Microtek 4800 scanner

[grashdur]

Nobody responds to my posts on the relevant thread -- I think because its author has marked it "solved." I remember that on previous rounds of trying to figure out how to make my scanner work again with Ubuntu, someone said that the current 1.0.19 driver doesn't work (with this scanner) and you have to revert back to version 1.0.15. Nobody seems to be able to explain how exactly to do that -- the older version is not in the repositories, and if you look elsewhere on the web all you find are individual files with no instructions for how to fit them together into a finished and working package.

So, does anybody at least know how to notify the developers of Xsane about this problem? I can't find out from within the program itself, because the program doesn't open without a fully working connection to a scanner.

[geraldm]

If this is a USB scanner, could you post the USB VendorID and ProductID?
The command 'lsusb' should provide this information.
It may also be available in the /proc/bus/usb/devices file when the device is plugged in.
The device may need to be identified as a scanner first. After that, xsane may find it. Does the command "scanimage -L" find it?

If the scanner worked in sane 1.0.15, it is likely that the code would still remain
in newer releases. From what you wrote, you did not try it yourself ?
Please do not report this as a problem with xsane; they are aware of similar
problems.

regards,
Gerald

[cariboo]

According to the sane database your scanner is marked as working good.

One thing to make of, is to make sure you are a member of the scanner group. Go to System-->Administration-->Users & Groups ansd make sure that you are a part of the scanner group.

It would also help if you posted any error messages you are getting.

Nobody responds to my posts on the relevant thread -- I think because its author has marked it "solved."

You've done the right thing by starting a new thread.

Jim

[grashdur]

To geraldm: From "lsusb" I get the following output on the scanner:
Bus 001 Device 005: ID 05da:30cf Microtek International, Inc. ScanMaker 4800

The folder proc/bus/usb is empty.

Response to the command "scanimage -L" is:
device `sm3840:libusb:001:005' is a Microtek ScanMaker 4800 flatbed scanner

I didn't understand "From what you wrote, you did not try it yourself ?" But if I'm guessing correctly: I'm not well-versed enough to go into the driver's code and rewrite it. In earlier versions of Ubuntu (I think the versions before Gutsy Gibbon), my scanner worked well with Ubuntu. Since then it hasn't worked any more.

To cariboo: It's true that my scanner is listed as "good" on the Xsane database, but the database is referring to version 1.0.15. In Hardy Heron and Intrepid Ibex the default version is 1.0.19 (package name "libsane" listed in Synaptic), and this version apparently doesn't work with my scanner.

I tried adding the relevant users to the "scanner" group, but this didn't help.

Btw, a few weeks ago I was out of town visiting family, and connected my laptop running Ibex to another printer/scanner, and was able to scan with no problems. So my problem must relate specifically to the current version of the driver for my Microtek scanner.

The error message that I always get is: "Error Failed to open device 'sm3840:libusb:001:005': Access to resource has been denied." Once I click "Close", the Xsane frontend GUI does not open. This is precisely the same with other scanner programs that I have installed from the repositories. (The number 3840 is because Xsane uses the same driver for the Scanmaker 4800 as for the 3840 -- apparently it's basically the same device.)

I probably have to revert to drivers version 1.0.15, but haven't figured out how to do this.

[geraldm]

Find out the USB bus and device number first. Then change the group of that device to "scanner"
Bus 001 Device 005: ID 05da:30cf Microtek International, Inc. ScanMaker 4800
Use sudo, or as root
chgrp scanner /proc/bus/usb/001/005

After that change, see if xsane works.
'sm3840' is part of the library name that the sane backend library loads to use your scanner. The full name is something like /usr/lib/sane/libsane-sm3840.so.1.0.18 (the number may be different)

There is an alternate method to scan, using scanimage. After your changes adding users to the scanner group, and the device to the scanner group
the scan command would be:

scanimage -dsm3840:001:005
(other parameters may follow. See scanimage man page.)

If you do choose to try the above, show any error messages. Also, the device
should not make any strange noises, or shut it off immediately.

Gerald

[grashdur]

Hi Gerald -- I tried that group change command, and got:

chgrp: cannot access `/proc/bus/usb/001/005': No such file or directory

When I tried to open Xsane I got the same error message as usual (as in discussion above).

I tried the scanimage command, and got this response:

Segmentation fault