UMAX PowerLook II scanning under OS X
...is not a possibility due to driver rot. UMAX apparently doesn't think it's good for business to support older scanners with driver updates for current operating systems. That's a mighty same since it renders my 2400dpi PowerLook II all but useless once I've discarded my two remaining PC's (which runs the scanner just fine under XP).
Don't take my word for it, though. Daniel Settles, who works as a technical consultant for professional designers, printers, and publishers, have spend a lot of time researching the possibilities for the PowerLook II and OS X to live in harmony. He reached this conclusion:
"I do Mac tech support and consulting for professional Mac users and always recommended UMAX due to their good tech support and good scanners and excellent software. That is no longer the case and I no longer recommend UMAX products."
From: Daniel Settles
To: David Heinemeier Hansson
Subject: Re: UMax scanner in OS X
Howdy.
Sorry about how wordy this response is but I did spend A LOT of time trying to troubleshoot this issue and thought I'd pass on some of those efforts.
I did download a beta OS X driver from UMAX. It didn't work with the PowerLook II. This beta UMAX driver was available last year.
UMAX has drastically changed its policies about scanner software, free downloads, and has been VERY slow about releasing software updates for Mac OS X.
I do Mac tech support and consulting for professional Mac users and always recommended UMAX due to their good tech support and good scanners and excellent software. That is no longer the case and I no longer recommend UMAX products.
And I should mention that I've had considerable experience getting SCSI devices to work. I'm currently running 1 internal SCSI HD (connected via a 68-pin LVD SCSI cable to an Adaptec 29160N SCSI card), 1 external SCSI HD, an external SCSI 100mb Zip, and an external Jaz drive, as well as a 2nd Adaptec 2906 SCSI card for the slower devices. This is all working in Mac OS X 10.2.4.
I think the problem with older SCSI scanners (the dread word "legacy") is with SCSI drivers. I tried two different Adaptec and one Orange Micro SCSI cards in an effort to get my old PowerLook II to work in OS X.
It never worked with any iteration of OS X and either Adaptec SCSI card.
It did work briefly with the Orange Micro card, with LaserSoft's SilverFast scanning software, and with Mac OS 10.1.5.
When OS X 10.2 (Jaguar) came out, the above combination no longer worked and no amount of tinkering, calls to tech support, using Terminal mode to change arcane SCSI configurations in software, did any good.
If you add the wrinkle of a SCSI to FireWire adapter, it just increases the complexity level and the chances for not working.
There is a major difference in how Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X handle SCSI drivers.
In Mac OS 9, the SCSI driver is built into a chip on the SCSI controller. This could be a driver on a SCSI card chip or a driver in the SCSI controller chip built onto the logic board.
In Mac OS X, the built in SCSI driver is ignored and a software driver must be installed for the card.
A SCSI to FireWire adapter may work. I'm sure the only way to tell is to try it. I'd phone the maker first and talk to customer service about being able to return it if it doesn't work.
You should also be aware that most of these SCSI to FireWire adapters are designed to work with only a single SCSI device at a time and not with a chain of different SCSI devices. However, there are some new adapters now available that may have surmounted this problem.
Scanning software.
Check LaserSoft for their SilverFast scanning programs. The have excellent 3rd party scanning drivers and software for a wide variety of SCSI brand and model scanners. SilverFast lists software for the UMAX PowerLook II and Mac OS 10.2. Again the only way to know is to try it.
SilverFast has a 100% functional demo that you can download and try. It's only restriction is that it places a SilverFast logo over each scanned image until you register and pay for the software.
http://www.silverfast.com
Check Hamrick software for VueScan (Ed Hamrick). However, I think VueScan is a bit more oriented toward using a slide or film scanner.
I should mention that after spending A LOT of time trying to make the PowerLook II work in OS X (with only a brief couple of months of success) I finally gave up and got an Epson Perfection 2450 Photo scanner with USB and FireWire connections.
The Epson Perfection line now ships with SilverSoft's SilverFast scanning software which for that model currently works only in Mac OS 9. SilverFast also has available a non Twain driver for this scanner that should work in Mac OS X.
Epson now has available a Twain driver that is working perfectly in Mac OS X 10.2.4 as a plug-in via Photoshop 7. I find the Epson software a bit awkward to use when compared to the SilverFast or UMAX software.
I could no longer justify the great amount of time it was taking trying to make the PowerLook II work in X.
And the Epson scanner has an optical resolution of 2400 dpi and the PowerLook II has an optical resolution of 600 dpi. Both have the same dmax (density) rating of 3.3. The Epson scanner cost me $300.
If you look at the LaserSoft SilverFast web site for scanning software their product names are confusing.
SilverFast SE is their low cost basic program. It has nearly all of the bells and whistles of their high end program except batch scanning and some high end color calibration controls.
SilverFast Ai is their more expensive scanning program which includes batch scanning.
SilverFast is good software. If you can make it work with a FireWire to SCSI adapter, more power you, but no guarantees that it will work.
