[SOLVED] xsane rudely fails with floating point exception
 

Running xsane with an HP8250 ADF scanner for the last year or so, I today ran into a problem, which I have seen documented, but no solutions posted. I'm posting this so that someone experiencing something similar might benefit.

Xsane has been running the HP8250, however, the avision driver lacks code to properly deal with error conditions on the scanner. So things like paper jams cause "Error 15" and the only easy fix is to plug the scanner into a windows machine, and start up the wizard for scanning. No need to complete the wizard, as it sets up the scanner early. Then plug the USB back into the linux box. I've been running this way for a year or two, and need to do the above periodically, like after jams or power failures.

Today, when starting to scan, xsane died rudely with a floating point exception. I found that it could capture preview documents OK. Resetting with a windows machine didn't help. Eventually, I tried capturing with the windows machine, and that worked OK.

After pulling more hair, I reseated the USB in the back of the scanner. The problem went away.

I'm still perplexed, but thought I would pass this experience along.

BTW, this scanner, while not robustly implemented in the avision driver, is a great combination with xsane. It scans fast and xsane is a nice and useful package.

Awesome -thanks for sharing the info.