Hello everyone, I have bought a hp3400c, usb connection, loaded software, connected scanner. everything appears fine. software loads fine. hit scan now button, it warms up does everything okay, scans the picture, it even says the picture size etc.
and up comes a black screen where the pic would normally show. I have tried different settings. looked right through help. then control panel and run the small diagnostic tool for scanner, comes up okay. I then downloaded the latest driver for win98. sj589en2. At the moment i am stumped, and would appreciate your help very much. Regards Patrick Brannigan

Hello Patrick,

I find this odd so I will ask, why would you load Windows 98 on a new PC?

Hiii JDS, The Computer isn't new. it is a pentium II 350. I bought the scanner second hand and am trying to get it operating. as i said the install and everything went great. just not doing the right thing.) Regards Patrick

Oops! I feel so silly... I assumed. What about display drivers? Are they the updated ones? Would that even matter?

Hiii mate, I am not sure. but display is operating fine. I could give it a go.) Regards Patrick

Returning a blank black image would say to me that the lamp is broken.

Do a scan without the lid being down. You should see the halogen strip bulb going across the glass, during the scan. If not, then the bulb is gone, and I don't think that's easily replaced (probably cheaper to buy a new one ).

Unfortunately, scanners are quite fragile devices, so I hope it didn't get a knock while you were bringing it home

GF

Hii Garth, It has a semi clear lid and I can see lamp and carriage travel the full length of the scanner bed and then back. that is assuming there is only one lamp. I will have another try in the morning with the lid open like you said. and let you know.
Thanks very much Regards Patrick

No, that would seem to indicate that the carriage lamp is working, and it's scanning.

Do you get ANY image at all from the scanner, like a preview? And you get no error messages at all (and you're surely not scanning a sheet of black paper ).

Searching www.hp.com, I found this article:
h20015.www2.hp.com
that seems to detail roughly what you say. But it's solutions aren't great.

GF

Hii Garth, Just checked and the paper is not black. and no error messages. BUT I followed that link you sent to me, and have a look what it says about a wrong power supply.

Using a universal power supply; using a power supply from another device, such as a printer or different model of scanner; or using a defective power supply can all cause the scanner to show a preview scan as completely black.

and guess what. !!!!! My power supply is not HP. I may have to see if i can get the correct one and try it.

Thankyou very much for your help Garth. i am not sure but seems like a probable cause. You have a nice day mate, and thanks again. I will let you know. Regards Patrick

PS. I think an original power supply may be like getting a lamp.

Huh, that was a stroke of luck!

But I don't see what is so special about the HP power supply. I'm sure they're possible to get hold of. But I couldn't find any on ebay, and google didn't have much either.

But I wish you all the best finding one!

Garth Farley