Solved Old Acer/BenQ scanner drivers (x84, x64)

ynnad179

New Member
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This is just a FYI as I had just managed to get my own Acer 320U scanner up and running in Win8.1 x64. This driver also works in Win7 to Win10!

The same drivers work for the following abandoned Acer/BenQ scanner models:

  • 310U/620U
  • 320U/340U/620U+/640U
  • 620UT+/640UT
  • 1240UT/5100U
  • 640BT/640BU
  • 4300U/3300U
  • 4300U/3300U

x86 / 32-bit: x86.zip
x64 / 64-bit: x64.zip (replace the INF with this newer one here)
[2015-09-11] x64 with scan size fix by McReall & newer INF: x64.zip

All drivers are unsigned and this poses a problem if you are using x64 as you will either need to completely disable the driver signing check or sign the x64 drivers yourself. I recommend the latter as it's actually quite easy! Simply follow this guide here.

Some pointers:

  • The tools you need (makecert, Inf2cat, signtool) can be found in the Windows SDK and the Windows Driver Kit. You don't need to install everything! Just check the "Tools" in both the web installers will do.
    • If you cannot download the SDKs due to filesize (~2.2GB), I zipped the 3 tools and you can download them here. But please download from Microsoft whenever possible.
  • When making your own cert using makecert, add the -pe parameter so that you can export the private key of the certificate later (useful for installing your own signed drivers again on a different PC in the future! To export, simply right-click your certificate in the MMC snap-in)
  • You need to use the newer INF in the Pastebin as the old one will not sign or validate correctly.

To scan in Windows 8 after driver installation, simply go to Devices and Printers, right-click your scanner and click Start Scan. You can also use the Metro 'Scan' app, although previewing scans return a very blurry image.

[2015-09-11] Collection of useful posts by other members in this thread:

 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win8.1 Pro x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
Thank you so much for this post. I got the scanner to work on Windows 7, 64 bit.

Have you noticed that with this driver the scanner will only scan "US letter" format (11" x 8.5")? A4 is about 11.7", so due to this glitch in the driver, the scanner has become worthless, since I can't scan a full page A4 any more (which worked with previous drivers on XP and W7, 32 bit).

I tried to find an updated version of AcerScad.dll, which is the DLL providing the WIA interface for Windows, but didn't find anything.

I looked at the DLL in a hex editor, but it's not clear where the obviously hard-coded paper format is set. So sad. :-((
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
Thank you so much for the drivers! Working perfectly in Win 8.1.

To scan in Windows 8 after driver installation, simply go to Devices and Printers, right-click your scanner and click Start Scan.
I'd like to add that the drivers support TWAIN as well. That way you can scan from any graphics application.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    Athlon X2 2300+
    Motherboard
    ECS 780GM-A
    Memory
    Kingston Value 2GB 800 MHz + Corsair 1 GB 533 MHz DDR2
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radeon HD 4500
    Sound Card
    Genius Soundmaker 5.1
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LG IPS 234
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    PSU
    Treetop 400W
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Wired Keyboard 600
    Mouse
    Microsoft Optical Mouse 200
    Internet Speed
    4 Mbps
    Browser
    Opera 19
Thank you so much for this post. I got the scanner to work on Windows 7, 64 bit.

Have you noticed that with this driver the scanner will only scan "US letter" format (11" x 8.5")? A4 is about 11.7", so due to this glitch in the driver, the scanner has become worthless, since I can't scan a full page A4 any more (which worked with previous drivers on XP and W7, 32 bit).

I tried to find an updated version of AcerScad.dll, which is the DLL providing the WIA interface for Windows, but didn't find anything.

I looked at the DLL in a hex editor, but it's not clear where the obviously hard-coded paper format is set. So sad. :-((

I realized that as well... the drivers came straight from a Windows XP x64 disc, so I'm guessing that when the driver is compiled for 64-bit systems the options to scan other dimensions were somehow left out. (I don't have a XP x64 machine or VM to test this...)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win8.1 Pro x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
Has anyone been able to get the transparency scanning option working on the Acer620ut with this method? I need to scan slides/small xrays.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Linux Mint 15
Thank you so much for this post. I got the scanner to work on Windows 7, 64 bit.

Have you noticed that with this driver the scanner will only scan "US letter" format (11" x 8.5")? A4 is about 11.7", so due to this glitch in the driver, the scanner has become worthless, since I can't scan a full page A4 any more (which worked with previous drivers on XP and W7, 32 bit).

I tried to find an updated version of AcerScad.dll, which is the DLL providing the WIA interface for Windows, but didn't find anything.

I looked at the DLL in a hex editor, but it's not clear where the obviously hard-coded paper format is set. So sad. :-((

I'm sorry for bump this old topic, but first of all I need to thank you for this solution that prevent me to buy a new scanner.
I have windows 7 64 bit and I have the same problem explained in that post, I can't scan an entire A4 page... How can I solve this?

Thanks again for all!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    Intel i5-4590
    Motherboard
    MSI z87-G41
    Memory
    DDR3 Kingston HyperX Red 8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Integrated Intel Graphics 4600 HD
    Monitor(s) Displays
    SyncMaster 940NW
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900
    Hard Drives
    SSD Samsung 840 EVO 120GB
    PSU
    XFX ProSeries 450W
    Case
    Midi-Tower Corsair Obsidian 450D
    Keyboard
    Enermax KB010U Aurora LITE
    Mouse
    Logitech M90
    Browser
    Firefox
I found that the problem is that the scanner use the Letter Size dimension to scan, and I need to scan in A4 dimension. How can I change this?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    Intel i5-4590
    Motherboard
    MSI z87-G41
    Memory
    DDR3 Kingston HyperX Red 8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Integrated Intel Graphics 4600 HD
    Monitor(s) Displays
    SyncMaster 940NW
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900
    Hard Drives
    SSD Samsung 840 EVO 120GB
    PSU
    XFX ProSeries 450W
    Case
    Midi-Tower Corsair Obsidian 450D
    Keyboard
    Enermax KB010U Aurora LITE
    Mouse
    Logitech M90
    Browser
    Firefox
have any body tried vuescan
i checked and it support

  • 310U/620U
  • 320U/340U/620U+/640U
  • 620UT+/640UT
  • 1240UT/5100U
  • 640BT/640BU
  • 4300U/3300U
  • 4300U/3300U
on x86 and x64 on Windows (xp,7,8) , Mac OS X, and Linux
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    win 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP
    CPU
    2.4
    Memory
    8gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    nivida
    Browser
    firefox
    Antivirus
    norton
A4 paper fix for Acer 640U driver on Win 7 and Win 8

Sorry for replying that late to an old topic, I think I found a solution to the paper size problem and I hope others will be able to reuse they old hardware using this solution.

Disclaimer:
I take no responsibility of this fix being applicable to your hardware, neither for accidental hardware damage caused by trying or applying this fix.
Please carefully check the specification of all your hardware that might use this driver. The given scan area must support both A4 and Letter paper.

The fix: in the acerscad.dll file we are looking for the hardcoded size of Letter paper according to the WIA specifications WIA 2.0 Page Size Constants (Windows) (each dimension of the paper is given in milli-inches, i.e., pixels at 1000dpi).
Explanation: Currently WIA_PAGE_LETTER is used in the driver, that is, 8500 by 11000 pixels. In hexadecimal terms that is 0x2134 by 0x2AF8. Note that the prefix 0x is common to denote hexadecimal numbers but you should omit that on the user interface of most hexadecimal editor applications. I will use bold for hex and italic for decimal numbers. Using a hex editor I located these values at positions 6559 to 655A and 6560 to 6561 btw. F42F to F430 and F429 to F42A in the acerscad.dll file of size 108 032 bytes. Notice that numbers referring to the paper dimensions are in very close positions, which makes us guess they are not a piece of instruction in the code, but really the paper dimensions. Actually the values are stored in reversed byte order, so they read 3421 and F82A.
If your scanner is capable of both scanning A4 and Letter paper, then it should be safe* to choose the maximum of the widths and the heights of the two page sizes. Considering that WIA_PAGE_A4 is 8267 by 11692 pixels (204B by 2DAC in hex terms), we will go with 8500 by 11692 pixels (2134 by 2DAC).

Quick how-to: Now take a hex editor (search for one of your choice) and go to location 6560 to 6561 in the acerscad.dll file of size 108 032 bytes. Find the value F82A and replace it by AC2D, doing so you conform the reversed byte order needed by your machine. Then go to location F429 to F430 and repeat the replacement and save the file. You are done editing; now you can install your brand-new driver supporting both A4 and Letter paper. If you are on a recent platform you should proceed with the driver signing process described by others to be able to install the driver.


* Remark: Though my hardware scans perfectly at 500dpi, for the common 300dpi and 600dpi there are black lines at the bottom with the same fixed driver. Also it interrupts the scan of A4 paper in some applications with the latter resolution. There is some conversion problem of non-integer milli-inch page sizes and Microsoft Paint seems to be the most tolerant with those errors.
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 8.1
Sorry for replying that late to an old topic, I think I found a solution to the paper size problem and I hope others will be able to reuse they old hardware using this solution.

Disclaimer:
I take no responsibility of this fix being applicable to your hardware, neither for accidental hardware damage caused by trying or applying this fix.
Please carefully check the specification of all your hardware that might use this driver. The given scan area must support both A4 and Letter paper.

The fix: in the acerscad.dll file we are looking for the hardcoded size of Letter paper according to the WIA specifications WIA 2.0 Page Size Constants (Windows) (each dimension of the paper is given in milli-inches, i.e., pixels at 1000dpi).
Explanation: Currently WIA_PAGE_LETTER is used in the driver, that is, 8500 by 11000 pixels. In hexadecimal terms that is 0x2134 by 0x2AF8. Note that the prefix 0x is common to denote hexadecimal numbers but you should omit that on the user interface of most hexadecimal editor applications. I will use bold for hex and italic for decimal numbers. Using a hex editor I located these values at positions 6559 to 655A and 6560 to 6561 btw. F42F to F430 and F429 to F42A in the acerscad.dll file of size 108 032 bytes. Notice that numbers referring to the paper dimensions are in very close positions, which makes us guess they are not a piece of instruction in the code, but really the paper dimensions. Actually the values are stored in reversed byte order, so they read 3421 and F82A.
If your scanner is capable of both scanning A4 and Letter paper, then it should be safe* to choose the maximum of the widths and the heights of the two page sizes. Considering that WIA_PAGE_A4 is 8267 by 11692 pixels (204B by 2DAC in hex terms), we will go with 8500 by 11692 pixels (2134 by 2DAC).

Quick how-to: Now take a hex editor (search for one of your choice) and go to location 6560 to 6561 in the acerscad.dll file of size 108 032 bytes. Find the value F82A and replace it by AC2D, doing so you conform the reversed byte order needed by your machine. Then go to location F429 to F430 and repeat the replacement and save the file. You are done editing; now you can install your brand-new driver supporting both A4 and Letter paper. If you are on a recent platform you should proceed with the driver signing process described by others to be able to install the driver.


* Remark: Though my hardware scans perfectly at 500dpi, for the common 300dpi and 600dpi there are black lines at the bottom with the same fixed driver. Also it interrupts the scan of A4 paper in some applications with the latter resolution. There is some conversion problem of non-integer milli-inch page sizes and Microsoft Paint seems to be the most tolerant with those errors.

wow, thanks for the find. I'll try it when I can.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win8.1 Pro x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
Hi:
As a new user to this forum, I was delighted to find the solution to a "challenge" I have been wrestling with for about four years - how to get my "old" Acer/Benq 320U scanner to work with my Windows 7/8.1 systems.

I also found the following websites to be helpful. Some were referenced in previous posts in this thread:
Downloading the appropriate drivers and inf file - x86 / 32-bit: x86.zip, x64 / 64-bit: x64.zip (replace the INF with this newer one here)
Disabling driver signing verification - Disable Driver Signature Verification on 64-Bit Windows 8 /Windows 8.1. (I elected to disable the verification on my Windows 8.1 system as that was the easiest way to do the install. The disabling persists only until the next reboot so future driver installs are verified.)
How to run an inf file to install the driver - How to install .inf file from command line | Windows content from Windows IT Pro.
Text of the inf file to verify that it was OK to use - http://pastebin.com/jCrpnh8M.

I unzipped the driver package, downloaded the new inf version (I use 64-bit Win 8.1 Pro), renamed the old inf file, copied the new one to the unzipped folder, renamed the new file to have an inf extension from an ini extension. Then, I followed the instructions for disabling the driver verification (involved a re-boot), connected the scanner to a USB port and then installed the driver from that folder. I then re-booted the system, tested the scanner from both Acrobat and Device and Printers. It all worked well - various resolutions and file formats. :D

It all worked quite easily and very well. No need to create a signed driver as I am using this only on my home system.

Thanks to all the previous posters here who contributed to making my effort so much easier. Well done!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 Pro/Ultimate, Windows 8.1 Pro, Windows 10 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    AMD A10 5800K
    Memory
    8 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radeon
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
Hi:
I have upgraded my system from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10 Pro 64-bit and the same approach worked for me to install the old Acer scanner drivers.

If you wish to bypass the driver signature verification, do so with forewarning that this is a security feature and, if your PC is attached to a corporate or personal network, this will expose security risks to other devices attached to that network. (If you don't wish to bypass the driver signature enforcement feature, then you will need to create your own signed driver file. This reference may be helpful - https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd919238(v=ws.10).aspx.)

In Windows 10, to disable Driver Signature Enforcement, you follow the following menu choices:

Select Settings --> Update and Security --> Recovery --> Advanced Start-up --> Troubleshoot --> Advanced Options--> Startup Settings --> Restart

Then, on the restart menu, on my PC, I selected choice 7 (Disable Driver Signature Enforcement) and the PC restarted, I ran the inf file "As Administrator" from the Acer Driver folder (mentioned in my post (above) of May 21, 2015, connected the scanner. tested it, and all worked fine.

The next time the PC restarts, the Driver Signature Enforcement will be active and the Acer driver is installed and accessible.

Hope this helps others. :)

- Ron -
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 Pro/Ultimate, Windows 8.1 Pro, Windows 10 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    AMD A10 5800K
    Memory
    8 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radeon
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
Thank you everyone for your contributions. I can verify that McReall's scan size fix works for my 320U even at 300DPI with no black lines observed, under Win8.1 x64. I have added the modified driver to the main post in case hex editing is too troublesome.

I won't be installing Windows 10 until the end of the year, but I hope that like what murch shared the driver continues to function normally.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win8.1 Pro x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
Thank you so much for the drivers.
i want to down file(x64 with scan size fix). but this link is expired.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    win7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    i5-2500
    Memory
    8g
    Graphics Card(s)
    gtx460
i worked it out by using Chrome instead of Explorer. Thank you.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    win7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    i5-2500
    Memory
    8g
    Graphics Card(s)
    gtx460
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