I will try to hook up diverse other i2c components and see if i2c-scanner will detect them.
Maybe someone with working i2c components can check if i2s-scanner detects them.
IMHO i2c-scanner is a must as first aid tool in case of i2c trouble if one doesn't own a reliable logic analyser.
You sure won't be able to get your initialisation of a device right if i2c can't detect it in the first place.
The use of "SoftwareWire" was simply to rule out significant timing problems. The orig. wire lib on Arduino make use of the hw i2c sequencer in the ATMEGA implemeted compliant with philips i2c. SoftwareWire is AFAIK more relaxed ...
schufti
and yes, I made sure that the correct lib is used