Use of USB scanner on older PCs. \ VOGONS

Use of USB scanner on older PCs.

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First post, by Cobra42898

Posted on 2022-10-25, 23:37

Cobra42898 Offline

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I have an older (win98) era scanner I have been using to scan older family photos. I decided to use an old gateway p2(celeron) 400C I had lying around for the task. I know that in theory the scanner should be the slowest point in the process, but even just moving large files around can be taxing on these early processors. The good news is, I have recently fixed and made my d815eea2/1.0ghz/133mhzbus system a working machine again. (Yay!) Is it at all likely that the faster ram/bus/cpu will handle USB transfers better than the old 440bx/celeron? Perhaps at least faster transferring files, I would think?
Any thoughts welcome.

Searching for Epson Actiontower 3000 486 PC.

Reply 1 of 4, by Disruptor

Posted on 2022-10-26, 01:21

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Depends on the scanner. What scanner do you use?
However, your 440BX or 815 based motherboards do support USB 1.1 with 12 MBit/s - that's rather slow compared to USB 2.0 with 480 MBit/s

Reply 2 of 4, by darry

Posted on 2022-10-26, 01:53

darry Offline

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What brand and model is the scanner and at what DPI do you plan to scan the photos ?

If the photos and your time are of value to you, using a 20+ years old scanner (an exception could be argued if you have a very high end one) might not be the best option, especially considering the fact that newer (modern OS compatible) faster and likely better USB scanners might be available in thrift stores for less than 10$ a pop (I have gotten 2 or 3 Canon LIDE ones that way) or even new for about 100$ or so .

Reply 3 of 4, by zyga64

Posted on 2022-10-26, 05:16

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Your old scanner is probably still supported by linux. http://www.sane-project.org/sane-mfgs.html
Try to install modern linux (on current PC) in VirtualBox with USB passthrough.
Your scanner will be detected and very likely you'll be able to use Xsane applicattion with it (or Simple Scan, or Scanlite...)

I'm still using Mustek 1200CU plus (not Bear Paw, earlier model) for occasional scanning.

1) VLSI SCAMP /286@20 /4M /CL-GD5422 /CMI8330
2) i420EX /486DX33 /16M /TGUI9440 /GUS+ALS100+MT32PI
3) i430FX /K6-2@400 /64M /Rage Pro PCI /ES1370+YMF718
4) i440BX /P!!!750 /256M /MX440 /SBLive!
5) iB75 /3470s /4G /HD7750 /HDA

Reply 4 of 4, by swaaye

Posted on 2022-10-26, 10:56

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VirtualBox USB passthrough is a good option. If there are 2K or XP drivers for the scanner, a VirtualBox install of XP works well too.

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