How to buy a scanner for Linux?
Andrew Gideon
This isn't "what scanner to buy" but literally: *how* to buy it. Or
perhaps "where to buy it" is a better way to ask.
I've seen the list of supported scanners. However, I've chosen a couple
of scanners from the list only to find it difficult to locate places to
buy them. Perhaps they're not the latest model, or perhaps they're just
unpopular models; I don't know.
So what's the trick here? I don't want to have to work through that
entire list until I find something I can easily buy. Is there some
better approach? Perhaps an online store with a huge inventory of
different scanner models that is likely to have one on that list? A
store that explicitly sells Linux-compatible scanners? Something else?
Thanks...Andrew
P.S. My ideal scanner, in case it matters, is color, has an
ADF that can by bypassed (ie. for photos), and is on
a LAN instead of directly connected to an individual
computer.
Something that emails scans as PDFs or TIFFs would be
perfect (as compatibility wouldn't be an issue). But I've
not seen this as a feature except in larger "document management"
type solutions (which I believe are expensive).
AZ Nomad
>This isn't "what scanner to buy" but literally: *how* to buy it. Or
>perhaps "where to buy it" is a better way to ask.
>I've seen the list of supported scanners. However, I've chosen a couple
>of scanners from the list only to find it difficult to locate places to
>buy them. Perhaps they're not the latest model, or perhaps they're just
>unpopular models; I don't know.
I bought from ebay. I had good luck with both HP and epson scanners.
ray
I'd use this three-step procedure to "buy a scanner for Linux":
1) navigate to the Epson online store
2) select a scanner
3) buy it.
Matter of fact - I've done that.
Günther Schwarz
> I've seen the list of supported scanners. However, I've chosen a couple
> of scanners from the list only to find it difficult to locate places to
> buy them. Perhaps they're not the latest model, or perhaps they're just
> unpopular models; I don't know.
I purchase stuff for use with Linux the other way round: first looking
for reasonable offers from my favorite suppliers and then searching
usenet and web if one of these is supported.
> P.S. My ideal scanner, in case it matters, is color, has an
> ADF that can by bypassed (ie. for photos), and is on a LAN
instead of
> directly connected to an individual computer.
>
> Something that emails scans as PDFs or TIFFs would be perfect (as
> compatibility wouldn't be an issue). But I've not seen this as a
> feature except in larger "document management" type solutions
(which I
> believe are expensive).
As sane uses a client-server protocol it might be cheaper as well as more
flexible and convenient to combine a simple scanner with an old and
probably headless Linux box than buying fancy networked device which will
need an ftp or mailserver. And then this is comp.os.linux.networking
anyway.
Once the scanner is working in a local session the network setup is quite
simple:
On the server:
Check that the service is enabled in /etc/xinetd.d/sane-port.
You might have to restart xinetd.
Add a "+" to /etc/sane.d/saned.conf.
On the clients:
Add the host name of the server to /etc/sane.d/net.conf.
Uncomment the line matching "net" in /etc/sane.d/dll.conf.
Now the remote scanner should show up in the sane device dialog.
The security issues that come with sane running as a network service
might be considered as unimportant on a home or small office network.
Günther
Moe Trin
<plhFm.142065$bH4.1...@news.usenetserver.com>, Andrew Gideon wrote:
>I've seen the list of supported scanners. However, I've chosen a
>couple of scanners from the list only to find it difficult to locate
>places to buy them. Perhaps they're not the latest model, or
>perhaps they're just unpopular models; I don't know.
Where are you looking? New? Used?
>So what's the trick here? I don't want to have to work through that
>entire list until I find something I can easily buy. Is there some
>better approach?
The technique I've always used for buying O/S specific hardware is
to go to the various local stores, and make a list of the specific
products they have in stock - manufacturer, part number, and any
other obvious identifying data - and then hit the search engines
with the keywords "manufacturer, part-number, ``Linux''" and see
what success others have had with it. Finding which available
device works is usually a lot easier than wading through a giant
list of stuff - some of which has been out of production for years,
and then hoping to find the model you've chosen somewhere.
Old guy
Dale Dellutri
> Thanks...Andrew
Wouldn't it be simpler to just get a supported all-in-one printer
that scans to an attached device (USB storage, or SD card, or ...)
and then serves it out using samba/cifs?
At home I have an HP OfficeJet Pro L7590. I put an 512MB SD card
in it, and set it up to scan to the card. Then, from any computer
in the LAN, I just connect up to the exported share and grab
whatever was scanned.
At work I have a Toshiba eStudio 35 copier with a disk in it that
works the same way: scan to the disk, then connect to the share
and grab the scanned file.
In Linux, you could use smbclient to get an ftp-like interface
to the share. Some all-in-ones also allow you to get the files
on the devices via web browser.
--
Dale Dellutri <ddelQ...@panQQQix.com> (lose the Q's)
General Schvantzkoph
An HP OfficeJet sits on a LAN (at least the better ones do), is
completely Linux compatible, and you can get them anywhere. I've read on
this group that there are some HP standalone scanners that aren't
supported (I don't know if that's still true), however I can say with
absolute certainty that the OfficeJet all in ones are 100% Linux
compatible.
CF
a 35 model. Worked in every operating system I had, even OS/2.
Michael Black
> Andrew Gideon wrote:
>
>> I've seen the list of supported scanners. However, I've chosen a couple
>> of scanners from the list only to find it difficult to locate places to
>> buy them. Perhaps they're not the latest model, or perhaps they're just
>> unpopular models; I don't know.
>
> I purchase stuff for use with Linux the other way round: first looking
> for reasonable offers from my favorite suppliers and then searching
> usenet and web if one of these is supported.
>
I just bought a scanner that had a price I was willing to pay. It didn't
work with the distribution I was using, but when I upgraded to a later
release it worked fine.
Michael
Michael Black
On Mon, 26 Oct 2009, Andrew Gideon wrote:
> Something that emails scans as PDFs or TIFFs would be
> perfect (as compatibility wouldn't be an issue). But I've
> not seen this as a feature except in larger "document management"
> type solutions (which I believe are expensive).
>
>
I don't think this is a scanner issue. Mine has some buttons that suggest
such things, but it seems to just be a method of controlling software that
does the actual work. I'm assuming that, since I've only used it with
Linux and there's nothing magical going on. I suppose one might even find
software to read such buttons, though I don't know.
Michael
Andrew Gideon
>> Something that emails scans as PDFs or TIFFs would be perfect (as
>> compatibility wouldn't be an issue). But I've not seen this as a
>> feature except in larger "document management" type solutions
(which I
>> believe are expensive).
>>
>>
> I don't think this is a scanner issue. Mine has some buttons that
> suggest such things, but it seems to just be a method of controlling
> software that does the actual work
We've a large Ricoh in our office which does this. No software outside
the device doing the actual work. I know: I configured the scanner there
to know our SMTP server's name.
But this is a large office device, with very fast printing, only B&W
scanning, FAX, etc. It's not suitable for a home, which is what I'm
seeking.
It looks like some HP scanners do this:
http://h71028.www7.hp.com/hho/us/en/ep/articles/scan-to-email-network-folders.html
But I'm not sure, since using a Microsoft environment
is involved in the setup.
- Andrew
unruh
> On Sat, 31 Oct 2009 23:52:14 -0400, Michael Black wrote:
>
>>> Something that emails scans as PDFs or TIFFs would be perfect (as
>>> compatibility wouldn't be an issue). But I've not seen this as a
>>> feature except in larger "document management" type solutions
> (which I
>>> believe are expensive).
>>>
>>>
>> I don't think this is a scanner issue. Mine has some buttons that
>> suggest such things, but it seems to just be a method of controlling
>> software that does the actual work
>
> We've a large Ricoh in our office which does this. No software outside
> the device doing the actual work. I know: I configured the scanner there
> to know our SMTP server's name.
We have a large Canon photocopier that does that. But then that is
because the photocopier is really a big computer which has software
included which does that. Most consumer scanners do not have that kind
of power (esp since they connect to the computer via usb not ethernet).
Those buttons can be read by the software, the software then scans the
document and emails it. But then so does xsane--Viewer Save Copy
Multipage Fax Email are the options mine give me.
I have an Epson 1660Photo scanner-- great scanner (undoubtedly no longer
made) -- scans a page in
about 2 sec even at 150dpi resolution. (Slower at 600DPI). One of the
things I discovered when I was looking for scanners is how terribly slow
most of them were. --20-50 sec to scan a page. It is well worth making
sure that your scanner scans fast. When you want to scan in 20 sheets of
music, sitting there for an hour is no fun.
>
> But this is a large office device, with very fast printing, only B&W
> scanning, FAX, etc. It's not suitable for a home, which is what I'm
> seeking.
The Canon copier does colour scanning as well--it is very very fast (ie
the same time as it takes to copy a page << 1 sec at 600dpi) but a bit
out of my price range as well.
>
> It looks like some HP scanners do this:
>
> http://h71028.www7.hp.com/hho/us/en/ep/articles/scan-to-email-network-folders.html
>
> But I'm not sure, since using a Microsoft environment
> is involved in the setup.
If it attaches via usb it is the software in the computer.
Phil Gilmer
After looking for network scanner, I had finally decided I would have to
use Windows to get what I wanted. I purchased a Brother MFC-7840W laser
all-in-one. After going to the Brother website, I found, to my surprise,
Linux drivers available for download. This printer will do everything
you say you want. It can be hooked up as a USB or parallel port, or it
can be hooked to the network, via cable or wirelessly. I run mine
wirelessly, set up through an access point.
You can scan images as either color JPEG or PDF files. You have the
option to email the scanned images, but with the software on the client
desktop (either Windows or Linux), you can transfer the files directly
to the PC, rather than having to email them.
This printer can OCR text, can copy or fax (note: fax feature was not
supported for Linux when I last checked).
There are other models if you prefer an inkjet or color laser printer. I
have not confirmed availability of Linux drivers for them, so you will
need to do some homework.
I am completely satisfied with the Brother MFC7840W. Toner yield is good
(you can ignore low toner warnings for a long time). Price of cartridges
is competitive. The drum is replaced separately from the toner
cartridge. Print quality is excellent, as is page rendering. Scan
quality is excellent (resolution is selectable up to 600x600). OCR
capability is very good, and I have found that useful from time to time.
Wireless performance (802.11b/g) is outstanding--I have never had a
problem with it).
Hope this helps.
Phil Gilmer
Andrew Gideon
> You can scan images as either color JPEG or PDF files. You have the
> option to email the scanned images, but with the software on the client
> desktop (either Windows or Linux), you can transfer the files directly
> to the PC, rather than having to email them.
The Brother MFC line is looking very promising. I'd found them previously
(via a USENET posting from several years back asking the same question as
mine, basically). But I could not tell for sure whether the "scan to
email" is actually the scanner speaking SMTP or using some dedicated
software on a separate computer.
From what you've written, it sounds like the software isn't needed for
SMTP. That's perfect.
Out of curiosity: How does "transfer the files directly to the PC" work?
FTP? HTTP? Something else?
Just to be clear: Why I'm looking for "scan to email" is that I want to
be able to scan quickly, with minimum futzing around with a computer. If
I can toss a chunk of paper into the ADF, push a couple of buttons, and
find the image file in my email later, that would be perfect. I don't
want to have to open up a computer window, see if some software is
running, perhaps choose a file name or other such things...
>
> This printer can OCR text, can copy or fax (note: fax feature was not
> supported for Linux when I last checked).
I'm actually looking at the 9010CN. Color, but no FAX. I don't need FAX.
[...]
> I am completely satisfied with the Brother MFC7840W. Toner yield is good
> (you can ignore low toner warnings for a long time). Price of cartridges
> is competitive. The drum is replaced separately from the toner
> cartridge. Print quality is excellent, as is page rendering. Scan
> quality is excellent (resolution is selectable up to 600x600). OCR
> capability is very good, and I have found that useful from time to time.
> Wireless performance (802.11b/g) is outstanding--I have never had a
> problem with it).
>
> Hope this helps.
It helps a lot. Thanks very much...
Andrew
Andrew Gideon
> I'm actually looking at the 9010CN. Color, but no FAX. I don't need
> FAX.
Oops. I've just noticed that the 9010CN was single-sided printing. So
I've "upgraded my target" to the MFC-9450CDN.
We need double-sided printing. Just yesterday, this was required by a
son to most effectively complete his homework (he was producing a kind of
"flash card").
Thanks again...
Andrew
unruh
> On Mon, 21 Feb 2011 07:42:13 -0600, Phil Gilmer wrote:
>
>> You can scan images as either color JPEG or PDF files. You have the
>> option to email the scanned images, but with the software on the client
>> desktop (either Windows or Linux), you can transfer the files directly
>> to the PC, rather than having to email them.
>
> The Brother MFC line is looking very promising. I'd found them previously
> (via a USENET posting from several years back asking the same question as
> mine, basically). But I could not tell for sure whether the "scan to
> email" is actually the scanner speaking SMTP or using some dedicated
> software on a separate computer.
>
> From what you've written, it sounds like the software isn't needed for
> SMTP. That's perfect.
>
> Out of curiosity: How does "transfer the files directly to the PC" work?
> FTP? HTTP? Something else?
>
> Just to be clear: Why I'm looking for "scan to email" is that I want to
> be able to scan quickly, with minimum futzing around with a computer. If
> I can toss a chunk of paper into the ADF, push a couple of buttons, and
> find the image file in my email later, that would be perfect. I don't
> want to have to open up a computer window, see if some software is
> running, perhaps choose a file name or other such things...
Except that almost all email has size limits. Thus when you scan that
full page 1200x1200 picture, and suddenly find that your email throws it
away, you might wonder why you found emailing such a great option.
I would rather have a usb cable attached ( or, more expensively,
internt) and just transfer it directly to the computer ( yes, with me
choosing a filename since I will have to do that anyway).
Andrew Gideon
> Except that almost all email has size limits. Thus when you scan that
> full page 1200x1200 picture, and suddenly find that your email throws it
> away, you might wonder why you found emailing such a great option.
The email size limit is set by a tyrant. But since I'm the tyrant...
Admittedly, though, the "scan to FTP" option I'm seeing on these MFC
devices does seem like a reasonable alternative to me. That's still
"hands off".
> I would rather have a usb cable attached ( or, more expensively,
> internt) and just transfer it directly to the computer ( yes, with me
> choosing a filename since I will have to do that anyway).
Not immediately. I can always just save the email in a folder until I've
the time to think about where to store the file. And that's only when I
get around to checking my email.
Meanwhile, the physical paper is no longer required to be clutter.
- Andrew
Phil Gilmer
The Brother software will send to whatever SMTP server you specify. If
that is an internal server rather than an ISP server, that should make
no difference.
My MFC does support USB connections or parallel as well as direct and
wireless connection to my network. I LOVE this because I have PCs all
over the place, and my wife and daughter use the MFC all the time. They
are Windows, I am Linux. I use the wireless AP connection, so I don't
have to worry about running CAT-5 everywhere.
I am very satisfied with the MFC.
Phil
Andrew Gideon
> Oops. I've just noticed that the 9010CN was single-sided printing. So
> I've "upgraded my target" to the MFC-9450CDN.
This is where I start to get a little frustrated. While I've found
plenty of information on the MFC-9450CDN, I cannot find it for sale in
the stores I've checked. Best guess: It's an older model.
It looks like a replacement is the MFC-9460CDN. This I've found for
sale, and the specifications look comparable to the MFC-9450CDN.
However, I don't see it listed on:
http://www.openprinting.org/printers/manufacturer/Brother
This does make me a little nervous as there are a few devices from
Brother - even MFC models - that are listed there as paperweights.
It looks like Brother provides the PPD for the printer in an RPM at:
http://welcome.solutions.brother.com/bsc/public_s/id/linux/en/
download_prn.html#MFC-9460CDN
and "scan to an SMTP server" or "scan to FTP" should be OS agnostic. So
I'm still going to give this a try. But this is exactly the problem with
which I started: a lack of certainty that these devices will fully/
properly support Linux.
On the other hand, that Brother releases an RPM for their printers is a
Good Sign. I've not noticed that before from any other manufacturer.
- Andrew
Andrew Gideon
> The Brother software will send to whatever SMTP server you specify. If
> that is an internal server rather than an ISP server, that should make
> no difference.
Am I correct that in the setup of the device one provide the name (or IP)
of an SMTP server acting as the smarthost for the printer? I've gone
through the documentation for the 9460cdn and I've not spotted this.
Perhaps it is something set through the printer's internal web server?
It's weird. There's verbose documentation on how to put paper on the
glass, but virtually nothing for how to specify an email or FTP
destination.
> My MFC does support USB connections or parallel as well as direct and
> wireless connection to my network. I LOVE this because I have PCs all
> over the place, and my wife and daughter use the MFC all the time. They
> are Windows, I am Linux. I use the wireless AP connection, so I don't
> have to worry about running CAT-5 everywhere.
My kids use Apples; we don't permit Microsoft in the house. I assume
that they'll be able to scan over the network somehow. We've one
"desktop" (and a bunch of servers) but everything else is portable. And
I don't want the device near the desktop for reasons of space and
aesthetics.
I'm skipping the wireless as we wired the house back when wireless was
still very young.
Thanks again...
Andrew
unruh
> Andrew Gideon wrote:
>> On Thu, 03 Mar 2011 00:54:17 +0000, unruh wrote:
>>
>>> Except that almost all email has size limits. Thus when you scan that
>>> full page 1200x1200 picture, and suddenly find that your email throws it
>>> away, you might wonder why you found emailing such a great option.
>>
>> The email size limit is set by a tyrant. But since I'm the tyrant...
>>
>> Admittedly, though, the "scan to FTP" option I'm seeing on these MFC
>> devices does seem like a reasonable alternative to me. That's still
>> "hands off".
>>
>>> I would rather have a usb cable attached ( or, more expensively,
>>> internt) and just transfer it directly to the computer ( yes, with me
>>> choosing a filename since I will have to do that anyway).
>>
>> Not immediately. I can always just save the email in a folder until I've
>> the time to think about where to store the file. And that's only when I
>> get around to checking my email.
??? If you want to store it somewhere, make a directory called "scans"
and store it there with the date. scanning something and then sending it
out on an ethernet to wander to god knows where before it gets dumped in
your mailbox (which almost certainly has a size limit set, if not by you
then my the memory on the partition where mail is stored) and subject to
all kinds of routers, etc on the way which could mess up the scan
contents. If that is what you want to do, I certainly am not going to
stop you. I will say I find it a bit bizarre, but then what do you care
what I think.
Phil Gilmer
> On Thu, 03 Mar 2011 08:41:20 -0600, Phil Gilmer wrote:
>
>> The Brother software will send to whatever SMTP server you specify. If
>> that is an internal server rather than an ISP server, that should make
>> no difference.
>
> Am I correct that in the setup of the device one provide the name (or IP)
> of an SMTP server acting as the smarthost for the printer? I've gone
> through the documentation for the 9460cdn and I've not spotted this.
> Perhaps it is something set through the printer's internal web server?
That is how you set up the SMTP server on the MFC-7840W. You can specify
a name or an IP address.
>
> It's weird. There's verbose documentation on how to put paper on the
> glass, but virtually nothing for how to specify an email or FTP
> destination.
>
>> My MFC does support USB connections or parallel as well as direct and
>> wireless connection to my network. I LOVE this because I have PCs all
>> over the place, and my wife and daughter use the MFC all the time. They
>> are Windows, I am Linux. I use the wireless AP connection, so I don't
>> have to worry about running CAT-5 everywhere.
>
> My kids use Apples; we don't permit Microsoft in the house. I assume
> that they'll be able to scan over the network somehow. We've one
> "desktop" (and a bunch of servers) but everything else is portable. And
> I don't want the device near the desktop for reasons of space and
> aesthetics.
I am afraid I don't know anything about Apple support. I would not
assume that you would be able to scan over the network directly to the
PCs. SMTP scanning might be your only option in that environment. My CD
came with Windows drivers only. I downloaded the Linux drivers from teh
Brother web site.
>
> I'm skipping the wireless as we wired the house back when wireless was
> still very young.
>
> Thanks again...
>
> Andrew
Phil Gilmer
Andrew Gideon
> ??? If you want to store it somewhere, make a directory called "scans"
> and store it there with the date. scanning something and then sending it
> out on an ethernet to wander to god knows where before it gets dumped in
> your mailbox (which almost certainly has a size limit set, if not by you
> then my the memory on the partition where mail is stored) and subject to
> all kinds of routers, etc on the way which could mess up the scan
> contents. If that is what you want to do, I certainly am not going to
> stop you. I will say I find it a bit bizarre, but then what do you care
> what I think.
Why would the directory you're proposing have any less of a limit on disk
space than the mailbox? The latter is on a server, which in fact can be
expected to have more disk space available.
Routers do not "mess up content". If they did, then packets would fail
checksums, retries would occur, and - if the problem were serious -
network performance would drop. This would be bad, be detected, and be
corrected. But it wouldn't result in damage to the content.
Finally, you still assume that there's some computer sitting on the same
network as the scanner that's on and available for receiving these
scans. That would be the mail server in my case.
I could also use "scan to FTP", but the advantage of email over this is
that "scan to email" can (1) be directed to individuals using (2) a
mechanism for sending that data to the individuals that is already being
used. There's no need to be checking some directory called "scans".
- Andrew
Andrew Gideon
>> Am I correct that in the setup of the device one provide the name (or
>> IP) of an SMTP server acting as the smarthost for the printer? I've
>> gone through the documentation for the 9460cdn and I've not spotted
>> this. Perhaps it is something set through the printer's internal web
>> server?
>
> That is how you set up the SMTP server on the MFC-7840W. You can specify
> a name or an IP address.
Perfect.
From what I *have* seen in the documentation, one can choose an email
address destination either via a "speed dial" or entering it at on the
fly.
[...]
> I am afraid I don't know anything about Apple support. I would not
> assume that you would be able to scan over the network directly to the
> PCs.
This could mean two different things. There's SANE - the computer
requesting the scan over the network - and there's whatever the scanners
do to scan "to a computer". I don't know what the latter is, but I'm
guessing it involves a CIF/SMB share or some such thing. I'm actually
referring to SANE, though, which I expect is more analogous to using the
USB cable.
From my reading, these devices support SANE. In that case, on-demand
scanning from an Apple should work.
If not, though, we'll live *grin*.
Thanks again...
Andrew
unruh
> On Thu, 03 Mar 2011 21:47:28 +0000, unruh wrote:
>
>> ??? If you want to store it somewhere, make a directory called "scans"
>> and store it there with the date. scanning something and then sending it
>> out on an ethernet to wander to god knows where before it gets dumped in
>> your mailbox (which almost certainly has a size limit set, if not by you
>> then my the memory on the partition where mail is stored) and subject to
>> all kinds of routers, etc on the way which could mess up the scan
>> contents. If that is what you want to do, I certainly am not going to
>> stop you. I will say I find it a bit bizarre, but then what do you care
>> what I think.
>
> Why would the directory you're proposing have any less of a limit on disk
> space than the mailbox? The latter is on a server, which in fact can be
> expected to have more disk space available.
Because 100 mails of 100MB each take up much more room than 1 file of
100MB. Ie, mail storage places have to assume that loads of mails will
be coming in and will allocate storage limits based on that. Your own
disk you can do what you want with it.
Ie, when you email it you are at the whim of intermediaries. When you
scan onto your own computer, you are at your own whims.
>
> Routers do not "mess up content". If they did, then packets would fail
> checksums, retries would occur, and - if the problem were serious -
> network performance would drop. This would be bad, be detected, and be
> corrected. But it wouldn't result in damage to the content.
Mail can go through a bunch of servers to get to you. All may have
length limits, dropping your stuff, or "contant scanners" that may
decide your attachment should be removed, etc.
>
> Finally, you still assume that there's some computer sitting on the same
> network as the scanner that's on and available for receiving these
> scans. That would be the mail server in my case.
If it is your own machine and the mail comes directly to that machine
without passing through any intermediate mailer host, then clearly you
can do what you want. But you may find that the mail receiver program
you use has default max mail size limits that you did not know about.
>
> I could also use "scan to FTP", but the advantage of email over this is
> that "scan to email" can (1) be directed to individuals using (2) a
> mechanism for sending that data to the individuals that is already being
> used. There's no need to be checking some directory called "scans" .
I have no idea why you are arguing with me. It is your system. You have
my permission to do whatever you want with it. I was simply pointing out
some things to watch out for, but you do not have to do that either.
>
> - Andrew
Andrew Gideon
>> Why would the directory you're proposing have any less of a limit on
>> disk space than the mailbox? The latter is on a server, which in fact
>> can be expected to have more disk space available.
>
> Because 100 mails of 100MB each take up much more room than 1 file of
> 100MB. Ie, mail storage places have to assume that loads of mails will
> be coming in and will allocate storage limits based on that. Your own
> disk you can do what you want with it. Ie, when you email it you are at
> the whim of intermediaries. When you scan onto your own computer, you
> are at your own whims.
I don't understand the reasoning you assign to mail server
administrators. It appears to me that you believe they'll limit space
because they expect more of it to be used. This is not a perspective I
recognize.
More, I think you missed where I wrote previously:
The email size limit is set by a tyrant. But since I'm
the tyrant...
The mail server's disks are my disks.
However, this conversation's made me curious about other services, so I
checked on gmail (since they make a big deal about providing a fair
amount of storage). I was surprised to learn that they permit no
attachment larger than 25MB.
>
>
>> Routers do not "mess up content". If they did, then packets would fail
>> checksums, retries would occur, and - if the problem were serious -
>> network performance would drop. This would be bad, be detected, and be
>> corrected. But it wouldn't result in damage to the content.
>
> Mail can go through a bunch of servers to get to you. All may have
> length limits, dropping your stuff, or "contant scanners" that may
> decide your attachment should be removed, etc.
Here you are not too far off. I'm glad you're no longer claiming that
routers "mess up content".
However, again I must remind you that I'm the tyrant of my mail server.
More, the printer will connect directly to the mail server on which the
mailbox exists. Thus, there are no intermediary mail servers onto which
content filters might be placed.
>>
>> Finally, you still assume that there's some computer sitting on the
>> same network as the scanner that's on and available for receiving these
>> scans. That would be the mail server in my case.
>
> If it is your own machine and the mail comes directly to that machine
> without passing through any intermediate mailer host, then clearly you
> can do what you want.
Exactly.
> But you may find that the mail receiver program
> you use has default max mail size limits that you did not know about.
The default limit is not an issue since I don't leave the default value
in place. It looks like sendmail defaults MaxMessageSize to no limit,
though, for what that's worth.
>
>
>> I could also use "scan to FTP", but the advantage of email over this is
>> that "scan to email" can (1) be directed to individuals using (2) a
>> mechanism for sending that data to the individuals that is already
>> being used. There's no need to be checking some directory called
>> "scans" .
>
> I have no idea why you are arguing with me.
Because you might make a good point that I've not considered, and I'd
hate to miss it. I'd not known previously, for example, that gmail so
strictly limits attachment size. It's not related to what I'm doing
here, but this bit of knowledge may come in handy (ie. when someone
claims that our limits are too small {8^).
- Andrew
Andrew Gideon
>> That is how you set up the SMTP server on the MFC-7840W. You can
>> specify a name or an IP address.
>
> Perfect.
>
> From what I *have* seen in the documentation, one can choose an email
> address destination either via a "speed dial" or entering it at on the
> fly.
I now have an MFC-9460cdn. I have not figured out how to make "scan to
email (server)" appear as an option, though I have (1) made "scan to FTP"
appear and (2) I've configured the printer to send email and have
successfully sent test messages to myself with the printer speaking
[authenticated] SMTP to a mail server.
I've sent a support request via email to BrotherUSA, but the response was
that I should call during business hours. It'll be a while before I'm
near the device during business hours.
Any suggestions you might have would be appreciated.
- Andrew
Andrew Gideon
>> From what I *have* seen in the documentation, one can choose an email
>> address destination either via a "speed dial" or entering it at on the
>> fly.
>
> I now have an MFC-9460cdn. I have not figured out how to make "scan to
> email (server)" appear as an option, though I have (1) made "scan to
> FTP" appear and (2) I've configured the printer to send email and have
> successfully sent test messages to myself with the printer speaking
> [authenticated] SMTP to a mail server.
>
> I've sent a support request via email to BrotherUSA, but the response
> was that I should call during business hours. It'll be a while before
> I'm near the device during business hours.
Just following up in case anyone's looking into a similar issue...
I got bumped a couple of times up in the support chain, ultimately
speaking to someone at "level 5". They had no handle on the problem.
The final person to whom I spoke is checking with an expert who is going
to have to set up a machine like mine, and then one of those two will get
back to me.
- Andrew
Andrew Gideon
>> I now have an MFC-9460cdn. I have not figured out how to make "scan to
>> email (server)" appear as an option, though I have (1) made "scan to
>> FTP" appear and (2) I've configured the printer to send email and have
>> successfully sent test messages to myself with the printer speaking
>> [authenticated] SMTP to a mail server.
>>
>> I've sent a support request via email to BrotherUSA, but the response
>> was that I should call during business hours. It'll be a while before
>> I'm near the device during business hours.
>
> Just following up in case anyone's looking into a similar issue...
>
> I got bumped a couple of times up in the support chain, ultimately
> speaking to someone at "level 5". They had no handle on the problem.
> The final person to whom I spoke is checking with an expert who is going
> to have to set up a machine like mine, and then one of those two will
> get back to me.
It must be interesting working for a large company. For a while, I was
being told that the MFC-9460cdn didn't support "scan to email". I
pointed right to the page in the documentation which speaks of using it
on this device. "We'll get back to you".
Ultimately, the answer was that this feature requires a firmware
upgrade. It's not because the printer I received was sitting on a shelf,
apparently, but that these devices are deliberately shipped with this
feature (and IFAX, for whatever that's worth) missing.
That's strange, but it shouldn't have been a big deal. What made it a
big deal was that the upgrade can only be performed by a machine running
one of a few possible Microsoft environments. No support for Linux. No
support even for OSX.
Having no Microsoft environments anywhere around this device, this
created a serious problem. I explained this along with the fact that I
had purchased this device specifically for the this feature.
On the plus side, support arranged for a support call where someone would
install the driver. But if anyone is planning to buy this printer for
use in Linux, and they've an interest in "scan to email" (or IFAX), they
should take this into account.
Brother is largely good about their Linux support. I've had no problem
scanning from a couple of applications on my Fedora 13 laptop using the
RPMs Brother provides[1], and they also provide what's needed to get CUPS
printing to the device. Transmission of FAXes from my laptop also
works. I've yet to try receiving a FAX.
And, of course, it does a fine job of scanning to an FTP server (though
I'd welcome something more secure, like SFTP).
But there are gaps in their support for Linux of which potential buyers
should be aware.
- Andrew
[1] Well, one problem. In xsane, when I select a region of the
glass to scan from the preview, it is slightly off. But I've
not investigated this further. It may not be related to the
scanner or the driver from Brother.
Jakub Kramarz
I'm student of 5th High School in Cracow, Poland and also school's
network administrator. Last week our main rack catched fire visualizing
us our lack of redundancy.
We have spare Sun 220R server, which we are going to use as failover
router. Unfortunately, it is necessary for us to use EtherChannel,
bonding two pairs of interfaces at Sun Quattro HME.
After disconnecting one of two cables creating EtherChannel, driver
falls in infinite loop of "Link down, cable problem?", keeping interface
still up and running.
Is there any way to force putting it down in this case? We are getting
50% packet loss instead of link redundancy, because both of them are
still participating in traffic.
Jakub Kramarz
Jakub Kramarz
I'm student of 5th High School in Cracow, Poland and also school's
network administrator. Last week our main rack catched fire visualizing
us our lack of redundancy.
We have spare Sun 220R server, which we are going to use as failover
router. Unfortunately, it is necessary for us to use EtherChannel,
bonding two pairs of interfaces at Sun Quattro HME.
After disconnecting one of two cables creating EtherChannel, driver
falls in infinite loop of "Link down, cable problem?", keeping interface
still up and running.
Is there any way to force putting it down in this case? I'm getting 50%
Andrew Gideon
> I've yet to try receiving a FAX.
Just a follow-up: One can have the device forward received FAXes to an
email address. So FAX receipt is trivially easy, and completely
independent of operating systems in use.
It has other forwarding options as well, but this seems to be the most
straightforward.
Despite some of the startup problems, I'll probably buy another (for a
different location). I just need to find a simpler way of handling that
firmware upgrade that requires a MSFT environment.
- Andrew
Thomas Keusch
So you had to get a windows host to get receiving FAXes to email
working? I'm short on windows machines as well, and considering ... or
was considering buying a Brother MFC-9xxx. If you find easier ways of
getting them ready to be used, please let us know.
Regards
Thomas