1. Setting up your scanner
- a. Insert three fresh AAA batteries in the scanner
- b. Press the scanner's button and verify that it emits a red laser beam.
No beam? Check the Trouble Shooting Guide. - c. Now scan a barcode and verify that the scanner beeps and the green light blinks.
No beep or blink? Check the Trouble Shooting Guide.
2. Connecting the scanner to your computer
Serial port connection
- a. Use the included cable to connect the scanner to a free serial port on your computer.
Your computer does not have a serial port? Please read the section below about using a USB connection.
If you don't have a serial port on your computer, you can connect your Collectorz.com scanner to a free USB port using a Serial-to-USB adapter cable:
- a. Please visit our Buy Now page to buy a Serial-to-USB adapter cable if you do not yet own one.
- b. Install the driver software that you can download for Windows (*), Windows Vista or the Mac, and reboot your computer.
- c. Connect the scanner to a free USB port on your computer, using the cable that was included with the scanner and your new Serial-to-USB adapter cable.
3. Using the scanner in your Collectorz.com product
(we will use Movie Collector as an example here, but the procedure is exactly the same for Music-, Book- and Game Collector).- a. Install the Movie Collector software on your computer. Here's how to:
(If the program is already installed, you can skip to 3b).- Download the trial edition of Movie Collector from our Download page.
- Run the downloaded installer to install Movie Collector on your computer.
- If you own a license key for Movie Collector, then use your key to unlock the trial edition into the full unlimited edition.
- b. Start Movie Collector
- c. In Movie Collector, select Initialize Flic Scanner from the Tools menu.
- d. After a few seconds, the program should report "Your Flic scanner has been activated successfully. Would you like to activate it automatically next time you start the program?". Choose Yes here.
Do you get the message "Your Flic scanner could not be detected." instead? Check the Trouble Shooting Guide. - e. Scan a barcode. The program should now read the barcode and will search your database for the barcode. If it's found, that item will be selected. If it's not found, the 'Add Movies Automatically' function will start with the scanned barcode already entered.
Scanned barcodes do not appear in the program? Check the Trouble Shooting Guide.
4. Using your scanner in other software
If you want to use your Collectorz.com scanner in other software, you can do so by installing the Scanner Wedge software. Scanner Wedge will make your scanner emulate keyboard input, which will allow your scanner to be used in any program or text box that accepts keyboard input.Note: currently Scanner Wedge is available for Windows only.
- a. Here's how to install and configure Scanner Wedge:
- Download the Scanner Wedge installer here: scannerwedge.zip
- Unzip the download file
- Rename the included setup.ex_ to setup.exe
- Run setup.exe to install.
- b. To use the Collectorz.com scanner in any program, run Scanner Wedge from the Start menu (Programs / Scanner Wedge / Scanner Wedge). The scanner will function as a keyboard emulator while Scanner Wedge is running. Please see the User Guide for more detailed usage instructions.
Trouble Shooting Guide
No beam when pressing the scanner button?
- Check if the batteries are inserted correctly. (Plus(+) up on the outside batteries and down on the middle battery).
- Replace batteries with fresh ones and rty to avoid older rechargeable batteries which may have a lower voltage output.
- Still no beam? Contact us here. In your message, please include a detailed problem description and the Serial Number of your scanner (this number is located on a sticker in the battery compartment).
No beep or blink when scanning a barcode?
- Make sure you hold the scanner at a slight angle to the barcode you wish to scan.
- Make sure there is few inches between the scanner and the barcode. Don't hold the scanner against the barcode like you would with a CCD scanner (like the CueCat).
- Scan the Enable All Beeps and Return to Factory Defaults barcodes in the Operator's Guide.
- Still no beep or blink when scanning? Contact us here. In your email, please include a detailed problem description and the Serial Number of your scanner (this number is located on a sticker in the battery compartment).
Error message after choosing Tools / Initialize Flic Scanner?
- First, make sure the scanner itself is working correctly (emitting a red laser beam when the button is pressed and beeping/blinking when a barcode is scanned). See Step 1 Setting up your scanner on this page.
- Check that all cables are still firmly connected
- If you are using a laptop, please make sure you are using a properly grounded socket to plug your power supply into. Using a socket that is not grounded can in rare cases put residual interference power onto the scanner disturbing its functionality.
- Check that you only have one Collectorz.com program running. If you have multiple programs running, the scanner may be recognized in one program but will not be in the other.
- Scan the Clear Bar Codes and Return to Factory Defaults barcodes in the Operator's Guide.
- If you're using a Serial-to-USB adapter cable: Make sure that you installed the drivers that came with the adapter cable. Without these drivers, the adapter will not work. See
Step 2b on Setting up your scanner.
In Windows 2000 and XP, and Vista- Plug in the Serial-USB cable
- Open Start Menu > Settings > Control Panel > System.
- Select the Hardware tab, press the Device Manager button.
- Open 'Ports (COM & LPT)', and check if the Serial-USB cable is mentioned and installed correctly.
- Plug in the Serial-USB cable
- Open Apple menu > About this Mac, and press the More Info button
- In the tree on the left select the item called USB, and check if the Serial-USB cable is listed in the device tree on the right.
- Make sure that there is no other software using/checking the port assigned to the scanner or converter cable. Such software includes e.g. the synchronization software for your Palm device, Microsoft's Activesynch, Nokia mobile phone tools and Navigation synching software. If such software is set to start automatically on every Windows boot sequence, you may have to change its settings or set it so that it no longer starts up when Windows boots.
- If you're using a serial port: Check that it is enabled in Windows, and is set to a speed of 9600 bits/second (see below on how to check this).
If you have the chance to test the serial port by connecting a mouse with such a connection, you can also exclude the option the serial port itself may be malfunctioning. Such a defective port sometimes still gets shown in the Windows device manager.
In Windows 2000 and XP, and Vista- Open Start Menu > Settings > Control Panel > System.
- Select the Hardware tab, press the Device Manager button.
- Open 'Ports (COM & LPT)', and open 'Communications Port (COM1)' (where COM1 is the port you have connected the scanner).
- On the General tab, verify that the Device usage is set to 'Use this device (enable)'
- Select the 'Port Settings' tab, and verify that the value of the 'Bits per second' settings is 9600
- Open Start Menu > Settings > Control Panel > System.
- Select the Device Manager tab.
- Open 'Ports (COM & LPT)', and open 'Communications Port (COM1)' (where COM1 is the port you have connected the scanner).
- On the General tab, verify that 'Disable in this hardware profile' is not checked.
- Select the 'Port Settings' tab, and verify that the value of the 'Bits per second' settings is 9600
Scanned barcodes do not appear in the Collectorz.com program?
- Re-initialize the scanner using Tools / Initialize Flic Scanner from the main screen menu of your Collectorz.com program.
If you do not get the ".. activated successfully" message, please check above for resolving that problem first.