New iMac Setup Help

Godfrey said:
You can configure the mini to operate as an independent computer, attach the scanner to it. Then you operate the mini using Apple Remote Desktop to run Vuescan on the mini, and tell VueScan to put the output files somewhere accessible to the iMac.

It's kind of a complicated interaction. You have to interact with the scanner physically anyway.. Wouldn't it just be so much easier to put it on a desk or tabletop near where your sitting and plug it in?

G
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... that sounds doable, and yes I know its silly probably my picky designer OCD kicking in ... and it was your guy who did the "we choose to do these things not because they are easy ..." thing in the first place

My studio has cat access, a couple of Persian runners and the windows open much of the time so dust is always a problem, the idea of the scanner living in a nice clean cupboard is very appealing, the wireless canon printer/scanner runs OK in there as stays nice and clean ... and the mini's fans and filters would collect any that got in there
 
willie_901 said:
Congratulations!

You have an excellent platform for your work.

I believe OS X will "allow the iMac permission to share the mini on the iMac's screen". Do you want use use the MacBook Air as a second monitor. Or are you interested in operating the MacBook Air from the iMac (or vice versa)?
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... the mac-book is just a portable copy of the iMac, my family bought it for my birthday so I could always get online, my health can be a bit variable nowadays
 
Godfrey said:
Target Display Mode simply turns the iMac into a display for another computer to use, just like Target Drive Mode turns the iMac into a hard drive for another computer to use. You need a direct cable connection to the 'remote' computer to use these modes, it's really not appropriate for the kind of 'scanner server' that Sparrow is trying to arrange. Apple Remote Desktop running to the mini operating as a headless system is likely the best shot.

G
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Thanks Godfrey
I'm curious about remote desktop and how that works.
Doesn't the remote computer (in this case the mini) still need a display, keyboard,mouse to allow access?
Is it something where you would need the keyboard and monitor to set but and then, once you have it set up permissions or reply codes are not required anymore?
My understanding is "permission" is required for each session although, I have limited experience.

Thanks for your reply. You seem to be our Mac go to guy on RFF.

Cheers!
 
f16sunshine said:
Thanks Godfrey
I'm curious about remote desktop and how that works.
Doesn't the remote computer (in this case the mini) still need a display, keyboard,mouse to allow access?
Is it something where you would need the keyboard and monitor to set but and then, once you have it set up permissions or reply codes are not required anymore?
My understanding is "permission" is required for each session although, I have limited experience.

Thanks for your reply. You seem to be our Mac go to guy on RFF.

Cheers!
Click to expand...

... I'd intended to add a keyboard and screen just to set it up ... I'm still looking for the old software and leads ... and I should really take it to bits and clean all the lint out of the vents in the base.

Then set everything thats needed to boot at startup or be bootable from the iMac's screen ... back in the good old days things like this were just a little batch-file that ran after BIOS started the VME-147s ... was it?
 
Sparrow said:
...
My studio has cat access, a couple of Persian runners and the windows open much of the time so dust is always a problem, the idea of the scanner living in a nice clean cupboard is very appealing, the wireless canon printer/scanner runs OK in there as stays nice and clean ... and the mini's fans and filters would collect any that got in there
Click to expand...

For similar reasons, my film scanners are stored in a closed cupboard and not connected to anything until I want to use them. Then I put them on a worktable next to my computer, connect to power and to the computer, and do my scanning. After which, I put them away. Keeps the dust out, and the clutter down.

The only scanner in my office that's always available is the one in the HP print-scan-fax multifunction gizmo. The Nikon film scanners and my Epson flatbed scanner are always safe from dust and intrusion unless in use.

G
 
f16sunshine said:
Thanks Godfrey
I'm curious about remote desktop and how that works.
Doesn't the remote computer (in this case the mini) still need a display, keyboard,mouse to allow access?
Is it something where you would need the keyboard and monitor to set but and then, once you have it set up permissions or reply codes are not required anymore?
My understanding is "permission" is required for each session although, I have limited experience.

Thanks for your reply. You seem to be our Mac go to guy on RFF.
Click to expand...

Not as much as I once was ... My work has migrated well away from user-level consulting support, where it once was. I'm too involved in other aspects of software development and tools now.

Here's the Apple Remote Desktop page: http://www.apple.com/remotedesktop/
And the ARD support page: http://www.apple.com/support/remotedesktop/
There's lots of info there and pointed to. I'm not an expert in its use, although I've used it occasionally.

If you use the stripped down version of ARD that's included in OS X (System Preferences > Sharing icon), you can turn on Screen Sharing. I think in that case the assumption is that the 'remote' system is a fully configured setup (display, keyboard, mouse, etc). But I believe the ARD package allows you to run systems that are configured and then set to run headless, usually doing server type work.

You will almost certainly need to connect a system to display, keyboard, and mouse at least once to do the basic configuration and setup. But once that's done, it should allow you to run completely headless and armless. All the devices are plug and play so a rack of Mac mini systems all configured with ARD makes for an economical way to run a bunch of different computers doing different things from a single workstation.

I question the sensibility of doing this for a "scanning server," however. Scanning requires direct interaction with the scanner and the media you're scanning, so it's difficult to imagine why you would go to the effort of setting up a remote control connection when you have to keep walking back and forth to the scanner near that system to handle loading and unloading media. Scanners are tricksy, malevolent things that love to ask you to do something to them...

It makes more sense to either have a "scanning station" that you do the scanning on and put the files onto a file server so your other systems can access them, or just roll the scanner over to where you're sitting and work with it for when you need it.

G
 
I think this is embedded in earlier comments, but my feeling is that Minolta would be the place to get an answer. I have a more basic quality scanner - the built in one on an Epson 837 printer/copier - but it works fine on wifi and usb. I use VueScan and it works fine (I can also use it fine with Image Capture but don't).

I think the problem is getting the wireless signal from the scanner to the iMac and it's not a printer so it won't be a wireless shared device with the airport software?

Not sure how important scan quality is - yours sounds like a high quality one - but if you replace it with one of the recent all-in-ones from epson I think you will see that "it just works" and you're done.

Tom
 
SausalitoDog said:
I think this is embedded in earlier comments, but my feeling is that Minolta would be the place to get an answer. I have a more basic quality scanner - the built in one on an Epson 837 printer/copier - but it works fine on wifi and usb. I use VueScan and it works fine (I can also use it fine with Image Capture but don't)....
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Minolta is no longer in business, so going to Minolta for assistance cannot happen.

The Minolta scanners were all discontinued years ago, long before wireless connection was considered a required product feature.

The Minolta 5400 is a high-resolution film scanner, a specialized piece of equipment. No one's written software for this scanner that allows it to communicate through a USB port to a WiFi hub for discovery, attachment, control, and data transfer. That's a complex bit of custom device-oriented software... !

G
 
If you have upgraded to Yosemite, the scanner will not work anyway. You get a message power PC no longer supported. WE are screwed. I tried 5 computers.

Third party software is available. The German one is $300 and the other is not very good imho. The German is specific to each scanner so if the film carrier breaks or the build goes out, you are out of luck.

Can not testify as to usb not for scanner.

Run it of your old computer, then transfer files.
 
Ronald M said:
If you have upgraded to Yosemite, the scanner will not work anyway. You get a message power PC no longer supported. WE are screwed. I tried 5 computers.

Third party software is available. The German one is $300 and the other is not very good imho. The German is specific to each scanner so if the film carrier breaks or the build goes out, you are out of luck.

Can not testify as to usb not for scanner.

Run it of your old computer, then transfer files.
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VueScan running on OS X Yosemite does an excellent job with Minolta film scanners. I stopped using the Minolta software in 2001, it was junk, and have used VueScan ever since. (I switched to Nikon scanners about 2008, and VueScan drives them very well also.)

G
 
Ronald M said:
If you have upgraded to Yosemite, the scanner will not work anyway. You get a message power PC no longer supported. WE are screwed. I tried 5 computers.
Click to expand...

That's news to me. My Minolta 5400 runs smoothly with VueScan 9.5.08 on my Intel Core i5 MacBook Air upgraded to Yosemite. (See my post above about using a Firewire 800 to 400 cable versus USB .

What version of VueScan are you using?
 
... as they said, viewscan is happy to run with Yosemite ... but neither of the new machines have firewire, so its USB to the macbook sitting on top of the cupboard to scan anything for now

My daughter has found a lead for the Mini, and she's bringing it home on Sunday ... in the meantime I'll clean out the lint and sockets and install an Aux lead to the Tivoli radio

I'll report back (or beg more help) shortly

thanks Stewart
 
PS ... the canon printer/scanner worked wirelessly straight away ... it just appeared in the printer list and as an icon in the dock after loading the latest software from canon's website
 
... that's an idea, I'll see if it works with the mac-mini as a slave first ... viewscan will be the only thing on it I'll strip everything else off and erase all the free space
 
Sparrow said:
... that's an idea, I'll see if it works with the mac-mini as a slave first ... viewscan will be the only thing on it I'll strip everything else off and erase all the free space
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The FireWire to Thunderbolt adapter works well, I use one when I'm using my MBP or MBA with the Nikon Coolscan 9000. The only limitation with is when using devices that are powered from the FW port: Thunderbolt doesn't offer as much power as FW800 does and some devices draw more than it can supply. Any device that is independently powered should be fine.

G
 
I just installed a new mac mini with yosemite. I have 2 epson printers and immediately installed new driver for them that work perfectly. I also have a nikon coolscan V and it's working well with vuescan. I had serious compatibility issues with my old Leopard material...still working on some of that
 
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