How To Fix Romexis Scan, Service Account, And Firewall Errors

Three Planmeca Romexis configuration errors catch clinics off guard: a scan that does not save, broken 12-bit JPEG coding, and random network failures. Each has a clear cause and a short fix. This guide walks through all three, so the right one is easy to find.

TL;DR

• A scan interrupted mid-session is recovered at the start of the next scan, where Romexis prompts you to match it to the patient.

• If 12-bit JPEG coding fails, the Romexis Service account has a blank password, so set a real one.

• Random network failures usually mean the firewall blocks the high ports Romexis needs above 1024.

• None of these needs a reinstall, only a setting changed in the right place.

Error One: A Scan Did Not Save To The Patient

A scan gets interrupted, a cable gets knocked loose, a click in the wrong place, and the images seem to vanish. They are not lost. Romexis holds them and tries to recover them the next time the scanner runs.

Open the next scanning session as normal. Romexis checks its temporary folder, usually %temp% on Windows, finds the orphaned images, and asks how to proceed. If the patient you have open is the same one the images belong to, it confirms the match and imports them. The recovery is built in, so the main thing is to start that next session rather than assume the scan is gone.

1. Open a new scanning session for the affected patient.

2. Let Romexis check the temporary folder for unsaved images.

3. Confirm the prompt that matches the recovered images to the correct patient.

4. Verify the images now sit in that patient's record.

The recovery behavior is documented in Planmeca's technical manual, which describes how Romexis matches recovered scans to the patient they were taken for.

Error Two: 12-Bit JPEG Coding Does Not Work

This one is quiet until image coding fails on the server. The cause sits in the Windows account that runs the Romexis Service. When that account has no password set, the server cannot run 12-bit JPEG coding.

1. Find the Windows account that starts the Romexis Service on the server.

2. Set a valid, non-blank password on that account.

3. Restart the Romexis Server service.

4. Confirm image coding now works.

Planmeca lists this under known issues in its installation documentation, which states plainly that a service account without a valid password breaks 12-bit JPEG coding. A real password on the service account is the whole fix.

Error Three: Random Network Failures Between Client And Server

Connections that work sometimes and fail other times often come down to the firewall. Romexis uses Java RMI, which opens connections on random high-numbered ports rather than one fixed port. A firewall that only allows a couple of ports will let some traffic through and block the rest.

Allow Romexis full access to all ports at and above 1024, following your firewall's own instructions for adding that rule. On a clinic network with no firewall between the Planmeca Romexis computers, this does not apply, so the rule is only needed where a firewall sits in the path.

• Identify the firewall sitting between the Romexis client and server.

• Add a rule allowing Romexis access to all ports at and above 1024.

• Test the connection from a client that was failing intermittently.

This port behavior is spelled out in Planmeca's technical manual, which notes that Java RMI relies on multiple simultaneous connections on random ports above 1024.

Stop These From Recurring

Each of these has a one-time setup that keeps it from coming back. Set them and move on.

• Keep a real password on the Romexis Service account and note when it expires, so a forced reset does not break coding.

• Document the firewall rule for ports 1024 and above, so a firewall change does not undo it quietly.

• Train the team to start the next scan session after any interrupted scan, rather than redoing the capture.

A lost scan or a stalled connection delays the imaging that feeds the dental treatment plan and the case the dentist presents. The scanners producing those images are worth understanding on their own, and Dental Reviewed covers intraoral scanners and the broader role of 3D printing in dentistry that often sits downstream of a scan.

Bottom Line

Three different errors, three small fixes. A vanished scan is waiting in the temp folder for the next session to recover it. Broken 12-bit JPEG coding clears once the service account has a real password. Random network drops settle when the firewall allows Romexis the high ports it needs above 1024. When a fix does not hold, your Planmeca dealer can confirm the setting for your version.