Re: COOLSCAN II backend - resend

Michael K. Johnson (johnsonm@redhat.com)
Fri, 01 Aug 1997 09:26:58 -0400

carlierd@acm.org writes:
>Sorry if you did receive the first message, but I don't think it went
>through ...

I don't think so either. Leastways, I don't remember getting it.

>Is there anybody working on this already, and, if not, what would be
>the best starting point among the already available backends for SCSI
>scanners ?

I'm not aware of any.

You might consider looking at the umax driver. I don't know that you
would want to start from it exactly, but umax scanners do a pretty good
job of following the scsi 2 scanner standard (part 14, if memory serves
me right).

However, that standard allows a LOT of potential manufacturer-specific
additions. I see only two ways to write a driver for a scsi scanner:
either get protocol documentation from the manufacturer, or use a scsi
sniffer to watch the protocol. With the aid of scsi 2 part 14, you can
get a long way, then modify one thing at a time and figure out enough
of the rest. I used both; I got a working driver from the standards,
and someone with a sniffer and the same scanner helped me figure out
a few confusing parts of the documentation faster. The problem is that
scsi sniffers are expensive. The cheapest one I can find is nearly
$2000, if I recall correctly. Definitely go with the protocol docs
if you can get them. I hope Nikon is cool about protocol docs...

michaelkjohnson

"Ever wonder why the SAME PEOPLE make up ALL the conspiracy theories?"

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