This blog post addresses some common issues on the Nikon Coolscan IV ED/LS-40 ED film scanner. Many report problems that seem to be related to USB communication on newer operating systems (that is, every 64-bit Windows version and modern Mac OS). For example:
* On Windows, the device fails to initialize (yellow warning sign in Device Manager), often with the message "This device cannot start. (Code 10) insufficient system resources exist to complete the API."
* On Mac OS, with Vuescan, the scanner seems to work at first, however it ceases to communicate after one or two successful scans
* On Mac OS, with Silverfast, the scanner is not recognized at all
This is due to issues in the USB routines of firmware 1.05 that were corrected on 1.10 and later revisions.
To check the current firmware revision, it is sufficient to open the Nikon Scan program, and it will tell which version the scanner is on on the window title:
If you're on firmware 1.05, you will have to update. The following steps will work for updating to version 1.20, which is what worked for me.
You're going to need:
* A Windows XP 32-bit or Windows 2000 computer (or virtual machine with USB pass-through capabilities). It's the only platform on which a 1.05 scanner can be reliably connected and updated
* The Nikon Scan 3.12 ISO (easily obtainable on the Internet Archive).
* Crucially, the 1.20 firmware updater. This is not found as easily and i cannot share it (it already got taken down from Mega for copyright claims), but you can look for a Zip bundle called LS40FW120_WIN or LS40FW_WIN on the Web. There's a Facebook group for Coolscan users, which gathers a lot of very experienced and helpful people: I encourage you to search for it or ask there.
Edit: it seems it's available on the DriverGuide website. It's sketchy, but it's seems to be legit.
DO NOT attempt to install Nikon Scan 4 first, as you will end up with the wrong driver version and i guarantee you it's almost impossible to get rid of it, as its uninstaller does not remove the driver. You MUST use version 3.12. If you have updated to Nikon Scan 4, you will be greeted with this screen:
Here are the steps:
1. Boot Windows XP and connect the scanner via USB
2. Install Nikon Scan 3.12, using the Autorun setup
3. Check if you can do a successful scan
4. Unzip the LS40FW120_WIN.zip file, and launch the Windows\COOLSCANIVED_120.exe executable
5. Follow the procedure to update the firmware
Easy as that. Now you should be able to connect it to a Windows 10/11 or current Mac machine without issues.
If you're on Windows and it's still not recognized, you may need current drivers for it.
The FastPictureView website provides them for free, or you can choose to use paid scanning programs like VueScan or Silverfast which already include them.