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Film scanners in linux.

algusev2017

Member
Allowing Ads
Joined
Jul 24, 2023
Messages
7
Location
Ukraine
Format
35mm

Please write me, if filmscanners Primefilm, Reflecta and Nikon coolscan normally work in linux. Especially in Vuescan or silverfast software.​


 
I use VMWare in Ubuntu to run a Windows XP VM.

On WinXP, I installed Nikon Scan.

I connect my Coolscan 5000 via USB.

It works well!
 
I am pretty sure that Vuescan runs under linux, and Silverfast does not - it only supports windows and MacOS.

Both Vuescan and Silverfast have a free demo mode - in Vuescan, you can use it but it puts an obtrusive watermark on the image. This means you can test whether it will work with your scanner before paying for the software.
 
In Linux, your main options for scanning are XSane and VueScan.

XSane is an old-school but nice and capable graphical frontend that uses the SANE API. It doesn't look like SANE has very good support for the scanners you mentioned. But SANE does have good support for the Plustek OpticFilm scanners, if you have access to any of those. You can look up the scanners supported in SANE here.

VueScan supports most scanners. You can search for your scanner model on their website and read about the capabilities and support on Linux.
 
In order to use my Coolscan 8000ED with Linux, I had to use a Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 adapter, a Thunderbolt 2 to Firewire 800 adapter, and a Firewire 800 to Firewire 400 cable. After that, VueScan worked just fine on Ubuntu.
 
I regularly use a Nikon CoolScan LS-50 scanner with Debian Linux (USB connection). I don't know how I'd get along without Vuescan, which runs beautifully on Debian.
 
benveniste said:
In order to use my Coolscan 8000ED with Linux, I had to use a Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 adapter, a Thunderbolt 2 to Firewire 800 adapter, and a Firewire 800 to Firewire 400 cable. After that, VueScan worked just fine on Ubuntu.
Click to expand...

I saw this configuration on this page and I bought a tb3 -> tb2 adaptor, a tb2 to fw800 adapter and a fw800 to fw400 adapter, but I have not managed to see my LS-8000 from my Linux laptop. I loaded thunderbolt and firewire-* modules and started bolt service.

@benveniste Can you please explain how you make it work?
 
lsusb shows:

Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 003 Device 002: ID 0489:e0cd Foxconn / Hon Hai MediaTek Bluetooth Adapter
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 05ac:1657 Apple, Inc. Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 006 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 005 Device 002: ID 04f2:b6d0 Chicony Electronics Co., Ltd Integrated Camera
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 007 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

About the adapter, usb-devices shows

T: Bus=01 Lev=01 Prnt=01 Port=00 Cnt=01 Dev#= 2 Spd=1.5 MxCh= 0
D: Ver= 2.01 Cls=11(blbrd) Sub=00 Prot=00 MxPS= 8 #Cfgs= 1
P: Vendor=05ac ProdID=1657 Rev=03.56
S: Manufacturer=Apple Inc.
S: Product=Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter
S: SerialNumber=DTN137100EAH2YFBF
C: #Ifs= 1 Cfg#= 1 Atr=80 MxPwr=100mA
I: If#= 0 Alt= 0 #EPs= 0 Cls=11(blbrd) Sub=00 Prot=00 Driver=(none)
 
OK, so your TB2 adapter is enumerated. I don't see the TB2 - FireWire 800 device; I assume this is not a passive cable, but in fact a bridge of some sort that needs to be properly enumerated and a device driver associated with it so that it can be used. What kind of TB2/FireWire adapter are you using?
 
b4t said:
It's a (passive) Apple Thunderbolt 2 to FireWire adapter.
Click to expand...

Which one specifically?
Are you sure it's actually passive, in the sense that it involves no embedded controller that performs the interfacing between both ends? Note that this is what I mean by passive; not the question of external power supply. I know it's passive in that sense, but this does not say much about the driver stack required on the Linux side.

Anyway, you appear to be not alone with this problem; a quick Google turns this up (sadly no solution though): https://discourse.ardour.org/t/success-with-thunderbolt-3-to-firewire-adapter/101141/4
 
I wrote passive since only a tiny cable and not some pci card in enclosure (such as startech ones). Of course, there must be some controller inside.

My tb>fw adapter is a genuine Apple one. It written "MD464ZM/A" on the box.
 
OK, so my guess is that there needs to be a driver stack associated with the adapter and maybe that wasn't automatically loaded/installed/included in your Linux distro. I can't comment in much more detail since I don't have this hardware around, so can't really test anything for you. But this is the direction I'd start the search in.
 
Thanks for your help.
I've already searched for Linux modules (thunderbolt, firewire_*), thunderbolt rights, but I see nothing more than the USB device.
 
And your PC laptop definitely has Thunderbolt 3/4, right? Not just USB-C which physically looks the same.
 
@benveniste said here it works.

brbo said:
And your PC laptop definitely has Thunderbolt 3/4, right? Not just USB-C which physically looks the same.
Click to expand...
The issue seems to be here. My Thinkpad P14s gen2 AMD is reported to have only USB 3.2, not Thunderbolt. I'm sure I checked that before, but failed my check.

Thank you for your help . I will search for another solution.
 
For the record...

I borrowed an old Thinkpad with a ThunderBolt 3 port. I installed it with Debian Linux. I plugged my LS-8000 throught tb3>tb2 adaptor + tb2>fw800 adaptor + fw800>fw400 adaptor. It worked directly with VueScan, without any configuration!
 
I am using a Minolta Elite Scan II with a Firewire 400 ExpressCard under Kubuntu, luckily my Thinkpad 540p has still an ExpressCard slot, so this avoids the dongle chain. Vuescan of course.
See my old thread for details, comparing scan speeds for Firewire vs USB on this scanner: https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/usb-1-1-vs-firewire-400-vs-usb-2.193615

I guess on a desktop PC a firewire PCIe card should be easy to install, I see them for around $20 (CAD).
 
Last edited:
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