Flatbed Canon USB scanner and KVM with USB3 ports

[BonzaiDuck]

For years with my collection of rigs, one of them has had the exclusive connection to my scanner.

I have a new KVM switch providing 3x USB3 ports in front, with a USB3 "B" port for each connected computer in back.

I am wondering what problems I will have in "sharing" access to the scanner through the front USB3 ports.

The Canon is at most a USB2 device, but the USB3 port to multiple computers should still be compatible.

I can think of scenarios to avoid, like switching computers in the middle of a scan.

Has anyone tried anything like this? What are your experiences? What problems? What sort of mistakes did you have to avoid?

Will it work?

 

[corkyg]

Good question, Duck. I have always used an independent scanner with links via LAN to 2 or 3 computers, Since I am the only user, the scenario you cite has never happened. The current scanner is an Epson I/600Photo, and it gets used maybe twice a month mainly for docs to PDF.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Good question, Duck. I have always used an independent scanner with links via LAN to 2 or 3 computers, Since I am the only user, the scenario you cite has never happened. The current scanner is an Epson I/600Photo, and it gets used maybe twice a month mainly for docs to PDF.

Trying to think of the name(s) of the software firm(s). You could have remote/network access to the scanner, and it was shared. For various reasons, I may only have used it that way for a shorter time. May have been a software/OS compatibility issue. Or maybe the software was too much money for the benefits. But there is the paradox that either something has to "be in the hopper" for a document-feed scanner, or the scanner has to be available within arm's reach -- making the sharing of it less of a solution.

Taxes, bills, statements, rental property transactions, condo board business, licenses -- just about any source document you'd want to keep -- I've made a habit of selective scanning from postal mail or whatever one acquires in personal or business transactions.

I use PaperPort as a document manager. If I weren't so lazy, I might have attempted some time ago to build a document database with additional descriptive relational attributes, instead of relying on PaperPort's OCR feature within its own database. I believe there was a feature of ORACLE called "Context" for embedding documents. I once had built a system with DBASEV which would raise whatever application was needed to present this or that word-processing, spreadsheet, PDF or text document.

So I'm scanning daily. If I'm remiss and let it go a week, then a pile begins to grow on top of the scanner until I can catch up.

Sure beats file cabinets. Either way with that, there is a disposal problem no matter what.

Maybe I'll just experiment with it with the scanner driver software installed on two systems. It really couldn't be any harm -- just a frustration if it doesn't work right.

 

[corkyg]

Since I retired, sold my house and moved to a senior residence apartment, I no longer have multiple PCs. Just my desktop and a notebook for travel. So, right now, the scanner is not available to the notebook. Some of these solutions might apply to your needs:

https://www.google.com/search?sourc...=1T4GGLG_enUS329&q=Install+scanner+on+network

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Since I retired, sold my house and moved to a senior residence apartment, I no longer have multiple PCs. Just my desktop and a notebook for travel. So, right now, the scanner is not available to the notebook. Some of these solutions might apply to your needs:

https://www.google.com/search?sourc...=1T4GGLG_enUS329&q=Install+scanner+on+network

Thanks. We have two Canon 8800F flatbeds in the house. My focus with my thread is a margin of convenience for the systems under my desk. If either the KVM with USB connections or the software options don't work for me, it's not a major setback. If I want to scan something, I can just as well push a KVM button -- unless the intended PC is asleep or hibernating. For that sliver of advantage, the USB/KVM possibility makes more sense, and if it doesn't work or throws up more problems, I won't bother with it.

I think you're very smart to discipline your tech-immersion as you do. I could also be living in a senior residence apartment. In fact, everyone here has their Medicare card. My PC compulsions are probably part of a "second-childhood" phenomenon.

 

[Dahak]

I only glanced at the thread. But if the KVM has a port or ports for USB sharing, i do not see why it could not work.
You may need to do the initial setup first of the scanner on the machines that are connected to the KVM

The model of the kvm may help

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Dahak:

This is the model I purchased with my Skylake parts:

Avocent USB/DVI KVM

Juggling features I wanted in a KVM, I wanted "4K" capability, and falsely assumed that such capability might also be HDCP-compliant. The reseller (Egg) offers a 1-month RMA exchange/refund period. By the time I had all the Skylake parts tested to my satisfaction, I had less than a week to get the KVM set up. All "seemed" just fine, until a week after the end of the 1-month window, I noticed that Media Center wouldn't present DRM feeds from my SiliconDust tuners because the system -- combined with the KVM connection to the monitor -- was not HDCP-compliant.

So I am "stuck with" this KVM, while I had a workaround for the HDCP requirement with my BenQ gaming monitor. Once I'd connected my HDTV directly to the computer, all is fine as long as the media applications (WMC) were made to display on the TV. "Can't watch TV on your desktop monitor?" The BenQ has its own "V" part of KVM with multiple ports selectable on the fly from its mouse-like device.

So I'm going to live with the purchase, short of selling it and finding a better choice. In fact, I can see I only need one extra connection to the monitor besides the KVM's. I'll put my Hauppauge HVR-2250 in a fully-KVM-connected system for the OTA broadcasts, which shouldn't figure in HDCP compliancy.

The USB3 feature with three ports, the integration of audio to share a single 2.1 speaker-set, and the "K and M" functionality make the shortcoming minor.

I think all I'd have to do is pre-install the Canon software on the machine likely to have shared scanner access.

. . . And test it . . . . I've got all the cables I need.

[And what would we do in the 21st century without "TV?" Even if we follow the prescripts of the old John Prine song: "Throw away the TV . . . Throw away the papers . . . move to the country . . . and build you a home!" If you had a nice camper-trailer for your SUV, and spent the summer in a National Forest campground -- would you just give up TV? No, you wouldn't . . . . ]