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NAME

       sane-plustek_pp  -  SANE  backend  for  Plustek  parallel  port flatbed
       scanners

DESCRIPTION

       The sane-plustek_pp library implements a SANE (Scanner Access Now Easy)
       backend  that  provides access to Plustek ASIC 9600[1/3] and P9800[1/3]
       based parallel port flatbed scanners.  The access  of  the  scanner  is
       either done directly by the backend or via kernel module, called pt_drv
       which can be created out of the plustek_pp  backend  code  -  see  also
       section BUILDING THE KERNEL MODULE for further information.

SUPPORTED DEVICES

       At present, the following scanners should work with this backend and/or
       the kernel module:

       PLUSTEK SCANNERS

       Parallelport 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         96003 600x1200 dpi 36bit 128Kb
       OpticPro 12000P/96000P 96003 600x1200 dpi 36bit 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 36bit 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

       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   mov=7
       Compact 9600 Direct 30bit   OpticPro 9630   works

       GENIUS SCANNERS

       The following devices are sold as Genius  Scanners,  but  are  in  fact
       Plustek devices.  The table will show the relationship:

       Model:                      Remarks:
       --------------------------- ----------------------------
       Colorpage Vivid III V2      Like P12 but has two buttons
                                   and Wolfson DAC

       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

       BrightScan SCANNERS

       There’s one scanner sold as BrightScan OpticPro Scanner, this is also a
       rebadged   Plustek   device.    The   following  table  will  show  the
       relationship:

       Model:                      Remarks:
       --------------------------- ----------------------------
       BrightScan OpticPro         OpticPro P12

DEVICE NAMES

       This backend works in two modes, the so called  "direct-mode"  and  the
       "kernel-mode".  In  direct-mode,  the  user-space  backend  is used, in
       kernel-mode, you should have a kernel-module named pt_drv loaded.  This
       backends default device is:

              0x378

       This  "default  device"  will  be used, if no configuration file can be
       found. It is rather the base address  of  the  parallel  port  on  i386
       machines.

       As  the  backend supports up to four devices, it is possible to specify
       them in the configuration file

              /etc/sane.d/plustek_pp.conf

       See this file for examples.

CONFIGURATION

       This section describes the backends’ configuration file  entries.   The
       file is located at: /etc/sane.d/plustek_pp.conf

       For a proper setup, you will need at least two entries:
              [direct]
              device 0x378

       or
              [kernel]
              device /dev/pt_drv

       direct  tells  the  backend, that the following devicename (here 0x378)
       has to be interpreted as parallel port scanner device. In  fact  it  is
       the  address  to  use,  alternatively  you can use /dev/parport0 if the
       backend has been compiled with libieee1284 support.  kernel should only
       be  used,  when  a  kernel-module  has  been  built  out of the backend
       sources. See below for more instructions about this.

       Further options:

       option warmup t
              t specifies the warmup period in seconds

       option lampOff t
              t is the time in seconds for switching off the lamps in  standby
              mode

       option lOffonEnd b
              b specifies the behaviour when closing the backend, 1 --> switch
              lamps off, 0 --> do not change lamp status

       option mov m
              m is the model override switch, which only works in direct mode.

              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/negative
                     capabilities

              m = 4  OpticPro   9636P  override  (works  if  OP9636  has  been
                     detected)   disables    backends    transparency/negative
                     capabilities

              m = 5  OpticPro   A3I   override  (works  if  OP12000  has  been
                     detected) enables A3 scanning

              m = 6  OpticPro  4800P  override  (works  if  OP600   has   been
                     detected) swaps red/green color

              m = 7  Primax  4800Direct  30bit  override  (works if OP4830 has
                     been detected)

       See the plustek_pp.conf file for examples.

BUILDING THE KERNEL MODULE

       As mentioned before, the plustek_pp backend code can also  be  compiled
       and  installed  as  linux  kernel  module.  To do so, you will need the
       source-files of this sane-backend installation.  Unpack  this  tar-ball
       and go to the directory:
       sane-backends/doc/plustek
       Within this directory, you should find a script called:
       MakeModule.sh
       Now  if  your Linux kernelsources are installed correctly, it should be
       possible to build, install and load the module  pt_drv.   Please  note,
       that  the kernelsources need to be configured correctly.  Refer to your
       distributions manual on how this is done. As root user, try
       ./MakeModule.sh
       the script will try  and  get  all  necessary  information  about  your
       running  kernel  and  will  lead  you  through  the  whole installation
       process.
       Note: Installing and loading the can only be done as superuser.

KERNEL MODULE SETUP

       The configuration of the kernel module is done  by  providing  some  or
       more options found below to the kernel module at load time. This can be
       done by invoking insmod with the appropriate  parameters  or  appending
       the   options  to  the  file  /etc/modules.conf  (kernel  <  2.6.x)  or
       /etc/modprobe.conf (kernel >= 2.6.x)

       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/negative
                     capabilities

              m = 4  OpticPro   9636P  override  (works  if  OP9636  has  been
                     detected)   disables    backends    transparency/negative
                     capabilities

              m = 5  OpticPro   A3I   override  (works  if  OP12000  has  been
                     detected) enables A3 scanning

              m = 6  OpticPro  4800P  override  (works  if  OP600   has   been
                     detected) swaps red/green color

              m = 7  Primax  4800Direct  30bit  override  (works if OP4830 has
                     been detected)

       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. If in doubt, enter your BIOS and set  it  to  any  mode
       except ECP.

       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.

       See the plustek_pp.conf file for examples.

FILES

       /etc/sane.d/plustek_pp.conf
              The backend configuration file

       /usr/lib/sane/libsane-plustek_pp.a
              The static library implementing this backend.

       /usr/lib/sane/libsane-plustek_pp.so
              The shared library implementing this backend (present on systems
              that support dynamic loading).

       /lib/modules/<Kernel-Version>/kernel/drivers/parport/pt_drv.o
              The Linux kernelmodule for kernels < 2.6.x.

       /lib/modules/<Kernel-Version>/kernel/drivers/parport/pt_drv.ko
              The Linux kernelmodule for kernels >= 2.6.x.

ENVIRONMENT

       SANE_CONFIG_DIR
              This environment variable specifies the list of directories that
              may contain the configuration file.  Under UNIX, the directories
              are separated by a colon (‘:’), under OS/2, they  are  separated
              by  a  semi-colon  (‘;’).   If  this  variable  is  not set, the
              configuration file  is  searched  in  two  default  directories:
              first,   the   current  working  directory  (".")  and  then  in
              /etc/sane.d.  If the value of the environment variable ends with
              the  directory separator character, then the default directories
              are searched after the explicitly  specified  directories.   For
              example,  setting SANE_CONFIG_DIR to "/tmp/config:" would result
              in  directories  "tmp/config",  ".",  and  "/etc/sane.d"   being
              searched (in this order).

       SANE_DEBUG_PLUSTEK_PP
              If  the  library  was  compiled with debug support enabled, this
              environment variable controls the debug level for this  backend.
              Higher debug levels increase the verbosity of the output.

              Example: export SANE_DEBUG_PLUSTEK_PP=10

SEE ALSO

       sane(7),
       /usr/share/doc/libsane/plustek/Plustek-PARPORT.changes
       http://www.gjaeger.de/scanner/plustek_pp/

CONTACT AND BUG-REPORTS

       Please send any information and bug-reports to:
       SANE Mailing List

       Additional info and hints can be obtained from our
       Mailing-List archive at:
       http://www.sane-project.org/mailing-lists.html

       or directly from the projects’ homepage at:
       http://www.gjaeger.de/scanner/plustek_pp/

       To  obtain debug messages from the backend, please set the environment-
       variable  SANE_DEBUG_PLUSTEK_PP  before  calling  your  favorite  scan-
       frontend (i.e. xscanimage).
       i.e.: export SANE_DEBUG_PLUSTEK_PP=20 ; xscanimage

       The value controls the verbosity of the backend.

KNOWN 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 CCD-sensor and the stepper motor i.e.
       you have a 600x1200 dpi scanner and you are scanning using  800dpi,  so
       scaling  is  necessary, because the sensor only delivers 600dpi but the
       motor is capable to perform 800dpi steps.

       * On some devices, the pictures seems bluish

       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
       transparency 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 under heavy system load the driver may lose data,
       which can result in picture corruption or cause the sensor to  hit  the
       scan bed.

       * The scanning speed on 600x1200 dpi models is slow.

       * The scanning quality of the A3I is poor

                                  14 Jul 2008               sane-plustek_pp(5)