for my Kodak Pakon 35mm scanner and for my DimageIV since I have Windows 10 on my main PC.