[SOLVED] Give An Old Scanner New Life with Linux Lite

[N4RPS]

Hello, All!

Most all of you know about those USB document scanners that you see in thrift stores for chump change. I've seen a lot of these go for less than $5. Some of them are quite compact - and, 'back in the day', were quite costly. Perhaps some of you wonder, "What is up with all these scanners lying around?".

You're literally tripping over them because when Windows Vista came around, Microsoft radically changed the Windows kernel. Scanner manufacturers did not want to rewrite their software to accommodate the new kernel. instead, they forced everyone who uses a scanner regularly to go out and buy a new one - one that DID support Vista and beyond. Fortunately (after all, they DO contain mercury), instead of just sending them to landfills, people donated them to be resold in charity thrift stores for a tax write-off.

Linux Lite includes scanner utilities that will detect and support most of these devices. You need only plug them in, start up one of these programs, and your old XP scanner is once again usable.

Having left XP years ago myself, I have an old, very compact Canon scanner that's been just lying around here for quite a while now. On a whim, I decided to pull it out to see if LL supported it. Sure enough, the scanner works like a charm!

Just though I'd share this with the community...

73 DE N4RPS
Rob

[Coastie]

Thanks for the tip. I'll go shopping at my local Goodwill thrift store.

[Valtam]

Nice one N4RPS, thanks for sharing

[N4RPS]

Hello!

This is only one of MANY advantages that using LL brings to the table - especially for PCs, laptops and accessories that one once thought had seen their better days...

73 DE N4RPS
Rob

[mandoran]

I just had this panic over the weekend, needing to scan in all my receipts for the tax man, and not realizing that the recent upgrade of a home office PC meant that none of the business machines I had could communicate with the scanner any longer. As N4RPS says, the drivers for this thing were abandoned years ago.

Pulled out the Linux Lite laptop, and the default scanner program identified the scanner immediately and I was up and running in a minute.

[N4RPS]

Hello!

Glad I could help you out. The included basic scanner program "gits 'er done", but for those who want more, and don't already have it installed, they can install SANE:

Code:

sudo apt-get install xsane

Some of mine had SANE pre-installed, some didn't. I'm keeping my own eyes open in the junk stores for another low-profile or portable scanner myself...

73 DE N4RPS
Rob

[mandoran]

Just curious, what extras does installing SANE give you, and where do you find these once it is installed? I just installed sane via Synaptic, but haven't found anything different yet.

[N4RPS]

Hello!

It opens up several windows at once, allowing me to preview, view, and save scanned images just by clicking on the different windows. For ME, it more closely emulates the software that originally came with the scanner.

Guess I'm an information junkie...

73 DE N4RPS
Rob

[mandoran]

Sounds good, but how do you use it? I cannot find it anywhere - is it a terminal command now or something?

[N4RPS]

Hello!

Here, Simple Scan and xsane appear under my 'Graphics' Menu. If not,

Code:

sudo apt-get install simple-scan xsane

should install them there.

Simple Scan is a 'quick and simple' scanning program, whereas XSane (Scanner Access Now Easy) is the more full-feaured of the two...

73 DE N4RPS
Rob