Epson ES-600C scanner?

[kingtj]

I know this is a long-shot, but does anyone here happen to know if it's at all possible to make an Epson ES-600C flatbed scanner work under OSX?

This scanner is a parallel-port model, made back around 1996 - and retailed for $800 or so at Best Buy stores at the time it was originally purchased. It was intended for use with PCs running Windows 3.1 or '95 -- but there are references throughout the instruction manual to Apple support for System 7.x.

(I believe Epson also sold a SCSI version of this same scanner, but it was pretty rare and got discontinued shortly after it was in production. Therefore, I'm not even sure if Epson's MacOS drivers are only for SCSI versions of this unit, or if they handled the parallel port version through the Mac's serial port?)

The only reason I ask about this is because under Linux, this scanner has support using the "SANE" scanner tools (even for parallel port versions). With OSX being based on a Unix core, it seems possible someone has incorporated SANE into OSX.

I've got an upgraded PowerMac 7600 (w/Sonnet G3 500Mhz card) that I'd love to be able to use the ES-600C with, if there's a way. The scanner just sits here collecting dust right now, and it's in like-new condition.

[Cheryl]

You could try using VueScan. See if it works in OS 9 first. The scanners are one of the few pieces of equipment that does not have support. I also have a usb floppy drive that I can not find OS X driver for.

[kingtj]

Thanks for the VueScan suggestion. I checked out the web site for the product and it looks really good. Unfortunately, right on their site, it says:

"Unsupported scanners:
All parallel-port models"

so I know it won't solve my Epson ES-600C problem.

I'll give it a shot under OS9 though with the latest Epson TWAIN drivers they had posted for the ES-600C. (They say they're MacOS 8.x compatible but no mention is made of 9.)

Originally posted by Cheryl
You could try using VueScan. See if it works in OS 9 first. The scanners are one of the few pieces of equipment that does not have support. I also have a usb floppy drive that I can not find OS X driver for.