Linux and film scanning

[Linkert]

I'm trying to get my Opticfilm 8100 to play nice with linux and VueScan and right now it's not happening.

Used to run macOS, haven't shot anything in quite some time and since then I've switched to linux. It's all fine and dandy except for compatibility issues with certain hardware like a negative scanner.

I've duckduckgo'ed trying to find a solution without result and I guess there is no opticfilm-driver-workaround and that I'll be forced to virtually run macOS or Windows.

The purpose of this thread is to share your workflow on linux. How do you go about scanning negatives on your linux machine? I'll share as soon as I get it going 🙂

 

[Peter_S]

Vuescan runs without problems for me on Ubuntu 14.04 & Nikon Coolscan 8000ED....

 

[Ko.Fe.]

Yea... but not all scanners are supported by VueScan on Linux. OP is asking about Plustek.
Not my current, nor new (waiting for delivery) are supported in Lunix.
Only my old V550 Epson.

 

[citizen99]

I prefer to use the Canon proprietary s/w for my Canoscan 8800F, so I installed Windows into a (free) VirtualBox virtual machine to host it on Linux. Saves having to drop out of Linux to boot up the Windows partition. You can download XP (free) from here
https://pcriver.com/operating-systems/windows-xp-professional-iso-download.html

I just checked that XP is OK to run your 8100 s/w here
https://www.cnet.com/products/plustek-opticfilm-8100-film-scanner-35-mm-desktop-usb-2-0/specs/

https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads
You will want to add the Extension Pack for USB support.

[EDIT] Oh, I forgot to mention, you would also want to install the Virtualbox Guest Additions for file sharing with the host system 😱 .

 

[JeffS7444]

It sounds as if the Plustek driver is proprietary and perhaps has not been reverse-engineered:

https://www.hamrick.com/vuescan/plustek_opticfilm_8100.html#technical-information

I'm guessing that Vuescan on Linux relies on SANE (Scanner Access Now Easy) providing the driver, and it appears that no one is actively working on Plustek film scanners there (but it never hurts to ask):

http://www.sane-project.org/sane-mfgs.html#Z-PLUSTEK

 

[Jockos]

I run W10 in a VM with GPU passthrough, that way I can also use Lightroom with full GPU acceleration!

 

[citizen99]

Edited the following morning (that's enough characters 😉 ).

I prefer to use the Canon proprietary s/w for my Canoscan 8800F, so I installed Windows into a (free) VirtualBox virtual machine to host it on Linux. Saves having to drop out of Linux to boot up the Windows partition. You can download XP (free) from here
https://pcriver.com/operating-systems/windows-xp-professional-iso-download.html

I just checked that XP is OK to run your 8100 s/w here
https://www.cnet.com/products/plustek-opticfilm-8100-film-scanner-35-mm-desktop-usb-2-0/specs/

https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads
You will want to add the Extension Pack for USB support.

[EDIT] Oh, I forgot to mention, you would also want to install the Virtualbox Guest Additions for file sharing with the host system 😱 .