Trying to get my Neat (NR-030108) scanner to work.

[tanker001]

I'm experienced with PCs since the DOS days but I'm a major newbie to Linux, I think this is the best place for this.

I would like to begin by saying that I have never experienced a great combination of hardware (scanner) and accompanying software. It has been my experience that either the scanner is great and the software sucks or the scanner sucks and the software is great. To me the Neat scanner (Model NR-030108) is a great little workhorse of a scanner. However, it's proprietary nature, where it doesn't work with anything but the NeatWorks software, will prevent me from buying another one. The software may work but it is bloated and overkill when you all you do is scan everything to PDF. However, it does a great job of scanning the receipt, auto adjusting the "exposure"(?), auto cropping, OCR and spitin' out a PDF.

Has anyone gotten the Neat (Model NR-030108) to work in Linux the way it does in its native windows? With native Linux software, not necessarily with the NeatWorks software. I use this scanner on a weekly basis to scan a handful of receipts to store in Quicken. Giving the advertising push I see of these Neat scanners on TV I'm hoping someone out there has set up one of these before.

I'm trying to get my Neat scanner to work with Linux. I think it has to do with the backend (yes I'm learning some stuff ) In my poking around I'm thinking that the default LM load is not up to date on the latest backend files. I have spent a lot of time reading pages on http://www.sane-project.org and http://www.meier-geinitz.de/sane/gt68xx-backend/ to the point I had to take a break. I think I know what needs to be done but lack the knowledge to press forward with confidence. So I'm looking for someone who my have forged this river before. From what I understand from my reading, if you get the backend to recognize the scanner the frontend shouldn't be a problem.

Here are the issues I am finding.

lsusb finds the scanner "Bus 003 Device 002: ID 07b3:0462 Plustek, Inc." but "sudo sane-find-scanner" does not.
I know that 07b3 is the manufacturer ID and 0462 is the model ID.

Reference: http://www.meier-geinitz.de/sane/gt68xx-backend/
I searched the file system for gt68xx (scanner backend) and found file(s) with the name /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/sane/libsane-gt68xx.so.1.0.23 if I am interpreting it correctly does *.1.0.23 refer to version number 1.0-23? Per referenced page the latest release is 1.0-84. If this is the case I'm thinking this should be updated.

Reference: http://www.sane-project.org/man/sane-gt68xx.5.html
(LIBUSB ISSUES) It requested that libusb0.1.8 or later be used I searched Software Manager for libusb-0 (both installed and available) but only libusb-0.1-4 was listed (and installed). Couldn't find a newer version.
(FILES) Files listed /usr/lib/sane/libsane-gt68xx.a and /usr/lib/sane/libsane-gt68xx.so don't exist.
Found the following in two separate locations /proc/3264/cwd and /usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/sane Doesn't match what I expected.
libsane-gt68xx.la
libsane-gt68xx.so.1 -> libsane-gt68xx.so.1.0.23 (link)
libsane-gt68xx.so.1.0.23
(ENVIRONMENT) Using printenv can't see evidence that these are set.

It seems that, per the SANE pages, things aren't where they belong.

I have to switch the scanner back over to my windows box to get some work done. I'll check back later to see what replies I get.

Thanks all,
Stan

[pdc_2]

well Stan, as you say way back in 2007 folks were on the trail of this scanner; but the trail seems to have gone cold since then;

the configuration file gt68xx.conf seems to live in /etc/sane.d and with the lsusb ID of

07b3:0462

it shows up in the config file as

# Autodetect NeatReceipts Mobile Scanner
usb 0x07b3 0x0462

(I read the file with the command

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gedit /etc/sane.d/gt68xx.conf

and I saw there; as in the backend the advice

# Put the firmware file into "/usr/share/sane/gt68xx/".

and the backend says much more detail:

You need a firmware file for your scanner. That's a small file containing software that will be uploaded to the scanner's memory. It's usually named *.usb, e.g. PS1fw.usb. It comes on the installation CD that was provided by the manufacturer, but it may be packaged together with the installation program in an .exe file. For Mustek scanners, the file can be downloaded from the gt68xx backend homepage. For other scanners, check the CD for .usb files. If you only find *.cab files, try cabextract to unpack. If everything else fails, you must install the Windows driver and get the firmware from there (usually in the windows/system or system32 directories). Put that firmware file into /usr/share/sane/gt68xx/. Make sure that it's readable by everyone.

...........so did you get that firmware loaded?

[tanker001]

pdc_2 thanks for the reply and the help. Sorry about the delay in replying, interrupted by life.

I guess current Neat scanners on the shelf may have different (newer) manufacturer and model codes. Maybe those don't require the work to interface with Linux

To your question, I'm assuming so, I lost the link, however, during the process of Googling for help/info I found that the firmware file was cism216.fw. It was found in 2 locations on my windows box C:\Program Files\Common Files\NeatReceipts\Drivers\M12 and C:\Program Files\Common Files\NeatReceipts\Drivers\Neat Mobile Scanner 2008. I copied the file and placed it in /usr/share/sane/gt68xx.
Owner: root
Group: users (all users part of this group)
Permissions are: -rwxr-xr-x

Current entry in /etc/sane.d/gt68xx.conf

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##############################################################################
# Autodetect NeatReceipts Mobile Scanner
usb 0x07b3 0x0462
#vendor "NeatReceipts"
#model "NR-030108"
firmware "/usr/share/sane/gt68xx/cism216.fw"
override "plustek-opticslim-m12"

[pdc_2]

so I guess we take it that the firmware is in the directory on that entry; one could check with the command

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locate cism216.fw

and hopefully it says /usr/share/sane/gt68xx

.........with an entry recognising the ID; and the firmware seemingly loaded; ......... and not recognised?

then what does

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sane-find-scanner

and

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scanimage -L

show and then if repeat those two commands; with sudo in front to see if any permission issues .......

___________________________

you need to check that you as user are allowed to use the scanner group: Menu ........Administration.......................Users and Groups

[tanker001]

I'll start with the easiest, ALL users are part of the scanner group

locate cism216.fw indicates
/usr/share/sane/gt68xx/cism216.fw

sane-find-scanner indicates

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  # sane-find-scanner will now attempt to detect your scanner. If the
  # result is different from what you expected, first make sure your
  # scanner is powered up and properly connected to your computer.

  # No SCSI scanners found. If you expected something different, make sure that
  # you have loaded a kernel SCSI driver for your SCSI adapter.

could not open USB device 0x8087/0x8001 at 002:002: Access denied (insufficient permissions)
could not open USB device 0x1d6b/0x0002 at 002:001: Access denied (insufficient permissions)
could not open USB device 0x8087/0x8009 at 001:002: Access denied (insufficient permissions)
could not open USB device 0x1d6b/0x0002 at 001:001: Access denied (insufficient permissions)
could not open USB device 0x1d6b/0x0003 at 004:001: Access denied (insufficient permissions)
could not open USB device 0x046d/0xc24c at 003:004: Access denied (insufficient permissions)
could not open USB device 0x046d/0xc31d at 003:003: Access denied (insufficient permissions)
could not open USB device 0x1d6b/0x0002 at 003:001: Access denied (insufficient permissions)
  # No USB scanners found. If you expected something different, make sure that
  # you have loaded a kernel driver for your USB host controller and have setup
  # the USB system correctly. See man sane-usb for details.

  # Not checking for parallel port scanners.

  # Most Scanners connected to the parallel port or other proprietary ports
  # can't be detected by this program.

  # You may want to run this program as root to find all devices. Once you
  # found the scanner devices, be sure to adjust access permissions as
  # necessary.

sudo sane-find-scanner indicates

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  # sane-find-scanner will now attempt to detect your scanner. If the
  # result is different from what you expected, first make sure your
  # scanner is powered up and properly connected to your computer.

  # No SCSI scanners found. If you expected something different, make sure that
  # you have loaded a kernel SCSI driver for your SCSI adapter.

  # No USB scanners found. If you expected something different, make sure that
  # you have loaded a kernel driver for your USB host controller and have setup
  # the USB system correctly. See man sane-usb for details.

  # Not checking for parallel port scanners.

  # Most Scanners connected to the parallel port or other proprietary ports
  # can't be detected by this program.

In either case sane-find-scanner doesn't find the scanner. Does the difference indicate a permissions problem?

scanimage -L and sudo scanimage -L indicates

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device `gt68xx:libusb:003:002' is a Plustek OpticSlim M12 flatbed scanner

It seems to find the scanner but it misidentifies it. What I tried:
Modified gt68xx.conf to uncomment vendor and model.
Results: No Change (so I put gt68xx.conf back to the way it was)

Once again thanks for the help,
Stan

[pdc_2]

I think you need to talk directly to the folks here http://www.sane-project.org/man/sane-gt68xx.5.html as there are emails listed;

if that doesn't work, the sane-development lists are the place to go: again, at the bottom of the above link are email contacts for the sane-development lists;

[tanker001]

I may have to do that if no one else has any ideas.

One last question if I may. I may may need to create a new thread for it.

Like nvidia graphics cards, are there any scanner manufacturers that support Linux with their drivers?

While there is absolutely nothing wrong with the scanner itself, I'm not dead set against getting a new one that will work with Linux.

Thanks,
Stan

[pdc_2]

thanks Stan; several years ago we bought a second-hand CanoScan N650U http://www.sane-project.org/sane-mfgs.html#Z-CANON and it just works when you plug it in; it cost us the equivalent of about @US20 on an electronic trading forum here;

I did a quick check on ebay and there are many, many for $US20 or less ................ but the above list is for what works; so you can choose what you would wish