xsane should not detect TV cards

[Oumar Aziz OUATTARA]

xsane detects tv cards, and uses them as scanners.
While it might be useful in exceptional cases, usually this is confusing.

An example of my setup:
v4l:/dev/video0
plustek:libusb:005:002

Proper fix should be:

1 - make xsane remember last scanner used, and get rid of this unintuitive dialog it
pops on startup.

2 - make xsane prefer real scanner. This should be done by adding a settings page, listing all scanners
and allowing to disable any of them, and v4l scanner should really be disabled by default

[Hew (hew)]

Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. You reported this bug a while ago and there hasn't been any activity in it recently. We were wondering is this still an issue for you? Can you try with the latest Ubuntu release (Hardy Heron)? Thanks in advance.

[Hew (hew)]

We are closing this bug report because it lacks the information we need to investigate the problem, as described in the previous comments. Please reopen it if you can give us the missing information, and don't hesitate to submit bug reports in the future. To reopen the bug report you can click on the current status, under the Status column, and change the Status back to "New". Thanks again!

[Oumar Aziz OUATTARA (wattazoum)]

This is still happening on Hardy :

wattazoum@Ouattazoum:~$ dpkg-query --show xsane
xsane 0.995-1ubuntu1

wattazoum@Ouattazoum:~$ lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu 8.04
Release: 8.04
Codename: hardy

lspci gives the same output.
The scanner is still the same also.

[Hew (hew)]

Thanks for the update. I have recently installed a tv card myself, and when starting xsane with my scanner also connected, I get a choice of which device I want to use. Perhaps the issue here is not related to the tv card, and instead it simply can't detect the scanner? Would you be able to remove the tv card from the system and retest with just the scanner to isolate the issue? Thanks again!

[Oumar Aziz OUATTARA (wattazoum)]

I can tell you without removing my TV card that XSANE doesn't recognize my scanner. But that's another issue. I have opened this report because it takes my TV card for a scanner, not because the scanner is not recognized.

Both are different issues indeed.

[Hew (hew)]

I have attached the screen that is displayed on startup for me when I have both my tv card installed and the scanner connected.

[Mathieu Divaret (joots)]

Edit the file: /etc/sane.d/dll.conf
and comment the line: v4l to have
#v4l
It solves the problem

[Hew (hew)]

Issue exists in sane-backends, changed sourcepackage.

Does v4l serve any useful purpose for scanning? If not, the v4l option should be omitted as it just causes confusion in xsane.

[Maxim Levitsky (maximlevitsky)]

I strongly support removal of v4l.

If is very broken (never did work on my tv card or two webcams).
It is even v4l and not v4l2

When I plug in real scanner xsane shows a 'select scanner' dialog on each startup, and v4l is selected as default, and of course, it crashes if I select v4l

[Poyraz (poyrazaa)]

Hello,

I have the same issue. I have a scanner. It is working with GIMP. However, when I want to use it with Xsane, I am not able to select my scanner, only my tuner is active for operation. Any suggestions?

Plus, not only for this reason, but also because my Tv card clashes with my Webcam, how can I disable/remove my integrated Tv Tuner in ubuntu, so I can use both Xsane and my Webcam?

Thanks for your help.
Poyraz

Specifications;
Ubuntu 9.04
Canon MP240 Scanner-Printer
Fly Tv Tuner

[hanne (hanne-b)]

The v4l also causes Xsane to detect my HP Webcam, yet it fails to get an image from it -- so I commented it out.

xsane 0.996-1ubuntu2
Ubuntu 9.04 - Jaunty Jackalope -

[Maxim Levitsky (maximlevitsky)]

its v4l support is broken period.

I think this is insane (pun intended) to keep v4l driver and confuse users

[Maxim Levitsky (maximlevitsky)]

In karamic for the first time in the history v4l backend actually works.

[Tom Wright (twright-tdw)]

Am I the only one who thinks this behavior is useful? It comes in very handy when testing out scanning programs although real scanner certainly should be preferred.

[Robert Ancell (robert-ancell)]

Tom, there is a test SANE driver. To use you must explicitly connect to it (it is not autodetected).

e.g. xsane test

[Robert Ancell (robert-ancell)]

Disables v4l driver (enable is by editing /etc/sane.d/v4l.conf)

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

This bug was fixed in the package sane-backends - 1.0.20-13ubuntu2

---------------
sane-backends (1.0.20-13ubuntu2) lucid; urgency=low

  * debian/patches/50_disable_v4l.dpatch:
    - Disable v4l backends (LP: #87312)
 -- Robert Ancell <email address hidden> Wed, 14 Apr 2010 22:24:08 +0800

[Mark Thompson (mark-r-thompson)]

Having move from version 1.0.9.19 to 1.0.20 my HP Scanjet 3570c had stopped working. Regressing to 1.0.19 to get it working again, when I do an update I ignore it. However, I just checked the change information, given below. Has this change been responsible for the freezing and crashing when using Simple Scan and XSane for the latest release for HP Scanjet 2580c's?

Changes for the versions:
1.0.19-23ubuntu7
1.0.20-13ubuntu2

Version 1.0.20-13ubuntu2:

  * debian/patches/50_disable_v4l.dpatch:
    - Disable v4l backends (LP: #87312)

[altima (timashkov)]

this is not a bug at all. this is a feature of SANE.
so that Xsane removes the TV card from the options, you should comment all the lines in the file /etc/sane.d/v4l.conf
simply add a symbol # in the beginning of each line of this file.