OK, I need help with a Wacom Bamboo (Solved for one person)

[Meemaw]

I think I'm the problem but I'm trying to get it set up on my computer so I will be able to set it up on my daughter's laptop in less than a month!

I am fully updated with the 2.6.27.31.tex5 kernel. I have gone through the Linux Wacom Project's instructions at least twice. When I look at /proc/bus/usb/devices it sees the Bamboo but it still says  
Driver=(none)

I'm  going crazy (crazier) and not sure how to fix it. At this point I'm afraid I've messed up more than I can fix..... any suggestions? words of wisdom? criticism?

Thanks in advance.......
 

[Jaws]

Hey Meemaw,

I got that tablet from my wife that I mentioned over at LGU. It’s an new (older model) Wacom Volito2. Took it out of the box, unplugged the USB mouse and plugged in the tablet on my Lenovo R61 laptop with KDE3.

I know this isn’t going to make you happy but it works perfectly without doing anything to set it up. The only thing that doesn’t work is the pressure sensitivity for line width when using it in Inkscape but that’s not a show stopper for me. The two buttons on the side of the pen work as right mouse button and middle mouse button.

IIRC, I didn’t even restart X. BTW, I’m using the 2.6.26.8.tex3 kernel.

[Meemaw]

Thanks, Jaws.
(Not exactly what I was expecting... but it was what I hoped for when I started.)

This one is a brand new (I've had it 2 weeks) Bamboo Fun.... when I plugged it in there was nothing recognized as far as I could tell - maybe I need to unplug my mouse........

She has a touchpad on her laptop, so maybe it will be different on hers.... she's using 2.6.26.8.tex3 and KDE3 as well. (She's only been using Linux for 2 months at most..... so I feel like I need to get it all working as much as I can so she has time to learn a little before she has to do anything. Hopefully, if I can do my job well enough, she won't have to fix anything!)

 

[Jaws]

Didn’t quite work right (could not get to the very edge of screen regularly) on the desktop but I plugged the tablet into a USB hub on my 20" LCD monitor and that may have something to do with it (too lazy to crawl under the desk). I did not unplug my PS2 mouse, but still, without doing anything, it worked and was usable.

As far as drivers, I always thought they were built into the kernel. Interesting site that, Linux Wacom Project, but it seems, at least for me, irrelevant to PCLOS.

[Meemaw]

(Posted at LGU as well)

Well, I came home and unplugged my mouse, plugged in the Bamboo and started the computer......      NOPE

So I'll start again later.....   My big hope is that when I plug it into her laptop it's recognized.......
but I'm not going to depend on it............

I'm glad yours worked.

Merry Christmas!!!!
 

[Joble]

What kernel are you both using?  Jaws seem to me the type to run the latest available, while you MeeMaw, maybe not so much.  Just a thought.  Other than that, what is that thingymabobber?  Sounds Kool!

[Meemaw]

What kernel are you both using?  Jaws seem to me the type to run the latest available, while you MeeMaw, maybe not so much.  Just a thought.  Other than that, what is that thingymabobber?  Sounds Kool!

He said he was running 2.6.26.8.tex3 - I have that one and 2.6.27.31.tex5 - I've been trying to configure it on the newer one.
If I can get it going on her laptop, it will be Kool
It's one of these.........
http://www.wacom.com/bamboo/bamboo_fun.php

 

[Toolfox]

Meemaw,

When you plug your tablet in, does the wacom module load? You can check this with the lsmod command in a terminal. You should also see the wacom module attach itself to the usbcore module; the entry for that module in lsmod should show the dependency.

With my system started with no tablet plugged in, here's what those two areas look like when I run the lsmod utility:

Code:

[toolfox@localhost ~]$ lsmod
Module                  Size  Used by
joydev                  9280  0
usbhid                 41312  0
ff_memless              4968  1 usbhid
ipt_IFWLOG              2980  1
ipt_psd                43880  1

====lots of useless listing snipped====

jbd                    41940  1 ext3
uhci_hcd               21260  0
ohci_hcd               20996  0
ehci_hcd               32492  0
usbcore               129328  7 usbhid,usblp,hsfosspec,uhci_hcd,ohci_hcd,ehci_hcd
[toolfox@localhost ~]$

When I plug in my tablet and rerun the command, I get:

Code:

[toolfox@localhost ~]$ lsmod
Module                  Size  Used by
wacom                  16960  0
joydev                  9280  0
usbhid                 41312  0
ff_memless              4968  1 usbhid

====again, the same useless entries snipped====

jbd                    41940  1 ext3
uhci_hcd               21260  0
ohci_hcd               20996  0
ehci_hcd               32492  0
usbcore               129328  8 wacom,usbhid,usblp,hsfosspec,uhci_hcd,ohci_hcd,ehci_hcd
[toolfox@localhost ~]$

I suppose you could force the module with a "modprobe wacom" command and check if it attached itself to the hardware (see if any new entries appear in the /dev/input directory like /dev/input/wacom or /dev/input/eventx -- the number in the x will depend on what type and quantity of input devices you have connected; the keyboard is usually event0 and any mice start with event1 and work their way up).

Once you have a kernel-level driver running and communicating with your tablet, we can move on to the wacdump utility to verify the interface before adding entries to xorg.conf. This way, your tablet will have all the features you got it for...like pressure, tilt, and whatever else Wacom built into your stylus.

Let's take it a step at a time.



Toolfox

[Meemaw]

Thank you!!!!

I'm trying to configure it on my home computer, so I'll have to start when I get home tonight.

I do know that it seems to be listing itself as /dev/input/event4 rather than /dev/input/wacom and I have tried wacdump, and get Unknown device and the 'chart' showing the numbers for x, y, etc are not there. I'm thinking this is a brand new device and the driver I'm trying to use doesn't include that yet.... I've read about inserting the id # into the file wacom_wac.c but I haven't done that... I'm thinking at this point I need to uninstall the driver I installed while I was going thru the Project site's instructions...

 

Edit;
lsmod before plugging;

ext3                  125320  1
jbd                    46100  1 ext3
uhci_hcd               25744  0
ohci_hcd               26640  0
ehci_hcd               38028  0
usbhid                 48448  0
usbcore               135152  7 usblp,usb_storage,uhci_hcd,ohci_hcd,ehci_hcd,usb       hid
ff_memless              8840  1 usbhid

and after;

ext3                  125320  1
jbd                    46100  1 ext3
uhci_hcd               25744  0
ohci_hcd               26640  0
ehci_hcd               38028  0
usbhid                 48448  0
usbcore               135152  7 usblp,usb_storage,uhci_hcd,ohci_hcd,ehci_hcd,usbhid
ff_memless              8840  1 usbhid

Can't find anything that says wacom............ (I'll keep looking)

If I do cat /proc/bus/usb/devices, I get

T:  Bus=04 Lev=01 Prnt=01 Port=00 Cnt=01 Dev#=  2 Spd=12  MxCh= 0
D:  Ver= 2.00 Cls=00(>ifc ) Sub=00 Prot=00 MxPS=64 #Cfgs=  1
P:  Vendor=056a ProdID=00d3 Rev= 1.06
S:  Manufacturer=Wacom Co.,Ltd.
S:  Product=CTH-661
C:* #Ifs= 2 Cfg#= 1 Atr=80 MxPwr= 98mA
I:* If#= 0 Alt= 0 #EPs= 1 Cls=03(HID  ) Sub=01 Prot=02 Driver=(none)
E:  Ad=81(I) Atr=03(Int.) MxPS=   9 Ivl=4ms
I:* If#= 1 Alt= 0 #EPs= 1 Cls=03(HID  ) Sub=00 Prot=00 Driver=(none)
E:  Ad=82(I) Atr=03(Int.) MxPS=  64 Ivl=4ms

[Toolfox]

An easy way to search for a particular module or keyword is to pipeline the output of lsmod through the grep utility. Like this:

lsmod | grep wacom

If there's no matching text, you simply get returned to a prompt. If said text exists you'd see something like:

------------------------------------------------

[toolfox@localhost ~]$ lsmod | grep wacom
wacom                  16960  0
usbcore               129328  8 wacom,usblp,usbhid,hsfosspec,uhci_hcd,ohci_hcd,ehci_hcd
[toolfox@localhost ~]$

------------------------------------------------

The reason you're not getting anything from the wacdump utility is that there's no compatible kernel module available, so the utility can't access the tablet AS a tablet.

I pulled down the latest stable Linux Wacom source code and poked around. It looks like the Bamboo series just got support and what we (PCLinuxOS, that is) have is a bit long in the tooth. The source code will compile a kernel module if you include an option switch to do so; its not built by default.

Another option might be to see if anyone with the developer skills could set up a DKMS package for the newer kernel module so it can be installed and inserted through Synaptic in addition to updating our Linux Wacom package from 0.8.2-1 to 0.8.4-4.




Toolfox

[Joble]

Toolfox!  The new kernel is not on the back burner.  I can't say how close it might be, cause I don't understand half of what the Majors are talking about then they talk about the Kernel, and the General is so far over my head I can't understand a word he says half the time.  But I do know, it's not on the back burner.

Nice to see you again, learning a thing or two from this thread already, and hope to learn more.

Thx!

[Meemaw]

When I do lsmod |grep wacom I don't get anything at all...... except the next prompt......

That's what the Wacom Linux Project is supposed to be - installing the latest driver..... their most recent stable driver is 0.8.4-4 - I'm trying to learn how to install it, but I'm not having the best of luck getting it straight in my mind. I guess I'll try it again.....

I've been reading the another distro Forum's Wacom threads as well, to see if they can condense it into something my old brain can understand, but seeing as the two main threads are each about 60 pages long, it's slow going....... thanks anyway.

 

Edit; I had been able to install the 0.8.2-2 driver but I couldn't get it to work - apparently it wasn't new enough.... I tried installing the 0.8.4-4 driver last night but I couldn't get past ./configure (says that xorg-server pkg is missing - I thought I already had that.... are xorg-x11-server and xorg-server the same? When I search Synaptic for xorg-server it gives me xorg-x11-server.....?)

Now the report is that the 0.8.5-8 driver has been released at Linux Wacom Project with 5 new Bamboos added... gives me some hope.......... I have installed this driver and when I do  lsmod |grep wacom   the driver actually shows up!!!     So I'm searching for my next step to get it going....
 

[Toolfox]

Now the report is that the 0.8.5-8 driver has been released at Linux Wacom Project with 5 new Bamboos added... gives me some hope.......... I have installed this driver and when I do  lsmod |grep wacom   the driver actually shows up!!!     So I'm searching for my next step to get it going....
 

Hmmm...as of lunchtime Christmas Eve, the 0.8.5-8 is still listed on the L-W homepage as development.

According to the README in the 0.8.4-4 release:

There are a number of build targets, some of which are not built automatically.  Here is the breakdown:

      wacom.o: not built by default (--enable-wacom, --disable-wacom)
      wacdump: built by default (--enable-wacdump, --disable-wacdump)
      xidump: built by default (--enable-xidump, --disable-xidump)
      xsetwacom: built by default (--enable-xsetwacom, --disable-xsetwacom)
      hid.o: not built by default (--enable-hid, --disable-hid;  Only kernels 2.6.18 or older need it.)
      wacom_drv.o: built by default (--enable-wacomdrv, --disable-wacomdrv)

I think that wacom.o is the kernel module and wacom_drv.o is the XWindows driver (I might have this wrong or the naming conventions have changed recently); we don't need the hid.o kernel module because anything in PCLOS newer than the old 2.6.18 kernel doesn't need it anymore. Anyone running a 2009.x install or persevered through the Big Update last year and installed the newer kernel should be set.

Note that the kernel module is NOT built by default. If your recent build created and installed an updated module, the project developers might have created new logic in the install script to automatically detect and install the custom module should it be needed? I haven't looked at the development code, so I can't say for sure.

Anyway...onward: Does your tablet show up in the Hardware browser in PCC? And if so, does it list the wacom module as the associated driver? Do you have any new nodes in your /dev/input directory? Maybe a new eventx node? Maybe a /dev/input/wacom as a shortcut to an eventx node? Or perhaps a shortcut that reflects the model of your particular tablet? If we can find one of these new nodes, we can test them for connectivity to the tablet hardware with wacdump.



Toolfox

[Meemaw]

I had looked at PCC before and it showed up as a mouse.... but just now I'm looking at it and it shows up 3 times!!! Under Tablet and Touchscreen it shows up with the correct id information and wacom driver, but under Mouse it shows up twice as Wacom Bamboo P+T 6x8 with modules mouse1 and mouse2.

When I unplug it /dev/input has events0 through event4 and mice and mouse0 (I have discovered that the actual mouse is using mice) --- when I plug it in, event 5 and event6 AND mouse1 and mouse2 show up. The next step in the LinuxWacom Project is xxd eventx - I can't get any output from any of the events other than the keyboard and the mouse.....   

All help is greatly appreciated.....

[Toolfox]

Sounds like you're getting somewhere!

Now, what happens when you try the wacdump utility in a konsole. Try something like:

wacdump /dev/input/event5

or:

wacdump /dev/input/event6

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for another Festivus Miracle! 



Toolfox