[sane-devel] EPSON PERFECTION 1670 scanner

[Oliver Schwartz]

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Hi,

> Hi Olivier,
>
> Maybe are you not aware of some details about how to make this
> scanner work with Sane.

I guess I know most of them, as I wrote the driver for this
scanner :-)

> Following the steps in the documentation leads nowhere, except bad
> headakes. When looking forward to make the device work on my Linux
> machine, I finally thought that my 129 Euros investment was
> definitely lost. Fortunately, I found something on the web about it
> : someone who had the same problems earlier ; following his
> instructions lead me to a working scanner, basic at least
> (unfortunately, the article is written in French. I've attached a
> copy of it : in case of translation concerns, please let me know, I
> will translate it for you).

I understand some french - it seems the article is a well written step
by step instruction to get the scanner working.

There are currently two issues that make the installation of the 1670
difficult:
1) The scanner doesn't use the epson backend but the snapscan backend
2) The scanner needs a firmware file entry in snapscan.conf

The first point can't be helped, but I think it's clearly documented
on the SANE webpage, the Epson backend webpage and the snapscan
backend webpage.

The second point is a pain, but I really have no idea how to automate
the setup without getting into conflict with copyright issues from
the scanner manufactures. However, I hope the procedure for the
firmware download is clearly documented on the snapscan website. If
you think the documentation can be improved please let me know.

> As I'm a novice in both scanners and Linux, I can't give you
> further relevant informations, but only a feeling : as it seems,
> the 1670 Perfection has special means for scanning negatives, and
> the current protocols used for the Epson scanners cannot be applied
> straight to it. I'm afraid there is some work to be done... for
> which I won't be of any assistance.

The 1670 certainly doesn't behave like other epson scanners, that's
why it's supported by the snapscan backend. A number of scanners that
are supported by the snapscan backend have a transparency adapter (I
own an Acer 620UT with transparency adapter). These adapters are
supported by the snapscan backend and usually work well. Up to now
all scanners supported by the backend use the same mechanism to
enable the transparency adapter. The problem now is why this
mechanism doesn't seem to work for the 1670. However, I still don't
have any accurate error description as to what is wrong when using
the transparency unit.

Regards,

Oliver
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