[sane-devel] Hello, and HP C3180 drivers

[Johannes Meixner]

Hello,

On Nov 10 18:59 Robert Charlesworth wrote (shortened):
> I have an old HP C3180 all-in-one Printer Scanner Copier,
> which no longer prints, but I still want to retain as a scanner.
> The SANE database online lists it as 'unsupported'

It seems what the SANE database online shows at
http://www.sane-project.org/cgi-bin/driver.pl?manu=&model=3180&bus=any&v=&p=
is a contradiction in itself:

It lists the HP Photosmart C3180 as explicitly "unsupported" by SANE
(actually the device is listed for the "unsupported" backend)
but also as "good" supported by the external backend "hpaio"
which is provided by HP's HPLIP software, see
http://hplipopensource.com/hplip-web/models/photosmart/photosmart_c3100_series.html

I think that devices which are supported by an external backend
should not be listed for the "unsupported" backend in SANE.

I think the "unsupported" backend in SANE is only for devices which
are known to be neither supported by a built-in backend in SANE
nor by an external backend for SANE.

At least this is how I understand the "Comment" for
the "unsupported" backend in SANE:
------------------------------------------------------------------
Backend: unsupported
...
Comment: The devices mentioned here are not supported by
any SANE backend. However, there may be links to information
about them or stand-alone programs.
------------------------------------------------------------------
For me "any SANE backend" means both built-in backends in SANE
and external backends for SANE.

In contrast a real built-in backend in SANE like "hp" might list
the HP Photosmart C3180 with status "unsupported" in compliance
to what a particular backend's status "unsupported" for a
particular device means:
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Legend:
...
   Status:
   ...
     unsupported means the device is not supported at least by
     this backend. It may be supported by other backends, however. 
-------------------------------------------------------------------


Kind Regards
Johannes Meixner
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