Troubleshooting Precision II Setup

[Imagesarecool]

I acquired a Precision II scanner and have installed Mac OS 10.6.8 and FlexColor 4.0.4.

When I turn on the scanner the blinking green light appears. I have also tried to down grade the to Ratoc firmware 1.23.

I am very lost and would love some help on this.

Best Wishes

[dave_whatever]

There is a group thing that used to be a yahoo group you can join for Imacon Precision issues, some very good advice on there.

https://groups.io/g/ImaconUsers

I will start by saying are you doing all the obvious stuff to begin with, like turning on the scanner before you boot up the computer, is the scsi chain terminated correctly etc?

[Imagesarecool]

There is a group thing that used to be a yahoo group you can join for Imacon Precision issues, some very good advice on there.

https://groups.io/g/ImaconUsers

I will start by saying are you doing all the obvious stuff to begin with, like turning on the scanner before you boot up the computer, is the scsi chain terminated correctly etc?

Hi,

Thank you for this. I have restarted the system several times. How exactly do I check that the scsi chain is terminated correctly?

[Vaughan]

Hi,

Thank you for this. I have restarted the system several times. How exactly do I check that the scsi chain is terminated correctly?

If the last device has two SCSI connectors so it can be daisy-chained then usually a terminator needs to be lug plugged into the empty connector.

Note that when dave_whatever said "turning on the scanner before you boot up the computer" he means exactly that: with the computer turned off, start the scanner and wait for it to boot fully. If it takes a minute then wait a minute. Then start the computer.

[dave_whatever]

Hi,

Thank you for this. I have restarted the system several times. How exactly do I check that the scsi chain is terminated correctly?

The Precision has two scsi ports on the rear. The one which you're not using to connect to the computer needs a scsi terminator plugged into it. That should be it.

Apologies if you've already done this, but scsi stuff is so far removed from the modern plug-n-play USB world that I thought it was worth checking.

My personal choice for running a Precision is to use a dedicated G5 mac with a scsi card and use it natively rather than using a RATOC adapter, as my experience in using a RATOC with a drum scanner was not good, and you can usually get yourself set up with a rock solid G4 or G5 with a scsi card for a fraction of the cost of a very flakey RATOC adapter.

[Imagesarecool]

If the last device has two SCSI connectors so it can be daisy-chained then usually a terminator needs to be lug plugged into the empty connector.

Note that when dave_whatever said "turning on the scanner before you boot up the computer" he means exactly that: with the computer turned off, start the scanner and wait for it to boot fully. If it takes a minute then wait a minute. Then start the computer.

It seems I tried this chain of events (starting the scanner and then the computer) it still blinks green on the scanner. Also I checked the ports for scsi cord are connected with the transmitter and the cord directly connected to the computer. I will give this a try again. I do see that on the back there is a dial 1-9 and I have that set to 5. Does this affect anything? It previously was on 7 but I read the manual and it said never set it to 7. Let me know if you have any other ideas.

[Imagesarecool]

I have a G5 Mac it’s connected too, so I suppose I don’t need that RATOV at all. Is there any other software I can download. I have the 4.0.4 flexcolor, but it doesn’t connect to the scanner.

[Imagesarecool]

The Precision has two scsi ports on the rear. The one which you're not using to connect to the computer needs a scsi terminator plugged into it. That should be it.

Apologies if you've already done this, but scsi stuff is so far removed from the modern plug-n-play USB world that I thought it was worth checking.

My personal choice for running a Precision is to use a dedicated G5 mac with a scsi card and use it natively rather than using a RATOC adapter, as my experience in using a RATOC with a drum scanner was not good, and you can usually get yourself set up with a rock solid G4 or G5 with a scsi card for a fraction of the cost of a very flakey RATOC adapter.

I am running off G5 Mac so I supposed I don’t need the RATOC software as it does nothing. Does 10.6.8 Snow Leopard work with this computer for Precision II? I saw somewhere 10.4 may be better suitable with 4.0.4 and want to be sure I can run the system. Scanner turns on which is huge but it’s just not connecting due to “Software Incompatibility” according to the manual. So damn vague. If only Hasselblad invested in these wonderful machines.

[dave_whatever]

I think the dial is just the scsi ID for the device, which is for if you've got multiple devices chained in series.

To run the scanner natively on the G5 you need to check that it's one of the earlier G5s with the PCI cards rather than the later ones with the PCI-Express cards, then get hold of the right scsi card. Pretty sure mine is the Adaptech 29160. Pretty sure your version of the software 4.0.4 is the correct one and your only option.

[Imagesarecool]

I think the dial is just the scsi ID for the device, which is for if you've got multiple devices chained in series.

To run the scanner natively on the G5 you need to check that it's one of the earlier G5s with the PCI cards rather than the later ones with the PCI-Express cards, then get hold of the right scsi card. Pretty sure mine is the Adaptech 29160. Pretty sure your version of the software 4.0.4 is the correct one and your only option.

It is PCI Express cards on my G5
iOS 10.6.8
SCSI connects directly to tower and adapter lights green when powered on
Scanner does not show it’s connected to flex color at all though

[dave_whatever]

Not really, in fact I think you'll have more choice when it comes to the scsi card, and should work with any G4.

[dave_whatever]

Other things to check or rule out:

- SCSI cable - is it faulty, does it work on other devices?
- Does the RATOC adapter work with other scsi devices?
- Is the scanner visible as a SCSI device (or via the ratoc) in the System Profilers on the mac?