getting my scanner to work, is it possible!?!

[Ed Crossley <ed crossley ntlworld com>]

Hi 
Sorry for this, i know it's a bit of a generic question but do scanners
work ok under Gnome? I've recently aquired a PRIMAX Colorado Direct (D600?)
and would love to use it especially with GIMP. Plugging it in to my linux
box (powered by Mandrake 7.2, sorry!) and switching on, it wasn't detected
and remains unseen by my computer. 
Can anyone offer some advice as to getting this scanner to work "nicely",
including basic stuff, maybe i haven't got the printer port configured
properly? (not too basic, i do have the power source switched on!;-))
Thank you for reading this and all you gurus out there, KEEP UP THE GOOD
WORK!

Best Regards 
Ed.