HP SCANJET 6300C XP update Problem.

[Mike Sev]

So my boss pulls this scanner, a HP ScanJet 6300C out of a closet and told me to start using it to scan hard copy pictures for our website. No Discs, no manual, just a usb cable and power cable. I knew this wasnt going to be easy or fun. However, when I plugged the usb cable into the computer, A Dell GX260 running WinXP SP2, the Found New Hardware ballon popped up. The it said ScanJet 6300C, this device has been installed successfully.
Right about now your saying, thanks for all your help guy... but it wasnt that simple. When I try to preview or scan something using the Scanner and Camera wizard, or Adobe Photoshop CS2 or Microsoft Publisher..etc.. I get the "waiting for scanner" for approx 5-7 minutes then an error that says my scanner my be busy when I try to preview. When I try to go straight to scanning it just hangs there showing 0% progress. After about 10-13 minutes a dialog box comes up say this picture can not be scanned (or something similar)press retry to try again or press cancel. I press try again and nothing except a vicious circle.

Any help would be appreciated. I know this isnt the exact same problem as you all are facing..as I did not need to install the HP drivers for the device to be found. And frankly, I hope I do not have to because of the 5 years worth of posts that have seemingly gone unanswered by Hp themselves.

[Daniel A. Street]

For what it's worth, my issue (see above notes) seemed to be caused not by any XP update (which is what I originally thought) but by an upgraded version of Adobe Acrobat. If I stay with Adobe 5.0, my ScanJet 6300C works fine, even with XP pro updates. The problem occured and my scanner was knocked out when I upgraded to 7.0 Professional or 8.0 Professional. My solution: Scan from a network station with Acrobat 5.0 and then use 7.0 Professional on another workstation to pull up and work with the documents. Next step: Buy a new scanner!!!

[Robert Grimes]

I know this may not be the solution you want, but have you thought of buying cheap scsi card (if it will work on your system)? I have run this since the beginning of time and never had one problem. I just gave up on the USB totaly.

[Mike Sev]

if my company was going to buy something I hope it would be a new scanner. My bosses are 59 and 65 respectively. I am 28 so even though I am a bookkeeper somehow I became the resident IT person. Just an example of how cheap they are.. I am posting this via a DIAL UP connection. DIAL UP!!.. 48 Kbs and Humming!!

I emailed Hp support and they told me to run the Test (which I told them I did already) and then told me how to use the Scanner and camera wizard.. which I already said I used... Thanks guys.

On an added note anyone know what error code 0x80040A01 is trying to tell me? After hanging for about 20 minutes on the scan this code came up.

I also found the Known Incompatibilities With HP Scanners page..
"Dell Latititude and Inspiron laptop....... and other models as well" (how about you list the other models de de de)

Anyway I think my problem may be caused by the USB ports not generating enough power for effective communication, as stated on the incompatibilities page. I will have to explain what a powered USB hub is to my ancient boss now. However, I dont know if my model is one of those "other models" so if it doesnt work my boss is going to be like " Why did you buy a broken hubby thing" Thanks HP.

[Jonathan Cabelly]

I have an HP scanjet 54000c and was encountering the same "sorry, scanner could not be initialized" issue as everyone else I think was having and I think I found the solution (thanks to hint that seemed to point me in the right direction - please referr to Chris Wells Jan 8, 2004 00:07:34 GMT)

Alright - I found something that seems to have worked for me - It might also be useful for other scanner models (I'm running on an IBM Lenovo R61 Laptop with Windows XP Professional OS - SP2).

1) I too had tried to install / uninstall my software multiple times (2 or 3 - I'm not really sure - I didn't want to do more as I'm always afraid of what this does to your registry organization). But alas - nothing seemed to have worked. So I left it installed and went looking for another fix where I found the above crumb trail.

2) I went to my device manager - I looked under devices and found under "Imaging devices" and noticed that the Hewlett-Packard Scanjet 5400c's icon was lit in yellow indicating that there seemed to be a driver conflict.

3) I right-clicked on the Scanner entry and told XP to search for an updated driver (you will need to give XP permission to search for the right driver). After XP did some searching - Voila!!! - the driver was updated and the icon was no longer lit in yellow.

4) I turned the scanner on, Started up the HP Precisionscan Pro software, clicked on
"New Scan" and it fired right up and worked.

I hope that everyone find this useful!!!

[Paul Dankbar]

I to am frustrated with my this product.

It did work fine under Win/2000 but alas no Win/2000 in my house anymore.

I myself have a HP ScanJet 6350Cse connected to a Adaptec 2940UW controller card and it just depends on what software package I am using as to what kind of error I receive i.e. Winfax Pro receives â Waiting on Scannerâ and â Initializingâ and Precision Scan Pro receives â Warming up Lampâ . I could go on with others but itâ s the same problem just sits there and waits for something. Under device listing everything looks fine - shows Adaptec 2940UW under SCSI devices and under Imaging it shows Scanjet 6300C. Believe it or not after some time (15-20 mins) it might scan and I get one page then after another 15-20 mins another page might (just might) scan. Getting in the car and running to Kinkoâ s would be faster. Sorry I am not giving any help here I am just looking for any information that could help my situation.

I am betting on a driver problem that HP will not own up to. I did call HP and they said the scanner probably needs to be serviced.

Anyway.

Mike Sev you get yours running? And if so please let me know what you did.

[GK Johnson]

After following the 11 steps of registry deletions and other suggestions listed in the past six years, my XP Pro system still yields this USB problem with my previously-functioning 6350C. The USB driver HPUSBFD.SYS is implicated in problems with other devices: http://www.techsupportforum.com/microsoft-support/windows-xp-support/3986-i-need-help-guys.html

[Glenn C.]

I recently purchased a used Scanjet 6300C at a garage sale for $5.00. When I got it home, I plugged it into a USB 2.0 port on my PC, which runs WinXP SP2, after downloading and installing sj675en, sj674en, and sj630en. The scanner was detected OK, but I got the infamous communication error messages. The scanner simply would not start the scanning cycle. After reading through the postings on this board, I decided to try connecting the scanner through a USB hub (the hub is not USB 2.0), as has been suggested a couple of times. Well, that worked for me! My scanner now scans!
What I do not know is if this is because the scanner requires regular "old" USB (vs. USB 2.0), or if it just works better through a hub. Can any of the HP moderators weigh in on this question?

[R Kluckhohn]

This problem seems to have extended itself to the Scanjet 7400c, no longer in production. It came with Precisionscan Pro ver 3.0.2. It was originally installed on a Win98 system which was then upgraded to XP and worked according to the documentation until recently.

I did have trouble installing it on XP but it finally started working per spec. I have no idea why. I have just replaced the original Athlon 1400 system with an Athlon dual processor system running XP as before. I am unable to get Precisionscan Pro operating. I did the clean install described in Document bps03850, "Resolving USB Scanner Initialization &c." without success.

When Precisionscan is started it runs momentarily and quits without displaying the working window. It leaves a process running in the background which prevents use of the scanner at all. On the rare occasions the working window comes up, it gives the "Cannot find scanner" message -- and the scanner LCD shows "Error 07." I've been unable to locate any info on Error 07 on the HP site or a general web search.

The scanner operates properly with the XP WIA driver when Precisionscan is removed. I don't know if it will do so with the negative scanner -- I can only pray. I have installed the Precisionscan upgrades sj679 and sj700 found in HP's Downloads section with the same results, although they worked correctly on the old system.

It was running on a USB1.1 hub originally. To get it to operate on XP I moved the cable to a USB2 add-in card. The new PC has only USB2, of course.

I would be grateful for a solution to this issue.

Bob Kluckhohn

[R Kluckhohn]

Well, I can be grateful to myself. This solution should help some of the others on the thread with similar issues.

For the issue description see my post of yesterday, Jan. 26 '08.

Problem analysis: The native Windows XP WIA service pre-empts Precisionscan.

Solution: Disable the native WIA service.

Procedure:
Start>Control Panel>Administrative Tools
>Services
Locate "Windows Image Acquisition(WIA)"
Right-click on it, select PROPERTIES.
On the "General" tab, pull down the "Startup Properties" list and select DISABLED.
On the "Log On" tab, highlight the hardware profile you use and click the DISABLED button.
Close all with "OK".
Unplug the USB cable. Plug it back in.
Done.

Comments: The Law Of Unintended Consequences will undoubtedly kick in somewhere down the line.

Bob Kluckhohn

[Peter Büermann]

dear ppl,
I want to be part of this historic thread and add my little story to let anybody know: it ain´t over ´till its over. as long as ppl find this hardware on ebay they will sooner or later end up here...

let me first please acknowledge anybody who spent time to get his hp-scanner working and anybody who let us know about it by using this thread. all of you guys must be very peacefull, kind and optimistic.
it must be thousands of hours lifetime that people worked on their scanners to get them scan. me, myself and I spent minimum 15h´s on this problem and still I have the hope I could get it working. but also doubt.
the final initialisation: when will that happen? which hidden wizzard will once say: ok, he made it. let him scan now!?

I tried almost everything people mentioned above and all I get are the same boring error messages: warming up the lamp, communication error, no response, could not be initialized...
and then the precisionscan app wouldnt even start again without rebooting.
....oh, I just realized that it starts again after 10 min and the scanner would even make some noises and move back and forth a little. but precision scan told me already: scanner could not be found...

after trying everything, follow any hint I ended up completly confused about what I did and what not. my overlook is completly messed up and now my system starts to react slow, to take more time booting. feels like a virus but is only a hp-scanner driver...

i tried the german version of sj675 and sj630. strange: the german sj675.exe is smaller then the english one (85MB vs 95 MB). what does that mean?

i uninstalled the wia-service like r. kluckhohn said above: sounded good and easy... but:....warming up the lamp, hang up

i installed the drivers and update over and over again getting the message: new hardware is installed and ready to use BUT no scanner icon would appear under cameras and scanners and as soon as i start precision scan it will end up showing the message: no scanner was found.

it took ages but I even scanned! but the only way to get it scaning was to set a hook at ´use the transparent adapter´ under tools. this would make a prescan after a while using the transparent adapter lamp and I even was able to do 3 scans of slides during my way of pain. how wonderfull to see that piece of hardware working. that gives you hope man!
but to do a second scan the program needed to be stopped, the scanner to be plugged off, thew system restarted. it is as easy as drawing what you want to scan. great. I assume this is a perfect way to get intelligent ppl off the street, to suck their energy and to let them be frustrated and numb. is it?

what about hplamp.exe which seems to run aLL the time as noticed in the taskmanager. I have no idea if this little tool works fine as the possibilties to control the lamp are only power safe mode and lamp-all-day-on. I never found the option that would allow cold scans as seen in the tutorial.

I never rebooted, un- and reinstalled any application or software more often then this silly scanner.

if I try to reinstall the driver using the device manager I can choose between 3 drivers: oem8.inf, oem9.inf and hpscan.inf. I tried them all. nothing helps. does anybody know anything about those?

there are some links to sites left that I didnt check completly yet. well, there is still hope left. I will try to get the hp support team working on this. and iI will keep you informed...

if there is anybody out there who can gimme some hope and/or advice I would love to get it...
it might be that I didnt find the last pieces of software and keys left after uninstalling and before reinstalling. this could be the prob - but is it?

best regards form northern germany to anybody who reads this!
may all the gods of bits and bytes be with you!

and dear hewlett packard people: I wish your managers would be locked up in a room with a hp 6300 scanner and a pc untill they scan their faces (or anything else)! you should maybe try to get some good hackers for your team of driver-developer and get rid of the people who are responsable.
its not only a problem of windows xpee, for sure not! and as long as you produce drivers like this you steal a lot of time of your customers who will one day be sick of that and go and buy other products.

love and peace

pter


...die hoffnung stirbt zuletzt (hope is last thing to die)

[Darciuc Radu]

I solved my problem with HP 6300c.

I tried to find the solution for about 5 years, I tried to repair my scanner in different service centers but nothing...

The solution came with the shift to another OS. I shift from Windows to Linux distribution...

To solve the problem with USB connection to my scanner i thought to bye a SCSI card, but i thought: "Let try to start it for the last time, maybe from the Linux it will work..." and I was surprised, but my scanner is working...

I use OpenSUSE 10.2 distribution... it has the driver for scanner and I don't have the problems now.

[Wayne Rettinger]

This is one amazing forum. I had all the problems discussed on a 6200c and tried all the fixes such as new downloads, USB fixes and even a powered USB HUB.

While investigating these problems I noticed that the glass was dirty on the inside. I removed the scanner top and cleaned the glass. While the top was removed I tried a "PREVIEW" scan from PrecisionScan Pro. All mechanism worked properly for the first time in a long time although the warm-up cycle was very slow.

Futher investigation revealed that the mirrows in the optic path were coated with a hazy film. There are four mirrows. Three can be removed and cleaned rather easily. The fourth is buried deep in the scanner but is reachable if you use a Q-tip.

After cleaning and re-assembling everything work perfectly for the first time in years. Futher GOOGLE research indicates that gases from scanner electonics and/or plastice cases
can deposit a film on the optics.

My guess is that the combination of the film on the optics along with an updated driver for XP which possibly had different parameters for sensing the status of the lamp and optics was the cause of my problems. I had a similiar problem with an HP3330 scanner several years ago of "Waiting for Lamp to Warm" that was cured by cleaning the optic path.

I will wager that HP knows about this condition but is hesitant to tell people to clean the optics.

[Peter van Bussel]

Thank you, Wayne Rettinger, for your solution!

Cleaning the mirrors is what did it for me!
I also tried every one of the other solutions I found in this thread, even a SCSI-card, but too bad! It took me half an hour to take apart, clean all four mirrors (even the deep buried one I took out) and re-assemble. Now it scans like in the old days again! There another symptom I would like to mention next to the hazy mirrors Wayne already indicated. For a long time I had to darken the copy when I used the Copy Utility to get a satisfactory result... Also the pdf's became blury. So reasoning back it's all so logical! But well, never mind! If I had found the solution many years ago I would have missed all the fun you can read about in this indeed truly amazing thread!

Well then, dear fellows, this is where our quest ends for me... In a way I will miss it but well, surely new endeavours will come to light. A propos, here already is one: The share scanner HP Precisionsacn LAN Host utility will not start up any more under W2K. There an error message, something like All Applications should be Closed (Error: -10). It didn't bother me because the scanner wasn't working anyway. But now it would be nice if I could use it as a Lan Server again.

If anyone is interested I can give you a detailed description of how I did it. Thanks again Wayne and so long.

Regards, Peter

[EveAnna Manley]

IT WAS THE MIRRORS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

REALLY.

Forget all this drivers stuff. Open up the unit and clean the four mirrors.

[Dennis Grant]

I would like to begin by paying tribute to the camaraderie and tenacious spirit of all the contributors to this forum who have refused to capitulate in the face of overwhelming indifference and inadequate support provided for this problem.

I can confirm that cleaning the optic path as suggested by Wayne Rettinger solves this problem. I support his theory that the problem results from the optic path becoming contaminated, in conjunction with the installation of an updated driver, possibly with different parameters for sensing the status of the lamp and optics.

I have spent at least 50 hours investigating and attempting to rectify this problem. Shortly before its onset I noticed that brown-yellow streaks had begun to appear on my scanned images but, other than that, the scanner was operating normally using PrecisionScan 2.02 under Windows 2000 via USB. Before I had the chance to investigate the cause of these discolorations, some bad sectors developed on the hard drive and, after these were repaired, PrecisionScan became unusable, so it became necessary to reinstall this software.

I discovered that PrecisionScan 2.03 (sj675en.exe) was available from the HP Support web site and I downloaded this and all of the related patches and then installed these. Once PrecisionScan 2.03 was installed the problems which have been so painfully chronicled by the many contributors to this thread became manifested.

Using PrecisionScan 2.03 it was possible to obtain scans using either the flat bed or the ADF but in both cases these could take 15 minutes or more each. I also tried Vuescan 8.4.92 and this gave similar flat bed performance but did not operate with the ADF.

I will not tire you by recounting the untold number of uninstall, reinstall cycles which then ensued with incremental variations using different cables, ports, hubs etc, etc, etc and the continuously building anguish this caused. Nothing I could write could surpass the eloquence and raw emotion of Peter Buermann on this topic.

Seeking to exclude the possibility that these problems were caused by remnants of previous PrecisionScan versions left behind by incomplete uninstallations I decided to install PrecionScan 2.03 under a virginal installation of Windows XP SP3. Using this configuration I was unable to obtain any scans under WinXP using either PrecisionScan 2.03 or VueScan 8.4.92.

I could not revert to my original, working installation i.e. PrecisionScan 2.02 under Win2000 because I don't have a copy of v 2.02 and this is no longer available from HP. I did have a copy of the original CD supplied when the scanner was purchased and this contained PrecisionScan V2.0.

This presented the opportunity to return to a baseline at which the 6300C was known to be operational: PrecisionScan 2.0 under Win98SE !!! I reasoned that if the scanner could be demonstrated to work normally with this configuration it would prove that problems being experienced under Windows 2000 and XP were software-related and not a consequence of a hardware condition.

Under Win98SE with PrecisionScan 2.0 using USB 1.1, I was able to obtain scans from the flat bed with performance similar to that obtained with PrecisionScan 2.3 under Win2000 (15 mins + per scan). No scans were obtainable from the ADF. Using Vuesan 9584 (for Win 95/98/ME) no scans could be obtained from either the flat bed or the ADF.

I then altered the previous configuration by substituting a SCSI interface in place of USB. This variation improved scanning performance considerably, with flat bed scans taking about 3 mins and ADF scans a little longer. Again, using Vuesan 9584 (for Win 95/98/ME) no scans could be obtained from either the flat bed or the ADF.

After reaching this point I discovered this remarkable thread and read with amazement that after more than 6 years of ScanJet owners being plagued with this problem, Wayne Rettinger and subsequent contributors have finally resolved these relatively simply by cleaning the mirrors inside their scanners.

I followed their example and my 6300C is now fully functional. In addition, the brown-yellow streaks which were being previously introduced in my scanned images are no long being created.

I hope to provide details here, shortly, of the steps I followed to perform the cleaning operations.

[Dennis Grant]

Instructions for cleaning the internal mirrors for the HP Scanjet 6300C Series

HP does not provide instructions for cleaning inside this series of scanners because of possible electrical hazards. Instructions for removing the top cover and cleaning the underside of the glass are provided, though, for some models and these are useful since they detail precautions and list recommended cleaning products. See: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?lc=en&cc=us&docname=bps02788

If the recommended products are not available satisfactory results can also be achieved with Isopropyl alcohol.

Disassembly

1. Disconnect the AC power cord.
2. Disconnect USB or SCSI cable.
3. Remove the Automatic Document Feeder (ADF)
a. Unplug ADF interface cable from the rear of the scanner.
b. Lift the ADF unit from the scanner - it may be necessary to use a wide-bladed screwdriver or similar implement to pry out the ADF posts as these can become tightly seated in the scanner unit.
4. Remove the two cover plates from the top of the scanner on either side of the glass scanning bed to expose two concealed torx head screws. To do this, insert a small screwdriver into the centre hole of each cover plate and gently pry upwards, raising them just enough to allow the screwdriver to be inserted underneath. Use the screwdriver to lift the plates directly upwards otherwise the retaining lugs may break.
5. Use a Torx driver to remove the 4 torx screws which attach the top section of the scanner to its base.
6. Remove the drive belt tensioning the spring. This can be a little difficult without a special tool but with persistence and perhaps the loss of a little blood it can be accomplished with your fingers.
7. Slide the scanning head carriage along its rails towards the centre of the scanner and examine it closely. Observe that there are two mirrors located at the front of the scanning head and one at the rear. Note that each of these mirrors is held in place with two spring retaining clips. The white coloured cold cathode tube can be seen positioned across the centre of the scanning head and is located in a housing with a silvered reflector. Next to this reflector is a narrow opening extending the length of the tube. Through this opening a fourth mirror can be seen.
8. Remove the rear mirror and the two front mirrors from the scanner head assembly by using a screwdriver pry off the "U" shaped spring retaining clips while taking care to prevent the mirrors from dropping.
9. Remove the two Torx screws at the right side of the scanner head to free the white slide shoes underneath, then slide these shoes along the rail so that they are well away from the scanner head.
10. Move the scanner head toward the right side rail and disengage the slide shoe from the left side rail.
11. Draw the scanner head forward and rotate it counter clockwise until the left side of the scanner header clears the left rail, then lift the scanner head out. Do not attempt to use force as this can lead to breakage of the cold cathode tube housing which is very fragile.
12. Remove the now exposed torx screw which attaches the cold cathode tube housing to the right side of the scanner head, then lift the housing along with the cathode tube away from the head.
13. The fourth mirror is now exposed and, since this can be cleaned in-situ, there is no need to remove it from the scanner.


Cleaning

Use cotton tip swabs, lint free cloth or lens cleaning tissues with your chosen cleaning solvent to remove all traces of contaminants from the four mirrors and ensure no streaks remain after the mirrors dry.

Gently clean the reflecting surface of the cold cathode tube housing.

Thoroughly clean the underside of the glass scan bed and ensure no lint or dust particles are left.

Reassembly.
Reverse the steps followed in disassembling the unit but pay particular attention to the orientation of the mirrors. The mirrors are silvered on one side only. Make sure that the front and rear mirrors are reinstalled with the silvered surface facing inwards, towards the centre of the scanner head. In the case of the internal mirror (which does not need to be removed) the silvered surface should be facing upwards.
Before fitting the top cover, eliminate any dust which may have become introduced during the reassembly process.

Acknowledgments:
WILLSHAK - An excellent illustrated web page providing detailed instructions for cleaning the mirrors on the HP ScanJet 5P but useful for HP ScanJets generally as well as scanners from other manufacturers. http://www.willshak.com/scanner/

[Myke Smith]

I'm so glad to have found this thread. I'm yet another dissatisfied customer back on my way to being satisfied. It surprises me that companies can't seem to find it in their best interest to use information like this and incorporate pieces of it within their product support (and design, as well).

It seems to me they'd want to be interested in feedback from their customers and make support entail the whole product experience. Like when HP was supporting their old analog products. Before the internet & www, telephone and snail mail support was almost always thoroughly effective (though a lot slower).

Oh, well. Thank you all for persevering. I really like my 6300 scanner and wasn't looking forward to buying another one. If I had, it wouldn't have been an HP, due to lack of effective product support. When their products work, they're usually fantastic. But, when there's the slightest bit of trouble, after warranty support is lacking sorely.

At least they've got the good sense to sponsor these forums and let some of their better employees browse around and lend a hand.

[John Chiurato]

I've played with this for WEEKS and decided to install a SCSI card. Will this help or will I have the same problems? Also can anyone suggest a compatable SCSI card?

[Peter van Bussel]

Hi John,

Did you try cleaning the mirrors? That was the only solution for me (the SCSI card I used was a Tekram 315u but no avail...).

Happy Newyear,

Peter

[John Chiurato]

No Pete i didn't but I'm stuck in the "lamp warming up" limbo like everyone else is. I have two of these and they both do the same thing. i know one thing for sure, HP is off my list.

[Peter van Bussel]

Hi John,

Clean your mirrors! Success guaranteed!

Regards, Peter

[John Chiurato]

To Mr. Peter van Bussel

You are THE MAN!

Everyone here listen to him. This solved my problem. My mirrors were filthy and this did the trick! The software must look for an image and if your mirrors are dirty it doesn't get one and must assume it is off line. Pay special attention to how the mirrors go back in in his instructions and make sure there are no light leaks on the semi-triangular plastic cover that goes over the scanner head chamber (my problem were the yellow wires leading to the cold cathode tube and my reassembly which allowed light to leak in so my entire image was black until I re-assembled and did it right).

THANK YOU SO MUCH!

[Peter van Bussel]

Hello John,

Bliss! The credits are for Wayne Rettinger really (see Post Jul 9, 2008).

Good luck,

Peter

[Orlo Bartholomew]

I bought a 6300c scanner at a yard sale this summer. I bought it for $15, because the seller said that it never worked. When I tried using it, it would say,"Warming up lamp", and then the software would error out. I cleaned the mirrors, and now it works great! Thanks for the help!