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Problem with my scanner

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Hi folks,

I have a scanner attached to the parallel port of my computer. I have it configured to run via saned. Until a month or two ago it worked perfectly --- slow, for sure, but it was quite reliable.

Just recently I've had trouble with it. I'll start a scan going and it will freeze part way through. The LEDs are still shining, but the carriage thingy (?) stops. If I kill saned the carriage will eventually return.

I thought it might have been a hardware issue (it is pretty old) but I came across another similar scanner (similar enough to run from the same sane configuration) and exactly the same thing happens at the same point.

Does anyone have any idea what the problem is? I'm wondering if there's an issue with the kernel or the modules that are loading: here's the output of lsmod (minus sound modules)for what it's worth. I notice that the parport lp module is loading, but the only parallel device I have is the scanner. Could this be relevant?

xt_tcpudp 3104 1
iptable_filter 3072 1
ip_tables 12932 1 iptable_filter
x_tables 13252 2 xt_tcpudp,ip_tables
binfmt_misc 11016 1
ppdev 8516 0
lp 10852 0
button 6544 0
ac 4836 0
battery 9188 0
ipv6 222304 13
dm_snapshot 15680 0
dm_mirror 18768 0
dm_mod 49944 2 dm_snapshot,dm_mirror
ide_generic 1376 0 [permanent]
shpchp 34272 0
i2c_sis96x 5316 0
usblp 12640 0
psmouse 34600 0
pci_hotplug 27196 1 shpchp
parport_pc 32132 1
parport 33160 3 ppdev,lp,parport_pc
emu10k1_gp 3808 0
gameport 14344 2 emu10k1_gp
i2c_core 19552 1 i2c_sis96x
serio_raw 6596 0
evdev 9088 1
mousedev 10788 1
tsdev 7392 0
sis_agp 8388 1
agpgart 29864 1 sis_agp
pcspkr 3040 0
8250_pnp 8704 0
floppy 54276 0
ext3 118568 2
jbd 50292 1 ext3
mbcache 8324 1 ext3
ide_cd 35680 0
cdrom 32448 1 ide_cd
ide_disk 15072 4
usbhid 36704 0
sis5513 12328 0 [permanent]
generic 4420 0 [permanent]
ide_core 111016 5 ide_generic,ide_cd,ide_disk,sis5513,generic
ohci_hcd 18244 0
ehci_hcd 28040 0
usbcore 111616 5 usblp,usbhid,ohci_hcd,ehci_hcd
sis900 21600 0
mii 5312 1 sis900
thermal 12904 0
processor 25512 1 thermal
fan 4516 0

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Hmm, problem found but not solved.

Submitted by cammoblammo on Sat, 2006-10-28 01:38.

If you have a look through the list of modules I posted you'll see a line that says:

parport 33160 3 ppdev,lp,parport_pc

I noticed when I booted that ppdev seemed to be loaded by something to do with the CUPS system. My logs also suggest that a device called lp0 is using parport0.

This says to me that CUPS has decided to take over my parallel port. However, my printer is USB, and the only thing I have attached to my parallel port is the scanner.

I stopped CUPS and removed ppdev with rmmod -- and now the scanner works fine. Of course, I don't want to have to do this every time I boot. Can anyone suggest how I can stop CUPS taking over my parallel port?

--
A tidy house is the sign of a stolen computer.

»

edit the CUPS config files

Submitted by pinniped on Sat, 2006-10-28 08:21.

There may also be nasty hardware autodetect things which load that stuff. If you really don't need 'ppdev' then you can simply delete the driver so it's not possible to load the interfering driver. :)

»

Which ones?

Submitted by cammoblammo on Sat, 2006-10-28 15:38.

Any idea which config file to edit? I've been through everything in /etc/cups and there's no reference to anything parallel or ppdev.

I retarted CUPS and the scanner still works. So that much is good.

Pardon my ignorance (oh ye of many zorkmids), but is there a canonical way to delete a driver? Do you mean to simply use modconf or something, or actually drill down to the offending file and move it to the great /dev/null in the sky (or at least rm it)?

--
A tidy house is the sign of a stolen computer.

»

removing drivers

Submitted by pinniped on Sat, 2006-10-28 21:54.

Your drivers are somewhere in:

/lib/modules/$(uname -r)/kernel

In fact, probably in a 'drivers' directory under kernel. Just go there and look under 'char' (UNIX character-based device) and your ppdev and lp drivers and so on will be there. The drivers usually have sensible names so tracking them down and removing them is not usually a problem.

»
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