(Snapshot from 20130423 of https://github.com/markvdb/diybookscanner/wiki/Software-triggering-on-Debian-GNU-Linux )

GNU/Linux

Preparation

Cameras

Before connecting your Canon PowerShot cameras to a computer, please configure the generic firmware of your Canon PowerShot cameras according to https://github.com/markvdb/diybookscanner/blob/master/misc/settings.md. Triple check this or expect reliability problems!

Also, get two small sticker labels: one for the left camera and one for the right one.

This document assumes you have already got two SD cards preflashed with CHDK to use with your cameras, as is the case for users of the http://diybookscanner.eu and http://diybookscanner.org kit.

Foot Pedal

This document assumes you have already got a USB foot pedal to use with your cameras as in the http://diybookscanner.eu or http://diybookscanner.org kit. If not, you can always use your computer's keyboard to trigger the cameras instead. Not very handy, but it will certainly work!

Computer

Find a computer. Some considerations:

• You will need at least three, preferably four free usb 2.0 ports, not counting two for an eventual usb mouse and keyboard. On a desktop, six usb ports would be ideal.
• If you just want to dump the pictures to a usb stick, a very modest old machine will suffice.
• If you want to do image postprocessing on this machine too, you want a more powerful machine.

Preinstall it with [debian.org Debian Gnu/Linux 7.0] or [ubuntu.com Ubuntu 12.04].

Installation

This section explains how to install the triggering software onto a Debian or Ubuntu workstation. Some basic Debian or Ubuntu knowledge is expected here.

Ubuntu users can directly paste the below commands into their terminal. Debian users should use the root user directly instead of prepending "sudo " to every command that requires superuser rights.

Dependencies

First, we are going to install some of the packages needed to build our software:

apt-get install gphoto2 build-essential subversion git libusb-dev lua5.1 liblua5.1 liblua5.1-dev

Ptpcam

Ptpcam is the software we are going to use to configure and trigger the cameras. What we are using is not ptpcam proper, but a fork by the CHDK project. One of the things the fork adds is ptpcam remote configuration and triggering functionality.

Compiling from source

First, we go to the directory where code for system wide use is normally compiled:

user@scanner:~$ sudo cd /usr/src

We download the latest revision of ptpcam:

user@scanner:~$ sudo svn co http://subversion.assembla.com/svn/chdkde/trunk/tools/ptpcam/

We jump into our downloaded source code:

user@scanner:~$ sudo cd ptpcam

We create the ptpcam executable:

user@scanner:~$ sudo make

We make it available to all users in the standard place:

user@scanner:~$ sudo ln -s /usr/src/ptpcam/ptpcam /usr/bin/ptpcam

Keypedal script

The keypedal script configures and triggers the cameras.

We go to the standard place for executables:

user@scanner:~$ sudo cd /usr/bin

Let's download the script here:

user@scanner:~$ sudo wget https://github.com/markvdb/diybookscanner/raw/master/misc/test_keypedal.sh

Make sure everyone has the right to run it:

user@scanner:~$ sudo chmod a+x test_keypedal.sh

Camera configuration script

This script will teach your cameras which one is left and which one is right.

Since we're in the right place, we just download it…

user@scanner:~$ sudo wget https://github.com/markvdb/diybookscanner/raw/master/misc/configure_cameras.sh

… and we make sure it is executable:

user@scanner:~$ sudo chmod a+x configure_cameras.sh

CHDK

[chdk.wikia.org chdk] is the alternative Canon PowerShot firmware we use to remotely trigger the cameras via usb. Cameras purchased from http://diybookscanner.eu or http://diybookscanner.org should have come with a preconfigured sd card for running it.

In order to test this, please:

• Lock the sd card by moving the mini switch on the device to the “lock” position.
• Insert the sd card into the camera.
• Boot the camera. You should now see the CHDK logo flash by at boot time.

Avoiding competition for our cameras

The desktop environment on Debian and Ubuntu auto connects to cameras when it detects them on the usb port. We don't want that, because it causes interference with the gphoto2 and ptpcam software we are using. Here's how to switch it off:

user@scanner:~$ sudo apt-get remove --purge gvfs-backends

Double checking if you have removed the gvfs-backends package is easy:

user@scanner:~$ dpkg -s gvfs-backends|grep Status

Setting camera orientation

Now we want our cameras to remember which one is left or right. Have the two cameras and usb cables ready. Now let's run the configuration script and follow the instructions within:

user@scanner:~$ sudo configure_cameras.sh

If the camera has not been used for a while, the setting may not stick if you power it off immediately. This is because the internal backup battery is not charged. Charge the main battery or attach a power supply and leave the camera powered off overnight. At this point you should be able to set the ownername consistently.

Now is the time to label your cameras. It's best to do this on the back side to avoid reflection.

Running the camera triggering script

Please make sure that both cameras are on and connected to your computer. Connect the foot pedal too connected to your computer. Now we are ready to run the camera triggering script:

user@scanner:~$ test_keypedal.sh

Please follow the instructions in the script.

The result of this should be a folder with

Various internals and troubleshooting

Listing the Cameras

After attaching the cameras, please look closely at the output of these commands, especially the usb information:

user@scanner:~$ gphoto2 --auto-detect

user@scanner:~$ ptpcam --list-devices

Setting camera orientation manually

(NOTE: Setting /main/settings/ownername is problematic on Debian 6.0, but it should run fine from Debian 7.0 onwards)

Make sure to replace the usb port information with what you learned from listing the camera devices!

user@scanner:~$ gphoto2 --port usb:001,025 --set-config /main/settings/ownername=left

user@scanner:~$ gphoto2 --port usb:001,026 --set-config /main/settings/ownername=right

user@scanner:~$ gphoto2 --port usb:001,025 --get-config /main/settings/ownername

user@scanner:~$ gphoto2 --port usb:001,026 --get-config /main/settings/ownername

Some nice tricks for testing cameras individually

1. Connect one camera.
2. See if it gets detected:

user@scanner:~$ ptpcam --list-devices

Testing from the interactive console

Start the remote control console:

user@scanner:~$ ptpcam --chdk

conn >> mode 1

conn >> luar zoom()

conn >> lua shoot()

Testing from the bash prompt

Switch the camera to recording mode. The camera should now open up:

user@scanner:~$ ptpcam --chdk=”mode 1”

Make the camera zoom one step:

user@scanner:~$ ptpcam --chdk=”lua zoom()”

Make the camera shoot once:

user@scanner:~$ ptpcam --chdk=”lua shoot()”

fuser

If you're experiencing difficulties that sound like "resource busy", try to find out if another process is using the camera:

user@scanner:~$ sudo fuser -v /dev/bus/usb/00x/00y

camera "powers down"

Is your camera crashing or automatically powering down?

• When powering down, it will close the lens.
• When crashing, the lens if open will stay open.

camera powers down

You don't want your camer to auto power down when using it in the book scanner. The scanners in the http://diybookscanner.eu or http://diybookscanner.org kit come with an AC adapter anyway, right? Please double check the original Canon camera firmware settings and disable auto power down.

camera crashes

Try to reproduce it. Interesting to know:

• Is it always the same camera crashing? This might point at a hardware problem with the SD card or the camera.

Some things you may try to avoid your camera crashing:

• Make sure not to play with focus settings in chdk.
• Triple check that flash is disabled in the generic firmware settings.
• Check the foot pedal and how you press it. It should write just one character ("b") when pushing it.
• Switch the cards between the cameras. Don't ask me why this would help, but I've been assured it helped on one occasion.
• Unplug all other USB devices.
• Make sure you are not running Debian/Ubuntu on a vm or on an old computer with USB 1.1 ports.
• Replace the AC adapter. Run on batteries for some time instead.
• Replace the camera itself.
• Make sure you have as much light on your cradle as possible. If the camera needs to seek for focus for too long because of bad lighting conditions, it might not have enough time to shoot and let the computer download. Ask it to shoot again while it's still busy and it will crash!

Windows

(stub)

• ptpcam
• chdk
• gphoto2
• foot pedal