Forcing Irfanview to be my TWAIN source (how)?

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C

CCN

Is there a good URL which shows how to add a TWAIN source to WinXP?

I start Irfanview on Windows XP & press File --> Select TWAIN Source,
but the results are totally empty (ie there are no TWAIN sources
defined).

When I look up the IrfanView Help on TWAIN, it says (unhelpfully):
"Click on the File menu, then Select TWAIN Source.
"Allows you to choose from the scanners or any other TWAIN
compatible device (digital camera, TV card, etc.) installed
on your computer (if more than one is available)."

OK. But how do I get a TWAIN source in that dialog box in the first
place?

I never even heard the word TWAIN before so I go to www.twain.org and
now I see it's a standard all scanners should abide by (my scanner is
an HP OfficeJet Printer but every time I installed the OJ software my
computer crashed so I just use generic printer drivers for the past
couple of years and the printing to this printer works just fine).

I search google for TWAIN and I'm absolutely inundated with URLs.
Is there a good URL which shows how to add a TWAIN source to Irfanview?
All I want to do is launch IrfanView and then scan in a picture from
there.

I'm sorry if this is a dumb question (you can ignore this if it is too
dumb).
If you know of the best URL to go for this, please just post the URL.
If you have a howto for adding a TWAIN source to Irfanview, that would
be best!
thanks,
CCN
 
CCN said:
Is there a good URL which shows how to add a TWAIN source to WinXP?

I start Irfanview on Windows XP & press File --> Select TWAIN Source,
but the results are totally empty (ie there are no TWAIN sources
defined).
Click to expand...

OK. Digging a bit more in the www.twain.org site, I find in the FAQ:
http://www.twain.org/faq.htm

Question: Where do I get updated scanner drivers for Windows XP?
Answer: You need to get the driver for your device from the scanner
vendor.
Normally scanner vendors make drivers available at their web
sites.

So, I guess one needs to add a "TWAIN Driver" from http://www.hp.com
and then that HP d145xi TWAIN Source will show up in Irfanview?

Is this the correct approach?

CCN
 
So, I guess one needs to add a "TWAIN Driver" from http://www.hp.com
and then that HP d145xi TWAIN Source will show up in Irfanview?

Is this the correct approach?
Click to expand...

Bummer.
I go to the HP web site searching for the HP d145 to find drivers at:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...4992&lang=en&y=0&cc=us&softwareitem=oj-2520-3

Guess what?
The drivers on my two-year old HP CDROM (version 3.22) are NEWER than
those at the HP web site (version 3.20)! Sheeesh. You'd think HP would
update their drivers once every few years.

Since both my original HP CDROM drivers (version 3.20) crashed the
Windows XP computer and the newer HP CDROM drivers mailed to me two
years ago by HP (version 3.22) also crashed the computer, I don't think
this approach of obtaining the drivers from HP are panning out.

Does anyone know another way to install a TWAIN driver for an HP
OfficeJet d145 all-in-one printer/scanner/fax so that Irfanview will
show it as a TWAIN Source?

CCN
 
CCN said:
Does anyone know another way to install a TWAIN driver for an HP
OfficeJet d145 all-in-one printer/scanner/fax so that Irfanview will
show it as a TWAIN Source in Windows XP?
Click to expand...

I guess I have two fundamental choices.
1. Find just the TWAIN driver on the 60 Mbyte HP driver CDROM & install
it.
2. Find a generic TWAIN driver (if that exists) somewhere on the
Internet

Exploring the "EuroA" HP OfficeJet D-Series Customer Support CDROM, I
find:
- hpodrs07_ds_SharedTwain_xp_al_68 G:\Setup\files.cab 180 KB
9/26/2002
- hpodsr07_ini_SharedTwain_xp_all_162 G:\Setup\files.cab 1 KB
1/20/2001

Hmmmmmmmmm... I wonder if I can install JUST the TWAIN driver.
So I doubleclick on the 180 KiloByte DS file in the cabinet & extract.
This creates a 180 KB binary file:
c:\temp\hpodsr07_ds_SharedTwain_xp_all_68 (with no file extension).
I check its properties by right clicking in WinXP and it says:
Description = TWAIN Data Source Redirector
Company = Hewlett-Packard Co.
File Version = 2.0.0.0
Internal Name = HPODSR07
Original File name = HPODSR07.DS
Product Family = hp officejet d series
VersionDate = September 26, 2002

So, I rename this file with a *.ds extension (whatever that is).

Moving to the next file, I extract the 1 KB INI file.
At least this is a text file.
Here are the contents:
[Indirection]
Directory=

[TWAIN Identity]
DataSource=hpodss07.dll
DSEntryPoint=DS_Entry
VersionMajorNum=1
VersionMinorNum=0
VersionLanguage=13 ; English (U.S.)
VersionCountry=1 ; USA
VersionInfo=Sept 14, 1999
ProtocolMajor=1
ProtocolMinor=7
Manufacturer=Hewlett-Packard Company
ProductFamily=All-In-One
SupportedGroups=3
DeviceIDEntryPoint=SetDeviceID
ProductName=
DeviceID=

Hmmmmm...
Do you think I can manually install TWAIN?
Here is my first-pass guess at a manual TWAIN installation procedure?

a) Add the "ini" extension to the 1 KB ASCII text INI file
b) Add the "ds" extension to the 180 KB binary file
c) Modify the ASCII file to point to the binary file (???)
d) Then, somehow INSTALL via that Ini file (but how)???

Note: Right clicking on the INI file does not show any "install"
option.

QUESTION: Does this approach seem reasonable?
Or, is there a much better way to install a generic TWAIN
driver?

CNN
 
[Indirection]
Directory=

[TWAIN Identity]
DataSource=hpodss07.dll
DSEntryPoint=DS_Entry ....
Here is my first-pass guess at a manual TWAIN installation procedure?
Click to expand...

Actually, I realize now that DS stands for DATA SOURCE.
So I change the 180KB file name to "hpodss07.dll"

Now I need to figure out how to manually install an INI file.
I wish I could just rightclick on the ini file and select "install" but
that doesn't seem to be in the option list. When I right click, I can
only "open" which brings the INI file up in Notepad. Likewise when I
doubleclick on the ini file.

Does anyone know how to manually install an INI file?

CCN
 
CCN said:
OK. Digging a bit more in the www.twain.org site, I find in the FAQ:
http://www.twain.org/faq.htm

Question: Where do I get updated scanner drivers for Windows XP?
Answer: You need to get the driver for your device from the scanner
vendor.
Normally scanner vendors make drivers available at their web
sites.

So, I guess one needs to add a "TWAIN Driver" from http://www.hp.com
and then that HP d145xi TWAIN Source will show up in Irfanview?

Is this the correct approach?

CCN
Click to expand...
Yes. My HP printer/scanner shows in the dialog box as a TWAIN device,
as does my camera driver (although I wouldn't use that). HP should have
a funtional driver for XP. If not, complain loudly!
 
CCN said:
Bummer.
I go to the HP web site searching for the HP d145 to find drivers at:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...4992&lang=en&y=0&cc=us&softwareitem=oj-2520-3

Guess what?
The drivers on my two-year old HP CDROM (version 3.22) are NEWER than
those at the HP web site (version 3.20)! Sheeesh. You'd think HP would
update their drivers once every few years.

Since both my original HP CDROM drivers (version 3.20) crashed the
Windows XP computer and the newer HP CDROM drivers mailed to me two
years ago by HP (version 3.22) also crashed the computer, I don't think
this approach of obtaining the drivers from HP are panning out.

Does anyone know another way to install a TWAIN driver for an HP
OfficeJet d145 all-in-one printer/scanner/fax so that Irfanview will
show it as a TWAIN Source?

CCN
Click to expand...
Some suggestions for driver installation:
Disable antivirus and firewall programs (unplug from internet first).
Then reboot, and try installation.

If that doesn't work, reboot to 'safe mode', and retry installation.

Check Microsoft and HP knowledge bases for other suggestions if the
above doesn't work.

Good luck.
 
Here is my first-pass guess at a manual TWAIN installation procedure?
Click to expand...

Slow down. You're going about it entirely the wrong way, 180 off. You
do NOT do anything special. The twain driver is just your ordinary
scanner driver, the one which you use to preview and scan with.

The normal scanner installation installs it. You cannot "rename" any
file to .ds to create it (any more than you can create a picture of
your dog by renaming some file to JPG). Just use your scanners regular
install procedure to do the regular scanner install. It is an entirely
automatic procedure.

The twain driver file is named nameofyourscanner.ds, and it will appear
in the folder at \windows\twain_32\. Irfanview and other programs
will show a list of whatever is there in their Select Twain Source
interface. You cannot add it, you need to discover why the normal
install is not adding it.

Your only hope is to follow the instructions to do the conventional
scanner install.
 
Wayne said:
Slow down. You're going about it entirely the wrong way, 180 off. You
do NOT do anything special. The twain driver is just your ordinary
scanner driver, the one which you use to preview and scan with.

The normal scanner installation installs it. You cannot "rename" any
file to .ds to create it (any more than you can create a picture of
your dog by renaming some file to JPG). Just use your scanners regular
install procedure to do the regular scanner install. It is an entirely
automatic procedure.

The twain driver file is named nameofyourscanner.ds, and it will appear
in the folder at \windows\twain_32\. Irfanview and other programs
will show a list of whatever is there in their Select Twain Source
interface. You cannot add it, you need to discover why the normal
install is not adding it.

Your only hope is to follow the instructions to do the conventional
scanner install.
Click to expand...
Good info and thanks!
I've used IrfanView for years and prefer it to everything else out
there. GF has a scanner but I don't think she knows that IrfanView
interfaces to it. Thanks for your post.
 
Ron said:
Yes. My HP printer/scanner shows in the dialog box as a TWAIN
device,
as does my camera driver (although I wouldn't use that). HP should
have a funtional driver for XP. If not, complain loudly!
Click to expand...

Can it be that long ago that I moved my HP PhotoSmart scanner from a
Win98 to an XP machine?

HP didn't have a driver for it. I looked at the HP support groups and
the wisdom was use a Win2000 driver. I did and it has worked fine ever
since. Seems to me a couple years down the road HP relabled the
download to call it an XP driver, but the size was the same.

Win2000 driver worked for me.
 
Good info and thanks!
I've used IrfanView for years and prefer it to everything else out
there. GF has a scanner but I don't think she knows that IrfanView
interfaces to it. Thanks for your post.
Click to expand...

I have no clue, but (assuming Windows XP) if the .ds file is present, but
Irfanview is not seeing it, then try logging on to XP as Administrator,
maybe it is seen then. Such problems occur in XP.
 
CCN said:
[Indirection]
Directory=

[TWAIN Identity]
DataSource=hpodss07.dll
DSEntryPoint=DS_Entry ...
Here is my first-pass guess at a manual TWAIN installation procedure?
Click to expand...

Actually, I realize now that DS stands for DATA SOURCE.
So I change the 180KB file name to "hpodss07.dll"

Now I need to figure out how to manually install an INI file.
I wish I could just rightclick on the ini file and select "install" but
that doesn't seem to be in the option list. When I right click, I can
only "open" which brings the INI file up in Notepad. Likewise when I
doubleclick on the ini file.

Does anyone know how to manually install an INI file?

CCN
Click to expand...

If you have the file in it's original form (this usually gets installed
automatically) you may be able to paste it into the system32 folder...but it
is not recommended.

The driver installation should put things where they belong and if it does
not then it simply won't work. On XP it is possible that the .ds file, if
installed by the driver in the twain32 folder (you should only see two
things there unless you have other TWAIN device drivers installed) is not
the default source and this is probably the biggese roadblock in
scanner/camera installations.

The default source setting means that this device is automatcally accessed
when doing an image acquisition and if the device you are using is not set
as the default source then it will give you TWAIN errors. Depending on the
TWAIN error you can sometimes nail it down to what is happening.

XP is also notorious for having incorrect Permission settings and most TWAIN
devices need ADMIN level access to work (at least with Epson devices).

So, having said all that, if you have tried to install a driver there are
two places it should show up...the Device Manager as an Imaging Device and
in your Registry under the HKEY_CURRENT_USER (also under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE)
with Permission set to Allow full control and read access.

If the device does not show up in the device manager as what it is (HP
ScanJet or other) then you may have connectivity issues. If it does show up
but as an other or unknown device then your driver is not installed
correctly. If you have installed some XP driver for your device then try
updating the driver from the Device Manager.

Guess it boils down to what shows up in the Devman and whether you have
actually installed an XP VERSION (WIN2k drivers may also work) of the
driver.
 
CCN said:
Is there a good URL which shows how to add a TWAIN source to WinXP?
Click to expand...

A TWAIN source is specific to a particular device make and model.

For example, when I bought a scanner, its software installation procedure
included adding the TWAIN source for that specific device.
 
I installed a UMAX 3400 scanner recently, and the user interface looks exactly
like the Scanner & Camera wizard from Control Panel. I tried to install the
VistaScan software against specific instructions not to, so I could get an
interface I enjoy in previous versions of Windows, but the Scanner could not be
located by the computer. So, from what I read on the internet is that I have to
scan using the Wizard like interface which won't let me signifcantly magnify the
Preview area prior to doing a real scan. I then have to do cropping in another
program like Irfanview. I'm not much of a fan of this Wizard interface at all!
But it looks like there is no way around this Wizard, dammit.
 
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