Epson 4990 scanner 'ESCNDV.EXE' error!

[Fotopete]

I don't seem to have much luck with Epson scanners. We recently bought a 4180 scanner and found some real bugs in the Epson Scan Dust Removal feature. This important feature for Dust Removal on 35 mm Kodachrome and B/W film is obviously very desirable for such small images which need to be considerably enlarged. Unfortunately the Dust removal settings are very poor at removing dust particles and into the bargain the software creates considerable artefacts in different parts of the image. We subsequently returned the scanner and bought the 4990 at over £300 only to find that it uses virtually the same software as the 4180 and consequently produced identical undesirable effects.

Various correspondence with Epson support has so far produced no cure or even hope of a bug fix.

The latest desaster struck yesterday when trying to open Epson Scan in stand alone mode, when we got the folowing message:
[b]'Escndv.exe has encountered a problem and needs to close down'.[/b]
When we tried to scan via Photoshop CS, a message said: [b]'Could not complete Import Command because of a problem with the aquisition
module interface'.[/b]

Once again we went to Epson support, only to be told that the 'Escndv.exe' error is the fault of the Microsoft OS and we should contact them for further information and fixes. Well, going to the MS Site prooved quite an eye opener, because it showed clearly that a serious number of Epson scanner users were having this error message - with the consequence of not being able to use the scanner at all. Various very complicated procedures were suggested for possibly overcoming this error problem, which included reinstalling your operating system and making all sorts of changes and deletion to the registry. Well frankly, the suggestion that we repair Epson's faulty software is preposterous and there is no guarantee that the fault will not occur again.

Further representation have been made to Epson and we wait anxiously for more positive communication from them and we will report the outcome to this forum.

PS. Have a search on Google for 'ESCNDV.EXE error' and you may be shocked.

Regards Fotopete

[Kevgermany]

Fotopete

Not sure if it's relevant or not, but this error generally comes up when the scanner's off (or has been off) and you try and start the scanning software. Powering the scanner on doesn't always make windows recognise the scanner, so the error comes up again. Best way I found was to power on the scanner, reboot the pc and then leave the scanner turned on. Problem gone!

If it's any consolation my nice new non epson scanner has the same problem, but WORSE - this needs to be powered on, allowed to settle down, then have a film holder and film in it, all before the scanning software will start. Even this procedure doesn't sort it out.

I'm thus tempted to think that it's more of a windows issue, not something Epson specific. There've been many problems in the past with windows and auto detect of new or newly powered on hardware and I don't think they're fully resolved.

[ksporry]

I noticed something similar with my Benq 2720 scanner (uses a SCSI interface)
This one is also not seen by any software (windows XP, Vuescan or Photoshop) unless I power it up before I start my PC.
I would be inclined to believe this is Windows related as well.
But guess what... Mac doesn't have these problems...

[Fotopete]

Hold it fellows (KEV and Ksporry) you are going off on the the wrong track. SCSI devices need to be switched on before you start the computer, but this does not apply to USB equipment.

My net research seems to show that the ESCNDV.EXE error message is only associated with a number recent Epson scanners and no other equipment software - that would indicate that the Epson software is at fault and Epson have got to sort this and the Dust Removal malfunctioning.

Whatever it is, it is a right pain because we cannot use the Epson 4990 only the Copy Utility (from scanner direct to printer) works. Strangely enough the bundled Silverfast SE scanning software works, but we were not unduly impressed by this somewhat unusual software.

Fotopete

[Kevgermany]

fotopete

should have made it clear, my scanners are running on USB and firewire, not scsi. I agree they should pick up automatically, but it doesn't alway work. Ican think of a few reasons, but the only real way to answer it would be to it the Epson and MS developers down together, thrash through the problem and then get them to fix it. Doesn't look as if it's going to happen.

[Fotopete]

Kev

Just to let you know, we did check out the SCSI procedure with the Epson 4990, but regretfully it did not work.

Yes somehow Epson have got to get together with Microsoft and sort the problem. The initiative has got to come from Epson since it impinges on their product.

Hopefully common sense will prevail, but why does it always have to be a fight before these big companies make a corrective move!?

Donner und Blitzen!

Fotopete

[erlkoenig]

Hello, Fotopete,
I also experienced problems with ESCNDV.exe, but now my system is up and working again, thanks to this link:

http://www.mercuriuslab.com/item/425

It recommends to delete the broken preview-file.(FULL.BMP) in the directory `C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\EPSON\ESCNDV\ES0030`

Worked fine with me !

[Don Ellis]

Hello, Fotopete,
I also experienced problems with ESCNDV.exe, but now my system is up and working again, thanks to this link:

http://www.mercuriuslab.com/item/425

It recommends to delete the broken preview-file.(FULL.BMP) in the directory `C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\EPSON\ESCNDV\ES0030`

Worked fine with me !

Worked fine for me, too. This was driving me crazy... even after two re-installs, no luck. This trick worked perfectly. Thanks very much for your help.

Don

[Chip Reuben]

erlkoenig wrote:

Hello, Fotopete,
I also experienced problems with ESCNDV.exe, but now my system is up and working again, thanks to this link:

http://www.mercuriuslab.com/item/425

It recommends to delete the broken preview-file.(FULL.BMP) in the directory `C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\EPSON\ESCNDV\ES0030`

Worked fine with me !

A HUGE thanks for this post. I had not been able to use my Epson Perfection 4870 Photo for over a year when a computer guy helped me to find this post. In my case the path was slightly different as follows:

1) "username" was the actual user name on my computer, "Valued Customer"

2) In stead of ES0030 I had ES0034

As soon as I saw the FULL.BMP file I suspected that I had found my problem becasue I recognized this preview file as having occured right around the time my problem occured (as mentioned above, almost a year ago). Unfortunately it has been too long for me to remember the exact procedure I would have done that would have allowed this preview file to be created, ie. which scanner I used, etc etc so I don't know exactly what created the problem.

The other thing is that I was able to find this post by searching on the keyword, "ESCNDV.exe" which was a component of the error message I got when trying to operate the EPSON scanner using Scanners and Cameras". The error message from Photoshop that I had been getting for a year, "Could not complete the import command because of a problem with the acquisition module interface", yielded no useful results and endless frustration.

Thanks again erlkoenig!!

[grillmeister7]

This 'ESCNDV has encountered an error' happened to me over a year ago with my Epson 2400 scanner and I got help from Epson support. Unfortunately I didn't record the exact steps they gave me.

Then on Christmas day I encountered the error again. After twice deleting the ESCNDV (a step I did recall from Epson's help) subfolder in the Windows folder and reinstalling Epson software I found this thread and the last piece of the puzzle : deleting the c:\documents and settings\%user name%\Application Data\EPSON\ESCNDV' subfolder finally did the trick.

Thanks very much folks.

[laputafish]

Hello, Fotopete,
I also experienced problems with ESCNDV.exe, but now my system is up and working again, thanks to this link:

http://www.mercuriuslab.com/item/425

It recommends to delete the broken preview-file.(FULL.BMP) in the directory `C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\EPSON\ESCNDV\ES0030`

Worked fine with me !

erlkoenig, thanks for yr sharing!

Great! I can now use my epson scanner which has been put under my bed for several months.

it is so tricky that a bitmap file can stop the scanner from working. It looks it is Epson's fault in its scanning driver.

This problem has been met by many people long time ago but epson didn't fix it at all. What are they doing?

[nifflespink]

Hello everyone,

Well it's somewhat reassuring that I am not the only person struggling with this problem...however, I am now at a bit of a loss what to do as it seems I have tried so many different things to no avail...

Yesterday I was happily getting on with scanning negatives and had done quite a few so the scanner was nice and warm, when I got the escndv,exe error message. At first I thought it was just a one off - I soon learnt! I have uninstalled and reinstalled the software numerous times, followed instructions about getting rid of all the files that may be causing a prob such as those with twain or twunk in the name, and then reinstalling. I tried getting the latest driver from the epson website but that seemed to make the problem worse - I couldn't even open the scan program. And I have tried doing the above but when I go to the folder to find the FULL.bmp file it is empty. I have even done a search for this file, to include hidden files, but it doesn't seem to exist.

Is there anything at all else I can try?? I'm too stubborn to give in and pack the scanner away under my bed! (And reformatting my computer is not an option!)

Thanks

PS These are the instructions that I followed to a T...it is a support message from Epson themselves regarding the problem. It hasn't helped.


1) RIGHT-CLICK on the MY COMPUTER icon and click on PROPERTIES.
2) Select the HARDWARE tab, then the DEVICE MANAGER button.
3) Remove the Epson Scanner from under IMAGING DEVICE and/or UNKNOWN and/or
OTHER DEVICES by RIGHT-CLICKING on it and clicking UNINSTALL.
4) Disconnect the USB cable and close all open windows.
5) Click on START, and CONTROL PANELS.
6) Double-click on ADD/REMOVE PROGRAMS. Highlight EPSON SCAN and click on
CHANGE/REMOVE.

7) Go to START, SEARCH, and ALL FILES AND FOLDERS. Select Advanced option
and ensure there is a checkmark next to SEARCH HIDDEN FILES and FOLDERS.
Search for files where all or part of the file named is OEM*.* and a word
or phrase in the file contains EPSON. Search location should be set to
C:\WINDOWS\INF or C:\WINNT\INF.
9) Delete all files that are found if this is your only Epson product. If
you have another Epson product, you will want to open each individual file
and determine which files pertain to your scanner, and then delete only
those.
10)Go to START, SEARCH, and ALL FILES AND FOLDERS. Search for files where
all or part of the file named twain.log . Search location should be set to
C:\. Please delete the twain.log file and repeat the process for
twain001.mtx, twunk001.mtx and twunk002.mtx. and epfb5 and escndv

Now we need to remove specific references to the product in the registry:

1. Click on START and then RUN.
2. In the Run window type in REGEDIT.
3. In the upper menu bar click on FILE, then EXPORT.
4. In the window that comes up, SAVE IN should be set to DESKTOP.
5. In the FILE NAME section at the bottom of the window type in REGBACKUP.
6. EXPORT RANGE should have a dot next to ALL.
7. Click on SAVE.
8. Look in the column on the left and Click on the "+" sign next to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER
9. Click on the "+" sign next to SOFTWARE
10. Click on the "+" sign next to Epson
11. Look for a folder name EPSON SCAN or epson twain . Right click on it
and Delete it (if you don't see it, then don't worry about it).
12. If you see a reference to your Epson product model, right click and
delete it.
13. Click on the "-" signs next to EPSON, SOFTWARE, HKEY_CURRENT_USER to
close up this branch.
14. Click on the "+" sign next to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
15. Click on the "+" sign next to SOFTWARE
16. Click on the "+" sign next to Epson
17. Look for a folder name EPSON SCAN or epson twain , Right click on it
and Delete it (if you don't see it, then don't worry about it).
18. If you see a reference to your Epson product model, right click and
delete it.
19. Click on the "-" signs next to EPSON, SOFTWARE, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE to
close up this branch.

DOWNLOAD

Please follow the steps below to download and install your scanner in XP:
1. Go to the website http://support.epson.com
2. Under the SCANNERS heading select PERFECTION SERIES and then your
scanner model.
3. Under the Drivers & Downloads section select Windows. Download the most
current version of the Scanner Driver for your Windows operating system to
your DESKTOP.

Reinstall

1) Double Click on the Epson1****.exe file that you downloaded to your
DESKTOP.
2) Click OK, Unzip, and then OK again.
3) The installer will copy the files to the system. Click on FINISH when
prompted.
4) Connect the USB cable to a different usb port on the computer. Windows
will tell you new hardware is found and complete the install.
5) If a message appears indicating THE SCANNER HAS NOT PASSED WINDOWS LOGO
TESTING, click CONTINUE ANYWAY. Then click FINISH.
6) Your scanner is now ready to use.

[Kevgermany]

Bugs aside, epson scan gives this message if the scanner isn't on and plugged in properly. Can you see the scanner in the hardware list? Have you tried another USB cable/replugged the cable? Also worht trying another USB port and disconnecting all other USB devices (assuming that you're on USB).

I think there are more references to epson scan than this in the registry. Try searching from the start for epson scan. Then when all those references are gone, epson smart panel. Then when that's gone epson twain.

[Doug Fisher]

Also, make sure the pigtail from the scanner lid to the base of the scanner has not gotten loose. Fully unplug it and then plug it back in just to be sure.

Doug

[nifflespink]

Hmmmm, I'm no computer expert, but did you mean search all files and folders for Epson Scan etc, and after I've uninstalled it? Once I have done this am I then to reinstall it all again??

I've tried the scanner on my dad's PC and it doesn't encounter the error message; however the scanned images are of poor quality - some of them have colour casts, some split the negatives up, or join them together. It was working so well on my laptop before the error cropped up! It seems I can't win!