Hi,
I had some trouble getting my scanner to work. I felt the need for
a more techniical FAQ. So I reworked the faq I found on the web-site.
If you like it, send me some mail (ljm@xs4all.nl). If I get enough
encouragement
I will continue to update.
ljm
1. Intro
1.1. Thanks
1.2. Legal stuff
1.3. Completeness: How complete is this faq?
2. What is Sane
2.1. What is SANE ?
2.2. What is a SANE frontend ?
2.3. What is a SANE backend ?
2.4. Is my-favorite-scanner supported by SANE ?
2.5. Is my-favorite-SCSI-scanner supported by SANE ?
2.6. Is my-favorite-PARALLEL-scanner supported by SANE ?
2.7. Is my-favorite-USB-scanner supported by SANE ?
2.8. Why is my-favorite-scanner NOT supported by SANE ?
2.9. My scanner is "TWAIN Compatible". Why isn't SANE "TWAIN
compatible" ?
2.10. The backend for my-favorite-scanner is available, but for a
different type (SCSI, PARALLEL, USB).Can I use a USB<->PARALLEL /
SCSI<->PARALLEL convertor ?
2.11. Is there any plan to add SANE support for my-favorite-
unsupported-scanner ?
2.12. How can I help ?
2.13. How can I access a SANE backend from Windows throught the
network ?
2.14. How can I access a scanner connected to a Windows box from a
SANE frontend throught the network ?
2.15. Mailing-list
3. Buying a scanner
4. How do I install
4.1. Where can I download SANE ?
4.2. OK, I downloaded the stuff. What's next?
4.3. I can't compile SANE on my-favorite-OS. What can I do ?
4.4. compiling sane aborts with error "virtual memory exhausted"
on slackware linux with gcc. What goes wrong?
5. It doesn't work
5.1. It does not work.
5.2. I compiled SANE, but my scanner doesn't show in the device
list. Do I need extra setup ?
5.3. Permissions
5.4. Sane hangs or crashes when I start a frontend for sane, what
can I do?
5.5. Does SANE and the umax backend work on LinuxPPC / big endian
machine ?
5.6. I am using an AM53C974 based scsi card with a umax scanner, the
system freezes when I start a scan, what can I do?
6. Scanner specifics
6.1. HOW TO do my scanner
6.2. Microtek
6.2.1. It gives a line: "model 0x53 not supported" (or other number)
6
6.3. UMAX
6.3.1. I can't get the scanner to work with the SCSI-interface that
comes by default with this scanner
6.3.2. Will there be a support for the UMAX-parallel-port/UMAX-USB-
scanners?
7. SCSI problems
7.1. What SCSI-card should I buy?
7.2. Tekram DC390 card and the scanner hangs after the first scan
7.3. SCSI kernel/modules blues
7.4. SCSI bus blues: it works sometimes/almost never/partially
7.5. I get a black area at the top of the image. What's wrong?
7.6. My scanner was off during reboot. Do I have to boot again to
get my scanner to work?
8. A scan, what now?
1. Intro
As I bought a scanner, I tried to connect it to my my Linux-machine. I
wanted to use SANE, but it did not work. So I looked for a FAQ to help
me with my problems. Allas, the FAQ did not answer my question. The
Faq seems to focus on non-technical issues. Then I tried the mailing-
list.
This is a compilation of some questions I found in the mailing-list.
I left out things that seemed (to me) less relevant for FAQ-users. I
hope it's still usefull. I also shamelessly copyed the original sane-
faq by Nicolas de Peslouan. I plan to update is irregulary, hopefully
once a month. If there are corrections, errors etc, mail them to me
(ljm@xs4all.nl). Do not send me questions-only; all I did was go
through the mailinglist.
1.1. Thanks
Many thanks go to the people that actually answer the questions, among
others:Douglas Gilbert, Nicolas de Peslouan, Oliver Rauch, Bernd
Schroeder A complete list of contributers will apear in later
versions. If you feel left out, send me a mail.
1.2. Legal stuff
Copyright ljm and others. You may copy this. No guarrantee's. etc.
1.3. Completeness: How complete is this faq?
Not.
2. What is Sane
2.1. What is SANE ?
SANE stand for Scanner Access Now Easy. SANE is an API (Application
Programming Interface) designed to provide access to scanners and
other image retrieval hardware. See
http://www.mostang.com/sane/intro.html for more
2.2. What is a SANE frontend ?
A SANE frontend is an application program that use one or more SANE
backends to access a scanner or camera. See
http://www.mostang.com/sane/sane-frontends.html for a list of
currently available frontends.
2.3. What is a SANE backend ?
A SANE backend is a driver that handles requests coming from a
frontend and translates them to low level requests before sending them
to a scanner. The backend is also responsible for retrieving the
scanned image from the scanner, and converting it to the correct
format so that the frontend can handle it. Some backends support more
than one scanner. To have your favorite scanner supported, you need to
have a backend for this scanner. See http://www.mostang.com/sane/sane-
backends.html for a list of backends (and supported scanners).
2.4. Is my-favorite-scanner supported by SANE ?
First of all, see http://www.mostang.com/sane/sane-backends.html for a
list of supported scanners. Note that some scanners are supported by a
different backend than the one expected. (Manufacturer is not always
the same as seller). If your scanner is not in this list but come from
a manufacturer that build already supported scanners of the same type
(SCSI, PARALLEL, USB, ...), try it anyway. If you have some success
with this, please report it to sane-devel@mostang.com ! (Read the man
for the specific backend for help on how to enable extra debug
output). Your scanner may be partially supported. (Only black/white,
only 300 dpi, only 24 bits, ...).
Warning : Testing a backend with an unsupported scanner *may* cause
physical damages to the scanner. Read the documentation for more info,
and if you want to try, keep one hand on the on/off switch :).
2.5. Is my-favorite-SCSI-scanner supported by SANE ?
Supporting SCSI scanners seems to be easier than other scanner types.
This is due to the fact that SCSI scanners share a common set of
commands (part of the SCSI II standard). Unfortunately, the way
scanners support this common set of commands is far from universal.
Also, each manufacturers have their own extension to this command set,
even when there is already some commands in the standard to do the
work... This is why your scanner may be partially supported. In order
to support a given SCSI scanner, one need to get SOME specs (extension
to the SCSI II standard) from the manufacturer.
2.6. Is my-favorite-PARALLEL-scanner supported by SANE ?
Supporting PARALLEL scanners is (really) harder than supporting SCSI
scanners. First of all, you need to understand that each manufacturer
(and sometime even each scanner) have their own command set. There is
not such thing as a common set of commands as in SCSI. In order to
support a given PARALLEL scanner, one need to obtain the FULL
specification from the manufacturer. This is, in fact, the real
obstacle to a more complete parallel scanner support, because many
manufacturers won't give specs for their scanners.
A good few parallel scanners work under Sane. These include a raft of
HP and Epson models. Some other parallel scanners are also supported.
For further details please see
http://www.buzzard.org.uk/jonathan/scanners.html
2.7. Is my-favorite-USB-scanner supported by SANE ?
Supporting USB scanners is currently the hardest part of the job. The
first thing to understand is that USB in general (not limited to
scanners) is not supported on all operating system. Currently, no USB
scanner is supported by SANE. Support for USB scanners in the future
will depend on the general USB support by the operating system. Also,
it will depend - as for SCSI or PARALLEL scanners - on the
manufacturers willing to give the specs on request.
USB support for HP scanners under linux is reported as going rather
well using the HP backend without any programming modifications.
Granted the kernel development is still ongoing but is useable.
Although not all HP scanners are supported, the higer end models are
(4100, 5200, 6200, 6300). (David Nelson). You can find more info. at
http://www.jump.net/~dnelson/linux/usb.
2.8. Why is my-favorite-scanner NOT supported by SANE ?
Probably because the manufacturer is NOT willing to give the
programming specifications for this scanner. Some manufacturers are
really thinking that their dirty and CPU greedy protocols have to stay
secret... may be to avoid other starting laughing at their work !
2.9. My scanner is "TWAIN Compatible". Why isn't SANE "TWAIN
compatible" ?
This doesn't mean anything ! A scanner is NOT TWAIN compatible. The
Windows driver provided with the scanner is probably TWAIN compatible,
so that TWAIN compatible Windows applications can use them. The only
way to have a scanner become TWAIN compatible under other OS would be
to have a driver for this scanner that speaks TWAIN with the
applications. But, there is no TWAIN compatible application outside
the Windows and Mac world. SANE developers have chosen to use the SANE
API instead of TWAIN for scanner access. See
http://www.mostang.com/sane/intro.html for a word about this. You can
read a TWAIN FAQ, if you want, at
http://www.MentorComputer.com/TWAIN/faq.html.
2.10. The backend for my-favorite-scanner is available, but for a
different type (SCSI, PARALLEL, USB).Can I use a USB<->PARALLEL /
SCSI<->PARALLEL convertor ?
Nobody have reported any success with this. Even if the hardware look
the same, the protocol used to exchange data between your computer and
the scanner DOES look different.
2.11. Is there any plan to add SANE support for my-favorite-
unsupported-scanner ?
Depending on the available documentation, there might be someone
already working on a given scanner. Watch the sane-devel mailing list.
There is some sort of "black list" of manufacturers who don't want to
give away the specs. Supporting these manufacturers' scanners is far
from easy, because one have to reverse engineering the Windows driver
or listen on the PARALLEL/SCSI/USB cable... [There is some plan to add
this black list to this FAQ.]
2.12. How can I help ?
In several ways :
· You can start bothering the manufacturers for the specs. One more
letter is NEVER a loose of time ! [Someone is currently writing a
template letter to request the specs. It will be included here when
available.]
· You can start writing a backend. To avoid duplicate job, ask on the
sane-devel mailing list before. [Any plan to build an HOWTO about
writing a backend ?]
· You can test and report any success / troubles with the backends /
frontends.
2.13. How can I access a SANE backend from Windows throught the
network ?
This is a work in progress. A Windows TWAIN to SANE translator exists.
From the sane developing mailing list, here is an announce from Arun
Tanksali:
A simple but functional interface (WinSANE) is available for download.
I have tested with a Mustek 1200 scanner. Tested with Win 95/98 PCs.
Seems to work OK.
Download site: http://www.integramicro.com/winsane
Also, you can use sanecgi which wraps the text based frontend
(scanimage) into a cgi perl script. For a running demo, try
http://sps.spa.umn.edu/~hansf/sanecgi/scanner.html.
2.14. How can I access a scanner connected to a Windows box from a
SANE frontend throught the network ?
TWAIN is not designed to allow such intelligent behavior
2.15. Mailing-list
There is a sanedeveloppers mailinglist. The sane-people are very nice
and will help with almost anything. Keep in mind though, that they're
not paid to do this. Subscribe to sane-devel@mostang.com.
3. Buying a scanner
Many advices have been given on which scanner to buy. There seem to be
some general criteria:
· Do you just want to scan or do you want to work on the backends as
well. If you just want to scan: take a SCSI-scanner that is
supported. I recomend UMAX or HP, because they have made
programmingspecs available. If you want to work on the backend,
take a scanner with sufficient documentation
· What do you want to scan: just images or transparancies, film etc?
· What are your requirements for the images: just 'nice pictures' or
photoquality? For photoquality you'll need at least 1200 dpi.
4. How do I install
4.1. Where can I download SANE ?
Depending on you computer knowledge, you'd better download the sources
for SANE or a prebuilt binary. Up-to-date SANE sources and (more or
less) up-to-date binaries for several platform are available at
http://www.mostang.com/sane/source.html. Please, try to use a mirror
site near you instead of ftp.mostang.com
Do not forget to download the bacend for your favorite scanner!
4.2. OK, I downloaded the stuff. What's next?
Unpack the stuff:
tar -xvzf sane-1.0.2.tgz
If you have a separate backend: unpack it also (often the same way)
Go to the sane directory (cd sane-1.0.2) and type ``./configure''.
When it finnishes, cd to the back-end directory and read the README-
filesThey should tell you what todo.
Go back to the sane-dir. and type ``make''. Enjoy the compile
(especially all the warnings, but who am I to complain?).
Su to root (you weren't compiling all the stuff as root I hope? If you
were: read some books about security). Type ``make install''.
Goto the tools-directory and run find-scanner -v
4.3. I can't compile SANE on my-favorite-OS. What can I do ?
First of all, have you checked that SANE is available for your
platform in the supported platforms list ? (SANE is NOT currently
available for Windows platforms). You'd better try the latest
available version.
You may need to download and/or build some external programs or
libraries to compile some parts of SANE. Have a look at the README
file in the SANE distribution for more. You'd better use the latest
versions of those external programs/libraries, unless the README file
request a particular version.
On some platforms, you may need to use a particular version of make or
of the C compiler.
4.4. compiling sane aborts with error "virtual memory exhausted"
on slackware linux with gcc. What goes wrong?
The optimization set by "-O2" makes problems, try which one of the
following calls work:
make CFLAGS="-g -Wall -O1"
make CFLAGS="-g -Wall -O"
make CFLAGS="-g -Wall"
5. It doesn't work
5.1. It does not work.
OK. Don't panick.
· First thing to do is get the latest version of sane and the
backend. Sane develops relatively fast, and it might be that your
problem is already fixed.
· Check the boot-messages (/var/adm/messages); there should be some
lines indicating your scanner (something like: Vendor: AGFA Model:
SnapScan Rev: 1.40, Type: Scanner ANSI SCSI revision: 02). If not:
goto the SCSI-section in this FAQ
· cat /proc/scsi/scsi. Your scanner must be there. If not: goto the
SCSI-section.
· Run a ``find-scanner''
· ls -l /dev/sga /dev/sg0 /dev/scanner
· sgcheck
· scanimage
5.2. I compiled SANE, but my scanner doesn't show in the device
list. Do I need extra setup ?
Depending on your platform/scanner, you will need time for a coffee, a
pizza or an extra month of holiday :
· We already told that, but ensure your scanner is in the supported
scanner list.
· If your scanner is SCSI, check that the SCSI card is supported by
your OS. You may need to rebuild your kernel to add generic SCSI
support.
· If your scanner is SCSI, your SCSI card often display SCSI device
on startup. If not, check cables and terminators.
· If your scanner is SCSI, some operating system display available
SCSI device on startup. Again, if not, check cables and
terminators.
· Read more documentations (SANE, backend for your scanner, frontend,
SCSI card, scanner, ...).
· Ask in the sane-devel mailing list.
5.3. Permissions
Anyone scanning must have read and write permissions on the scanner-
device.
5.4. Sane hangs or crashes when I start a frontend for sane, what
can I do?
Sometimes the backends that are not used make problems. Edit
/usr/(local)/etc/sane.d/dll.conf and comment out everything but the
backend you need.
5.5. Does SANE and the umax backend work on LinuxPPC / big endian
machine ?
There are people using the sane-umax on a LinuxPPC (big endian)
machine. Other people write that they can not scan on a LinuxPPC. It
looks like this is a problem with the driver of the scsi card. The
"MESH" SCSI card is reported to work. The NCR53C94 SCSI card seems not
to work.
5.6. I am using an AM53C974 based scsi card with a umax scanner,
the system freezes when I start a scan, what can I do?
Try the recent driver for the scsi card, take a look at:
http://www.garloff.de/kurt/linux/dc390/index.html
6. Scanner specifics
6.1. HOW TO do my scanner
Many scanners have small howto's Always try them:
Agfa snap-scan: http://www4.tpg.com.au/users/rita_tim/snapscan-
ava1505-howto.txt
6.2. Microtek
6.2.1. It gives a line: "model 0x53 not supported" (or other
number)
Try the latest version. If that doesn't work: set 'option dump 2' in
the microtek2.conf file and post the contents of the inquiry block to
the mailing-list (indicated by [inquiryresult] ). This will help to
determine which backend should handle this model.
6.3. UMAX
6.3.1. I can't get the scanner to work with the SCSI-interface that
comes by default with this scanner
Don't use that card. Get a good SCSI-card for scanning.If you want to
-- (c) ljm @ acm.org. No part of this copyright message may be reproduced, read or seen, dead or alive or by any means, including but not limited to telepathy without the benevolence of the author.-- Source code, list archive, and docs: http://www.mostang.com/sane/ To unsubscribe: echo unsubscribe sane-devel | mail majordomo@mostang.com
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