Cuecat problems

[danco]

I have just got hold of a Cuecat and am having problems getting it set up.

When I plug it in, a window labelled Keyboard Setup Assistant appears, with the message "Your keyboard cannot be identified and will not be usable until it is identified. To identify the keyboard press Continue."

So I press Continue, and it asks me to press the key to the right of the external Shift key. When I do that, it tells me (incorrectly) that I have pressed a key on the built-in keyboard and again asks me to press a key on the external keyboard.

My current computer is a PowerBook G4 with a white Apple Pro keyboard. It is a British keyboard, and I am not sure if the keys are in the same place (certainly Shift-3 gives the pound sign, whereas on US keyboards it gives the hash sign, I think). The key they ask me to press has ` and ~ on it.

Currently I am quite likely to unplug my PowerBook from all its connections, and so use the built-in keyboard - which I see has the same characters on the key to the right of the Shift key. I do not know if that will work.

But in the not-too-distant future I may get a new iMac, and so be using its keyboard.

Does anyone know how to get things working? I will Google to see if information is available, but have not yet done so.

[danco]

Later.

I found info on the Web indicating that all I needed to do was to ignore the Setup Assistant and just close its window.

Sure enough, it seems to work ok in Bookpedia.

I might want to make a text file of bar codes (so that I can work offline to enter the codes, and go online later to search). So I tried scanning in TextEdit, and got no response. Is there anything I should have done to get the scanner recognised?

On another matter, I noticed that I had to login to make this post, although I have set "login automatically at each visit". I have had the same problem on another site, so I think it is an issue with the forum software.

[Conor]

Glad you were able to find the answer to your CueCat problems on Google. You should be able to scan into a text file, make sure the focus in on the document and the cursor is ready to type. If you have a modified CueCat it should come out as regular numbers with an original CueCat it will appear as encoded, but Bookpedia can decode the CueCat encoding.

[danco]

Yes, I got it working in TextEdit.

It is just a matter of getting the scan physically right.

Probably one has to take time to develop the skill. For the small bunch of items I was currently dealing with (DVDs this time) after finding I had to try several times on each item to get a result, I decided that typing was as fast.

I'm not sure if that is really true once I have the knack, and certainly CueCat would avoid typos.

[jml]

Hi danco,

Thanks for posting about the keyboard setup assistant - I just got a cuecat and had the same thing happen, so it was nice to see the info already up here, especially as I am also using a British keyboard - very reassuring!

How are you getting on with the cuecat now? I find it very easy to use - scans smoothly and never makes a mistake! So far, it has only failed to read one barcode and that was printed on a rather unusual plastic cover anyway.

I was a bit doubtful at first about getting the cuecat, but I'm pleased now that I did.

jml

[danco]

When it works well, it is excellent. But, even with books (CDs and DVDs are harder) i come across the occasional one that doesn't scan after four or five swipes, and I then decide to add that item manually.

I'm sure that it is mostly a matter of skill, holding and moving the Cuecat right. But occasionally a bar code right at the edge of a CD can be a cause of trouble.

[jml]

Yes, some are harder than others. They shouldn't put barcodes right on the edge of the box IMHO. I just failed completely with one that was on the SPINE of a video case - too curved to scan. But most go in first time. I thought I would have to buy a flic at £70 plus software, so I am very, very happy .... this is one time that a cat and a dog get on well together

jml