Ai Studio / Epson 4870: 48bit + descreening = empty scan!

[Ben Martin]

new problem described in new post at the bottom of the thread

hopefully one of the LSI gurus can solve this...

SUMMARY
performing a scan with any of the Studio-only features activated in Silverfast Ai Studio IT8 v6 causes SF to crash. this happens both as a plug-in in Photoshop and running SF as a standalone app. it also crashes my Epson 4870 scanner, which just sits there with the green light at the front flashing and doesn't register as being connected anymore if you restart SF (scanner has to be turned off and on again first).

DETAIL
two weeks ago I upgraded to Silverfast Ai IT8 v6 from the SE version that came with my scanner. the software CD arrived last week and i installed v6.4.2r1g - this worked fine. i then checked for updates a few days later and installed v6.4.2r5c over the previous installation. however, i didn't actually get around to using this before i read on this website about the extra features of the Studio version and decided to upgrade to that.

this time i just ordered the upgrade as a download and downloaded the file i already had (v6.4.2r5c, not realising it's the same for Ai and Ai Studio) and ran that. it removed the previous installation and re-installed. when i ran it i was still seeing the ordinary Ai version, so i figured it was still using the old serial number. i found out about Shift+S+F from this website, deleted the old serial number and entered my new serial number for Studio. this time SF started up correctly as Ai Studio.

straight away i opened SF through Photoshop CS2 and tried to scan at 450dpi with Auto Descreening. the scanner appeared to finish the basic scan, as the whole thumbnail appeared in the small SF scanning window, and then the word 'Descreening' appeared in the same window. then a dialogue box popped up saying the photoshop had crashed and would have to be restarted. i tried again, same problem. so i ran the standalone SF app and it also crashed. it just freezes totally and has to be closed via Task Manager.

i also tried scanning with AACO enabled (with 'None' selected in the Filters dropdown) and again it crashes. it is perfectly able to perform scans using non-Studio features, although i also had a problem using normal descreening. so i started to think the problem must be something to do with how i have upgraded. but first i checked to see if i had the latest drivers from Epson. i didn't, so i upgraded from v2.3i to v2.6e (which shows as v2.65 when you run Epson scan). after rebooting i still had all the same problems, so i uninstalled and reinstalled SF again but it didn't help.

the details of the error i get are as follows (from the dialogue that pops up) in the case of running the SF photoshop plug-in:
Error signature

AppName: sf launcher.exe AppVer: 2.1.1.0 ModName: ntdll.dll
ModVer: 5.1.2600.2180 Offset: 00018fea

the error from the standalone app:
An error occurred at the start of the scanning process.

Cannot send Command "Set Window".

i also then tried downloading the TWAIN version of SF v6.4.2r5c, but that encounters exactly the same problems and displays this message:
Could not complete the import command because of a problem with the
acquisition module interface.

finally, i uninstalled v6.4.2r5c again and reinstalled v6.4.2r1g from the CD. obviously, it now ran in Studio mode as my new serial number was still in the registry. this version works perfectly, even as Ai Studio, and all the Studio-only features work fine. however, this is an unsatisfactory result as, apart from other fixes in r5c, i specifically upgraded to Studio to get the Automatic Descreening function - which is not present in v6.4.2r1g.

so ... HELP!!! :)

i am concerned that all this might be a result of not starting from a clean install, i.e. re-installing v6.4.2r5c over the existing version of it which had the old serial, then deleting that serial and entering the new one. i really don't want to have to completely reinstall windows. i'm also wondering though if it's because when you uninstall SF it isn't a clean uninstall. it must leave entries in the registry as the serial number was retained between installs. so is there a tool for completely eradicating all traces of Lasersoft software in order to enable a clean install?

or is this a problem you are aware of? specifically with the Epson 4870 perhaps? i have searched this forum but can't find this problem anywhere.

anyway, i hope you can help as not only did i waste about five hours on this yesterday, but i paid $59 for the privelege! :(

thanks.

[LSI_Marquardt]

Please be patient until the next version!

[RAG]

Ben

Based on your post I upgraded my Ai Studio to v6.4.2r5c and attempted to duplicate the problem you describe.

I had not upgraded previously because the ?Web update? feature told me there was a problem obtaining the update and I did not feel like using the download section of the LaserSoft web site.

Anyway, I successfully scanned an image at 450dpi with both Automatic De-screening and Automatic De-screening (intense) turned on and neither Photo Shop CS2 or Silverfast crashed on me.

The fact that both features worked for me leads me to believe that you may indeed have experienced problems due to an installation error of some sort Vs an inherent application issue.

You might try the following:
1) In Silverfast (either stand alone or the Photo Shop plug-in) click on the ?i? information button located in the top left corner of the scan preview window.
2) Click the ?Web update? and follow the on-screen instructions to see if you are able to update directly.
3) If this works try your scans again.

If you are not able to update this way go to this link
https://www.silverfast.com/sf-download/ ... o6/en.html

Select the appropriate Manufacturer and Product scanner; download and install the update and try the scans again.

Hope one of these works!

[hannibalstgt]

hopefully one of the LSI gurus can solve this...

An error occurred at the start of the scanning process.

Cannot send Command "Set Window".

Hello,

I have submitted an error report to the Silverfast support.
This error happens to me
(I am using a 4990 and SF SE most recent version 6.4.2r5a )
whenever the image to be scanned exceeds a certain size
(in my case 3400 dpi, 22976 pixel width and 1263 pixel height
file size 82.96 MB).

S?nke Noack (Lasersoft Support Manager) promised to have
this verified in the test center and to come back as soon as they have
more details.
I am waiting for a response eagerly.

By the way, this is a very old error. It already occured in
February 2005, when I bought my Epson 4990.

I am desperately hoping, that Silverfast now provides a solution.
EsponScan can handle larger files with no problems.

For the moment only a smaller image size or a lower resolution helps.

Regards
Wolfgang

[Ben Martin]

after my post above an LSI employee contacted me about this issue and upon sending him more information he was able to reproduce the problem.

over a period of several weeks he e-mailed me new builds of silverfast to resolve it. this exposed a new bug that caused all 48bit scans with any descreening option to produce empty, grey scans instead of a proper image. this too was eventually resolved.

however, now that i have upgraded to v6.4.4r2 the last problem is back and i can't scan at 48bit and use descreening. is there any chance that the same support guy could e-mail me back please? i have lost his contact details but his name was Philipp something.

thanks.

[RAG]

I had the same thing happen and deleting the Prefs resolved the issue for me.