The good news is that it works, although it says nowhere in the Internet that it does (in fact in some places it says it doesn’t). This post is in the hopes that someone searching for instructions on how to set up SANE for network-scanning with this printer will have it a bit easier than me. It should also work for any other distros. So here we go:
- Connect your printer to your network, Download the drivers (Select Linux -> Drivers for OS deployment), untar, and proceed to ‘sudo ./autorun’ (this should install stuff, among other things a SANE driver), and make sure your network printer works (i.e. correctly added in Cups etc)
Now the real deal:
4) In http://your-printers-ip-address you can access the Web administration interface for the printer (default user/pw: admin/dell00000). If you are like me, in the Security → Feature Management section you would like to disable all the **** you don’t know what it is. Except well… for the scanner to work, SNMPv1/v2 Protocol, T4NET Protocol and FAX2PC must remain ACTIVE . Apart from that and your favourite printing protocol (IPP or Raw TCP/IP work for Linux), every thing else is Windows/Mac stuff that I don’t need and probably pollutes the LAN.
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Now, edit /etc/sane.d/net.conf and uncomment the #smfp line. Yes, this is for Samsung printers but guess what, your Dell is probably a Samsung printer underneath.
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Check your printer is visible and receives commands (these should work with your regular user too):
/etc/sane.d # scanimage -L
device `smfp:DELL B1265dfw Mono MFP on your-printers-ip' is a DELL B1265dfw Mono MFP on your-printers-ip Scanner
/etc/sane.d # scanimage --help -d 'smfp:DELL B1265dfw Mono MFP on your-printers-ip'
(should print the normal option plus printer specific options)
- Your printer is ready to scan using your utility of choice (like xsane) and without any physical connection to your computer
Note that the ‘Scan to PC -> Network PC’ thing in the printer menu is still not going to work or do anything.
Cheers