Calibration Failed – Brother DSmobile 600 scanner

Tried to install a mobile scanner on an XP laptop yesterday and to my surprise the Calibration kept failing despite the fact that it had been calibrated on a Vista 32-bit desktop not even a week prior.

Turns out, the drivers I had downloaded from Brother’s website were an OLDER version than the ones on the CD bundled with the scanner itself!  What the H?

Anyway, I’m going to email them and see if they can correct this mistake.  Meanwhile, if you want to get the latest drivers, you can download them from my blog here.
Far as I know there are no issues with their Scann II software.  Click here to goto Brother’s website.

To check if this may be the issue you are having with your scanner calibration failing, open the Device Manager and goto Imaging Devices.  Click on Properties for the DSmobile 600 and you should see Version 1.2.1.2 (2/23/2010) or higher.

Note to Vista Users with Failed Calibration – I read online somewhere that PreFeed might be causing scanners to fail calibration on Vista.  To turn it off, goto the Scanner Advanced tab under its Properties.  You can probably turn it back on after it’s calibrated..try it and see.

Updated 12/2010

Kudos to Brother’s customer service.  They wrote me back (8 days later) but the response was lost in the black hole I call an Inbox.  Anyway, here is their response and some tips on getting your scanner to calibrate if you’re still having trouble after installing the latest drivers.  These solutions are untested.

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Dear Mitch Enright,

Thank you for taking the time to write to us.

We are thankful that you pointed this out and we are taking the steps to update the download on our web site.

We are also updating a public solution on calibration failure to include the following information:

During the calibration process the calibration sheet, with the large black bar facing down, should scan with a back and forth motion and finally move to the input slot. 

If after this, the calibration fails more than likely the calibration process was unable to write the calibration data file to the Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Brother\DSmobile600 folder. 

This can be caused by two different situations.  Both of which can be corrected by de-installing the software and driver then using the Administrator’s account install the driver, the software, and calibrate the scanner. 

Or you may follow the steps below:

I. First the users account that is being used to calibrate the DS600 scanner should have Full Control permissions allowed. 

1. To do this we will navigate to the folder by hovering over the Start button and click the right mouse button then click on Explore. 
2. The contents of the local drive are normally on drive C, if not double click on the local drive. 
3. With the drive contents displayed locate the Documents and Settings folder, if the folder contents are not displayed double click on the folder. 
4. Using this process open the All Users folder; then open the Application Data folder, if this folder is not present please see below; then open the Brother folder.
   If the Application Data folder is not present when viewing the All Users folder:
   a.    With the All Users folder open click on Tools in the menu bar, and then click on folder options.
   b.    With the folder options popup box open click on the view tab.
   c.    With the view tab open, In the advance settings under the Hidden Files and Folder icon, click on the
           Show Hidden Files and Folder radio button and click the apply button then the OK button.
   d.    The Application Data folder should now be visible.  Open the remaining folders as described above.
5. Hover over the DSmobile600 folder and click the right mouse button or hover over the area that shows the contents of the DSmobile600 folder and click the right mouse button.
6. From the popup menu, you can now click on Properties and then in the popup box click on the Security tab. 
7. Once in the Security tab ensure that the user’s account that you are using is highlighted in the users name area.
8. In the permissions area, the allow check box should be checked for the Full Control permissions option.  If it is not then check the allow check box and click on the apply button then the OK button. 
9. It is now time to try calibrating the scanner again.

II. There is another possibility that can stop the calibration processes from completing successfully.  If the user’s account used to install the software and driver did not have full administrative control when the install was performed the calibration process will fail. 

1. Just as the permissions on the user’s account was changed above, when in the DSmobile600 properties box select each user and ensure that the Full Control permissions allow check box is checked.  If it is not checked then check the allow check box, click on the apply button and then on the OK button. 
2. Do this for each user. 
3. Try calibrating the scanner again.

We are changing the properties on a specific folder.  Please ensure that the path of the folder is Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Brother\DSmobile600 or there will still be problems.

Again, thank you for your inquiry and bringing this to our attention.

If you have any further questions or suggestions, please let us know.

Sincerely,

Customer Service
Brother International Corporation