[GTALUG] HP printers [Request for printer recommendations]

[Stewart C. Russell]

Hi Dee:
> 
> Sorry - - - scanning is quite useful for me and I sure would like a
> way to make it work connected to my Linux box!
> 
> Haven't had much luck so far.

Hmm, hadn't realized you were still stuck.

In your /etc/sane.d/ folder, there should be a .conf file for your
scanner. Mine is different from yours, but the relevant lines look like
this (from epson2.conf):

 # Detect all devices supported by the backend.
 # If you don't have a SCSI device, you can comment out the "scsi"
 # keyword.  Similarly for the other keywords.
 #
 usb
 scsi
 net 192.168.2.68

You need to set the 'net' entry to the IP address of your scanner.
(You can ping your printer, yes? I mean, if it's not even seen on the
network, you have to address this first. You're also using an x86 or
x86_64 Linux box, yes? Scanner binary support for ARM is mostly no go,
so Raspberry Pis are right out.)

For good measure, I have $SANE_DEFAULT_DEVICE set to:

 epson2:net:192.168.2.68

Your scanner might use the brscan or brscan2 driver, so you'll be
looking for something like /etc/sane.d/brscan*conf. Also, your scanner
backend needs to be listed in /etc/sane.d/dll.conf for sane to find it.

The 'sane-find-scanner' tool may not find your scanner, but with me,
xsane does. With that environment variable set, you can then do
something like this:

 scanimage > blort.pbm

to scan the page at 75 dpi, b&w.

If all of that doesn't work, you may have to resort to scanning to a
network share. I think that the MFC-J6510DW shares its memory card using
CIFS. Stick an SD in the scanner, browse your network, and see what you
find.

This latter option is by no means bad: I've used it to scan thousands of
pages of bank statements and other receipts. You don't get a tonne of
control over the scan format, but it's quick.

If even all this fails, it's telephone support, I'm afraid. It's so much
cheaper to provide this than e-mail support, and that's why Brother are
so keen on it.

cheers,
 Stewart