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Difficulty getting scanner to work with Debian

Need help with peripherals or devices?
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srq2625
Posts: 44
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Re: Difficulty getting scanner to work with Debian

#21 Post by srq2625 »

Yuhan wrote:I should add that my scanner does work using xsane. The problem is xsane is really more than I need and simple-scan is actually better for multiple page documents. With xsane I can only scan pages individually.
I find a couple or three things here that, to my (some people would say) simple mind, don't quite add up:
  • The fact that xsane works for you is a good thing.
  • If simple-scan is not working, it's would appear obvious that it's not enough for you work.
  • If xsane does work for you then, assuming no other such tools exist, it's the only tool for the job. I would work with the tool that works rather than trying to get the "broken" tool to work, especially if deadlines are an issue.
  • The xsane tool can and does allow one to create mult-page scans:
    • Click the "create multi-page document" (or some such) button - this will create a project folder
    • Do your scanning - for me, this works with or without my document feeder - This will create multiple intermediate files in the above created folder
    • Complete the job, and click on the button to create the multi-page document - this will combine the intermediate products into your final
IHTH

Yuhan
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Re: Difficulty getting scanner to work with Debian

#22 Post by Yuhan »

But xsane has not been without problem. It does work, yes, but not consistently. Sometimes I'll get one nice scan job but if I try to do a second it freezes up too. On balance, however, xsane is more reliable than simple-scan. Not really sure what to do about the usb2 vs. usb3 situation. I don't know what "stretch" is referring to?? My hub is an Anker which consists of all usb3 ports and I'm pretty sure my Gigabyte computer only has usb3. In looking over the older bug statements I don't really see anything there that helps solve this problem. What is the best and most universal scan format to use with Debian? I've always used pdf in the past but sane seems to have a huge problem with pdf! I've been using jpeg but some recipients claim they've had trouble recovering it at their end.

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FreewheelinFrank
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Re: Difficulty getting scanner to work with Debian

#23 Post by FreewheelinFrank »

First scan working and the second not working is a symptom of the problem with sane-backends that I mentioned previously.

Which seems to confirm that this is not really an issue with simple-scan.

The sane-backends package has been updated in Stretch (aka Debian 9), so one option is to upgrade to the latest version of Debian.

The bug seems to be with USB3 connectivity- so your other option is to change USB settings in the BIOS.

There are YouTube videos to help with this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3fZK3nUziE

Peripherals: 2.57 in the video.

Make sure Legacy USB support is enables, for a start.

Then try disabling USB3 support.

(Changing BIOS settings is at your own risk.)

If that works- and you don't need USB3, then you're sorted.

Unfortunately USB3 is very useful if you have a USB3 drive 'cos it's much faster, so an upgrade may be a better choice. As I said before, maybe try a liveCD to check if it works in Stretch.

Yuhan
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Re: Difficulty getting scanner to work with Debian

#24 Post by Yuhan »

Thanks for this recommendation. I hesitate to do an upgrade to Debian 9 because I've had troubles in the past with upgrading to a new version of Xubuntu. I finally got it to work but not without a lot of tweaking! "Jessie" was installed for me by the person who assembled the computer. Is it problematic upgrading to a new version of Debian or is it better to uninstall and then to a clean install of the new version? In my limited experience that is an involved process.

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Re: Difficulty getting scanner to work with Debian

#25 Post by FreewheelinFrank »

Do you have any USB3 devices which you need to run at full speed? It's not like they won't work using USB2- just slower.

Maybe disable USB3 in the bios to get the scanner working, gain some confidence using Debian, and upgrade later.

That way you will allow time for any bugs in Stretch to get knocked out.

I upgraded one machine and installed on two others, but that's not to say you are guaranteed to have no problems.

I have to refer you to the small print:

https://www.debian.org/releases/stable/ ... ading.html

One question would be: did your friend install any third party software or repositories?

Backup your data to disc or USB drive before attempting an upgrade or fresh install.

I would try an upgrade first, but have installation media and drivers to hand so I could do a fresh install if necessary.

You either need to have another computer available to download required files and ask questions if you have problems, or a LiveCD/LiveUSB available which you can use to boot and access the internet.

You also need to know how to enable repositories for any non-free software required, and possibly how to manually install a package if you don't have an Ethernet connection and you need a non-free wireless driver.

Yuhan
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Re: Difficulty getting scanner to work with Debian

#26 Post by Yuhan »

Yes, much of that is too technical for me. There is other software installed and it would be hard to make everything work together in a new updated version...at least for me! I tried installing gscan2pdf and that too is batting zero! All I got when I pushed "scan" was "invalid argument!" So much for that. There are many scanning Open Source packages out there. Isn't it possible one of them will work? Can't believe this is so troublesome. But thanks for all this helpful feedback.

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Re: Difficulty getting scanner to work with Debian

#27 Post by FreewheelinFrank »

Just a frontend to Sane, so it isn't going to help.

Have you tried disabling USB3?

Yuhan
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Re: Difficulty getting scanner to work with Debian

#28 Post by Yuhan »

How do you disable usb3? I see no reference to it in the BIOS.

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Re: Difficulty getting scanner to work with Debian

#29 Post by FreewheelinFrank »

Yuhan wrote:How do you disable usb3? I see no reference to it in the BIOS.
From the link in one of my previous posts, you may have to diable xHCI mode:

Code: Select all

legacy USB support: enabled
Intel xHCI Mode: disabled
EHCI Hand-off: disabled
Does your Peripherals BIOS screen look like this?

http://techx1.thessdreview1.netdna-cdn. ... herals.jpg

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