Here are your options:

• Bring in your own Windows or Mac laptop. Install the HP3570c drivers. Unplug the USB cable from the back of the scanning computer scanner.nevis.columbia.edu and plug it into your laptop. When you're done, please remember to plug the scanner back into the computer again.

  If you have a Linux laptop with Fedora Core 6 or higher, the necessary software and drivers are probably already installed (you need the sane-backends package, version 1.0.18 or greater). If your laptop has an earlier version of Linux, installing the HP3570c drivers is a non-trivial task. It's probably simpler to just use cordwainer.nevis.columbia.edu.

• Use cordwainer.nevis.columbia.edu directly:
  • Important: This not fast software (2.8GHz P4). Be patient. Don't panic.

  • Login using the console with your Linux cluster account and password.

  • You have three choices of program to use:
    • kooka - you can type this command directly in a terminal window, or you can find it under the "Applications" menu, under the "Graphics" sub-menu.

    • xsane - you have to type this command directly into a terminal window. This is my favorite, but it's a little more intimidating to use.

    • scanimage - this is a command-line program. A typical invocation might be be:

      scanimage | pnmtops | ps2pdf - output.pdf

      Use "scanimage --help" or type "man scanimage" for more information.

  • All three of the above programs tend to produce output in PNM format. You might want to read about the netpbm programs to convert these files; "man -k pnm" will show you a list of useful programs.

  • If you get an error message instead of a scan, try unplugging the USB cable, wait 30 seconds, then plug it in again. If you get an error message after a scan, typically you can ignore it.

  • One more time: be patient. Scans take a long time on this box.

Why does the scanner box have the name cordwainer.nevis.columbia.edu? Cordwainer Smith was a science-fiction author whose most famous work is "Scanners Live in Vain".

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