- What is this F.A.Q. about?
-
This article answers some Frequently Asked Questions
regarding HP's early flatbed scanners.
If you had pointed you favorite web browser at URL:
http://groups.google.com/
and entered the search string
[scanjet interface]
you would have found tons of discussion on this topic, and probably
several old plaintext copies of this mini-FAQ.
Important Disclaimer: I have never owned an original
9190A ScanJet or 9195A ScanJet Plus, but
have owned later models (IIp, IIcx and 4c), and have been collecting
info over the years in an attempt to save effort for people who inherit
one of these early curios.
- I have an original HP ScanJet (9190A) flatbed scanner.
Can anyone tell me the specs on it?
(color/B&W, dpi, etc)
-
Both the 9190A and 9195A are 300 dpi B&W (grayscale)
scanners. The 9190A is 4-bit (16 level). The 9195A is 8-bit
(256 level).
Keep some perspective as you read this FAQ - you can buy a brand new
600 dpi full color scanner for under US$80.
- I have a Hewlett Packard Scanjet Plus
without any docs, etc.. I was
able to get very little info from the
HP ftp site on this unit. It
has what looks like a standard
parallel port 36-pin connector on it,
but from what I can tell, it is a
"special" interface - NOT SCSI.
-
It's a custom duplex centronics interface,
developed by HP, and used (in slightly different
versions) only on the 9190A ScanJet and 9195A
ScanJet Plus. Late-1990s LPT-port ScanJets did not
use the same interface card (or any card).
The 9190A ScanJet version was product number
88290A, which presumably works only on the 9190A.
The Plus card was 88295A or 88296A, and
reportedly works on both. The service part
number is 88290-69001. I have also seen a half-length
ISA "ScanJet I/F Card" with the part
number 88290-66511. This is probably the Plus card.
Both cards were developed years before
ECP/EPP/IEEE-1284, so a normal or
enhanced PC parallel port is no substitute.
The Mac versions of these scanners included no
interface card, but had instead an external
McSCSI-to-duplex-parallel box, the 88395A, service
part 88395-69010.
All of the above service parts, even
if still available (which is unlikely),
sell for more than the price
of a new color USB ScanJet.
The subsequent flatbed desktop ScanJets (IIc, IIcx, 2p,
3c, 3p, 4c, 4p) have a McSCSI interface, although
they use a non-ANSI-standard command set (HP-SCL).
The 5p and later models have a true SCSI interface,
but it is still SCL. The ScanJet 4s and 5s were
RS-232C serial; the 4si and Network SJ5 use LAN connects.
Subsequent to those models, ScanJets briefly used
IEEE-1284 duplex parallel, but most are now USB or
USB plus SCSI.
- I can get the software from HP for free...
-
Yes, but only if you have a 9195A, and an
old version of Windows. And be sure to get DeskScan II v2.2.
If you have a 9190A, and no software, you may be
out of luck.
DeskScan-II ver 2.9,
the last/current version, doesn't support either the
9190A or 9195A. The 9195A ScanJet Plus
(but not the 9190 ScanJet) was supported by the
DeskScan-II 2.2 (but not 2.3 or later).
PictureScan and PrecisionScan
never supported the original
ScanJets.
As of 2002-07-05, this link to DeskScan 2.2:
ftp://ftp-boi.external.hp.com/pub/scanners/software/ds22en.exe
was still working. Unpack via:
C:\> ds22en.exe /D
The older Scanning Gallery software required
for the 9190A (and for DOS use of the 9195A) is not
at the ftp site and is no longer orderable (and I
never had a copy, so don't ask). If
you have a 9190A (or even a 9195A), your best bet
may be to get a copy of PhotoFinish 4.x, (about $40,
and still seen in the market, although discontinued by Broderbund,
the current owner).
It may still contain direct support for these
two scanners. PF is a decent image editor, and a
bargain at $40. I don't know if PF still has
9190A or 9195A support, or if either 3.0 or 4.x
can perform I/O to a 9190A under Win95 (I suspect not).
- Does DeskScan 2.2 work in Windows 95?
-
Some readers have reported success
in getting the 9195A and DeskScan 2.2 to work in Windows 95.
Don't expect this to work in Windows 98/ME or NT/2000/XP.
(And I have no idea if there are any Y2K issues.)
According to a UK contributor you then need to:
- Install this software, using the setup program provided.
- Use the Windows 95
Add New Hardware control
panel to add the scanner. The scanner will
initially appear under
Other devices, but
once Windows 95 rebuilds its driver database an
HP ScanJet Scanners section will appear.
Specify the base address, shared memory area,
and IRQ that are set on the controller card.
Note that, as long as nothing else is using
the areas you set, Windows 95's
System
control panel will always indicate that the
device is working properly, so you have to
manually verify the settings.
- Copy the SJDRIVER.SYS file from the
HP distribution into the directory
where the DeskScan software was installed.
- Add a DEVICE=C:\...\SJDRIVER.SYS
line to the CONFIG.SYS file.
- ...but since the interface card is (was) selling
for somewhere around US$480.00, I think I'll pass on that.
-
In the late 1980s and early 1990s
there was a continuous stream of people on netnews
looking for these interface cards, more demand
than I've seen for any other I/O card, ever.
My guess is that when old PCs were retired,
most cards got tossed out with the PC. Due to
the misleading "parallel" label on the bulkhead,
it would be easy to assume that the port was just
another LPT.
No doubt some cards failed, and other were destroyed
when people plugged McSCSI devices into them.
(Conversely, there's also some chance that your
scanner was retired because somebody fried it
when they plugged it into some other
inappropriately designed port that used the
widely-abused DB25S connector: make sure your
scanner works before spending a dime on finding
an interface for it). There are also people
moving 9195As from Macs to PCs, as the Mac hookup
used an external McSCSI to parallel adaptor box.
Used 88290A and 88295/96A cards are scarce.
I have been net-watching since before the intro
of the original ScanJet, have seen hundreds of
requests for cards, but only three cards for sale
(although there was one used dealer that claimed to have them).
- Why is the HP card so expensive?
-
A valid question, particularly considering that
the subsequent 53C416-based ScanJet McSCSI card
could be had for US$35.00. My impression is that back
when the ScanJet was first designed, PC's did not
have virtual memory, and typically did not have
enough performance or physical RAM to handle
the size of data objects that a scanner can generate.
Other than GP-IB (IEEE-488), not often used on PCs,
there was no obvious duplex parallel interface. So,
the scanner ended up using a duplex parallel interface,
capable of burst input from the scanner, and the
designers put a bunch of then-very-expensive RAM
on the card. These are full-size ISA cards,
loaded with components (components which are probably
obsolete now).
HP took the unusual step of doing a post-obsolesence
production run of the cards several years ago,
but the design is so old that components
were presumably costly. The cards may not still
be available, except as a replacement for a failed
card actually in your possession. Back when
they did it, it was still cheaper to buy the card
than a whole new B&W ScanJet-IIp. That's no longer true.
You can buy a new mid-range color scanner
for less than the cost of that card.
- Is it possible to run the Scanjet Plus off
of a regular parallel port of a PC?
If not, any idea why???
-
Won't work. The SJ needs to synchronously
write large amounts of data at fairly high speeds.
Apart from the buffering issues, the handshake
used is apparently not one supported by conventional
parallel ports. The new Extended Capabilities
parallel (Bitronics, ECP, EPP and IEEE-1284) ports
do have a parallel read-back mode, but the handshaking
is undoubtedly different from what the SJ and SJ+ require.
- Is there any reason why I would want to
spend money to keep a ScanJet Plus in service?
-
Maybe. If you still have the Scanning Gallery
software, and you are compelled to run DOS (not Windows),
then the ScanJet Plus is still useful.
The 9195A "Plus" is also supported by Windows DeskScan 2.2.
If you have all the parts, a 9195A is roughly comparable
to a ScanJet IIp or 3p.
- what about the 9190A original ScanJet?
-
However, if you have a 9190A or must run
the 9195A in DOS, and you've lost the ScanGal bits,
forget it. As far as I now, they aren't available at HP's
ftp site, nor are they purchasable.
Donate it and get a new USB scanner.
- We are moving the Sjs from Macs.
Can we use the McSCSI/parallel box
with the McSCSI drivers for DeskScan on the PC?
-
Reportedly, no. The HP-SCL language of the
adaptor pre-dates the SCL used in the first
native-McSCSI Scanjets, the -IIp and IIc. The PC
DeskScan software reportedly does not work with
the Mac adaptor.
- Why won't HP sell me a new glass surface or bulb?
-
The repair strategy on HP flatbed scanners is
"unit exchange". HP does not sell individual
internal Scanjet parts. In order to keep the price
down in a competitive market, they apparently
aren't designed for component-level repair
outside the factory.
Further, the 9190A went off formal support life on
1994-03-01 and the 9195A went off on 1997-03-01.
Support contracts are no longer available for
them and HP is no longer obliged to repair them,
although they might be willing to take a "best effort"
shot at time&materials rates. Both scanners
now cost more to repair than to replace.
Even if the scanner is working, if it was
heavily used earlier in life, the flourescent
illumination tube may be dim, uneven, unstable
or about to die. A new scanner is likely to
be cheaper than replacing that tube.
Even when the 9190A and 9195A were in support life,
unless you had a service contract or Support Pack,
repair of almost anything would have required replacing
the entire scanner, for a fixed fee that was
probably not less than the
factory cost of the scanner.
Consequently, there are occasionally people looking
for replacement glass platens and illuminant bulbs,
who might be willing to purchase your unit.
If you are still thinking of putting it in service,
just be careful how much time, effort and money you
invest in "free" or donated old computer equipment.
- Well, I guess I won't pursue the missing interface.
Any suggestions on what to do with the scanner?
-
Well, you could offer it on eBay, but
it might be most economical to
post an article on the following newsgroups,
offering to give it away to the first person
who sends you $10 to ship it to them.
There are people who need the glass platen and the lamp.
comp.sys.hp.hardware
comp.periphs.scanners
comp.periphs
rec.photo.digital
Try Google
if your ISP doesn't have an NNTP
"news:" server
Disclaimer: The author works for an HP entity that has nothing to do
with the above topic.
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