Hi,
On Wed, May 16, 2001 at 09:10:41AM -0500, Andy Angrick wrote:
> I'm in desperate need of a SANE driver for a Ricoh IS330DC scanner. Its a
> high-end scanner with automatic document feeder and duplex scanning
> capabilities. I guess my first question is if i wanted to start developing a
> driver... where would i start? I've got all the scsi commands from Ricoh.
Write a small (stand-alone) program that just does the basic scanning.
It's easier to debug than a SANE library. When scanning works in
principle, use the functions of the program to create a backend.
For the backend the file doc/backend-writing.txt may be helpful. Use an
existing (similar) backend as template.
If the scanner uses high level command (e.g. set_window, scan) and the
documentation is complete It should be possible to write a driver in
4-6 weeks. If it's more lowlevel (e.g. move_one_line,
read_scanned_line e.g.) it can take a lot of time.
One problem may be the advanced possibilities of such scanners: SANE
can only use raw image data so if the scanner has it's own data format
(e.g. jpeg) that has to be translated before sending to the application.
So you also need a description of the data format used by the scanner.
Also duplex scanning is not supported directly by SANE.
Maybe you want to have a look at the bh backend which also deals with
high-end scanners.
If the documentation of the scanner isn't complete it will be more
complicated as then the Windows driver must be used to listen to the
SCSI command flow.
> I'm fairly proficient with c, but not an expert. I can probably fumble my
> way through it. The second question is are they any people on the list that
> would be willing to develop the driver for me? We would pay that person to
> develop the driver and there might even be a free scanner (those scanners
> aren't cheap) in the deal. Once developed, it would make it available to
> everyone.
I would like to help. In my main job I'm chemical engineer at the
Darmstadt University of Technology but also i'm doing freelance jobs
sometimes (programming and consulting concerning Unix-related things).
Ah, and I'm maintaining the Mustek backend and doing this and that in
the SANE project :-)
Bye,
Henning
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