Add a Scanner to Fusion 8.5.10 in Mac OS Mojave

[RichRuf]

I have a Epson scanner which is shown in the System Preferences "Printers & Scanners." When I want to add it to the Settings of Fusion, it is not shown, even though the printer icon is shown. How can I have a Windows OCR app work if I can't have Fusion allow that app to access the scanner?

[ColoradoMarmot]

FWIW, Fusion 8.5 isn't supported on Mojave.

Try connecting the scanner directly to the virtual machine as a USB device, rather than using the connection via Fusion itself.

[RichRuf]

How can I connect the scanner to the virtual machine if it is not recognized?  Should I make an upgrade from 8.5?  I don't have the original Windows Xp disc anymore.  When I upgraded my Apple hardware to a Mac mini, and updated Fusion to 8.5, the virtual machine did everything it used to do except allow an OCR program to access the Epson scanner.

[ColoradoMarmot]

If you're on Mojave, then yes, you should upgrade Fusion to v11.  Make sure you shut down (not suspend) the virtual machine and make a copy as a backup (not via time machine) before upgrading.  Do the Fusion install and follow the instructions to upgrade VMWare tools and the virtual hardware.  That alone may fix the problem.

If not, then in the virtual machine toolbar, you should see icons for the usb devices currently attached to your computer.  Find the scanner, then connect that to the VM, which should have everything work as it did before.

Edit:  Scanners and OCR software have come a *long* way since the XP days.  Unless you have other software that needs the VM, it may be a better option to just get a current scanner and/or Mac OCR software that works directly on MacOS than to continue using the old one in the VM.

[wila]

Hi,

You're not mentioned the Epson model, so it is hard for us to recommend the best solution.

Are you sure there's no Windows XP driver available at the Epson website?

It is not that likely that it had a Windows XP inbox driver (part of the XP install) unless it is very old.

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Wil

[RichRuf]

Before upgrading to Fusion 8.5.10 the USB & Bluetooth Settings in the Virtual Machine Menu had the Epson printer available to choose.  Now, there is only a Settings window which has an Add Device choice.  Making the Add Device choice doesn't include any scanner, even though the Mac System Preferences shows the Epson Scanner.

Doesn't the virtual machine need to have the program for using the Epson scanner on its drive?  I don't know where it would be located on the virtual machine, but why wouldn't the Fusion upgrade maintain the Epson program. Should I try to reinstall the Epson WinXp software again?

Richard

[wila]

Hi,

The USB&Bluetooth part works the same on Fusion 8.5.10 as before. Adding devices is for adding a virtual hardware device to your virtual hardware.

The problem is most likely that you updated to Mojave and that Fusion 8.5 is not guaranteed to work on Mojave.

You might have a look at the following thread and see if the steps laid out down there help you to resolve your issue:

USB devices no longer recognised on VMWare Fusion 10

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Wil

[RichRuf]

I upgraded to Fusion 11. After the installer finished and I restarted the program, I got this image:

The Volume SAM500A/Scanner does not appear on the finder window showing that SSD.   I have the Virtual Machine file placed on a SSD partion named SAM500V and the Fusion 11 application is located on the boot drive with all the other applications.

I tried both "Replace" and "Append" at different times, but was not able to get the scanner to be recognized by the TextBridge OCR program.

Fusion 11 allows the other Windows apps like Word and Internet Explorer to function properly.

Richard

[RichRuf]

I finally checked in with the Fusion site that was referenced with my update order.  The person who responded provided significant support and solved the problem by modifying the app on my computer.  Now all the USB connected devices on my main computer are available on my Fusion program.  VMware gave me excellent help and support.

Richard