I’m going to apologise in advance for placing this ‘help’ enquiry on the blog. I intended to PM an Afterworder (Mr GCU Grey Area) directly, but cannot for the life of me remember how to do so.
I have just upgraded a Mac Pro to OSX 10.11.5 El Captain, which is great. What is not so great is that I can no longer use my Microtek Scanmaker 9800XL. The previous driver (Scanwizard Pro?) is not recognised by the updated software and I cannot find a suitable alternative driver – possibly because I am looking in the wrong place.
Therefore,I would be most grateful if anyone could suggest where I might look, or otherwise how I can resolve this problem? Many thanks and love, kisses and Steely Dan songs to you all.
Have you tried Image Capture that comes with Mac? Works for me whatever scanner I’m using.
The eternal Mac issue – upgrade the software, the app doesn’t work. I had a major one recently when a brand new iMac wouldn’t shut down or restart – turned out to be Avid software (ie ProTools and Final Cut etc) hadn’t yet updated for El Capitan.
The problem was solved after many “chats” with Apple Help online, who were really good – I kept getting passed up the food chain from the people who just follow a script to the tech-heads who actually know what they’re doing. Eventually I got on to a guy who solved it. Good luck!
Try what @mikethep says above. I don’t use my scanners with that bit of Apple software – I access them via TWAIN in Photoshop.
As far as I know, VueScan’s scanner software supports your scanner in El Capitan. This is paid for software, but you can download a demo version, which would let you see whether it works or not.
(https://www.hamrick.com/vuescan/microtek_scanmaker_9800xl.html)
If you use TWAIN to access your scanner, you can download Scanner Access Made Easy (SANE), and the various bits and pieces which go with it. These are free. I use it to access an ancient Epson A4 scanner. It is a bit clunky, and lacks in-depth controls, but it works fine.
( http://www.ellert.se/twain-sane/ )
Well worth rebooting the mac after installing scanner software. . .
In case that all sounds complicated, here’s some steps to follow.
Uninstall any programs and drivers related to your scanner. They were never needed.
If you are unsure how to do that, install a free app called AppCleaner and drag the scanner program into its window.
Once it’s gone, make sure the scanner is not connected, open system preferences and go to printers/scanners. Select the scanner tab. If the scanner is in the list, remove it. Then connect your scanner and it should be recognised. From there, you should be able to scan from within your programs including image capture and photoshop etc.
You can even scan directly from the scanner tab in system preferences.
hey Vince I’ve had no end of scanner connectivity issues- this looks like a goer.
Would I be stating the bleeding obvious if I asked whether you’d downloaded the latest driver from http://www.microtekusa.com/products.php?KindID=3&ID=40 ?
There’s a ScanPotter driver for 10.11 there.
Oh, hold on – that’s for the 9800XL Plus not the plain old 9800XL. Worth a go though.
I’ve had the same problem with scanners/scanner software at home and at work. Quick and easy way is to try and access the scanner through Preview > File > Import from Scanner – it should see your scanner. The Mac scanner software isn’t brilliant but it does the job.
Wow! What a resourceful bunch you Afterworders are. I am really grateful to you all – I feel spoilt for choice. Off to try them out now.
Mr Area – hope your recuperation continues and that your future is bright.
Cheers. I keep on b*ggering on.
Hope your scanner woes are soon sorted.
Oops! That was meant as a response to you all, but thank you also Mr/Ms TrypF.