Getting Scanbuttond to work with Canon Lide 110 and 210 under Ubuntu

I recently purchased the Lide 110 and tried to get the scanner buttons working on my ubuntu home server using a tool called scanbuttond. But after a day of trying to compile everything, I figured two things:

1. The genesys backend that is available from older versions of scanbuttond works only with lower versions of the Canon Lide series, including Lide 100 and 200.

2. The USB protocol and handshake have changed in the Lide 110 and Lide 210. So even if you manage to get it all compiled, the old genesys backend no longer works.

So I started to dig into the various information on the internet and have finally figured  a way to get this working. I thought it would be useful to share with people who need to get this combination working. 

1.       First of all, download the latest version of scanbuttond from the official website.  Extract the file above to a directory where you can compile.

wget http://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/scanbuttond/scanbuttond/0.2.3/scanbuttond-0.2.3.tar.gz

tar -zxzf scanbuttond-0.2.3.tar.gz

cd scanbuttond-0.2.3

2.       You now need to get the old version of scanbuttond, patch and copy the files genesys.c and genesys.h from the old package to the "backends" directory from point 1.

If you are not comfortable doing this manually, just copy these two pre-patched files into the “backends" directory where you extracted the current scanbutton. Skip 3 and 4 if you do this.

cd backends
wget https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/6329778/genesys/genesys.c 
wget  https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/6329778/genesys/genesys.h

3.   This is the new code that is changed in genesys.c to support Lide 110 and Lide 210.

    static int supported_usb_devices[NUM_SUPPORTED_USB_DEVICES][3] = {

        // vendor, product, num_buttons

        { 0x04a9, 0x1909, 15 }, // CanoScan LiDE 110 (only 4 real buttons)

        { 0x04a9, 0x190a, 15 }  // CanoScan LiDE 210 (only 4 real buttons)

    };

    

    static char* usb_device_descriptions[NUM_SUPPORTED_USB_DEVICES][2] = {

        { "Canon", "CanoScan LiDE 110" },

        { "Canon", "CanoScan LiDE 210" }

    };

The reason to remove support for other canon scanners is because the usb handshake is fundamentally different for these two scanners and there is no sense in keeping support for old scanners that do not work with this code.

4.    And the logic for the USB handshake that has now changed.

    int scanbtnd_get_button(scanner_t* scanner)

    {

       unsigned char bytes[2];

       int num_bytes;

       int button = 0;

      

       if (!scanner->is_open)

          return -EINVAL;

       num_bytes = libusb_control_msg((libusb_device_t*)scanner->internal_dev_ptr,

                               0xc0, 0x0c, 0x008e, 0x3122, (void *)bytes, 0x0002);

      

       if (num_bytes != 2) {

          syslog(LOG_WARNING, "genesys-backend: communication error: read length:%d, num_bytes);

          return 0;

       }

      

       return (bytes[0] ^ 0x1f) & 0x1f;

    }

5.       This is the slightly tricky part as it depends on your machine, getting scanbuttond to compile with the new changes. You have to change the makefiles to use genesys as a extra backend :

cd scanbuttond-0.2.3\backends

rm -f Makefile.am Makefile.in meta.conf

wget https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/6329778/genesys/Makefile.am

wget https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/6329778/genesys/Makefile.in

wget https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/6329778/genesys/meta.conf

Now compile the source code:

cd scanbuttond-0.2.3

./configure --prefix=/usr --sysconfdir=/etc

make

make install

6.       If all goes well in the compile and install, you are ready to rock and roll !

Run scanbuttond with this command:

scanbuttond --foreground --backend=/usr/lib/libscanbtnd-backend_genesys.so

tail –f /var/log/syslog

Start pressing buttons on the scanner and you should see the results in the console.

For your reference, this is my /etc/scanbuttond/buttonpressed.sh

#!/bin/sh
# This script is started by scanbuttond whenever a scanner button has been pressed.
# Scanbuttond passes the following parameters to us:
# $1 ... the button number
# $2 ... the scanner's SANE device name, which comes in handy if there are two or
#        more scanners. In this case we can pass the device name to SANE programs
#        like scanimage.
SCANFILE="/ScannedFiles/$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S)"
case $1 in
        1)
                #echo "Auto Scan has been pressed on $2"
                scanimage --format tiff --mode Color --depth 8 --resolution 150 -l 0 -t 0 | convert tiff:- $SCANFILE.jpg
                ;;
        2)
                #echo "Copy has been pressed on $2"
                scanimage --format tiff --mode Color --depth 8 --resolution 200 -l 0 -t 0 -x 215mm -y 297mm | convert tiff:- $SCANFILE.jpg
                lpr -o scaling=100 -o media=A4 -T SCANNER -P EPSON_Color $SCANFILE.jpg
                ;;
        4)
                #echo "Email has been pressed on $2. Make a small size jpg and pdf"
                scanimage --format tiff --mode Color --depth 8 --resolution 100 -l 0 -t 0 | convert tiff:- $SCANFILE.jpg
                convert -quality 75 -compress jpeg $SCANFILE.jpg $SCANFILE.pdf
                ;;
        8)
                #echo "PDF has been pressed on $2"
                scanimage --format tiff --mode Color --depth 8 --resolution 200 -l 0 -t 0 -x 215mm -y 297mm > $SCANFILE.tiff
                convert -quality 90 -compress jpeg $SCANFILE.tiff $SCANFILE.pdf
                rm -f $SCANFILE.tiff
                ;;
esac

That is all ! Have scanbuttond start automatically by adding this line in your /etc/rc.local

scanbuttond --pollingdelay 3000000 --backend=/usr/lib/libscanbtnd-backend_genesys.so

Enjoy !

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"Tick Tock" Career changes...

Over the last few years, I have been asked by a lot of people on how to move ahead in your career. About making the right jumps, about growing the corporate ladder and making more money in the bargain. And the answers are never similar as each case is different. But then I realized that Im working on a plan in my own career and maybe I should write down my thoughts on the Tick Tock model that I follow for myself.

What is the Tick Tock model ? In software development, many companies operate on a tick-tock release schedule. The “tick” release introduces new features, dramatically alters the UI, and can dramatically alter the underlying framework of the software. The “tock” on the other hand, goes back and cleans up the code, fixes old incompatibilities, eliminates UI inconsistencies, and often prepares the groundwork for the next major tick. This is fundamentally a safe way to move ahead. For example, Windows 7  was a "tick" release for Microsoft, they overhauled the Vista style to a new framework and brought in a new UI. Windows 7 SP1 was the “tock” release, way more stable and rock solid.

So why is a job change difficult ? Fundamentally because people tend to think of career jumps as meaning one primary thing with a few add-on. More Money is the primary thing. And new domain, promotion, work location etc become the add-on. And so they give up on good opportunities that come their way simply because a job change has to be "better in most ways" compared to my current job. 

So there are often very good people stuck in the same job for years. They get paid very well, often times at par with the best of companies, but they hit a glass ceiling when it comes to career growth. They get into a comfort zone with their work (bragging rights are never as issue because they get paid well), they think they are doing great in technology, but they fail to realize that they have been doing variations of the same thing for so many years now that they are bound to be good in it. The complacency sets in deep and hard.

And then someone out there offers you a break in a new company at a better position that you are in. Most times, it is usually someone you knew from the past, but given that nothing comes for free, they often cannot pay more than what you are already making. And the work itself might be very tough. This is the point where you make a “tick” change. Ensure that the management is willing to give you a slightly longer rope and then make the jump, even at the same salary or even at a slightly lower perk structure.

So why would you do that ? Ask yourself two questions :

Would I not take the same promotion in my current company at the same salary ?

and

Given that Im getting bored with the same job, would I not be willing to join a new group in the same company (salary remaining the same) ? 

The answer to both questions is always a yes, yet we hesitate the do the same when the company is new. Think of it as a battery recharge for your system. You get to dabble in a new domain and learn the tricks of the trade at the next level you are being offered. Do it for a few years and you will realize that the management will quickly figure out you are good, then your compensation and stock options will start climbing. Over the next three years, you will often make up for any loss of hypothetical money that you gave up during the jump.

And remember, it’s still hypothetical money that you gave up. Because if you never jumped, you would still be in the same job at the same salary plus maybe a total 12% hike over the three years.

And after a reasonable number of years when you are doing good in your new position, its time for a “tock” change. You are now the master of the current position, so a bigger fish is going to be ready to to lap you up at an fantastic salary and perks. And then you realized that you have not only recovered your loses in the “tick” jump you made, you are now well ahead of the game !

Of course, theory often does not work well in real life. But at a fundamental level, this model never goes wrong. Remember that when the IT companies started up in the 90’s. lot of people got into big companies are now retiring after twenty years in the same company, they never needed to do the jumps because the companies were growing in a insane manner. Every Tom and Dick and Harry was getting promotions and hikes as the companies grew. But this is no longer the case as all the big/good companies have stabilized. You WILL hit a glass ceiling sooner or later. And will have to compromise if you want to make a “tick” jump.

And yes, one word of advice. Spend at least 3 years in any company even if it is only reasonably good. And up to 8 years if the company is great. Anything more, you are seen as a squatter. Anything less, you are seen as a jumper. And your resume will start carrying this weight for all your career.

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