Plustek parallel-port scanner driver for SANE
=============================================

Version 0.45 - 10-04-2002   Gerhard Jaeger <gerhard@gjaeger.de>

NOTE:
-----

THE DRIVER CODE FOUND IN THIS DIRECTORY IS NOT NEEDED TO RUN THE
USB DEVICES. IT IS ONLY NEEDED FOR THE PARALLEL PORT DEVICES.
--> see PLUSTEK-USB.TXT for further information <---

0. Contents
-----------

1. Preliminary					- Some words about the development
3. Installation 				- how to install
4. "SANE-1.0.3 and higher" Users
5. Additional Info
6. Known Bugs and restrictions  - nothing more to say
7. Saying Thank you				- there we do it





1. Preliminary
--------------

This driver was build on a SuSE 6.1 i386 system, kernel version 2.2.5,
using sane-1.0.1.If you get an error to the effect that it can't
find modversions.h then you are probably using a different distribution
that has placed this file in a spot that is not consistent with the Makefile.
It has also been tested on a SuSE 6.4, kernel version 2.2.14/16 and
different sane versions beginning with 1.0.1. Current Test-Platform is
a SuSE 7.1 with Kernels 2.2.19 and 2.4.18.

The driver has been tested on the following models:
OpticPro PT12
OpticPro A3I
OpticPro 12000T
OpticPro 9636T
OpticPro 9636P Turbo
OpticPro 9630P
OpticPro 4830P
OpticPro 9636P                 (by Michael Hofmann)
OpticPro 9630PL	               (by Mark Sutton)
OpticPro 96000P                (by Daniel Seifert)
OpticPro 12000P                (by Florent Capdeville)
OpticPro 1236P                 (by Thierry Itty)
OpticPro 9600P                 (by Pascal Freko)
OpticPro 4831P                 (by Diego Salgado S. and Gustavo D. Vranjes)
OpticPro 6000P                 (by Christian Noack)
OpticPro 600P                  (by Michael H.)
OpticPro 4800P                 (by Nathan Stenzel and Rob C.)
Primax 4800 Direct             (by Giorgio Agrelli)
Primax Compact 9600 Direct     (by Georgy Salnikov)
Aries Scan-It Pro 4800         (by Pieter Meiring)
BrightScan OpticPro            (by Leonardo Monteiro Barbosa Lima)
Genius Colorpage Vivid III V2  (by Santiago Capel Torres and Andreas Funke)

This driver is based on the 0.27 version written by Rick Bronson and
source code that was graciously donated to us by Plustek, Inc.

Scan Plus Color 6000 & Color Scan 6000 are sheet feed scanners.
These are older types and there is firmware inside them.
These require an API which is different from the implemented one.

CAUTION:   If you ever get a segfault from running the driver you
will need to reboot, if you try to load it again after segfaulting it
may lock your machine up and you will have to power cycle.
If you get an I/O error during scanning, close you application,
unload the driver and switch off the scanner and vice versa.

CAUTION:   If you ever hear a strange noise and the sensor hits
the scanbed, immediately switch off the scanner.


Here are the models of the scanners:
------------------------------------

 Scanner Model                  ASIC            Resolution  Supported?

 OpticPro PT12/P12              98003   36bit   600x1200    YES

 OpticPro P8                    98003   36bit   300x600     NO*
                           		
 OpticPro 9636T/12000T          98001   36bit   600x1200    YES

 OpticPro 9636P+/Turbo          98001   36bit   600x1200    YES

 OpticPro 12000P Turbo/FBIVP    98001   36bit   600x1200    YES**

 OpticPro 9636P                 98001   36bit   600x1200    YES
					
 OpticPro A3I                   96003   36bit   400x800     YES
                          		
 OpticPro 12000P/96000P/FBIV    96003   30bit   600x1200    YES

 OpticPro 1236P                 96003   30bit   600x1200    YES

 OpticPro 9600P                 96003   30bit   600x1200    YES

 OpticPro 9630P/FBIV            96003   30bit   600x1200    YES
                           		
 OpticPro 9630PL (Legal 14")    96003   30bit   600x1200    YES

 OpticPro 4831P                 96003   30bit   300x600     YES
                           		
 OpticPro 600P/6000P            96003   30bit   300x600     YES

 OpticPro 4830P/FBIII           96003   30bit   300x600     YES
                           		
 OpticPro 4800P/FBII            96001   24bit   300x600     YES

 Primax Colorado 4800           96001   24bit   300x600     same as OP4800*

 Primax Compact 4800 Direct     96003   24bit   300x600     with PrimaxSwitch

 Primax Compact 4800 Direct-30  96003   30bit   300x600     same as OP4830*

 Primax Compact 9600 Direct-30  96003   30bit   600x1200    YES, same as OP9630

 Aries San-It Pro 4800          96003   30bit   300x600     with PrimaxSwitch

 Genius Colorpage Vivid III V2  98003   36bit   600x1200    YES

 Genius Colorpage Vivid Pro II  98001   36bit   600x1200    YES

 Spectra 1200/ Color Scan 6000	92001   ??      ??          NO


*Not tested

**As these models also use the 98001 Asic, they should work with the driver
  This has to be tested...

The other Plustek models OpticPro 19200S (SCSI) and OpticPro 1212U are not
supported by this driver.
The SCSI model is supported by the Artec backend.


2. Installation
---------------

	See file INSTALL (INSTALL.GER for german users)

3. "SANE-1.0.3 and higher" Users
--------------------------------

	See extra section in INSTALL file

    The table shows which module code will work with which
    precompiled SANE-package:

    plustek-module-0.xx  | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 |
   ----------------------------------------------------------
    SANE-1.0.3           | OK | NO | NO | NO | NO | NO | NO |
   ----------------------------------------------------------
    SANE-1.0.4           | NO | OK | OK | OK | OK | NO | NO |
   ----------------------------------------------------------
    SANE-1.0.5           | NO | OK | OK | OK | OK | NO | NO |
   ----------------------------------------------------------
    SANE-1.0.6           | NO | OK | OK | OK | OK | NO | NO |
   ----------------------------------------------------------
    SANE-1.0.7           | NO | NO | NO | NO | NO | OK | NO |
   ----------------------------------------------------------
    SANE-1.0.8           | NO | NO | NO | NO | NO | OK | OK |



4. Additional Info
------------------

Within the code you will find some check-marks - they have the following
meaning:

CHANGE   - changes according to the original code
CHECK    - recheck that against the original code
DEBUG    - used for debugging
WORK     - some work has to be done on that part
TEST	 - formerly test code of Rick


5. Known Bugs and restrictions
------------------------------

- The Halftoning works, but the quality is poor (I need dither maps !)
- The scanned images seem to be too dark (P9636T)
- The 300dpi transparent mode will not work correctly
- The ASIC 96001/3 based models will not work correctly. Under heavy system load
  it is possible, that the pictures are corrupted.
- Printers (especially HP models) will start to print during scanning
  This in fact is a problem to other printers too, using bidirectional protocol
  (see www.plustek.com (TAIWAN) page for further details)
- The driver does not support these manic scalings up to 16 times the physical
  resolution. The only scaling is done on resolutions between the physical
  resolution of the CDD-sensor and the stepper motor i.e. you have a 600x1200dpi
  scanner and youre scanning using 800dpi, so scaling is necesary, because the
  sensor only delivers 600dpi but the motor is capable to 
  perform 800dpi steps.
- The scan-speed for ASIC96003 based models with 600x1200 dpi resolution is
  slower than under Windoze
- Some devices seems to produce pictures with a bluish teint
- The A3I scan quality is poor
- Connected printers sometimes avoid proper functionality
- The IEEE1248 support of the linux kernel causes some trouble (scanner is
  not recognized)
- The auto-detection of the parport modi does sometimes not work.
  (as workaround, use the switches slowIO and forceMode - version 0.39 and up)


6. Saying Thank you
-------------------

Many thanks for all of the help I've gotten on this including but not
limited to:

Mr. Preine and Mr. Bittner from Plustek Germany for sending me the test-devices

Kevin Sisson       <kjsisson@bellsouth.net>        For testing and improvment of
                                                   the parport-interface code
Rick Bronson       <rick@viclink.com>              Base implementation
Alejandro Imass    <aimass@css.net-a1>             for providing the HOWTO
Mark Sutton        <mes@capelazoo.com>             for his help and feedback
                                                   for 9630PL
Giorgio Agrelli    <giorgio_a@inwind.it>           for the Primax 4800 Direct 
                                                   tests and the italian HOWTO
Michael Herder     <hm-m@gmx.net>                  for OpticPro 600P tests and
                                                   various patches
Christian Noack    <Christian.Noack@daedalos.com>  for OpticPro 6000P tests and
                                                   feedback
Diego Salgado S.   <diego@underground.cl>          for OpticPro 4831P tests and
                                                   feedback
Gustavo D. Vranjes <gvranjes@abaconet.com.ar>      for OpticPro 4831P tests and
                                                   feedback
Nathan Stenzel     <nathanjs@csj.net>              for OpticPro 4800P tests and
                                                   feedback
Rob Castro         <robbiecastro@hotmail.com>      for OpticPro 4800P tests and
                                                   feedback
Florent Capdeville <fcapdeville@mail.dotcom.fr>    for OpticPro 12000P tests and
                                                   feedback
Michael Hofmann    <westbound@gmx.net>             for OpticPro 9636P tests and 
                                                   feedback
Thierry Itty       <thierry.itty@besacon.org>      for OpticPro 1236P tests and
                                                   feedback
Pascal Freko       <Pascal.Freko@epost.de>         for OpticPro 9600P tests and
                                                   feedback
Daniel Seifert     <dseifert@gmx.de>               for lending me his 
                                                   OpticPro96000P
Pieter Meiring <pieter.meiring@libertysurf.co.uk>  for Aries Scan-It tests and
                                                   feedback
Georgy Salnikov    <sge@nmr.nioch.rsc.ru>          for Primax 9600 Direct 30
                                                   tests and feedback
Gordon Heydon      <gjheydon@bigfoot.com>          devfs patch

Santiago Capel Torres <bluefish@ono.com>           for Genius Colorpage Vivid
Andreas Funke      <afunkeBR@netscape.net>         III V2 tests and feedback

Leonardo Monteiro                                  for BrightScan OpticPro
Barbosa Lima       <leolima@nedip.ufsc.br>         tests and feedback

Michael Gross      <mgmechanics@yahoo.de>          for Genius Colorpage Vivid
                                                   Pro II File tests and feedback


Mike Haid                                          for lending me his
                                                   OpticPro A3I
Peter Dangl									       for lending me his HP 
                                                   deskjet 690C

*******************************************************************************
