[sane-devel] Need help with Epson scanner problems-Fedora 20

[Terry Duell]

Hello All,
I have a problem that has existed for some time, not exactly sure how long  
as I don't use the scanner on a regular basis. I may have had the problem  
for a year, maybe more.
The scanner is an Epson Perfection 3490 Photo, and I have been using it  
without problem for many years on Fedora Linux (I have been using  
Redhat/Fedora since 2000).
Sorry if the following is a bit long winded, but it may help to explain  
the problem.
I keep Fedora up to date, and for some years now have been doing a clean  
install at each new release.
I am reluctant to say my memory is 100% accurate on what I do to migrate  
the scanner to each new Fedora system, so I may have missed something when  
moving from Fedora 19 to Fedora 20...but I do use a scripted process to  
capture the installed packages prior to installing the new system, then  
get a package list from new system and then extract a list of missing  
package names which are then installed. This process has worked OK for  
many years.
The sane related packages that are installed are (this list from Fedora  
17, but the same for 20);
sane-backends-drivers-scanners 1.0.23-4.fc17 x86_64
sane-backends-libs 1.0.23-4.fc17 x86_64
xsane-gimp 0.998-12.fc17 x86_64
xsane-common 0.998-12.fc17 x86_64
sane-backends 1.0.23-4.fc17 x86_64
xsane 0.998-12.fc17 x86_64

For each system upgrade I install the Epson firmware (esfw52.bin) in  
/usr/share/sane/snapscan/ and ensure that path is in  
/etc/sane.d/snapscan.conf.

Now, finally, to the specifics of the problem.
I can start Gimp and select File -> Create:XSane dialog and the XSane  
windows appear OK. I can select "Preview" and get a preview scan OK, but  
when "Scan" is selected I get an error "Failed to start scanner: Error  
during device IO".
If I reboot, and repeat the process, usually the XSane preview window  
appears blank, and this can be remedied by closing the XSane windows and  
Gimp, deleting my ~/.sane dir and restarting Gimp and XSane, and either  
one preview or a normal scan can be obtained but when attempting a second  
I get the "Failed to start scanner: Error during device IO" error.
I also run Windows 8.1 in Virtualbox and can successfully do multiple  
scans using the Epson supplied Windows software, which rules out scanner  
or USB cable problems.

I have raised the problem in the Fedora forum of Linux Questions and it  
was suggested I ask here, although I have a feeling that there may be more  
to explore/test that is purely Linux related.

Does anyone have any experience of a problem like this, and what might be  
causing it?
Any ideas welcomed.

Cheers,
-- 
Regards,
Terry Duell