libsane-extras doesn't contain epkowa.conf

[saftaplan]

In Ubuntu 8.10 desktop 32-bit, what happened:
1. Connect scanner
2. Start xsane: no scanner found
3. Install libsane-extras with synaptic
4. Start xsane: no scanner found

Expected:
4. Start xsane: scanner is found

Workaround:
5. Copy the file /etc/sane.d/epkowa.conf from an Ubuntu 8.04 install to the same location.
6. Start xsane: scanner is found

In libsane-extras in Ubuntu 8.10, the file /etc/sane.d/epkowa.conf doesn't exist. As a consequence, sane can't find my scanner with the package installed, even though the scanner is supported by epkowa. This is a regression, since the file did exist in Ubuntu 8.04 desktop 32-bit and my scanner did work right after installing this package.
A workaround is to copy the epkowa.conf file from Ubuntu 8.04 (attached) in /etc/sane.d, but this is not exactly obvious to the regular user.
More information: http://reformedmusings.wordpress.com/2008/12/13/fixing-epson-scanners-in-ubuntu-810-intrepid-linux/

[Tanker Bob (tankerbob)]

My thanks to saftaplan for taking time to report this. Add my voice as well. This workaround also solved the issue for me. The forums have a number of recent reports of this regression.