PC Talk Forum
"I would be really surprised if a IEEE-1284 cable as the one above would work with Minolta scanners (If confirmed, I'd be more than happy to remove the old Adaptec 2906 PCI card which I'm still using in my PC and for which I needed to create tweaked drivers for support under Windows 8.1 and 10)"
And Jimmy C. wrote.
"Use a little caution on mixing DB-25 printer and DB-25 SCSI adapters. The pinouts are not the same. Just because they both used a common D-sub connector doesn't mean they are interchangeable. Check this out. http://www.nullmodem.com/DB-25.htm and note the differences at Pin 1."
Well, though I'm frustrated, I think you guys are right. sorry Henry, I guess it looks like I was wrong.
But there are a couple other alternatives in real, actual SCSI to USB adapters, but they aren't available anymore, so now I'm thinking just putting a PCIe SCSI card in my new computer might be my only, best option, and for only about 21 bucks.
After Eifel posted his reply, I spent a few hours looking at other forums and other alternatives, and I found info that indicates that these fairly simple DB25 to USB adapters (like the male and female SCSI adapter cables I linked to in my other posts above) may only work with old parallel printers.
It appears there is a little PC board inside these adapters, and info I found says that they are to convert the parallel printer signal to USB, which would do nothing for a SCSI scanner or any other SCSI device besides a parallel printer. see this webpage, linked below, that displays info for one of these simple DB25 parallel to USB adapters that says.
"note: These adapters will work with Multi-Function or All-In-One printers, but only for printing (in other words, they wonât allow you to use the faxing or scanning functions). Also, they do not work with anything other than printers. They will not work with other parallel devices."
So, after that I found a couple other older actual, real DB25 SCSI to USB adapters that are meant to work with other types of SCSI devices, and not just printers. they support the SCSI protocol to work with USB.
The problem is that one one of those, which was only about $40, is no longer available, from what I can find. it's a Belkin USB SCSI Adapter with Termpower F5U115 . I think "Termpower" means that it has the ability to terminate the SCSI chain.
I emailed PC Liquidators, and they basically replied with "We may or may not get more of those Belkin SCSI to USB adapters back in stock" .
So, why do I think th at adapter would work. see the page about this adapter, linked below.
"The Belkin USB SCSI Adapter with Termpower ($99.95) let's you connect an external SCSI (Small Computer System Interface) device such as a CD-ROM drive, CD-Burner, Scanner, Zip Drive, Printer, and so forth to your computer via its Universal Serial Bus (USB). The USB to SCSI Adapter trick is for convenience or necessity -- not for speed."
Then, the instruction manual for this Belkin adapter says.
So, most likely, as long as I have a current driver that would work for that Belkin adapter, or if the one that comes with it on a CD would install on Windows 8, it would work. but it's a moot point anyway, since it is unavailable unless PC Liquidators gets any in stock. otherwise, they're not to be found, not even on ebay.
Then there's another working SCSI to USB adapter made by Microtech, but I can only find one on ebay for about $123.
And then, for some reason, the same one is priced at $999.99 on Amazon.
I guess Amazon figures since it's the last one they have, it's worth it's weight in gold.
There's another type of ULTRA SCSI to USB adapter, which is the 50 pin ULTRA SCSI, but that isn't what I need , and it turns out that style adapter is what was sold and included as the stock USB connectors that originally came with the now dead Iomega Jazz drives, and there are people who are selling just that connector for as much as $179 on ebay.
So, it looks like my cheapest option may be my only option, only $21. and at least that real SCSI PCIe card comes with a driver that works with Windows 7 and 8, and then Vuescan should be able to see the SCSI scanner, like normal.
It creeps me out to get in to the inside of this new computer, not because I don't know how (I found HP pages that show how to remove the side panel and install a PCIe expansion card) but because it's a brand new computer. Otherwise, I'll have to pay an extra $40 to the Geek Squad to put in that new SCSI card, with only costs about $21 itself.
So, thanks to Eifel and Jimmy C. for cluing me in about this. I had first ordered the DB25 female to USB adapter by mistake, since I didn't want a 6 foot SCSI cable in between, and I then ordered what I thought would work, which is that $23, male DB25 to USB adapter that I was talking about, but that one isn't supposed to be here until Nov. 2nd, since it was coming directly from one of Walmart's market vendors instead of from Walmart itself.
But now, I'll just have to return that one. and in the mean time, I'll order one of the true DB25 SCSI PCIe cards for my computer, for only $21, and then I'll decide whether I want to plug it in inside myself, or pay another double the cost to have it installed by the Geeks.