Every time I try to scan a picture with my UMAX 610P my scanner sounds a little loud, but it looks and acts as if its working. The result is a solid black picture... I have tried putting the DPI at 300-600 and I get the same results... can someone help me? Could this one be broken maybe?

Check the scanner glass is still firmly attached to the plastic enclosure. The glass plate is held to the plastic using a glue strip, nothing else secures it.

I had the 610S (scsi version), and found that the glass plate was only half attached. It no doubt happened over time, probably from the weight of scanned items, such as books and applying pressure to get the page flat, etc.

But sure enough scanning was loud and picture came out skewed. There was also some scratch marks on the scanner glass, due to the scan head rubbing against the glass.

Of course, the 610 is quite an old model. It would probably be a better investment to get one of those all-in-one printers with scanner, fax, photocopying, etc.:)