Can a Mustek Scanexpress A3 USB work?

Hello, I joined these forums because there seems to be a lot of smart people willing to help.

My problem is I bought a Mustek Scanexpress A3 USB after finding out it was supported on mac operating system, what I later found out was it's only supported up to Mac OS 9, I'm running OS X. It says something to the effect of classic environment is no longer supported when I try to install the driver. I was wondering if there is any way around that.

Thank you for your time.

Unless Mustek offers drivers for the version of OS X you're using, it likely will not work. I searched the Mustek support site and could not find drivers for OS X. I would contact their support direct by email or phone and ask them if they support OS X. If not, return the scanner for a refund.

Vuescan appears to support your scanner.

I have used the program on a PC for years and it is well worth the price. I have no direct experience with the Mac version.

Thank you so much Bob_Stan, I haven't gotten VueScan to work yet, but you gave me hope it's going to work.

Chscag, thanks for the advise, I should have added I already went to the Mustek site to look for the drivers, and tech support was fully unhelpful.

Mustek A3 USB Scanner - driver impossible to find

Four years after this last post and I have the same problem. I have found it impossible to operate my Mustek A3 USB scanner with my Apple MacBook Pro. There are no drivers available.

Unfortunately, Mustek are consistently obstinate in their refusal to reply to requests for help.
I have visited numerous online forums discussing the problems with older Mustek scanners and their incompatibility with new Macs, and encountered loads of people complaining about how Mustek's technical department completely ignore their pleas for help.
I've emailed them multiple times and never received a single reply.

It's now 2015 and your posts were uploaded in 2011, and although you may have found the VueScan software eventually worked for your old Mustek A3 USB scanner, I'm willing to bet it won't work on new Macs (like mine, which runs on OS 10.10 Yosemite software).

I downloaded the VueScan software, but it was only compatible with 'Pro' models of the Mustek A3 USB scanners, not the standard model, so I uninstalled the trial version without purchasing it.

You used to be able to download TWAIN drivers as plug-ins for Photoshop that enabled them to read the Mustek scanner devices, but they are no longer compatible with the latest versions of Photoshop (CC), because TWAIN can't handle the 64-bit interface.

A German website, SANE, provided free drivers for a range of scanners, including the Mustek A3 USB, but the operator is no longer developing them.
There are hundreds of forums on the SANE webpage discussing users' problems with a multitude of scanners, including most of the Mustek ones, but no search facility to find the relevant topic.
I scrolled through them for 30 minutes looking for a discussion on drivers for the Mustek A3 USB but gave up in frustration.

SANE now send people seeking drivers for old scanners to an American website, alioth.debian.org, who offer a range of drivers listed as 'sane-backends'. Ahh, but good luck making any sense whatsoever with that!
I spent an hour researching which download - a .tar.gz file - might enable my computer to recognise the Mustek A3 scanner when it was plugged in. There was little in the way of intelligent information, but I narrowed it down to three possibilities, downloaded each in turn, but.. the problem remained.

When I originally purchased my Mustek in 2008, I followed a series of instructions I found on a webpage to install drivers that allowed my Mac to operate the scanner.
I found the original instructions online, but they are completely redundant now.
Mustek A3 Scanner OS X Install Process | Dial H for Holden

So, the long answer is, I'm finding it impossible to operate my Mustek A3 USB scanner.
Can anyone help me locate a working driver? It is NOT a 'pro' model (i.e., not the 1200 or 2400 pro scanners).

Thanks for your time.
Alec

AlecSmart said:

Can anyone help me locate a working driver? It is NOT a 'pro' model (i.e., not the 1200 or 2400 pro scanners).

Click to expand...

Look here:
TWAIN SANE Interface for MacOS X

(I only use these drivers on linux - never tried on OS X - but is ready for Yosemite or Mavericks, so should work.)
You didn't say the complete model type?

Thanks gsahli, but that was the webpage I visited to source my drivers - and found downloading them made no difference, the scanner still didn't work.

Tha scanner model type is the name I gave - Mustek ScanExpress A3 USB - that is its complete name.
There are drivers available for other ScanExpress models, for example the 1200 Pro and the 2400 Pro, but it seems there are no longer any available for mine, despite the fact it's under five years old.

Meanwhile, I have a scanner in mint condition, still in its box, that is absolutely useless, and overdue work that needs to be scanned and archived.

I now have to save up $800+ and purchase another A3 scanner, which is most infuriating, but you can bet your life I'll never purchase another Mustek product.

Are Windows drivers available for your scanner? If they are, you can always run the scanner from a Windows virtual machine using the free VirtualBox VM app from Oracle. Of course you'll need a legal copy of Windows to run, but that's a lot less expensive than buying a new scanner.