UMAX Scanners & Compatible SCSI Cards
MacOS / BW G3 & G4 Systems

Compatible SCSI Cards - Apple BW G3 & G4

Compatibility testing conditions: UMAX MagicScan 4.2 plus G3 patch, BW G3, current scanner and card (released) firmware versions.

Can you help us add to the list?
If you have used any additional SCSI cards succesfully with a UMAX scanner, please email us - include the exact model of the SCSI card, the manufacturer, the SCSI connector type, bus type, driver version and scanner model. Manufacturers of SCSI interface cards that would like to be added to the compatibility list should contact us for details of how to submit cards for testing.

SCSI Cabling - Connecting to HD50 or HD68 Interfaces

Many of the SCSI cards available for the BW G3 series use external HD50 or HD68 connectors - UMAX scanners (and others) only include cabling for the (formerly Apple-standard) DB25 connector.

When purchasing a SCSI card for the BW G3 check if an external peripheral cable is included - in the majority of cases it won't be, and can cost nearly as much as some cards.

If the card uses the HD68 connector you MAY need to purchase a special cabling adaptor to convert the 16-bit Wide bus to 8-bit Narrow, including the correct termination of the Wide bus - often HD68 to SCSI-II or SCSI-I cables do NOT terminate the Wide bus and may not work at all. In our experience Mac systems have been more tolerant of HD68-DB25 or HD68-Centronics50 cables than PCs, however we recommend reading the cabling/termination advice on Adaptec's web site.


BW G3 Compatible UMAX Drivers

Prior to G3-compatible driver releases UMAX scanners will only work with certain SCSI cards and settings (in general the Adaptec 2906 and scanner at SCSI ID 5). The table below shows the compatibility of different UMAX driver releases:

* Note: the professional MagicScan driver supports all current (and most recent) Astra and Vista scanner models, but uses a very different user interface designed for the graphics and imaging market.


Binuscan PhotoPerfect Advanced and Master for UMAX - G3 Support

The Binuscan PhotoPerfect Advanced and Master software packages bundled with UMAX Professional scanners are fully compatible with the BW G3 systems from version 4.3. The PhotoPerfect Master software includes an ADB copy-protection dongle which must be connected to the single 'legacy' port of the BW G3 (USB dongles are now supported as an alternative, v4.3B or later with the USB Updater). Upgrades to PhotoPerfect can be purchase online from http://www.binuscan.com/.


Limited support for UMAX Scanners prior to G3 Updater [obsolete note]

Prior to the release of the G3 Updater limited support for UMAX scanners with BW G3 Macs was available through two workarounds; both of these have been superceded by software updates (see above) but are archived here:

1. With the Adaptec AHA2906 card most models would work provided the scanner's SCSI ID was set to 5 - this workaround required the full release Adaptec drivers and the scanner would be more reliable placed at the end of the SCSI chain, terminated.

2. In some cases the AHA2906 or AHA2930U card would support the scanner using a SCSI ID other than 5, provided the Initiator ID (set in the PowerDomain Control software) was set to the same ID as the scanner (ie 1, 2, 3, 4 or 6). Setting the Initiator ID to the same ID as the scanner can interfere with other devices and may cause the SCSI bus to 'freeze' during previews and immediately before a high-res scan.