sane-mustek.5




NAME

       sane-mustek - SANE backend for Mustek flatbed scanners


DESCRIPTION

       The  sane-mustek library implements a SANE (Scanner Access
       Now Easy) backend that provides access to Mustek (and some
       relabeled Trust and Primax) flatbed scanners.  At present,
       the following scanners are known to work more or less with
       this backend:

              Paragon MFS-6000CX
              Paragon MFS-12000CX
              Paragon MFC-600S, 600 II CD, ScanMagic 600 II SP
              Paragon MFC-800S, 800 II SP
              Paragon MFS-6000SP
              Paragon MFS-8000SP
              Paragon MFS-1200SP, MFS-12000SP
              ScanExpress 6000SP
              ScanExpress 12000SP, 12000SP Plus, Paragon 1200 III
              SP, ScanMagic 9636S, 9636S Plus
              Paragon 1200 LS
              ScanExpress A3 SP
              Paragon 1200 SP Pro
              Paragon 1200 A3 Pro
              Paragon 600 II N
              Trust Imagery 1200
              Trust Imagery 1200 SP
              Trust Imagery 4800 SP
              Trust SCSI Connect 19200
              Primax Compact 4800 SCSI

       More details can be found on the Mustek  backend  homepage
       http://www.meier-geinitz.de/sane/.

       Don't  mix  up  MFS (Paragon), Pro and ScanExpress models!
       They're completely different. Check the exact model  name!

       Note  that  most  of  the  above scanners come with a SCSI
       interface.  The only non-SCSI scanner that has  some  sup�
       port  at  this  point  is the 600 II N scanner which comes
       with its own parallel port  adapter  (i.e.,  it  does  not
       attach  to the printer port).  More info on how to use the
       600 II N can be found below in section PARAGON 600  II  N.
       Other  parallel  port  scanners  are not supported by this
       backend but you may be successful using the Mustek  paral�
       lel  port  backend  (mustek_pp). USB scanners are also not
       supported by this backend but mustek_usb includes  support
       for some of them.

       Mustek  scanners  have no protection against exceeding the
       physical  scan  area  height.   That  is,  if  a  scan  is
       attempted  with  a  height  that exceeds the height of the
       scan surface, the scanner begins making  loud  noises  and
       the scan mechanism may be damaged.  Thus, if you hear such
       a noise, IMMEDIATELY turn off the scanner. This  shouldn't
       happen  if  your scanner is in the list of known scanners.
       There      is      more      information      in       the
       /usr/local/doc/sane-1.0.8/PROBLEMS file.

       If you own a Mustek (or Trust) scanner other than the ones
       listed above that works with this backend, please  let  us
       know  by  sending  the scanner's exact model name (look at
       the front and back of the scanner) and a debug  output  to
       sane-devel@mostang.com.   You  can get the debug output by
       setting the environment variable  SANE_DEBUG_MUSTEK  to  5
       and   showing   the   list   of  available  scanners  with
       scanimage -L . Please send all of it to the mailing  list.
       You  must  be subscribed to sane-devel before you can send
       mail          to          the          list.           See
       http://www.mostang.com/sane/mail.html for details.


DEVICE NAMES

       This backend expects device names of the form:

              special

       Where  special  is  either  the  path-name for the special
       device that corresponds to a SCSI scanner or the port num�
       ber  at  which  the  600  II  N  can be found (see section
       PARAGON 600 II N below).  For SCSI scanners,  the  special
       device  name must be a generic SCSI device or a symlink to
       such a device.  The  program  sane-find-scanner  helps  to
       find  out  the  correct device. Under Linux, such a device
       name could be /dev/sga  or  /dev/sge,  for  example.   See
       sane-scsi(5) for details.


CONFIGURATION

       The  contents of the mustek.conf file is a list of options
       and device  names  that  correspond  to  Mustek  scanners.
       Empty  lines  and  lines starting with a hash mark (#) are
       ignored.  See sane-scsi(5) on details of what  constitutes
       a valid device name.

       The  supported  options are linedistance-fix, lineart-fix,
       legal-size, buffersize, blocksize, strip-height,  disable-
       double-buffering, disable-backtracking, and force-wait

       Options  come  in two flavors: global and positional ones.
       Global options apply to all devices managed by the backend
       whereas positional options apply just to the most recently
       mentioned device.  Note that this means that the order  in
       which the options appear matters!

       Option  linedistance-fix  is positional and works around a
       problem that occurs with some  SCSI  controllers  (notably
       the  ncr810  controller under Linux).  If color scans have
       horizontal stripes and/or the colors are  off,  then  it's
       likely  that  your  controller  suffers from this problem.
       Turning on this option usually fixes the problem.

       Option lineart-fix is positional and works around a timing
       problem that seems to exist with certain MFS-12000SP scan�
       ners.  The problem manifests itself in dropped lines  when
       scanning  in  lineart mode.  Turning on this option should
       fix the problem but may slow down scanning a bit.

       Option legal-size is positional and sets the size  of  the
       scan  area  to  Legal format. Set this option if you own a
       Paragon 12000 LS. It can't be  distinguished  by  software
       from a ScanExpress 12000 SP (ISO A4 format).

       Option  buffersize  is  a positional option that overrides
       the default value set for the size of the SCSI buffer. The
       buffer  size  is specified in kilobytes. The default value
       is 128. Because of double buffering  the  buffer  actually
       sent to the scanner is half the size of this value. Try to
       increase this value to achieve higher  scan  speeds.  Note
       that  some  ScanExpress  scanners  don't like buffer sizes
       above 64 kb (buffersize = 128). If your  sg  driver  can't
       set  SCSI  buffer  sizes at runtime you may have to change
       that value, too. See sane-scsi(5) for details.

       Option blocksize is a positional option that overrides the
       default  value  set for the maximum amount of data scanned
       in one block. The buffer size is specified  in  kilobytes.
       Some  scanners  freeze  if this value is bigger than 2048.
       The default value is 1 GB (so effectively  no  limit)  for
       most  scanners.  Don't change this value if you don't know
       exactly what you do.

       Option strip-height is a global  option  that  limits  the
       maximum  height  of  the  strip scanned with a single SCSI
       read command.  The height is specified in inches  and  may
       contain a fractional part (e.g., 1.5).  Setting the strip-
       height to a small value (one inch,  for  example)  reduces
       the  likelihood  of encountering problems with SCSI driver
       timeouts and/or timeouts with other devices  on  the  same
       SCSI  bus.   Unfortunately,  it also increases scan times.
       With  current  SCSI  adapters  and  drivers  this   option
       shouldn't be needed any more.

       Option  disable-double-buffering  is  a  global option. If
       set, the backend will only send one buffer at  a  time  to
       the  scanner.  Try  this  option if you have trouble while
       scanning, e.g. SCSI errors, freezes, or the first  few  cm
       are repeated over and over again in your image.

       Option  disable-backtracking  is  a  positional option. If
       set, the scanner will not move back its slider after  each
       SCSI  buffer  is  filled  (`backtracking').  Setting  this
       option will lead to faster  scans  but  may  also  produce
       horizontal  stripes.  This  option doesn't work with every
       scanner (only some of the paragon models can modify  back�
       tracking).

       Finally,  force-wait is a global option. If set, the back�
       end will wait until the device is ready before sending the
       inquiry  command.  Further more the backend will force the
       scan slider to return to its starting position (not imple�
       mented  for  all  scanners).  This option may be necessary
       with the 600 II N or when scanimage is used multiple times
       (e.g. in scripts). The default is off (not set).

       A sample configuration file is shown below:

              # limit strip height of all scanners to 1.5 inches:
              option strip-height 1.5

              /dev/scanner    # first Mustek scanner
                # 1 MB buffer for /dev/scanner:
                option buffersize 1024
              /dev/sge        # second Mustek scanner
                # turn on fixes for /dev/sge:
                option lineart-fix
                option linedistance-fix


SCSI ADAPTER TIPS

       Mustek SCSI scanners are typically delivered with  an  ISA
       SCSI  adapter.   Unfortunately,  that adapter is not worth
       much since it is not interrupt driven.  It is  (sometimes)
       possible  to  get  the  supplied card to work, but without
       interrupt line, scanning will be very slow and put so much
       load  on  the  system, that it becomes almost unusable for
       other tasks.

       If you already have a working SCSI controller in your sys�
       tem,  you should consider that Mustek scanners do not sup�
       port the SCSI-2 disconnect/reconnect  protocol  and  hence
       tie  up  the  SCSI  bus while a scan is in progress.  This
       means that no other SCSI device on the  same  bus  can  be
       accessed while a scan is in progress.

       Because  the Mustek-supplied adapter is not worth much and
       because Mustek scanners do not support the SCSI-2  discon�
       nect/reconnect  protocol,  it  is recommended to install a
       separate (cheap) SCSI controller for Mustek scanners.  For
       example,  ncr810  based  cards  are known to work fine and
       cost as little as fifty US dollars.

       For Mustek scanners, it is typically necessary to  config�
       ure  the  low-level  SCSI  driver  to  disable synchronous
       transfers, tagged command queuing, and target disconnects.
       See   sane-scsi(5)   for   driver   and  platform-specific
       information.

       The ScanExpress models have sometimes  trouble  with  high
       resolution color mode. If you encounter sporadic corrupted
       images (parts duplicated or shifted horizontally) kill all
       other applications before scanning and (if sufficient mem�
       ory is available) disable swapping.


PARAGON 600 II N

       This backend has support for the Paragon 600 II N parallel
       port  scanner.   Note that this scanner comes with its own
       ISA card that implements a funky parallel port  (in  other
       words,  the scanner does not connected to the printer par�
       allel port).

       This scanner can be configured by listing the port  number
       of  the  adapter in the mustek.conf file.  Valid port num�
       bers are 0x26b, 0x2ab, 0x2eb, 0x22b, 0x32b, 0x36b,  0x3ab,
       0x3eb.   Pick  one  that  doesn't  conflict with the other
       hardware in your computer. Put only one number on a single
       line. Example:

       0x3eb

       Note that for this scanner root privileges are required to
       access the I/O ports.  Thus, either make frontends such as
       scanimage(1)  and xscanimage(1) setuid root (generally not
       recommended for safety reasons) or, alternatively,  access
       this  backend through the network daemon saned(1). On sys�
       tems which  support  this  feature,  the  scanner  can  be
       accessed  through  /dev/port.   Don't forget to adjust the
       permissions for /dev/port.  At  least  with  recent  Linux
       kernels   root  privileges  are  necessary  for  /dev/port
       access, too.

       If your images have  horizontal  stripes  in  color  mode,
       check  option  linedistance-fix  (see  above).  Apply this
       option for a scanner with firmware version 2.x and disable
       it for version 1.x.

       If  the  Mustek  backend  blocks while sending the inqiury
       command to the  scanner,  add  the  option  force-wait  to
       mustek.conf.

       Also note that after a while of no activity, some scanners
       themself (not the  SANE  backend)  turns  off  their  CCFL
       lamps. This shutdown is not always perfect with the result
       that the lamp sometimes continues to  glow  dimly  at  one
       end.  This doesn't appear to be dangerous since as soon as
       you use the scanner again, the lamp turns back on  to  the
       normal  high  brightness. However, the first image scanned
       after such a shutdown may have stripes and  appear  to  be
       over-exposed.   When this happens, just take another scan,
       and the image will be fine.


FILES

       /usr/local/etc/sane.d/mustek.conf
              The backend configuration file (see  also  descrip�
              tion of SANE_CONFIG_DIR below).

       /usr/local/lib/sane/libsane-mustek.a
              The static library implementing this backend.

       /usr/local/lib/sane/libsane-mustek.so
              The  shared library implementing this backend (pre�
              sent on systems that support dynamic loading).


ENVIRONMENT

       SANE_CONFIG_DIR
              This environment variable  specifies  the  list  of
              directories  that  may  contain  the  configuration
              file.  Under UNIX, the directories are separated by
              a  colon (`:'), under OS/2, they are separated by a
              semi-colon (`;').  If this variable is not set, the
              configuration  file  is  searched  in  two  default
              directories: first, the current  working  directory
              (".")  and  then  in /usr/local/etc/sane.d.  If the
              value of the environment  variable  ends  with  the
              directory  separator  character,  then  the default
              directories are searched after the explicitly spec�
              ified  directories.  For example, setting SANE_CON�
              FIG_DIR to "/tmp/config:" would result in  directo�
              ries "tmp/config", ".", and "/usr/local/etc/sane.d"
              being searched (in this order).

       SANE_DEBUG_MUSTEK
              If the library  was  compiled  with  debug  support
              enabled,  this  environment  variable  controls the
              debug level for this backend.  Higher debug  levels
              increase the verbosity of the output.

              Value  Descsription
              0      no output
              1      print fatal errors
              2      print important messages
              3      print non-fatal errors and less important messages
              4      print all but debugging messages
              5      print everything

              Example:
              export SANE_DEBUG_MUSTEK=4


SEE ALSO

       sane(7),        sane-find-scanner(1),        sane-scsi(5),
       sane-mustek_usb(5), sane-mustek_pp(5)
       /usr/local/doc/sane-1.0.8/mustek/mustek.CHANGES


AUTHOR

       David Mosberger, Andreas Czechanowski, Andreas Bolsch  (SE
       extensions), Henning Meier-Geinitz


BUGS

       Scanning with the SCSI adapters supplied by Mustek is very
       slow at high resolutions and wide scanareas.

       Some scanners (e.g. Paragon 1200 A3 +  Pro,  SE  A3)  need
       more testing.

       More  detailed  bug information is available at the Mustek
       backend homepage http://www.meier-geinitz.de/sane/.


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