Member Avatar for tommy

Help. I bought a HP scanjet 3970 and hooked it up to my G4 Mac, The scanner goes on when I start the computer but when I go to scan it does not seem to recognize the software. I cannot scan by using the buttons on the scanner either. It also will not allow me to change the preferences. Everything freezes. I had the scanner plugged in through a Belkin TetraHub but I got no response so I went directly through the Mac. Still nothing. I now also get a message when I power up that says "insert iomega disk" which I cancel. I have practically the same set-up at home with my laptop G4 and a different model HP scanner and works perfectly.

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Brief recap: reported a Scanjet 3970 that powers up but the Mac (G4, running OS 9) won’t talk to the scanner, the scanner buttons do nothing, and changing HP prefs causes a freeze. A Belkin hub was tried and then a direct USB connection; the same model family works on another G4 at home. Several members suggested drivers and extensions as suspects.

Start by isolating OS/extension and USB issues: boot OS 9 with extensions disabled (hold Shift) or press Space during boot to open Extensions Manager and choose a minimal set. That quickly reveals whether a third‑party INIT/extension is colliding with the HP code. (macosx.com)

Try this checklist (do one step at a time, with a current backup of the System Folder):

  1. Boot with Extensions Off (Shift) or open Extensions Manager (Space) and select Mac OS Base; restart and see if scanning works. (macosx.com)
  2. Always test the scanner on another Mac (or the working laptop) and on a different USB port — confirm the device enumerates before installing drivers.
  3. Uninstall HP Scan software using the HP uninstaller if present; if not, use Extensions Manager to identify HP‑related INITS, drivers and prefs (look at the Package column) and remove only files you can identify as HP — back up first. (discussions.apple.com)
  4. Check HP’s driver page for the 3970 for the OS you run (OS 9 vs OS X) and try the latest compatible driver listed there; if HP no longer supplies a compatible driver, consider the third‑party option VueScan which supports many legacy Scanjets. ()
  5. If the scanner still freezes the machine, test while the scanner is the only USB device attached and try scanning from alternate software (Classic apps vs Image Capture / third‑party) to narrow whether it’s HP scanware or a lower‑level USB/driver problem. (hamrick.com)

Notes and cautions: back up the System Folder before deleting INITS or prefs; don’t trash unknown files. If driver rollback (older HP installer) is attempted, remove the newer HP files cleanly and reboot between installs. If the hardware is fine on another computer, focus on OS 9 extension conflicts and driver mismatches first — that pattern matches ’s report in this thread. (daniweb.com)

Recommended Answers

All 6 Replies

Member Avatar for kc0arf

Hello,

Are you using Mac OS X, or Mac OS 9? I am assuming that this is connected via USB. I also wonder if you installed the software that came with the unit (you don't mention it).

Let us know.

Christian

Member Avatar for yeahyys

You also might need to download the driver for the scanner. (go to the HP Website to find out about downloading drivers) its what i had to do when i bought my canon scanner, at first it would only work in classic 0.9.
i use my scanner through photoshop aswell.

Member Avatar for tommy

Hello,

Are you using Mac OS X, or Mac OS 9? I am assuming that this is connected via USB. I also wonder if you installed the software that came with the unit (you don't mention it).

Let us know.

Christian

I am using OS 9 right now. And I used the software that came with the unit. I did not try to see if there was an update on the HP site.

Member Avatar for plopthegeek

We had exactly the same problem and are convinced it's horrible a bug of the latest HP drivers!

The solution we found was to completely uninstall the bugged 7.1.9 driver and replace it with the previous version 5.5.6 for 3900 Series!! (you can use the uninstall software located into the HP Imaging Software folder but should also manually delete any extension, preferences, help files, etc with the letters'HP' in their filename).

If you don't have access to the previous installer I could eventually send it to you (about 200MBytes).

Thank you H :P !

Philippe Lopatka
pumpkin Sarl - Apple Authorized Reseller - Nyon - Switzerland

Member Avatar for gunter

Mon ami--

I am in a similar situation with my HP3970 scanner. Although the v7.1.9 driver was supposed to work with Mac OS9.2, it of course did not.
I have completed the uninstall of v7.1.9.
I am desperate to try the v5.5.6 driver to see if it will correct the situation.
If you can manage to forward v5.5.6 to me, I will be very grateful.

Merci--

You wrote:
"The solution we found was to completely uninstall the bugged 7.1.9 driver and replace it with the previous version 5.5.6 for 3900 Series!! (you can use the uninstall software located into the HP Imaging Software folder but should also manually delete any extension, preferences, help files, etc with the letters'HP' in their filename).

"If you don't have access to the previous installer I could eventually send it to you (about 200MBytes)."

Thank you H :P !

Philippe Lopatka
pumpkin Sarl - Apple Authorized Reseller - Nyon - Switzerland

Member Avatar for putxi

Hi,

I just bought a MacBook for my wife and when trying to install and work with hp scanjet 3970 i get same problems as tommy:
- installation goes ok ... but ...
- the application to make an image explore, doesn't make anything when switch it.
- and using the scaner buttons directly, it doesn't work either.

Looking at hp site i've not seen any reference to this problem.

Anyone can help me?

Thanks in advance!

Regards,
putxi

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