Ok,
I got it fixed....
I have no idea why it worked before, because what I needed to do to fix it was something that I never did last time...
But it works now, and I thought I should share what I did so the next guy doesnt have the same problem....
First, I removed everything on my computer that had to do with SANE, XSANE, and SnapScan.
Then I re-installed, SANE Backends 1.0.9, and XSANE 0.89. But I still had exactly the same problem I described in my first post.
So I went to my Scanner software CD and unfortunately there were 10 BIN files to choose from, and each time I tried one, XSANE would hang, and I couldnt kill it. I'd end up having to wait it out, power off the scanner, and sometimes even log off and back in. I also rebooted a few times, just to be sure.
It took me forever trying to figure out the right bin file, but, I went to http://snapscan.sourceforge.net, and looked up my printer, and the bin file I needed was listed. I added it to the firmware line in snapscan.conf and it works.
The weird thing is, the last time my scanner worked I never did anything with bin files or firmware or anything.
But, it works now... and I am happy.
Rob