Help:
    I am trying to get my Umax Astra 1220U scanner to be recognized by
the OSX.1.5 and it just ain't happening. Went to Umax website, and
they don't even have it in their search engine. Don't have Photoshop,
but am trying to get VueScan to recognize the 1220 scanner. So far, it
only recognizes jpgs and tiffs that are already in my attachments
folder. The scanner doesn't even show up on my screen!
    How do I get this Vuescan to work, or is there another program out
there that will recognize the Astra 1220 so I can scan documents?

---

Request for Question Clarification by seizer-ga on 23 Aug 2002 03:47 PDT

The problem seems to be that UMAX no longer supports your scanner in
OS X, so you may have to look around for other solutions.

I was just wondering whether you had tried any third party software,
such as VueScan: http://www.versiontracker.com/moreinfo.fcgi?id=7610&db=VT

Does this recognise your scanner?

---

Clarification of Question by radioflyerx-ga on 23 Aug 2002 12:12 PDT

I don't understand your question. The major portion of my initial
question was the fact that I did try VueScan and it recognizes my
already-downloaded atttachments and all JPegs, but does not see any
document that is in my Astra 1220U

---

Request for Question Clarification by seizer-ga on 23 Aug 2002 12:41 PDT

My apologies, I did not read it clearly. I'm afraid it looks like
there is no driver for OS X for your scanner. UMAX's UK site seems to
say they don't have one available: http://www.umax.co.uk

I'll throw it to other researchers now, hopefully someone can find you
what you're looking for.

Hello radioflyerx,

Unfortunately, Umax has decided not to support this scanner in OS X.
There is a discusion here:
http://www.powerpage.org/story.lasso?newsID=9546

You will note the following reply from Umax:

"Umax Technologies, Inc. will support its current professional-grade
scanners under Apple's new OS 10.X operating environment. The models
included are:


PowerLook III 
PowerLook 2100XL 
PowerLook 1100 
PowerLook 3000 

Umax currently has made no commitment to supporting older professional
models under OS X at this time. Also, no consumer-level (Astra models,
or older consumer-level) scanners will be targeted for support under
OS X.

Drivers for the current line-up of professional scanners are currently
in Beta-Development and are not currently available to the public.
Please continue to check our Web site for updates to this information
as it becomes available."

As you might imagine, other users have voiced their disatisfaction
about this Umax policy in the above mentioned thread.

Umax UK mentions:

"3rd Party drivers

We expect independant developers to release OS X compatible drivers to
support the older range of scanners over the course of the next few
months."

Details on their driver findings are here:
http://www.umax.co.uk/support/technotes/macosx.htm

One user does note that Vuescan DOES work with his Astra 1220:

"Try VueScan (www.hamrick.com), it brought my Astra1220S back to life
under OS X, and with more features than I could ever access with the
original Umax drivers. And stay away from Umax products in the future,
they don't seem to want any Mac business."

Another user replies:

"VueScan is great, but it doesn's support the Astra USB models. "

You didn't mention if your scanner was USB or not, however when I
searched Umax I did see that this scanner is, indeed, USB and
therefore VueScan is not a viable solution for you. As a matter of
fact, www.hamrick.com , the creator of VueScan states that:

Unsupported scanners:

All parallel-port models 
All UMAX USB models except 3400 and 5400 

Among others.

It appears that even SilverFast from http://www.silverfast.com/ only
supports the Umax 1200S Scsi version of your scanner.

Finally, UMAX answers users questions regarding Astra's and OS X with
the following at their knowledgebase -
http://www.umax.com/support/knowledge/index.jsp?docs=SC00190 :

"Record ID: SC00190

Q. How can I use MagicScan or VistaScan with Mac OS X?

A. When using Mac OS X, both MagicScan and VistaScan will not run in
the OS 9 Classic Environment.

WORKAROUND:

The system must be restarted using Mac OS 9.2. Set the startup disk to
Mac OS 9.2 and restart the computer. MagicScan and VistaScan works
under this condition.

When you're not using the scanner, you can restart back into Mac OS
X."

I truly wish there was a better solution for you at this time, however
I believe you will have to entertain switching to OS 9.2 classic mode
to use your scanner until a third party introduces software that will
function with an Astra USB model or you upgrade your scanner.

Regards,

-=clouseau-ga=-

done. I got a new scanner. Thanks