---
name: "sane-sm3840"
section: "5"
platform: "linux"
package: "sane"
version: "1.4.0-4"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/sane-sm3840"
---

# sane-sm3840(5)

SANE backend for Microtek scanners with SCAN08 USB chip

## NAME

sane-sm3840 - SANE backend for Microtek scanners with SCAN08 USB chip

## DESCRIPTION

The **sane-sm3840** library implements a SANE (Scanner Access Now Easy) backend that provides access to some Microtek scanners with the SCAN08 USB chip.

There exist backends for Microtek scanners with SCSI command set. Refer to [**sane-microtek**(5)](/sane-microtek/5.md) and [**sane-microtek2**(5)](/sane-microtek2/5.md) for details.

There also exists a Microtek 3600 series driver, see [**sane-sm3600**(5)](/sane-sm3600/5.md) for details.

At present, the following scanners are known positively to work with this backend:

```
Vendor     Product ID:     Remark:
--------   --------------  -----------
Microtek   ScanMaker 3840  All modes OK
Microtek   ScanMaker 4800  All modes OK
```

If you own a Microtek scanner with the SCAN08 chip other than the ones listed above, it may or may not work with SANE.  Feel free to contact the backend author (*earle@ziplabel.com*) to report results with scanners not on the list.

## FRONTEND OPTIONS

The following options are supported by the **sane-sm3840** driver:

- **--mode color\|gray\|lineart\|halftone**

  Color or grayscale mode.

- **--resolution 150\|300\|600\|1200**

  Pixels per inch for scans.

- **--depth 8\|16**

  Note that the least significant bits of 16bpp mode may be noise.

- **--brightness 1..4096**

  Higher numbers increase brightness of returned image.

- **--contrast 0.1..9.9**

  Larger numbers decrease contrast of returned image.

- **--lamp-timeout 1..15**

  Time in minutes until the lamp is turned off after a scan.

## CONFIGURATION

This backend does not support a configuration file right now.

## FILES

- */usr/lib/sane/libsane-sm3840.a*

  The static library implementing this backend.

- */usr/lib/sane/libsane-sm3840.so*

  The shared library implementing this backend (present on systems that support dynamic loading).

## ENVIRONMENT

- **SANE\_DEBUG\_SM3840**

  If the library was compiled with debug support enabled, this environment variable controls the debug level for this backend.  E.g., a value of 128 requests all debug output to be printed.  Smaller levels reduce verbosity. To see error messages on stderr set **SANE\_DEBUG\_SM3840** to 1.

## SEE ALSO

[**sane**(7)](/sane/7.md), [**sane-microtek**(5)](/sane-microtek/5.md), [**sane-microtek2**(5)](/sane-microtek2/5.md), [**sane-sm3600**(5)](/sane-sm3600/5.md)\
 *http://www.ziplabel.com/sm3840*

## AUTHOR

Earle F. Philhower III \<*earle@ziplabel.com*\>