[sane-devel] SANE vs. Epson backends

Michael J. Hammel mjhammel@graphics-muse.org
Wed, 20 Nov 2002 23:40:18 -0600 (CST)


Thus spoke Karl Heinz Kremer
> As Henning already pinted out, the IScan backend is unfortunately also
> named "epson", and therefore replaced the original EPSON backend. This means
> that once you've installed IScan, you can no longer use the "real"
> EPSON backend (which in your case is no problem because your scanner is
> not supported by it).=20

True.  I should not have access to the SANE version of the Epson backend.  But
I should be able to use the Plustek backend to access my Epson 1260 as well as
the Epson KOWA backend (ie I should have two options).  This doesn't appear to
work (though it may still be because I'm doing something wrong).

> > The scanner is an Epson Perfection 1260.
> > Does this mean that all my front ends are using the ImageScan backend the=
> n?
> 
> It depends on what you have enabled in dll.conf. You should be able to enab=
> le
> both the (EPSON KOWA) epson and plustek entries. When the frontend comes up,
> it will present a selection of all scanners it found. Your scanner should
> be listed twice.

This doesn't happen.  What I'm finding is that with the Epson KOWA backend
installed, the only backend that works with the Epson 1260 is the Epson KOWA
backend.  If I disable epson in dll.conf and enable plustek then the frontends
can't find the scanner.  If I enable both epson and plustek, I only find the
one device.

Note that I am using the kernel scanner driver and loaded the module by using
the following:

   modprobe scanner vendor=0x04b8 product=0x011d

If I just use "insmod scanner" then neither backend works.  I also tried
removing the kernel scanner module to let SANE use the libusb interface, but
that still didn't allow the plustek driver to work.  I tried using autosensing
in the plustek.conf config as well as specifying the vendor/prodid on the
[usb] line.  Neither seemed to help.

Both QuiteInsane and XSane, using the Epson KOWA backend and the kernel
scanner driver, show the device to be a GT7300.  

Please note I'm not saying there's anything wrong with the plustek backend in
general given this configuration, just that the Epson KOWA package may be
installing a conflict that prevents access to the plustek driver for this
scanner.  I really should have tried the plustek backend first, before
installing the Epson KOWA backend.  It just didn't work out that way.

> Even though I may sound like a broken record: The Perfection 1260 (like the
> 1250 and the 660 - which is only available in Europe) is not supported by
> the EPSON backend. These scanners use the "scanner on a chip" design from
> National Semiconductor (NS983x chips), this design is also used by other
> manufacturers (e.g. Plustek).  All other EPSON scanners use EPSON's ESC-I
> command language and are supported by the EPSON backend. EPSON KOWA used
> the EPSON backend and added to it: The added an interpreter that takes
> ESC-I commands and translates them to the NS983x commands.=20
> 
> The Plustek backend does support the Perfection 1260 plus a number of other
> non-Plustek scanners.=20
> 
> So you have your choice of epson-kw (even though it's named just epson)
> or plustek.

This is what I thought I should have, but I don't seem to get that option.
I'll keep digging.  Maybe I'm still missing something in my configuration.
While it's not absolutely imperitive that I have both drivers available (the
article can focus on front ends and not emphasize driver quality, for
example), it would be nice to have two drivers to compare.

Thanks for the clarifications.
-- 
Michael J. Hammel                               The Graphics Muse 
mjhammel@graphics-muse.org                      http://www.graphics-muse.com
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