Vuescan on Linux only sees scanner as root

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Jack Frillman

I have Vuescan running on linux Fedora Core 2 as a USB device and it
works long as I run it as root. When I run it as a regular user Vuescan
start but it cannot locate the scanner. I read the Vuescan release notes
and says that you should set rw pemissions on all the /dev/sg* devices.
So I did a chmod 666 on all the /dev/sg* devices and
Vuescan still will not find the scanner as a regular user. It only finds
it if you run it as root.

The scanner is Minolta 5400.

Any ideas on what to try next?
 
Jack said:
I have Vuescan running on linux Fedora Core 2 as a USB device and it
works long as I run it as root. When I run it as a regular user Vuescan
start but it cannot locate the scanner. I read the Vuescan release notes
and says that you should set rw pemissions on all the /dev/sg* devices.
So I did a chmod 666 on all the /dev/sg* devices and
Vuescan still will not find the scanner as a regular user. It only finds
it if you run it as root.
Click to expand...

It is clear this is some sort of permissions issue. So it is possible
to solve the problem. Since the scanner is a USB device, I don't see
why changing the permissions of the sg* devices would help.

My first suggestion is to check the permissions and ownership of
/dev/usb/scanner0, or even scanner*. If your system is the same as
mine, which it should be, those should be set to be owned by you when
you are logged in and revert back to root when you logout. (See
/etc/security/console.perms.) Second, you might try setting
environmental variables for the vendor ID and product ID, as Ed suggests
in the Release Notes. Third, see if xsane recognizes your scanner. It
did for my Epson 3200, but Vuescan didn't work. After making a change
to /etc/sane.d/epson.conf, adding the Vendor and Product IDs, it did
work. But in my case there was no difference between root and an
ordinary user. There doesn't seem to be a minolta conf file in
/etc/sane.d, but maybe there is one out on the web somewhere.

If I were there, I'm fairly confident I could solve the problem. Feel
free to communicate with me directly if need be. If you figure out what
the problem is, let me know in any case.
 
u might have a umask problem.
try umask 0 ( that's a zero )
then chmod 0666

it should look something like this:
crw-rw-rw- 1 root disk 21, 0 Aug 30 2002 /dev/sg0
 
I have Vuescan running on linux Fedora Core 2 as a USB device and it
works long as I run it as root. When I run it as a regular user Vuescan
start but it cannot locate the scanner. I read the Vuescan release notes
and says that you should set rw pemissions on all the /dev/sg* devices.
Click to expand...

You haven't told what kernel you use. If kernel 2.6 and if you use the
hotplug system you want to follow the advice given here:
http://www.freecolormanagement.com/sane/libusb.html
HTH
jaan v
 
Jaan said:
You haven't told what kernel you use. If kernel 2.6 and if you use the
hotplug system you want to follow the advice given here:
http://www.freecolormanagement.com/sane/libusb.html
HTH
jaan v
Click to expand...

I can't say that what he finds there won't be helpful. In particular,
if he adds a file called minolta.conf to sane.d which contains the
entry
usb VendorID ProductID
with appropriate entries for both, it may help. But remember that he
can get it to work as root, but he can't get it to work by changing the
permissions and/or ownerships on all the plausible devices. If I
understand the hotplug issue, that has to do with ownership, but perhaps
I don't understand something.
 
I can't say that what he finds there won't be helpful. In particular,
if he adds a file called minolta.conf to sane.d which contains the
entry
usb VendorID ProductID
with appropriate entries for both, it may help. But remember that he
can get it to work as root, but he can't get it to work by changing the
permissions and/or ownerships on all the plausible devices. If I
understand the hotplug issue, that has to do with ownership, but perhaps
I don't understand something.
Click to expand...

I agree - it seems like a permissions issue.
He's tried changing perms on /dev/sg* IIRC.
If he uses a 2.6 kernel it's an entry in /proc/bus/usb/../..
that needs relevant perms - that's what the URL is about.
BTW the URL is part of the the linux install info for Vuescan.
jaan v
 
Jaan said:
I agree - it seems like a permissions issue.
He's tried changing perms on /dev/sg* IIRC.
If he uses a 2.6 kernel it's an entry in /proc/bus/usb/../..
that needs relevant perms - that's what the URL is about.
BTW the URL is part of the the linux install info for Vuescan.
jaan v
Click to expand...

Now I have some interesting results.
I made an entry for my scanner in /etc/hotplug/usb/libsane.usermap
I know it's not where you or the link you referenced mentioned but that
is where
all the scanner setups were. I add an entry for the Minolta 5400 and
wa-la! Vuescan now sees the scanner as a normal type of user.

BUT when I try scanning an image the scanner buzzes and whirls as it
should but I get a blank image. Run it as root it's fine.

Now explain that one to me....
 
Jack said:
Now I have some interesting results.
I made an entry for my scanner in /etc/hotplug/usb/libsane.usermap
I know it's not where you or the link you referenced mentioned but that
is where
all the scanner setups were. I add an entry for the Minolta 5400 and
wa-la! Vuescan now sees the scanner as a normal type of user.

BUT when I try scanning an image the scanner buzzes and whirls as it
should but I get a blank image. Run it as root it's fine.

Now explain that one to me....
Click to expand...

Well, I doubt if I can explain that, but it sounds interesting. Perhaps
Vuescan is trying to write to a scratch file or configuration file in a
directory you don't have permission to write to. At one point I found
it necessary to make the vuescan directory, containing the executable
and help files, writable by others, and I now do that routinely. (I
keep that directory in /usr/local.)

Have you tried also putting an entry in /etc/sane.d for you scanner with
a line of the form
usb VendorID ProductID
?

Related to that, you should try to see if you can get xsane to work by
the above approaches. My past experience is that if xsane works, so
does Vuescan.

Finally, try following the instructions that Ed Hamrick gives for
producing a dump and send him the results. Perhaps he can see what is
going on.
 
Jack Frillman said:
I have Vuescan running on linux Fedora Core 2 as a USB device and it
works long as I run it as root. When I run it as a regular user Vuescan
start but it cannot locate the scanner. I read the Vuescan release notes
and says that you should set rw pemissions on all the /dev/sg* devices.
So I did a chmod 666 on all the /dev/sg* devices and
Vuescan still will not find the scanner as a regular user. It only finds
it if you run it as root.

The scanner is Minolta 5400.

Any ideas on what to try next?
Click to expand...

Windows XP
 
Leonard said:
Well, I doubt if I can explain that, but it sounds interesting. Perhaps
Vuescan is trying to write to a scratch file or configuration file in a
directory you don't have permission to write to. At one point I found
it necessary to make the vuescan directory, containing the executable
and help files, writable by others, and I now do that routinely. (I
keep that directory in /usr/local.)

Have you tried also putting an entry in /etc/sane.d for you scanner with
a line of the form
usb VendorID ProductID
?

Related to that, you should try to see if you can get xsane to work by
the above approaches. My past experience is that if xsane works, so
does Vuescan.

Finally, try following the instructions that Ed Hamrick gives for
producing a dump and send him the results. Perhaps he can see what is
going on.
Click to expand...

Got it working about 1:30 this morning. After I ended up copying the
script that was in the /etc/hotplug/usb/ to one for my scanner I changed
the last chmod from 600 to 660 and it started to work.

Thanks for the tips guys.
 
Scott said:
Windows XP
Click to expand...

Let me point out the obvious. Using Linux, he was eventually able to
solve his problem, with some help from others. Since the configuration
files and, if necessary, the source code, are available for inspection,
that avenue of attack is always available, and with persistence, will
lead to a solution.

With XP, you have to rely on the software vendor for information which
is increasingly difficult to find. If you pay the high hourly rate, you
can get to talk to someone, but the chances of actually getting a useful
answer are not too high if the problem is subtle. Otherwise you have
to rely on FAQs which probably don't contain the required information or
online "chats" with people who do their best to simulate AI expert
system programs.

Almost every problem I've had with Linux has eventually been solved by a
combination of my efforts and posting questions on the web. I still
haven't managed to get my Windows 2000 installation to work properly
despite a couple of year's sporadic effort. That includes one in which
some users can do something and others can't, mimicking Jack's problem
with Vuescan. I spend much more time trying to solve problems with
various versions of Windows that my family uses than I do for Linux, and
that includes XP.
 
Leonard Evens said:
Let me point out the obvious. Using Linux, he was eventually able to
Click to expand...

------- yada yada yada snipped ----------------------

Tell someone who cares.......... :(
 
Jack Frillman said:
I refuse to use Windoze unless I get paid for using it.
Click to expand...

You asked for ideas, didn't you, stupid? Doubt you'll get paid for anything
unless you get a brain transplant first;)
 
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