Actually, the scanner does work on Linux. I bought the scanner and installed it under Debian Jessie GNU/Linux (64-bit). Here are the steps:
1. download driver from
http://software.canon-europe.com/software...
2. unpack the zip file and install the .deb file (cndrvsane-p208ii_1.00-3_i386.deb) with GDebi or with dpkg -i. Now the package cndrvsane-p208ii is installed.
The package cndrvsane-p208ii has some dependencies; in my case they were already installed (the 32-bit versions are needed). Possibly GDebi does this, I could not test it. You can check in the terminal with the command
apt-cache policy libc6:i386 libgcc1:i386 libstdc++6:i386 libusb-0.1-4:i386 libsane:i386
Install these packages if not already installed.
Connect the scanner via USB (avoid the hub for now) with the "Auto Start" switch in the OFF position, and (importantly) open the "paper tray" so that it turns on.
Check the recognition and ID of the device with the command "lsusb". For me it was
Bus 001 Device 007: ID 1083:165f Canon Electronics, Inc.
The device ID (vendor=0x1083, product=0x165f) can also be found with the command sane-find-scanner.
Edit the file /etc/sane.d/canon_dr.conf as root (make a copy first). At the end, insert the following lines (please leave a blank line at the end):
# P-208II
usb 0x1083 0x165f
7. install software; I tested with xsane and gscan2pdf. If necessary, switch off the scanner again (paper tray closed) and switch it on (paper tray open).
What does work for me: Colour, paper size, duplex scan, resolution up to 600 dpi. It doesn't hang either, but starts as soon as I click on Scan.
Linux support is very poor in my opinion. Canon does provide a SANE driver at
http://software.canon-europe.com/software..., but it is a bad joke: it only works on 32-bit operating systems (nobody uses that anymore) and only works with an old SANE version - so you can't use it at all.
Out-of-the-box, the scanner is not recognised at all under Ubuntu 14.04; with the latest SANE version it "works" to some extent, but still so badly that you cannot work properly with it: Scans only one-sided, hangs for 15 seconds when starting, sometimes hangs up, which can only be fixed by unplugging it, and cuts off the scan too early, so that parts are missing. 600dpi scans don't seem to work at all.
On Windows there are none of these problems, but unfortunately the Windows software doesn't run in Wine either.
I have exchanged it and will probably switch to an HP OfficeJet Pro 8620, as HP has always had good Linux support, unlike Canon, and apparently you can even scan over a network with it.
