[sane-devel] Intended change of config file handling

[Oliver Schwartz]

Hi,

> I do not understand how automated firmware upload should work
> if there is more than one scanner connected which use the same
> backend but which need different firmware files.

For the snapscan backend that's currently not possible, as there is 
only a single firmware file entry in snapscan.conf. Eventually I'd 
like to change this to a single directory entry and a filename entry 
for each USB scanner (e.g. after the corresponding USB ID entry in 
snapscan.conf).

> But my question is:
> Can the backend automatically determine the right firmware file
> for a particular model?

Not really, at least for the snapscan backend. Benq uses the version 
number of the firmware as part of the filename, so either the files 
would have to be renamed or the backend would have to do some 
wildcard matching. I prefer to list the most common name in 
snapscan.conf where it can be changed if needed.

> If yes, it would be great because then it would be possible to
> ask the manufacturers to allow re-distribution of their firmware
> files "as is" so that all firmware files for all models of a
> backend could be stored in the same firmware directory
> and the backend would pick the right one for a particular model.

I'd like that as well. It would also be nice to link to the firmware 
files from the snapscan page or the SANE page of supported scanners - 
unfortunately I've never received a single answer from Acer/Benq to 
any of my emails.

Regards,

Oliver