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Thread: Epson 4990 Scanner & Mac Catalina Driver

  1. #1

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    Epson 4990 Scanner & Mac Catalina Driver

    I've upgraded my Mac OS to Catalina 10.15.7 from the older 32-bit system, and just tried to download the 64-bit driver for my old but functional 4990 scanner. The download and installation seemed to go easily, and the installer ended with the "software installed" message. However, when I go to my Finder/Applications folder, I don't see the new download, everything under Epson shows "last updated" years ago. While this is a simple question, I can't find an answer: if the download worked, where can I find the new driver and Epson Scan application? And if it doesn't show in the Finder, does that mean the "software installed" message was bogus? Thanks for any insight you can offer.

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    Re: Epson 4990 Scanner & Mac Catalina Driver

    Does the scanner work?

  3. #3
    Drew Saunders drew.saunders's Avatar
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    Re: Epson 4990 Scanner & Mac Catalina Driver

    Quote Originally Posted by Peter Lewin View Post
    I've upgraded my Mac OS to Catalina 10.15.7 from the older 32-bit system, and just tried to download the 64-bit driver for my old but functional 4990 scanner. The download and installation seemed to go easily, and the installer ended with the "software installed" message. However, when I go to my Finder/Applications folder, I don't see the new download, everything under Epson shows "last updated" years ago. While this is a simple question, I can't find an answer: if the download worked, where can I find the new driver and Epson Scan application? And if it doesn't show in the Finder, does that mean the "software installed" message was bogus? Thanks for any insight you can offer.
    Epson Scan 2 will be in a folder called "Epson Software" in your applications folder, or it least it should be if the software installed properly.
    https://www.flickr.com/photos/drew_saunders/

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    Re: Epson 4990 Scanner & Mac Catalina Driver

    Greg, Drew, thanks for responding. Unfortunately the supposedly downloaded and installed new software is not in any Epson applications folder, all the programs under Epson show "last updated x/2007" and if I try to initiate a scan from the applications folder, I get the expected message "software needs to be updated." I have sent an email off to Epson Support to see if they have any ideas. It is of course frustrating to go through the Install, receive a "Success" message, but find no indication that anything has been installed, and be unable to use the scanner.

    To save my sanity, I'm going down to my darkroom to develop some film!

  5. #5
    David Schaller
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    Re: Epson 4990 Scanner & Mac Catalina Driver

    Is it in the downloads folder? You may then have to move it to applications folder. Another thought is that it might be zipped, and need to be unzipped. (I say all this because of my own experiences/frustrations with downloads).
    Last edited by David Schaller; 8-Jan-2021 at 17:11.

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    Re: Epson 4990 Scanner & Mac Catalina Driver

    Quote Originally Posted by David Schaller View Post
    Is it in the downloads folder? You may then have to move it to applications folder. Another thought is that it might be zipped, and need to be unzipped. (I say all this because of my own experiences/frustrations with downloads).
    Unfortunately it is not in downloads (all that I have in downloads is the .dmg file which is what I opened to get the installer, etc.) and nowhere else either (I searched for "Epson"). The good news is that Epson is very quick in responding to emailed questions, but the bad news is that their answer didn't help, so they suggested I call them next week. I was hoping someone else on our forum might be running a 4990 under Catalina, since the first response seemed to say that they didn't provide 4990 support after OS 10.5 (Leopard), but that I should find a "Mac ICA."

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    Re: Epson 4990 Scanner & Mac Catalina Driver

    If you don't like the new macOS 64-bit version of Epson Scan (called Epson Scan 2), you can run the scanner using the older 32-bit Windows driver if you run Windows as a virtual machine. You can do that for free since VMWare Fusion Player is now free for non-commercial use.

    See Scanning Tips with EPSON and VueScan Software

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    Re: Epson 4990 Scanner & Mac Catalina Driver

    Afraid I'm back again. Having spoken with Epson, it seems that I did successfully download their "ICA Scanner Driver v5.8.9 for Image Capture" which (a) they say is Apple software, not Epson's, and (b) is in the Image Capture app even though it does not show a new update date. There is no 64-bit Epson Scan or Epson Scan 2 software which will work with the old 4990 scanner. To scan negatives and get them into Photoshop Elements, the Epson tech rep said I would have to call either Adobe or Apple.

    So current status: I have an out-of-date (32-bit) version Photoshop Elements, I know I need to buy the new 64-bit version. But I was putting this off, because if it won't work with my scanner it is wasted money. Do any of you digital gurus out there know how all this fits together? Will the 64-bit version of Photoshop Elements automatically use the new driver even if I have no working Epson Scan software any more?

    I could try Ken's approach, but I really didn't want to run a virtual Windows machine on my Mac just to use the scanner. I know that we used to have some Forum users still using 4990 scanners.

  9. #9
    Drew Saunders drew.saunders's Avatar
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    Re: Epson 4990 Scanner & Mac Catalina Driver

    Quote Originally Posted by Peter Lewin View Post
    So current status: I have an out-of-date (32-bit) version Photoshop Elements, I know I need to buy the new 64-bit version. But I was putting this off, because if it won't work with my scanner it is wasted money. Do any of you digital gurus out there know how all this fits together? Will the 64-bit version of Photoshop Elements automatically use the new driver even if I have no working Epson Scan software any more?
    Have you tried VueScan? It will probably work just fine, and you can test it out for free. If you buy it, it's lifetime, no subscriptions or re-purchases. I have it to keep my Nikon Coolscan 9000 working on MacOS 11, using 3 adaptors to get Thunderbolt 3 to talk to Firewire 400, and it works!

    https://www.hamrick.com
    https://www.flickr.com/photos/drew_saunders/

  10. #10

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    Re: Epson 4990 Scanner & Mac Catalina Driver

    Quote Originally Posted by drew.saunders View Post
    Have you tried VueScan? It will probably work just fine, and you can test it out for free. If you buy it, it's lifetime, no subscriptions or re-purchases. I have it to keep my Nikon Coolscan 9000 working on MacOS 11, using 3 adaptors to get Thunderbolt 3 to talk to Firewire 400, and it works!

    https://www.hamrick.com
    +1 to Drew's use of Vuescan and the cumbersome connection of his Coolscan 9000 to his Mac. I use the same set-up to get nice scans from my Coolscan 9000 into my iMac running OS Big Sur version 11.1, and Vuescan is designed to work for lots of different scanners.
    ... JMOwens (Mt. Pleasant, Wisc. USA)

    "If people only knew how hard I work to gain my mastery, it wouldn't seem so wonderful at all." ...Michelangelo

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