Linux does not recocognise either of my scanners
 

I am trying to escape from MS Windows and have recently installed Debian 5.0.3 with GNOME.
Although mail, office, web browser and other software works, Xsane image processing will not detect either of my scanners;-
1 - Epson perfection 3490
2- Nikon Coolscan V ED

Both these scanners work on windows (installed on a separate PC) and the same USB ports will detect removable hard drives.

Also I cannot get the GUI to recognise me as the root user although I can sign in as root using the command line - this may or may not be connected.

I would be grateful for any clues anyone can give.

The Epsom scanner is know to work. See this link.

http://www.sane-project.org/sane-mfgs.html#Z-EPSON with this backend -->http://snapscan.sourceforge.net/

The Nikon -->http://www.sane-project.org/sane-mfgs.html#Z-NIKON

This site is the best place I have found for info on scanners. Looks like the best bet will be the Epsom for now.

Here is what I did to get my epson v300 working went to this link @ avasys.com for downloads scroll down, it has you select you scanner and distro

make sure:
in Ubuntu Jaunty I had to also install this dependency libltdl3 package. I am using an epson v300 I looked on the page at avasys and your scanner is supported. Good luck

I got the quote from user Jonam @ this link : http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1000341