Canon Network scanner. Scanimage works, SimpleScan does not.

carcamal · 12-23-2020, 04:48 PM

Hi!
I wonder if I should put this in a "newbie" subforum or in this "hardware" forum. I left linux ten years ago, when ubuntu started dominating the scene.

And here I am, returning to linux.

I have a Canon Pixma Mx350 network All-in-one printer and scanner. It is plugged to the network and to a windows computer.

I tried to print and scan with it. It prints ok, but scanning from simplescan or xcam returns an "invalid argument" error.

Also, when it is left some time, it keeps "turned on" (light is on) but indiscoverable by scanimage -L

But the main issue is that (assuming the scanner is not idle), scanimage from the console works (using the administrative user WITHOUT administrative rights, i.e. without 'sudo'), but simplescan and xcam do not work.

Code:

madrid@max10:/$ scanimage -L
device `pixma:MX340_192.168.1.39' is a CANON Canon PIXMA MX340 multi-function peripheral
madrid@max10:~$ scanimage -v > file.png
scanimage: scanning image of size 638x877 pixels at 24 bits/pixel
scanimage: acquiring RGB frame
scanimage: min/max graylevel value = 39/255
scanimage: read 1678578 bytes in total

administrative user is part of the "scanner" group.

Code:

madrid@max10:/$ groups
madrid adm dialout cdrom floppy sudo audio dip video plugdev lpadmin scanner sambashare vboxusers

EDIT: Suddenly, GUI frontends started working. But they stop in the middle of a scan.

I'm using a DVD-ROM live distro, Max 10. That could cause file writing problems. But my /var and /tmp folders have space.

Code:

madrid@max10:/$ df
S.ficheros     bloques de 1K  Usados Disponibles Uso% Montado en
udev                 1940764       0     1940764   0% /dev
tmpfs                 394600    2824      391776   1% /run
/dev/sr0             4594968 4594968           0 100% /cdrom
/dev/loop0           3668096 3668096           0 100% /rofs
/cow                 1972984  162568     1810416   9% /
tmpfs                1972984   52288     1920696   3% /dev/shm
tmpfs                   5120       4        5116   1% /run/lock
tmpfs                1972984       0     1972984   0% /sys/fs/cgroup
tmpfs                1972984     932     1972052   1% /tmp
tmpfs                 394596      56      394540   1% /run/user/999

I want help about what permissions should I touch and, also, about how to change the timeout threshold for the scanner, since I get some timeouts when I scan with scanimage.

computersavvy · 12-23-2020, 08:08 PM

A simple search for that printer model and linux returned this as the first link. http://canon.supportprinters.net/201...o-get-install/

Most printers any more have proprietary drivers for their scanners.

BTW, using a live image instead of an installed system will always lose anything you have downloaded or installed every time you reboot since you are running from a ramdisk.

ferrari · 12-24-2020, 01:00 AM

For network scanners, there is generally no need to belong to any particular group. With respect to the "invalid argument" error, that might be due to a configuration issue in the ~/.sane/xsane/ directory, so worth a shot to try...

Code:

rm -rf ~/.sane/xsane

and then try using 'simple-scan' or 'xsane' again.

ferrari · 12-24-2020, 01:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by computersavvy

A simple search for that printer model and linux returned this as the first link. http://canon.supportprinters.net/201...o-get-install/

Most printers any more have proprietary drivers for their scanners.

Since the OP reports success using the open-source SANE driver (at least with scanimage), best to stay with that. Although Canon do provide proprietary scanner drivers for some multi-function models, they're not compatible with SANE, and only work with the included scangearmp/scangearmp2 (GUI) front-ends.

computersavvy · 12-24-2020, 11:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ferrari

Since the OP reports success using the open-source SANE driver (at least with scanimage), best to stay with that. Although Canon do provide proprietary scanner drivers for some multi-function models, they're not compatible with SANE, and only work with the included scangearmp/scangearmp2 (GUI) front-ends.

I don't have a canon printer, but I seriously doubt that the driver provided by canon for use with linux would have problems with sane. Canon provides drivers for both windows and linux. The OP explicitly said "but simplescan and xcam do not work" in his initial post. Installing the canon drivers certainly would be worth a try in any case.

He also said that he was running on a live CDROM and that is confirmed by reading the information he posted. No matter what he does while it is still powered up the changes will disappear as soon as he reboots

ferrari · 12-24-2020, 01:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by computersavvy

I don't have a canon printer, but I seriously doubt that the driver provided by canon for use with linux would have problems with sane. Canon provides drivers for both windows and linux.

I've been assisting users with installing Canon printer and scanner drivers for years, so very familiar with configuring these. I can assure you that their proprietary scanner drivers (for Linux) are not SANE drivers. They only work with their own proprietary graphical frontend.

Quote:

The OP explicitly said "but simplescan and xcam do not work" in his initial post.

Agreed, but the OP also mentioned that scanimage is working as expected. This indicates that the
SANE 'pixma' backend is working. The other frontends (xsane and simple-scan) are having some kind of issue that will possibly be default-settings related.

Quote:

Installing the canon drivers certainly would be worth a try in any case.

Of course they may be tried, but that will preclude the use of xsane and simple-scan as already explained.

Quote:

He also said that he was running on a live CDROM and that is confirmed by reading the information he posted.

Yep, and that may well be impacting here perhaps.

Quote:

No matter what he does while it is still powered up the changes will disappear as soon as he reboots

Yes, of course.

carcamal · 12-24-2020, 02:36 PM

It seems the reply I posted was not posted.
The canon info page is Ok, but it seems to send you to a clickbait page that talks about a link for a tutorial that is not there.
Since all seemed to work, I did not search for specific Canon drivers. Most "manufacturer related" issues I saw told about hp and brother appliances. I have hp in my blacklist since 2005.

ferrari · 12-24-2020, 02:42 PM

Yes, that link is not an official Canon site anyway. As the MX350 is an old model, supported proprietary drivers may no longer exist.