Greetings SANErs! Announcing ScanJetPlay, a silly little utility to play music (yes, music!) on your HP ScanJet 3c/3p/4c/4p (possibly others). I kid you not!
I came across this easter egg built into the old ScanJets after reading an article in the feb 1997 issue of HP Journal (see http://www.hpl.hp.com/hpjournal/97feb/feb97a8.htm). The SCL command "PLAY TUNE" was presumably included as a gag. I have no idea if this is still available in the newer ScanJets. I was surprised there was no mention of this in the SANE mailing list archives, so I simply hacked together a utility using the SANE lib to exploit this bizarre capability. The result is ScanJetPlay. Yeah, I know scanners are primarily for scanning and this is totally insane, but I simply couldn't resist! You can download the source code and watch a video of my ScanJet 4c with its rendition of "For Elise" at: http://www.ganjatron.net/misc/scanjet/scanjet.html. Please read and understand the disclaimer as there is a potential risk of damage. I've tested ScanJetPlay on my 4c and 4p, the virtually identical 3c and 3p should also be fine, but your mileage may vary on newer models. If something goes wrong (you'll hear it!), power the scanner down *immediately*. Having said that, I'd like to know if this trick also works on the Scanjet 5p (and later models), so user feedback is appreciated. Have fun, and best wishes for the festive season! --GanjaTron -- END OF LINE. (MCP)
