Did you install the drivers for the USB cable? (I presume you did, since Win97 and PSREdit300 can talk to the scanner.)
In the firmware upgrade app, are you selecting the correct COM port?
Does the scanner's display change at all?
Yep, installed the drivers first (Win7), then plugged cord in. Its detected properly in device manager.
First USB was Com4. Tried it. Didnt work. Tried other usb, Com5. Still didn't work.
Win97 and PSR both worked on Com4 and Com5 (I might even manually changed it to com5 in the device manager, not sure, doesnt matter though)
firmware app (you can see in background) was com5. tried when it was com4 also.
nope, scanners display does nothing when I press "test" on the firmware upgrade.
I ran VMware (running XP). Installed the drivers for the USB cable on that. Plugged the cable in, all detection happened and the cable installed fine. Didn't try Win97 or PSR on there (at least I dont think I did, I will tonight though). Ran the Firmware upgrade, same error as in the picture.
In other threads people have solved the issue but they don't really say how. IIRC someone said they tried a few months later and it upgraded.