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Gnu/Linux scanners

Table of Contents

Methodological checklist for Debian-based GNU/Linux systems

Before deciding on the incompatibility of a scanner, always:

  1. Check that the user belongs to the scanner group
  2. Check that the software packages sane-utils and libsane-extras are installed in addition to the libsane package
  3. Check that the command scanimage -L (sane-utils package) returns a positive response
    1. If this command fails, check that the sane-find-scanner program (sane-utils package) detects a device connected to the computer, then download and install the official scanner driver provided by the manufacturer. Finally, restart scanimage -L
    2. If the answer is no for HP, follow the instructions of the command hp-check -r (hplip package) then repeat the previous tests
  4. Check that the scanner is recognized by the graphic program xsane (xsane package)
  5. If the scanner is recognized by xsane, the following simplified software could eventually work:
    • simple-scan (gnome)
    • Skanlite (KDE4)
    • hplip-gui (hplip-gui package) or hp-scan (hplip package) (HP scanner)
    • scanimage (Epson scanner)

Useful resources