Subject: Linux-Development Digest #994
From: Digestifier <Linux-Development-Request@senator-bedfellow.MIT.EDU>
To: Linux-Development@senator-bedfellow.MIT.EDU
Reply-To: Linux-Development@senator-bedfellow.MIT.EDU
Date:     Sat, 6 Aug 94 11:13:05 EDT

Linux-Development Digest #994, Volume #1          Sat, 6 Aug 94 11:13:05 EDT

Contents:
  Re: Using rs232 control lines from program? (Rob Janssen)
  Re: threads in kernel (Rob Janssen)
  Re: Kernel change summary archive (Rob Janssen)
  Re: slow RAM above 16M as swap (Rob Janssen)
  Re: Linux backup of MSDOS? (Rob Janssen)
  Re: libc.so.4.5.24 error wiht execl() (Rob Janssen)
  [ANSWER] libc.so.4.5.24 error wiht execl() (Stephen Tweedie)
  SLIP packet queueing and IP tos (John Richardson)
  Re: Kernel change summary 1.1.19 -> 1.1.20 (Russell Nelson)
  Latest on SDL v.35 Driver (up to 56kb and higher) for Linux (Pete Kruckenberg)
  Q: Matrox MGA Support w/X? (Michael Teper)
  Postscript Interpreter (Erica Aleashia Ramsey)
  Re: SLIP packet queueing and IP tos (John Richardson)
  Stealth 64 work with X ??  (Peter Wassink)
  Re: SCSI scanner support ? (Scanner INFO-SHEET included) (Byron A Jeff)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: rob@pe1chl.ampr.org (Rob Janssen)
Subject: Re: Using rs232 control lines from program?
Reply-To: pe1chl@rabo.nl
Date: Sat, 6 Aug 1994 09:03:50 GMT

In <Cu33M8.GvH@ucdavis.edu> ez008579@dale.ucdavis.edu (Lynx man) writes:

>In article <Cu05zu.1Cz@pe1chl.ampr.org> you wrote:

>[...]

>: Check the TIOCMBIC and TIOCMBIS ioctl's, e.g.:

>:         int arg,fd;

>:         arg = TIOCM_RTS;
>:      ioctl(fd,TIOCMBIS,&arg);                /* RTS ON */

>:         ...

>:         arg = TIOCM_RTS;
>:      ioctl(fd,TIOCMBIC,&arg);                /* RTS OFF */

>Thanks.  Just after I posted I discovered /usr/include/linux/termios.h
>and reread the ioctl man page for the fortieth time and did just that.
>I actually did a TIOCMGET, masked out the TIOCM_RTS bit, then a
>TIOCMSET, as in (abridged):

>       int arg,fd;

>       ioctl (fd, TIOCMSET, &arg);          /* get current state */
                        ^GET?
>       arg &= ~TIOCM_RTS;                   /* clear RTS */
>       ioctl (fd, TIOCMSET, &arg);          /* do it */
>       arg |= TIOCM_RTS;                    /* set RTS */
>       ioctl (fd, TIOCMSET, &arg);          /* do it */

Please note that this is not a good idea when other things may also
manipulate the lines.
(e.g. you could foul up RTS/CTS flow control when you manipulate DTR)

The BIS/BIC ioctls are easpecially made to change the single bit atomically.

Rob
-- 
=========================================================================
| Rob Janssen                | AMPRnet:   rob@pe1chl.ampr.org           |
| e-mail: pe1chl@rabo.nl     | AX.25 BBS: PE1CHL@PI8UTR.#UTR.NLD.EU     |
=========================================================================

------------------------------

From: rob@pe1chl.ampr.org (Rob Janssen)
Subject: Re: threads in kernel
Reply-To: pe1chl@rabo.nl
Date: Sat, 6 Aug 1994 09:05:31 GMT

In <31qgl5$nfl@news.u.washington.edu> tzs@u.washington.edu (Tim Smith) writes:

>Matthias Urlichs <urlichs@smurf.noris.de> wrote:
>>A new stack at the same location means that you can't put things on the
>>stack if any other thread might need them. Ugly.

>Give each stack its own location, and also double map the current stack
>into a fixed location.  The current thread/clone/whatever runs using the
>fixed location, but can access the stacks of the others.

Given the heavy use of pointers in the C language, that is no good.

Rob
-- 
=========================================================================
| Rob Janssen                | AMPRnet:   rob@pe1chl.ampr.org           |
| e-mail: pe1chl@rabo.nl     | AX.25 BBS: PE1CHL@PI8UTR.#UTR.NLD.EU     |
=========================================================================

------------------------------

From: rob@pe1chl.ampr.org (Rob Janssen)
Subject: Re: Kernel change summary archive
Reply-To: pe1chl@rabo.nl
Date: Sat, 6 Aug 1994 09:07:27 GMT

In <NELSON.94Aug4075125@crynwr.crynwr.com> nelson@crynwr.crynwr.com (Russell Nelson) writes:

>I've uploaded all my kernel change summaries (from 1.1.13 on) to
>ftp://ftp.emlist.com/pub/kchanges.

Great!
I think it is a good idea to include the location in one of the FAQs...

Rob
-- 
=========================================================================
| Rob Janssen                | AMPRnet:   rob@pe1chl.ampr.org           |
| e-mail: pe1chl@rabo.nl     | AX.25 BBS: PE1CHL@PI8UTR.#UTR.NLD.EU     |
=========================================================================

------------------------------

From: rob@pe1chl.ampr.org (Rob Janssen)
Subject: Re: slow RAM above 16M as swap
Reply-To: pe1chl@rabo.nl
Date: Sat, 6 Aug 1994 09:43:15 GMT

In <31tepf$5ke@sun1000.ci.pwr.wroc.pl> stud37@sun1000.ci.pwr.wroc.pl (laboratorium dydaktyczne) writes:

>Recently I read (in comp.os.linux.admin) that some (broken)
>motherboards don't cache the RAM above 16MB. This results
>in system slowing down after upgrading from 16M to, say,
>32M. The use of slow RAM above 16M can be disabled, but
>the unused RAM is $$$... Just an (hopefully interesting)
>idea: why not make the disabled RAM available as a special
>file (device)? This device might be used as the first,
>very fast swap area, faster than any hard disk. This would
>greatly increase the system performance on those broken
>motherboards with >16M RAM. What do you think about that?
>I am not (yet) a kernel hacker, but maybe there is someone
>who would like this idea and do this?

It should not be difficult to use the extra RAM as a ramdisk, and then
you can use it for whatever purpose you like (including swapping).

I think a patch to do this has appeared, but it was quite some time
ago...  No idea where it went.

Rob
-- 
=========================================================================
| Rob Janssen                | AMPRnet:   rob@pe1chl.ampr.org           |
| e-mail: pe1chl@rabo.nl     | AX.25 BBS: PE1CHL@PI8UTR.#UTR.NLD.EU     |
=========================================================================

------------------------------

From: rob@pe1chl.ampr.org (Rob Janssen)
Subject: Re: Linux backup of MSDOS?
Reply-To: pe1chl@rabo.nl
Date: Sat, 6 Aug 1994 09:48:38 GMT

In <31tn92$231@newsserv.cs.sunysb.edu> vassili@cs.sunysb.edu (Vassili Leonov) writes:

>I don't quite get the point of the discussion. I normally use
>tar cvf /dev/rmt0 /msdos
>where msdos is my msdos partition mounted. And it does the job!

Well...  sort of.
It does not preserve "system" and "hidden" attributes of files when
you restore them.  The amount of trouble this gives will depend on the
particular programs you have on your system, but at least the "MSDOS.SYS"
and "IO.SYS" files in the root directory will be wrong after a restore.

Rob
-- 
=========================================================================
| Rob Janssen                | AMPRnet:   rob@pe1chl.ampr.org           |
| e-mail: pe1chl@rabo.nl     | AX.25 BBS: PE1CHL@PI8UTR.#UTR.NLD.EU     |
=========================================================================

------------------------------

From: rob@pe1chl.ampr.org (Rob Janssen)
Subject: Re: libc.so.4.5.24 error wiht execl()
Reply-To: pe1chl@rabo.nl
Date: Sat, 6 Aug 1994 09:50:19 GMT

In <31to6g$290@gnu.mat.uc.pt> arsenio@myhost.subdomain.domain () writes:

>Hi, i'm building an aplication in C using gcc and libc.4.5.24, everything
>works great, the only problem i have is that i can't use execl() function,
>it just writes 
>               "libc.so.4 (DLL Jump 4.5pl24) => /lib/libc.so.4.5.24"
>and exit. Any help in how to solve this problem is wellcome.

Carefully read the manual entry for execl() and correct your program to
pass the right arguments to it.  It looks like argc is 0.

Rob
-- 
=========================================================================
| Rob Janssen                | AMPRnet:   rob@pe1chl.ampr.org           |
| e-mail: pe1chl@rabo.nl     | AX.25 BBS: PE1CHL@PI8UTR.#UTR.NLD.EU     |
=========================================================================

------------------------------

From: sct@dcs.ed.ac.uk (Stephen Tweedie)
Subject: [ANSWER] libc.so.4.5.24 error wiht execl()
Date: Sat, 6 Aug 1994 01:03:05 GMT

Hi,

<arsenio@myhost.subdomain.domain> writes:

> Hi, i'm building an aplication in C using gcc and libc.4.5.24,
> everything works great, the only problem i have is that i can't use
> execl() function, it just writes "libc.so.4 (DLL Jump 4.5pl24) =>
> /lib/libc.so.4.5.24" and exit. Any help in how to solve this problem
> is wellcome.

You have to supply *at least* two arguments to execl.  The first is
the binary's pathname, and the second is the first of the arguments
you are passing --- normally, this will be name of the binary.

The "ldd" program interrogates the shared libraries which a binary is
linked against.  It works by calling the binary with an illegal empty
argument list.  That's why you are getting the library names in your
output.

Cheers,
 Stephen.
---
Stephen Tweedie <sct@dcs.ed.ac.uk>   (JANET: sct@uk.ac.ed.dcs)
Department of Computer Science, Edinburgh University, Scotland.


------------------------------

From: jrichard@remus.uml.edu (John Richardson)
Subject: SLIP packet queueing and IP tos
Date: 6 Aug 1994 12:35:04 GMT

Does the linux SLIP driver or the kernel reorder packets to the SLIP
interface based on the tos in the IP header?  I seached around in the
source but couldn't find anything like this.  It sounds like an easy
project, I was thinking of doing it if someone hasn't already started...

John Richardson
jrichard@cs.uml.edu

------------------------------

From: nelson@crynwr.crynwr.com (Russell Nelson)
Subject: Re: Kernel change summary 1.1.19 -> 1.1.20
Date: 06 Aug 1994 04:16:06 GMT

In article <31rbnj$608@Times.Stanford.EDU> lm@stanford.edu (Larry McVoy) writes:

   Russell Nelson (nelson@crynwr.crynwr.com) wrote:

   : Load balancing support marked as "experimental" instead of "very
   :experimental"

   I'm interested in the load balancing stuff.  Can someone point me
   at the code?  Or any docs? Or a readme?  I grepped through the
   kernel source in 1.1.35 and couldn't find anything.

I don't think it's *that* kind of load balancing.  It seems to be
related to the Ethernet device queues.

--
-russ <nelson@crynwr.com>    http://www.crynwr.com/crynwr/nelson.html
Crynwr Software   | Crynwr Software sells packet driver support | ask4 PGP key
11 Grant St.      | +1 315 268 1925 (9201 FAX)  | What is thee doing about it?
Potsdam, NY 13676 | LPF member - ask me about the harm software patents do.

------------------------------

From: kruckenb@sal.cs.utah.edu (Pete Kruckenberg)
Subject: Latest on SDL v.35 Driver (up to 56kb and higher) for Linux
Date: 5 Aug 1994 21:35:59 GMT

For those of you who have been following my quest to get a v.35 board
for Linux, here's the latest update. SDL, the company I've been
working with for a few months now to help them find a programmer to
write a driver, finally found one. He's working on a 56kb driver,
expected in a few weeks. Next will be a T1 driver. The board itself
has been tested up to 8Mbps per port (two ports) in a machine-machine
connection, so it can easily handle T1 and higher speeds.

Again, if you're interested in the boards, contact SDL at
sdl@world.std.com, or ftp to ftp.std.com and get the files
/pub/sdl/n2/*. 

As I understand it, this first 56kb driver is actually for the RS-232
version of the board, so there will be yet another intelligent serial
board available for Linux.

Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with SDL (in fact, as it turns out,
I won't even be buying their product, because our Internet provider
will be connecting us by Ethernet rather than T1!), so I'm providing
this information simply as a public announcement to the Linux
community. I'm not endorsing SDL's products (especially since I
haven't even seen them). Buy at your own risk.

--
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Pete Kruckenberg                       School: kruckenb@sal.cs.utah.edu
  University of Utah                       Work: pete@dswi.com
  Computer Engineering    For even more addresses, "finger pete@dswi.com"

------------------------------

From: Michael Teper <mt3q+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: Q: Matrox MGA Support w/X?
Date: Fri,  5 Aug 1994 00:49:20 -0400

I would like to know whether theire is any work being done to include
support for Matrox MGA based video cards to X (XFree86).

If not, how hard is it (time commitment, past experience) to write a new
X server?  Would I be able to use ANY sort of X support (plain VGA)?


Has anyone attempted to get the specs from Matrox or should I be the first ?



=========================================================================
+  Michael Teper        | Member: TeamOS/2                              +
+  nuvision@cmu.edu     | NuVision Technologies                         +
+  mt3q@andrew.cmu.edu  |                    - The Vision of the Future +
=========================================================================

------------------------------

From: cs753@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Erica Aleashia Ramsey)
Subject: Postscript Interpreter
Date: 5 Aug 1994 21:21:40 GMT
Reply-To: cs753@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Erica Aleashia Ramsey)


Hello, could someone out there PLEASE send me the source for a postscript
interpreter??? I'd be very thankfull. 

ps: I don't have access to ftp/telnet or ftpmail! :~~~(


------------------------------

From: jrichard@cs.uml.edu (John Richardson)
Subject: Re: SLIP packet queueing and IP tos
Date: 6 Aug 1994 14:08:23 GMT

Just a quick follow up... after looking more carefully though slip.c 
I noticed there isn't a packet queue!  Could be hard to order a
queue that doesn't exist... :)


In article <32001o$q34@ulowell.uml.edu>,
John Richardson <jrichard@remus.uml.edu> wrote:
>Does the linux SLIP driver or the kernel reorder packets to the SLIP
>interface based on the tos in the IP header?  I seached around in the
>source but couldn't find anything like this.  It sounds like an easy
>project, I was thinking of doing it if someone hasn't already started...
>
>John Richardson
>jrichard@cs.uml.edu



------------------------------

From: pwassink@knoware.nl (Peter Wassink)
Subject: Stealth 64 work with X ?? 
Date: Sat, 6 Aug 1994 00:39:17 GMT

Hello ,

Thanks for Reading this mail, 

I was using Linux for all kinds of purposes, and did some xview programming on 
it , to improve performance i did buy "the fastest one affordable around" .
But .............

I was not able to get any server running on it exept the GENERIC one.
that seems to work but does not use any of the built in accelerators or the 
whole 2 Meg, memory and so on .

So i'am still desperately seeking a workable driver  and this area might be 
the right one i guess..

Hope to hear from anyone the great news , (I've got it >>>) or so .

Thanks again from : Pwassink@charm.mis.gandalf.ca  OR
th adress mentioned above ..



------------------------------

From: byron@gemini.cc.gatech.edu (Byron A Jeff)
Subject: Re: SCSI scanner support ? (Scanner INFO-SHEET included)
Date: 5 Aug 1994 00:43:54 GMT

In article <root.775884089@markus>,
Mark K Vallevand <root@markus.rsvl.unisys.com> wrote:
>Is there any support for SCSI scanners?  Drivers, apps?  Inquiring minds, etc.

Nope. Nope. and Nope.

If you do find out anything, let me know. I'm maintaining a Scanner Info-Sheet
which is attached below.

If anyone has any new information please let me know.

BAJ

LINUX SCANNER INFO SHEET

[This is an editorial comment. I'll have a scattering of these in the document.
These are my own personal comments - BAJ ]

1.0 INTRODUCTION
================
Scanner drivers for Linux seem to be few and far between. In addition
documentation for the software is non existant. This document attemps to 
describe the available information about scanners for Linux and propose some 
directions for future development.

The current editor of this document is Byron A. Jeff. I can be reached at
byron@cc.gatech.edu.

1.1 The misconception of TWAIN compliancy
=========================================
One of the comments I often see is "If we write a TWAIN driver then all
scanners will work..." Unfortunately this is an incorrect assertion. TWAIN
is a standard that the scanner manufacurers came up with to provide a
common, standard interface between their scanners and the DOS/Windows
applications that use them. Quick Picture:

###################-----------------------------------------
# DOS/WINDOWS APP #
# PhotoShop or    # This is the application. it can function
# PhotoStylers or # with different manufacturers scanners
# OCR.            # because of the TWAIN interface on the
#-----------------# bottom edge.
# TWAIN interface #
# Application     #
# Side            #
###################-----------------------------------------
# TWAIN interface # This is the software driver that comes
# Driver Side     # with the scanner. It has a TWAIN interface
#-----------------# on the top end so that it can mate with
# Hardware Driver # different applications. Each hardware driver is different.
###################-----------------------------------------
# Scanner Card    #
################### This is the scanner hardware.
#    Scanner      #
###################

The problem for us Linux folks is twofold:

1) We really don't have any DOS/Windows applications we can run. 
2) For each scanner a different Hardware Driver must be written
   and the hard specifications for that scanner must be available to
   accomplish this task.
  
So TWAIN doesn't buy us anything in terms of getting a single driver to
run all scanners.

2.0 CURRENTLY AVAILABLE
=============================
[ Instead of writing about currently available stuff I'll just put the
post where I've seen it. If anyone has updated information, let me know.]

2.1 GS4500 Scanner

>From jem@sunSITE.unc.edu Sun Dec 12 17:33:43 EST 1993
From: jem@sunSITE.unc.edu (Jonathan Magid)
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.misc
Subject: Re: [Q] Scanner software ?
Date: 9 Dec 1993 05:34:36 GMT
Organization: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill


There is a driver for scanners built on the GS4500 chip-set.. It can be
found at:

<file://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/kernel/misc-patches/scanner-1.0.tar.gz>

Here is the lsm:


Begin2
Title        = Scanner driver for GS4500 and lookalikes
Version      = 1.0
Desc1        = Provides support for using GS4500 class hand
Desc2        = scanners with Linux.
Author       = Richard Lyons
AuthorEmail  = pclink@qld.npb.telecom.com.au
Maintainer   = Richard Lyons
MaintEmail   = pclink@qld.npb.telecom.com.au
Site1        =
Path1        =
File1        = scanner-1.0.tar.gz
FileSize1    = 4426
Required1    = GS4500 B&W hand scanner or workalike.
CopyPolicy1  = Freely distributable with acknowledgement of author.
Keywords     = scanner GS4500
Comment1     = Suggestions welcome.  Support for other scanners
Comment2     = particularly welcome.
Entered      = 25OCT93
EnteredBy    = Richard Lyons
CheckedEmail = pclink@qld.npb.telecom.com.au
End


[ I need to know exactly the brand names of scanners that work with this 
driver. Also I need to know the type (flattop/handheld), resolution, speed,
and #of colors for each. One section of this will have a list of available
scanners. Prices and places selling them might also be useful. ]

2.2 Mustek Scanners

Subject: ANNOUNCE: scan-driver-0.1.4 available! 

Hi Linuxers!

The subject says it all:

        scan-driver-0.1.4.tar.gz is available!

[ I just checked sunsite (6/25/94) and it's up to 0.1.8. 
  All drivers can be found in /pub/Linux/kernel/patches/scanner ]

It's a Linux device driver for Mustek M-105 handheld halftone scanners
and lookalikes. Included in the package is a simple (S)VGAlib-based demo
and a 5-line-script to create a portable bitmap file from the scanned
image. I hope you enjoy it!

Here is the LSM entry:

Begin2
Title        = M105 handheld scanner driver
Version      = 0.1.4
Desc1        = Character device driver for M105 handheld scanner
Desc2        = and lookalikes. 
Author       = Thomas Faehnle
AuthorEmail  = s_faehnle@rzmain.rz.uni-ulm.de
Maintainer   = Thomas Faehnle
MaintEmail   = s_faehnle@rzmain.rz.uni-ulm.de
Site1        = oracle.rz.uni-ulm.de
Path1        = /pub/linux/ulm
File1        = scan-driver-0.1.4.tar.gz
FileSize1    = 10378
Site2        = sunsite.unc.edu
Path2        = /pub/Linux/Incoming
File2        = scan-driver-0.1.4.tar.gz
FileSize2    = 10378
Site3        = tsx-11.mit.edu
Path3        = /pub/linux/ALPHA/scanner
File3        = scan-driver-0.1.4.tar.gz
FileSize3    = 10378
Required1    = M105 scanner or clone with GI1904 interface
CopyPolicy1  = GPL
Keywords     = M105 scanner device driver GI1904 interface 
RelFiles2    = scandemo -- a (S)VGAlib-based demo
RelFiles3    = scan.sh -- script to scan into a pbm file
Entered      = 11.03.1994
EnteredBy    = Thomas Faehnle
CheckedEmail = s_faehnle@rzmain.rz.uni-ulm.de
End



Charlie Brady * (W) charlieb@tplrd.tpl.oz.au * (H) charlieb@budge.apana.org.au
"Make it as simple as possible - | Tel: (02) 413 6838 ____Telectronics__| /\__
  but no simpler"   Einstein, A  | Fax: (02) 413 6060 Pacing Systems    \/  

2.3 AC4096 0.1 - a scanner driver for the A4 Tech AC4096 color scanner 

From beck@informatik.hu-berlin.de Thu Aug  4 20:22:35 EDT 1994
Article: 2608 of comp.os.linux.announce
From: Michael Beck <beck@informatik.hu-berlin.de>
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.announce
Subject: scanner driver for the A4 Tech AC 4096
Followup-To: comp.os.linux.misc
Date: 30 Jul 1994 02:07:19 +0300
Organization: ?
Lines: 44
Sender: wirzeniu@cc.Helsinki.FI
Approved: linux-announce@tc.cornell.edu (Lars Wirzenius)
Message-ID: <31c237$nh7@kruuna.Helsinki.FI>
NNTP-Posting-Host: kruuna.helsinki.fi
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
Keywords: scanner, driver

AC4096 0.1 - a scanner driver for the A4 Tech AC4096 color scanner 

This is the 1st release of a scanner driver for the A4 Tech AC4096
scanner. It's now avaible at

ftp.informatik.hu-berlin.de  pub/os/linux/hu-contrib/ac4096.tgz

This driver is compatible with the logi32 and m105 scanner drivers,
ie it uses the same ioctl interface.

It is accompanied by a small demo program called gifscan which will
enable you to save your scannings in the popular gif-format.

If you find any bugs in there, please report them to me.

Here is the lsm file

Begin2
Title        =Driver for the A4 Tech handheld color scanner AC4096
Version      =0.1
Desc1        =DMA driven scanner driver, supports true color and
Desc2        =emulated grey and mono modes
Author       =Michael Beck
AuthorEmail  =beck@informatik.hu-berlin.de
Maintainer   =Michael Beck
MaintEmail   =beck@informatik.hu-berlin.de
Site1        =ftp.informatik.hu-berlin.de
Path1        =pub/os/linux/hu-contrib/
File1        =ac4096.tgz
FileSize1    =26653
Required1    =modutils, A4 Tech AC4096 scanner
CopyPolicy1  =GNU copyleft
Keywords     =scanner AC4096
Comment1     =compatible with the logi32 and m105 scanner drivers
Comment2     =
EnteredBy    =Michael Beck
End

-- 
  Michael Beck               beck@informatik.hu-berlin.de


3.0 CURRENT DEVELOPMENT
===================
[Again for now I'll just copy the posts I've seen. This is primarily Dr.
G.W. Wettstein's work. I haven't heard from him since December 1993 so I
don't know the status. Perhaps he can send me an update.]


Article: 2674 of comp.os.linux.development
Organization: North Dakota Higher Education Computer Network
Date: Thu, 11 Nov 1993 09:25:07 CST
From: Greg Wettstein 
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.development
Subject: Re: Scaner ?

I am embroiled in the middle of such a project right now.  My current
work is to develop an image processing/storage system for our corporate
Linux network.  I vended a Fujitsu scanner for this project and it is
sitting at home right now, connected to my Linux box there.

The Fujitsu scanner conforms to the SCSI-2 standard for scanners.  I
bought the technical documentation for it and it too is sitting at
home.  I currently have the basics of a driver for it built on top
of 0.99.13.  The driver currently only implements some selected ioctl's
and the basic framework for read etc.  It is not currently capable
of really scanning a document.  Finishing this is on an absolutely
high priority so the next month or so should bring this to fruition.

I would like to donate the driver back to the Linus for inclusion into
the official kernel sources.  I do not know how much appetite there is
for this type of thing but rumor has it that scanners are not well
supported (at least SCSI-2) in the desktop UNIX market.  Perhaps Linux
can be a leader there as well.

I am not sure what type of interface that the HP machine uses.  We
considered vending one of their scanners but the technical support people
were a little bit baucky about giving out interface and programming
details.  We chose the Fujitsu because it was one of the few that
seemed to support SCSI-2.

I will let everyone know when the driver is capable of doing things more
intelligent that it does now.  I would be interested in hearing from
other's who have similar interests or projects in progress.  E-mail
to the address in my .sig is probably preferable to referring to the
e-mail address in the newspost.  This machine is only used for reading
news.

As always,
Dr. G.W. Wettstein           Oncology Research Div. Computing Facility
Roger Maris Cancer Center    UUCP:  uunet!plains!wind!greg
Fargo, ND  58122             INTERNET: greg%wind.UUCP@plains.nodak.edu
Phone: 701-234-2833
============================================

4.0 POSSIBLE FUTURE DEVELOPMENT

4.1 Epson Scanners
[ OK this is my own personal baby. I don't have time to work on it now.
  with the permission of the author and a hookup with me maybe someone
  else can pick up the ball. ]

Terry Gliedt has written a scanner driver for the Epson series of scanners.
While the code is specifically targeted for the 300C it'll likely work
with the other models (600C and 800C). But more importantly Epson has the 
programming specs for the devices available. Here is the info:

References:
  "Epson Color-Monochrome Image Scanners ES-300C Programmers Guide"
  (X-ES300C-P) available from Epson at 1-800-922-8911 for $7.50.

I have the code. It was written for the NeXT. I'm not sure about distribution
and one of the copyrights specifically states that it can't be modified
without the consent of the author. 

However if it can be ported then we'll have another class of pretty good 
scanners to work with.

[Update: One day I finally got around to playing with it. The code compiled
         with a little massaging. But of course it's looking for the 
         underlaying driver. I still have plans to purchase a 600C and write
         the driver but it'll be fall at the earilest. ]

4.2 Desperate? Internetworking with DOS machines.
=======================================

Another faster way of getting a scanner working is to use the scanner software
in the native DOS environment and then transfer images to the Linux box.
For example I have access to a BJ10 color scanner/printer that I can't
even explain what I want to do to their tech folks much less get technical 
specs.  However they do have a test program than scans in an image. It is 
involked from the DOS command line. So a possible scenario might be:

1) Drop the scanner and ethernet card in a second machine running DOS.
2) Get a copy of Wattcp and NFS along with a packet driver and PKTMUX. 
   These are all freeware/shareware products available via ftp.
3) Set up the DOS box with the software so that you can mount Linux directories
   and so that the Linux box can telnet to the Linux box (using telnetd, a 
   program in the Wattcp package on the DOS box.)
4) Ok. Now the linux box can send commands to the dos box using telnet.
   The linux box tells the dos box to do a scan. The destination for
   the scan file will be a file on the NFS drive. So once the scan is complete
   the scanned image is sitting on the Linux box ready to be processed.

This can work for any scanner that has a DOS scanner command. It may be
possible to write an app for windows - but I don't know Windows.

[  Send me your suggestions and information. Send commentary. Send
error corrections. Send anything about scanners. Later, BAJ]
-- 
Another random extraction from the mental bit stream of...
Byron A. Jeff - PhD student operating in parallel - And Using Linux!
Georgia Tech, Atlanta GA 30332   Internet: byron@cc.gatech.edu


-- 
Another random extraction from the mental bit stream of...
Byron A. Jeff - PhD student operating in parallel - And Using Linux!
Georgia Tech, Atlanta GA 30332   Internet: byron@cc.gatech.edu

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