Canon Pixma G3501 & *Ubuntu 18.04 LTS: though I CAN print, I CANNOT scan.

[Little Girl]

Hey there,

Brian wrote:
>Little Girl wrote:
 
>> This may or may not be the same for you with your Canon printer,
>> but my Brother printer does wired or wireless printing, but can
>> only do wired scanning from my Ubuntu MATE machine. This is
>> definitely a GNU/Linux driver issue, because the same printer does
>> wireless scans with no issues from Windows, from an Android
>> tablet, and from my iPad.

>SANE does not provide a backend for Brother MFDs.

This is inaccurate. I can print while the printer is wired or
wireless and I can only scan while the printer is wired. Therefore,
the only accurate conclusion that can be drawn is that SANE does,
indeed, provide a partial GNU/Linux back end for at least one Brother
scanner (mine), but does not provide a full GNU/Linux back end for
that same Brother scanner.

>The Android tablet and the iPad do not use SANE but AirScan, which
>Ubuntu 18.04 can also use.

That's interesting. More information on how Ubuntu can use AirScan
would have been nice, but I'll look that up to see if it's something
I'd like to set up.

>Lack of wireless scanning is not a GNU/Linux driver issue.

This is inaccurate. You used "backend" above when referring to what
SANE provides and you were right that SANE provides a back end. SANE's
back end, however, consists of drivers. Therefore, you agree that
it's a driver issue.

See the Architecture section of the
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scanner_Access_Now_Easy page for more
information on the definition of back end when it comes to SANE. I've
pulled this quote from it for you:

	"SANE differs from TWAIN in that it is cleanly separated into
	"front ends" (user programs) and "back ends" (scanner
	drivers)."

I'll give you the possibility that this may not be a GNU/Linux issue,
since that's a rather huge piece of real estate and the possibility
exists that SANE provides everything needed by my scanner in some
other variant of GNU/Linux. I would, however, have to say that it's
at least an Ubuntu MATE issue, since that's where I, personally, am
experiencing it after downloading and installing the Linux drivers
provided by Brother (note that "GNU/" was added by me - they always
only refer to it as "Linux" on their site).

>Additionally, it is probably not the same issue as with the Canon
>MFD.

Thank you for sort of confirming my "may or may not be the same for
you" statement above.

-- 
Little Girl

There is no spoon.