I have been trying to pick up a Coolscan V or 4000, but with each of the last 3 I have looked at (two Vs and a 4000), the Nikonscan software returns a "hardware error detected" message upon startup. Also the preview and/or scanned colors have a significant color cast. However, a scan made with Viewscan looks OK. I have passed on each of them because if hardware is iffy, I figure it can only get worse. As to whether what I am experiencing might be a software problem, I did some research on the web, and it seems that when you power on the scanner it runs a self-diagnostic during which the power light blinks. The power light should blink slowly and steadily -- if the power light blinks rapidly during or at the end of the power up, the scanner there has been an error condition found in the the self-diagnostic. This is the behavior I have seen in all three machines, slow blinking of the power light during the beginning and middle of boot, followed by rapid blinking at the end, with the power light on steady after boot is completed. Ergo I do not believe that what I am seeing is the result of a software problems.
My request to owners is, will you observer the light during the boot and tell me if it blinks slowly and steadily throughout the entire boot sequence before going to solid green.
(BTW, just to head some replies, I don't care if the scanner works in Vuescan, because I am not going to use it -- I want some of the features (analog gain and multisampling (for the 4000) that are only available through Nikonscan. And I am not going to shell out the money for Silverfast, under any circumstances.) All I want to do is confirm that the boot light sequence for the CoolScan V and 4000 does not include a change in blink speed at any point.
BTW, I have a CoolScan IV, which I use, so I am familiar both with the Nikon scanners generally, and with using Nikonscan with them. So I'm highly confident that what I am seeing is not a case of user error.
Thanks for any and all help!