Installing the Canon FS2710 on Win XP
Home
Ron's Guide to Photo collages
Useful Tips

pgflower.jpg

If you've found your way here, you probably have trouble installing your Canon film scanner on Windows XP. It IS possible to get the Canon FS2710 film scanner to work on Windows XP. I've done it, and since scanner discussion forums are littered with people wondering how to do it, I thought I'd share my experience. My solution is not the most elegant, but if you've just upgraded to XP and found your Canon film scanner unusable, you'd probably want to know at least one way of getting it to work.

I use Vuescan software, not the original Canoscan software, on Windows XP Pro. I never got the SCSI card (AVA-2904) to work, so used a SCSI-to-USB cable converter (from Adaptec). My solution therefore works with Adaptec's USBXchange (brand name for the converter)  and Vuescan. I also have a tutorial on how to produce photo collages from a fellow FS2710 sufferer, at the end of my page.

al.jpg
Andrew Lee
Equities analyst, part-time investor, part-time photographer, father of 2, PC tinkerer (but moving to Mac!).
 
If you've time and successfully used the info here to get your scanner working, just drop me a line to let me know. When a more mainstream method has been mapped out (by Canon?), I'll probably remove the site.
 
I can be contacted at : alnchien@streamyx.com



Step 1: Download Force ASPI and install it


Download from here    http://radified.com/ASPI/forceaspi.htm


As you've read elsewhere by now, SCSI devices aren't supported by Windows XP. Many forums dispensing advice point to Adaptec's website to download a layer of software called ASPI (Advanced SCSI Programming Interface). In fact, Adaptec's ASPI layer works only on Adaptec's SCSI devices. Fortunately, a good samaritan has modified Adaptec's ASPI to work on other SCSI devices, and provided it for free. You might want to use a utility which is part of the download to clean up your system of other ASPI layer detritus before installing Force ASPI.


Step 2: Restart the computer.


Not strictly necessary, but I wanted to be sure the registry is properly updated for the new software and the ASPI layer kicks in on startup. The ChkASPI utility showed that it was.


Step 3: Install Adaptec USBXchange.


At this point, if your system previously accepted a SCSI card interface, then I'm sure you'll try that before shelling out for a $30-$40 SCSI-to-USB cable converter. Otherwise, try a cable converter, but make sure the driver is compatible with XP. I can vouch for the Adaptec's because I use it -it works with XP and the Canon FS2710. You might want it get the USB2Xchange, only because your USB connection on XP is more likely to be a USB2.0, not 1.1, standard.  It's safer because the voltage delivered by a USB2.0 connection is higher than USB1.1, so my system (USB 1.1device in a USB2.0 port) is powering the cable converter with a higher voltage than it needs or uses. Sounds dangerous, but it's still working.


The USBXchange must be installed in the following steps:-


1. Connect the SCSI end of the cable converter to the scanner.


2. Turn on the scanner.


3. Turn on your PC, if not already on.       


4. Then connect the USB end of the Cable converter to the PCs USB connection.


5. When the new hardware found dialogue shows up, insert the CD-ROM with the driver. The XP driver for the cable converter wasnt in my CD-ROM, so I downloaded it from the Adaptec site prior to starting.


6. After the Adaptec cable converter has been loaded, Restart the PC, and the Canon scanner will be detected (although it will be called something else by the PC), starting another new hardware found dialogue. 


Step 4: Select  from list of device drivers included in Windows XP, and choose UMAX 2200.


When XP searches for the scanner's driver, I initially hit 'cancel' button until I exited the wizard, installed Canoscan software v.3.6.6 (apparently compatible with XP), and after the software tried to initialise, I still got the message "No scanning device found". So I went through the "new hardware found" wizard again, went to the option which offers a list of imaging device drivers included in Windows XP. I select UMAX, and the model 2200. The driver for UMAX 2200 works fine with Canon FS2710. Now that's non-obvious, at least to me.


I then used Vuescan software to operate the scanner.


Other comments: Does using a UMAX driver on the Canon FS2710 affect the scan quality? No, the colours of some orchids I scanned (top of this page) were spot on. I suspect the driver only communicates instructions between the CPU and scanner, but interpreting scanned data to produce an image is done by the scanning software, in this case Vuescan. Vuescan is lightyears ahead of the clumsy Canoscan, because it does at least two useful things the Canoscan can't: (1) mutiple-pass scans, which reduces digital noise, (2) long exposure passes, to extract detail from night and long exposures. - Andrew



Alternatives workarounds: (1)I have since been told of another website with an alternative workaround to the problem:
www.itreviews.co.uk/discuss/1195
which uses the FS4000US driver after editing it for the FS2710. Clever! (2) The FS2710 works well with a RATOC systems Firewire-to-SCSI converter on an Apple/Mac (doesn't work on a PC), and Vuescan.

IF you want a leg up on making photo collages, click the link at the top of this page (next to the picture of flowers), it gives step-by-step instructions. Given to me by a fellow FS2710 user. Thanks, Ron.

powered by lycos
SEARCH:Tripod The Web

Number of page views since 1st September, 2005: