[filmscanners] Re: Blue gray random pattern???
Brad Davis wrote: I intentionally left out one datum that supports a mobo problem. His sound system is not working correctly, it isn't stereo, he only has one channel It's dead tedious trying to pin these things down, but those 3.5mm stereo jack sockets are awful things - it's easy to lose a channel because of no more than a bad contact there. I lost sound on the PC I use for music, last week. It turned out to be a dead spot on the 2-gang volume control on the amp it's plugged into. Move it a mm either way and all was fine, I discovered after about an hour checking connections among the spaghetti. Doh. We've got ...7 PC's around here, 3XPP,1 W2k SP1 (essential for USB),3 W98SE. None give any trouble with USB/USB2. IME it either works fine or it doesn't at all. Once drivers are installed, it just works. Even when a USB peripheral mfr's device drivers are hooky, or the install buggers up, the OS level stuff that drives USBis unperturbed - it's just that particular device that doesn't work. Plug something else in and it's fine. If it's a DFI Infinity or Lanparty Athlon mobo, throw it away now, the QC is terrible - BTDT, twice. If it's an AOpen P2 MX-something of a few years ago, check the capacitors, they went through a bad patch... Regards Tony Sleep - http://www.halftone.co.uk Unsubscribe by mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED], with 'unsubscribe filmscanners' or 'unsubscribe filmscanners_digest' (as appropriate) in the message title or body
[filmscanners] Re: Blue gray random pattern???
You didn't mention what he is scanning... transmissive or reflective. If he is scanning something like a satin finish semi-glossy photo, I have seen some scanners pick up sparkles or dots or shadows with certain irregular surfaces. It does look like noise. Also, does he have the scanner software applying any type of sharpness? I suspect this is something about either the surface of the paper he is scanning or something in the way the software has been set. Also, have you seen the file, or only the printer output? The translation of certain types of noisy anomalies like this often appear quite differently in the file on screen than when they appear on a print (I do understand it shows up on both). Art Brad Davis wrote: Not Moiré, that I would recognize. A random dot pattern. I just went into Photoshop, opened a new doc, made the resolution 300 ppi, and used the filter add noise at 18%, monochromatic, then used variations with the step set to fine and added one step of blue and one of cyan and got something that looks much like the sample he gave me. A very fine light texturing of the paper with a cold blue-gray (with some green in it obviously). I will suggest that he try VueScan, but my sense of this is that since all programs have to use XP's driver ultimately, it won't make any difference. He's already tried three different scanners (all different models). The problem is that the user software talks to the virtual machine which is XP. As I write this I am thinking I am going to suggest that he reinstall XP. Thanks for the suggestions, I'll get him to try them anyway, one never knows in trouble shooting something like this. Brad It's not moire, is it? What is he scanning? Have him try a different scanning program - free trial of Vuescan. He can perhaps narrow it down to a hardware vs. a software problem. http://www.hamrick.com/ Maris Unsubscribe by mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED], with 'unsubscribe filmscanners' or 'unsubscribe filmscanners_digest' (as appropriate) in the message title or body
[filmscanners] Re: Blue gray random pattern???
One more thought... you said this guy was an electrician? Could it be possible he wired his own house? Bad grounding, dirty power due to bad connections at the outlets, unbalanced circuit box, interference pick up due to incorrectly wired outlet (polarization mixed up?). I know this sounds a bit jaded, but the professional electrician that did the wiring for the house I live in wired a standard double outlet with separate sources for the upper and lower outlet, to allow for better distribution of the electrical load, but he forgot to break the tab that ties the two outlets, so it ended up a direct short. Obviously, the circuit breaker kept shutting off, but he claimed it was a weak breaker. Finally, I took the outlet apart and found the problem and broke the removable tab, and all was well Anyway... maybe he needs to try the scanner or computer (or both) on another AC circuit in his home. Art Brad Davis wrote: Not Moiré, that I would recognize. A random dot pattern. I just went into Photoshop, opened a new doc, made the resolution 300 ppi, and used the filter add noise at 18%, monochromatic, then used variations with the step set to fine and added one step of blue and one of cyan and got something that looks much like the sample he gave me. A very fine light texturing of the paper with a cold blue-gray (with some green in it obviously). I will suggest that he try VueScan, but my sense of this is that since all programs have to use XP's driver ultimately, it won't make any difference. He's already tried three different scanners (all different models). The problem is that the user software talks to the virtual machine which is XP. As I write this I am thinking I am going to suggest that he reinstall XP. Thanks for the suggestions, I'll get him to try them anyway, one never knows in trouble shooting something like this. Brad It's not moire, is it? What is he scanning? Have him try a different scanning program - free trial of Vuescan. He can perhaps narrow it down to a hardware vs. a software problem. http://www.hamrick.com/ Maris Brad Davis wrote: Hi, My electrician discovered that I know a little about scanning and presented me with this problem. Unsubscribe by mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED], with 'unsubscribe filmscanners' or 'unsubscribe filmscanners_digest' (as appropriate) in the message title or body
[filmscanners] Re: Blue gray random pattern???
It's not moire, is it? What is he scanning? Have him try a different scanning program - free trial of Vuescan. He can perhaps narrow it down to a hardware vs. a software problem. http://www.hamrick.com/ Maris Brad Davis wrote: Hi, My electrician discovered that I know a little about scanning and presented me with this problem. He has an Epson 2400 scanner, hooked to a PC via USB2 - the PC is running XP personal. The Epson 2400 is his 3rd try at a scanner, the USB2 is the second try at an interface. In all attempts, he gets a light cyan-gray random pattern across all scans. This shows most clearly in white areas. It looks very much like what I would get using Photoshop and doing a random fill with noise at perhaps 10%. (I've never done anything other than a 50% noise fill, so that number is a very rough estimate.) The gray pattern, while random, is much too regular to be from interference, and it appears in the image, on the monitor - it isn't being added by the printer. He is using the Epson supplied software to do his scans and has had numerous folks look at his set up with no one being able to figure out what is causing the problem. That he has tried three different scanners seems to eliminate them as the cause. I wouldn't expect the interface to put in such an even (if random) dot pattern. I have no idea how XP might be at fault, but the one thing that would seem to be common is the XP driver for USB(12). Unsubscribe by mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED], with 'unsubscribe filmscanners' or 'unsubscribe filmscanners_digest' (as appropriate) in the message title or body
[filmscanners] Re: Blue gray random pattern???
Brad Davis wrote: I wouldn't expect the interface to put in such an even (if random) dot pattern. I have no idea how XP might be at fault, but the one thing that would seem to be common is the XP driver for USB(12). No such problems here with XP USB2 and scanners or anything else. If he's tried different interfaces and scanners, it sounds like dirty/bad mains supply or RFI, or low volts on the USB perhaps. Early VIA chipsets were awful for this, they'd sag badly if asked to supply anything like the 500mA USB is specced for, and some peripherals just wouldn't work at all. But that will only apply if he's using USB hung off the PC's internal USB ports (powered from the mobo). If he's using a PCI card with USB ports he'll have to look deeper (and if he isn't, he should try one as a priority, as they circumvent the mobo USB chipset's limitations). It may also be worth trying the scanner hung off a *mains powered* USB2 hub, in case the power supply from the mobo chipset is dirty or failing. Not all scanner drivers like hubs though, so this could create new problems. If none of that helps, I think he's going to have to - try the scanner on a different PC in his home - try the scanner on a different PC somewhere else - try his PC and scanner somewhere else - try the PC and scanner at home on a decent UPS to establish whether it's the PC or his mains supply. If it is his PC, and a PCI USB card doesn't fix it, I think he's then looking at establishing whether it's the PSU or mobo, by substitution. Check the voltages in the BIOS. A careful visual inspection of the mobo may help pin it down. Look for leaking/bulging/corrosion-covered electrolytic capacitors especially. Regards Tony Sleep - http://www.halftone.co.uk Unsubscribe by mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED], with 'unsubscribe filmscanners' or 'unsubscribe filmscanners_digest' (as appropriate) in the message title or body
[filmscanners] Re: Blue gray random pattern???
Tony, You've given me the other answer that I had come up with (and the one I was hoping was wrong). First, he is now running USB2 from an add on board in a PCI slot, so it seems unlikely that the problem is the hardware interface - although, as you say, there are some situations where the voltage is just not enough. I intentionally left out one datum that supports a mobo problem. His sound system is not working correctly, it isn't stereo, he only has one channel, somehow the other channel has quit, the sound is built into the mobo. I've had sound systems go without affecting anything else, but given the things he has done to try to fix the scanner problem, I am very suspicious of the board. Even more so now that you have made your comments. I was hoping that there was a known software glitch that would account for it - it is usually cheaper to fix than replacing the motherboard. Of course blown capacitor could add a nice voltage, and a high frequency voltage would account for what is showing up. I will prolly try running it on my P4, but I will be very surprised if I see any problems there. The only problem with that as a test is that I am running windows 2000 - it really doesn't handle USB as well as XP does. Thanks for taking the time - I have no experience with XP, it is good to know that there aren't any bugs hanging around like that. As for USB, it works well on my G4 Dual MAC, I've never tried to use it on the P4. There I have a SCSI card and that seems to work well with my scanners. While I do scan with the P4, it is really dedicated to running Neural Network models nearly constantly, I don't even know if my audio works on it. Brad Brad Davis wrote: I wouldn't expect the interface to put in such an even (if random) dot pattern. I have no idea how XP might be at fault, but the one thing that would seem to be common is the XP driver for USB(12). No such problems here with XP USB2 and scanners or anything else. If he's tried different interfaces and scanners, it sounds like dirty/bad mains supply or RFI, or low volts on the USB perhaps. Early VIA chipsets were awful for this, they'd sag badly if asked to supply anything like the 500mA USB is specced for, and some peripherals just wouldn't work at all. But that will only apply if he's using USB hung off the PC's internal USB ports (powered from the mobo). If he's using a PCI card with USB ports he'll have to look deeper (and if he isn't, he should try one as a priority, as they circumvent the mobo USB chipset's limitations). It may also be worth trying the scanner hung off a *mains powered* USB2 hub, in case the power supply from the mobo chipset is dirty or failing. Not all scanner drivers like hubs though, so this could create new problems. If none of that helps, I think he's going to have to - try the scanner on a different PC in his home - try the scanner on a different PC somewhere else - try his PC and scanner somewhere else - try the PC and scanner at home on a decent UPS to establish whether it's the PC or his mains supply. If it is his PC, and a PCI USB card doesn't fix it, I think he's then looking at establishing whether it's the PSU or mobo, by substitution. Check the voltages in the BIOS. A careful visual inspection of the mobo may help pin it down. Look for leaking/bulging/corrosion-covered electrolytic capacitors especially. Regards Tony Sleep - http://www.halftone.co.uk -- -- Unsubscribe by mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED], with 'unsubscribe filmscanners' or 'unsubscribe filmscanners_digest' (as appropriate) in the message title or body Unsubscribe by mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED], with 'unsubscribe filmscanners' or 'unsubscribe filmscanners_digest' (as appropriate) in the message title or body
