sane-plustek(5)

NAME
sane-plustek - SANE backend for Plustek parallel port flatbed scanners

DESCRIPTION
The sane-plustek library implements a SANE (Scanner Access Now Easy) backend that provides access to Plustek parallel port flatbed scanners. The backend needs the kernel module pt_drv which currently can be downloaded from
http://home.t-online.de/home/g-jaeger/plustek.html
At present, the following scanners should work with this backend:

Model: ASIC: Properties:
---------------------- ----- ------------------------
OpticPro PT12 98003 600x1200 dpi 36bit 512Kb
OpticPro P12 98003 600x1200 dpi 36bit 512Kb
OpticPro 9636T/12000T 98001 600x1200 dpi 36bit 512Kb
OpticPro 12000P Turbo 98001 600x1200 dpi 36bit 512Kb
OpticPro 9636P+/Turbo 98001 600x1200 dpi 36bit 512Kb
OpticPro 9636P 98001 600x1200 dpi 36bit 512Kb
OpticPro 12000P/96000P 96003 600x1200 dpi 30bit 128Kb
OpticPro 1236P 96003 600x1200 dpi 30bit 128Kb
OpticPro 9600P 96003 600x1200 dpi 30bit 128Kb
OpticPro 9630P/FBIV 96003 600x1200 dpi 30bit 128Kb
OpticPro 9630PL (14") 96003 600x1200 dpi 30bit 128Kb
OpticPro A3I 96003 400x800 dpi 30bit 128Kb
OpticPro 600P/6000P 96003 300x600 dpi 30bit 32Kb
OpticPro 4831P 96003 300x600 dpi 30bit 32Kb
OpticPro 4830P/FBIII 96003 300x600 dpi 30bit 32Kb
OpticPro 4800P/FBII 96001 300x600 dpi 24bit 32Kb

OTHER PLUSTEK SCANNERS
This driver only supports the parallelport scanners from Plustek. It is not planned to support the USB devices (OP 1212U, U12, UT12). The SCSI scanner OpticPro 19200S is a rebadged Artec AM12S scanner and is supported by the Artec backend. ASIC 98003 based models (OpticPro P8, P12 and PT12) are currently not supported.

PRIMAX SCANNERS
There are some scanners sold by Primax, but they are in fact Plustek devices. These scanners are also supported. The following table will show the relationship:

Model: Plustek Model: Remarks:
--------------------------- -------------- ------------
Colorado 4800 OpticPro 4800 not tested
Compact 4800 Direct OpticPro 600 mov=2
Compact 4800 Direct 30bit OpticPro 4830 not tested
Compact 9600 Direct 30bit OpticPro 9630 works

ARIES SCANNERS
There's one scanner sold as Aries Scanner, but is in fact a Plustek device. The following table will show the relationship:

Model: Plustek Model: Remarks:
--------------------------- -------------- ------------
Scan-It 4800 OpticPro 600 mov=2

DEVICE NAMES
This backend expects a default device called:

    /dev/pt_drv

This default device will be used, if no configuration file can be found.

The device-driver is currently not part of the SANE distribution. It has to be downloaded from:
http://home.t-online.de/home/g-jaeger/plustek.html
See the INSTALL file there for a proper setup. Currently only Linux is supported by this driver (Kernel 2.2.x and higher).

As the backend and the driver support up to four devices per system, it is possible to specify them in the configuration file

    @CONFIGDIR@/plustek.conf

See the plustek.conf file for examples.

CONFIGURATION

As the driver is a loadable kernel module, it is configured by invoking insmod with the appropriate parameters or appending the options to the file /etc/conf.modules

The Options:
lampoff=lll
    The value lll tells the driver, after how many seconds to switch-off the lamp(s). The default value is 180. 0 will disable this feature.
    HINT: Do not use a value that is too small, because often switching on/off the lamps will reduce their lifetime.

port=ppp
    ppp specifies the port base address, where the scanner is connected to. The default value is 0x378 which normaly is standard.

warmup=www
    www specifies the time in seconds, how long a lamp has to be on, until the driver will start to scan. The default value is 30.

lOffonEnd=e
    e specifies the behaviour when unloading the driver, 1 --> switch lamps off, 0 --> do not change lamp status

slowIO=s
    s specifies which I/O functions the driver should use, 1 --> use delayed functions, 0 --> use the non-delayed ones

forceMode=fm
    fm specifies port mode which should be used, 0 --> autodetection, 1 --> use SPP mode and 2 --> use EPP mode

mov=m
    m =0 - default: no override
    m =1 - OpticPro 9630PL override (works if OP9630
           has been detected) forces legal size (14")
    m =2 - Primax 4800Direct override (works if OP600
           has been detected) swaps red/green color
    m =3 - OpticPro 9636 override (works if OP9636 has
           been detected) disables backends
           transparency/negativ capabilities
    m =4 - OpticPro 9636P override (works if OP9636 has
           been detected) disables backends
           transparency/negativ capabilities
    m =5 - OpticPro A3I override (works if OP12000 has
           been detected) enables A3 scanning

Sample entry for file /etc/modules.conf :
alias char-major-40 pt_drv
pre-install pt_drv modprobe -k parport
options pt_drv lampoff=180 warmup=15 port=0x378 lOffonEnd=0 mov=0 slowIO=0 forceMode=0

For multidevice support, simply add values separated by commas to the different options
options pt_drv port=0x378,0x278 mov=0,4 slowIO=0,1 forceMode=0,1

Remember to call depmod after changing /etc/conf.modules.

PARALLEL PORT MODES

The current driver works best, when the parallel port has been set to EPP-mode. When detecting any other mode such as ECP or PS/2 the driver tries to set to a faster, supported mode. If this fails, it will use the SPP mode, as this mode should work with all Linux supported parallel ports.

Former Plustek scanner models (4830, 9630) supplied a ISA parallel port adapter card. This card is not supported by the driver.

The ASIC 96001/3 based models have sometimes trouble with high resolution modes. If you encounter sporadic corrupted images (parts duplicated or shifted horizontally) kill all other applications before scanning and (if sufficient memory available) disable swapping.

FILES

@CONFIGDIR@/plustek.conf
    The backend configuration file

@LIBDIR@/libsane-plustek.a
    The static library implementing this backend.

@LIBDIR@/libsane-plustek.so
    The shared library implementing this backend (present on systems that support dynamic loading).

/lib/modules/<Kernel-Version>/misc/pt_drv.o
    The Linux Kernelmodule.

CONTACT AND BUG-REPORTS

Please send any information and bug-reports to:
Plustek Driver Mailing List <plustek@linuxhacker.org>
or directly to:
Gerhard Jaeger <g.jaeger@earthling.net>

Additional info and hints can be obtained in our
Mailing-List archive at:
http://www.linuxhacker.org/cgi-bin/ezmlm-cgi/3

BUGS & RESTRICTIONS

* The Halftoning works, but the quality is poor
* Printers (especially HP models) will start to
  print during scanning. This in fact is a problem
  to other printers too, using bidirectional protocol
  (see www.plustek.com (TAIWAN) page for further details)
* The driver does not support these manic scalings up
  to 16 times the physical resolution. The only scaling
  is done on resolutions between the physical resolution
  of the CDD-sensor and the stepper motor i.e. you have a
  600x1200 dpi scanner and you are scanning using 800dpi,
  so scaling is necesary, because the sensor only delivers
  600dpi but the motor is capable to perform 800dpi steps.
* On some devices, the pictures seems to be bluished

ASIC 98001 based models:
* The 300dpi transparency and negative mode does not work
  correctly.
* There is currently no way to distinguish a model with
  and without transpareny unit.
* The scanned images seem to be too dark (P9636T)

ASIC 96003/1 based models:
* 30bit mode is currently not supported.
* On low-end systems and under heavy system load, the
  driver will loosing data, this might causes the sensor
  to hit the scan-bed and/or the picture is corrupted.
* The scanspeed on 600x1200 dpi models is slow.
* The scanquality of the A3I is poor