# Re: Linux Support for Current Microtek Scanners

From: Oliver Neukum (Oliver.Neukum@lrz.uni-muenchen.de)
Date: Sat Nov 18 2000 - 02:01:39 PST

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  On Saturday 18 November 2000 01:24, you wrote:
  > Hi,
  >
  > > If you are talking USB, you need to talk to me.
  > > Current status might be interresting to you.
  > > X6 basically works, but is buggy.
  > > No other USB scanner you make is known to
  > > work. In fact two models are known not to work.
  >
  > This is pretty good that someone else talking about USB scanners!
  > As you maybe know i implemented Visioneer 8600 USB scanner
  > by modifying kernel usb/scanner.c and all backend parts

  I've just scanned through the modified scanner.c you provide,
  but it seems to me that it still can deal only with the 2 bulk
  and optionally one interrupt type of scanner.
  Could you explain your changes ?

  > Since the original usb/scanner.c only implement read/write bulks, this is
  > definitely not enough for most of currently usb scanners, and this could be
  > the main reason that so few usb linux drivers for usb scanners.

  Yes definitely. scanner.c is a nice driver, but working only for a limited
  number of scanners.
  Furthermore I strongly think that it is undesirable to have one kernel driver
  for all USB scanners. That driver would be a complex monster, an
  agglomeration of drivers that have no internal connection.

  Yet it is hard to write such kernel drivers without documentation.
  scanner.c avoided that issue by being a driver for scanners that
  need almost no driver. Beauty and limitations of that driver are its
  simplicity.

  > I modify the usb/scanner.c according to the kernel driver in MS WINDOWS
  > or the usbscan.sys inorder to have same data structure as ISV use, so
  > people can speak same language about usb scanners.Anyway, my effort is
  > still not enough, we still need people join in to make usb/scanner.c full
  > functional.

  You are right. A backend should not need to care what it's operating on.
  That's an issue for SANE's core or even the kernel driver.

  All kernel drivers other than scanner.c (or drivers closely based on it)
  are SCSI devices to user space.
  This is not an emulation for SANE's sake, but these scanners are really
  modified SCSI scanners.

  >
  > If you are interested about the effort i do about usb/scanner.c, please:
  > www.abaforum.es/martim/bird/otlinux.htm
  > Note, I'm going to move the web to other place...

  Please elaborate and keep me posted, possibly off list, should there be no
  general interest.

  Regards
  Oliver

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  - In reply to: kwlee: "Re: Linux Support for Current Microtek Scanners"
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