Nikon Super Coolscan 9000 and IMAC

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Nikon Super Coolscan 9000 and IMAC

I purchased the Coolscan 9000 before Nikon archived it and before I purchased my IMAC. I believe I have the correct adapters (But I could be wrong) It worked when my PC had a thunderbolt port. I have what I think is the correct thunderbolt to USB c adapter. However, the IMAC will not recognize it. Is there any fix/help to recognize and use this very good scanner. I have downloaded VueScan, but it can't be used if the computer does not recognize the scanner.

iMac 27″, macOS 13.1

Posted on Feb 17, 2023 12:58 PM

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Answer 1

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VikingOSX

Level 10

122,106 points

Feb 17, 2023 02:20 PM in response to Seract

Isn't the age of the CoolScan 9000 mean it has a USB-A v2.0 connector. If you have a USB-A to USB-C 3.1 or 3.2 adaptor, then you can plug the scanner into the adaptor and in turn, the current USB-C or thunderbolt-3/4 port on your iMac.

Apple sells an appropriate adapter cable, or you can use one of these. I use the latter.

Then you can use the current VueScan Professional to drive your scanning needs on that Nikon scanner.

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Answer 2

Seract Author

Level 1

5 points

Feb 17, 2023 02:39 PM in response to VikingOSX

The Nikon Super Coolscan 9000 has a firewire connector. I had used a firewire to thunderbolt and that worked with my PC. So, now, I tried a thunderbolt to USB c and that did not work, the IMAC did not recognize it. I also tried a thunderbolt to usb 2, but that did not work, nor did I think it would. Really the issue is having a firewire scanner being able to connect to the IMAC and be recognized by it.

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Answer 3

VikingOSX

Level 10

122,106 points

Feb 17, 2023 02:38 PM in response to VikingOSX

Scratch my previous post.

The Nikon Super Coolscan 9000 uses an IEEE 1394 (Firewire 400) interface. At minimum, you will need a Firewire 400 to 800 adapter, and other cabling. The newest iMac that Apple's Thunderbolt to Firewire 800 cable supports is a Late 2015 5K model.

If your iMac is newer, you might be able to cobble the following in order from the iMac to your Nikon:

Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 adapter cable (unpowered) - Apple Online store
Thunderbolt 2 to Firewire 800 adapter cable - Apple Online store
Firewire 400 to 800 adapter dongle or cable (probably Amazon)

Since I don't have this scanner, or the preceding cable arrangement, there is no assurance that the capital outlay for the connectors will result in a working CoolScan on macOS Ventura. The current version of VueScan Professional supports this scanner on macOS without any other drivers.

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Answer 4

MartinR

Level 7

23,493 points

Feb 17, 2023 05:17 PM in response to Seract

It will help if you tell us the exact model iMac you have. Go to Apple > About This Mac and let us know what it says for the version of macOS, the model and the processor.

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Answer 5

Seract Author

Level 1

5 points

Feb 18, 2023 08:19 AM in response to MartinR

The IMAC, which is the one I would prefer to use and is in my studio is: a 27 inch; Processor: 3.6 Ghz 8-Cor Intel Core i9; Graphic: Radeon Pro Vega 48.8 GB; Memory: 32 GB 2667 Mhz DDR4; using Ventura 13.1; it has w usb c slots, 4 usb 2 slots, and an sd card slot

I also have a MacBookPro: 14 inch screen built-in Liquid Retina XDR; Chip: Apple M1 Max; Memory: 64 GB; 2TB Macintosh HD; using macOS Ventura; it has 3 usb C slots, and sd card slot, and an hdmi slot.

I hope this is the information you wanted

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Answer 6

Seract Author

Level 1

5 points

Feb 20, 2023 02:15 PM in response to Seract

I have purchased the cables, using a 1394 fireware cable, plugging that into the dongle-firewire to thunderbolt (which claims that it will work with IMAC and macbook pro). I then connected it to the firewire to thunderbolt adapter from Apple and connected that to the USB C 2 to the USB c 3 adapter from Apple.

In addition to the information above, additional information about the IMAC:

Model Name: iMac

Model Identifier: iMac19,1

Processor Name: 8-Core Intel Core i9

Processor Speed: 3.6 GHz

Number of Processors: 1

Total Number of Cores: 8

L2 Cache (per Core): 256 KB

L3 Cache: 16 MB

Hyper-Threading Technology: Enabled

Memory: 32 GB

System Firmware Version: 1916.60.2.0.0

OS Loader Version: 564.40.4~55

SMC Version (system): 2.46f12

Hardware UUID: 2698D101-01EE-55B3-96F5-8E3A77B0978E

Provisioning UDID: 2698D101-01EE-55B3-96F5-8E3A77B0978E

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Answer 7

Seract Author

Level 1

5 points

Feb 20, 2023 03:55 PM in response to Keith Barkley

I downloaded vuescan. The issue is that for some reason, the scanner is not recognized as something to be added. I looked at the USB C/thunderbolt port and it does recognize that the USB C to fireware adapter. But does not list the elago FireWire 400 to 800 Adapter (White) for Mac Pro, MacBook Pro, Mac Mini, iMac and All Other Computers dongle. I have the firewire 1394 plugged into that. Vuescane says that this will work as the driver for the Coolscan 9000, but it can't do that if the apple port does not list it. I still have to try my MacBook Pro which is more powerful.

Any other ideas about what to do are welcome.

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Answer 8

Seract Author

Level 1

5 points

Feb 17, 2023 02:41 PM in response to VikingOSX

I did not see the second part of your reply before I reply. Will read more carefully and follow your suggestions unless someone else has one. Thanks.

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Answer 9

Feb 20, 2023 02:41 PM in response to Seract

Since the provided software probably wont' work, you might want to check out VueScan.

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Nikon Super Coolscan 9000 and IMAC

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