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

[Meemaw]

Just to make sure I understand this correctly. When you say in your diary:

[root@localhost ~]# wacdump /dev/input/tablet-wacom-bamboo-pen_touch-stylus
(output with stylus & eraser)

[root@localhost ~]# wacdump /dev/input/tablet-wacom-bamboo-pen_touch-touch  
(output with finger)

[root@localhost ~]# wacdump /dev/input/wacom                            
(output with stylus & eraser)

[root@localhost ~]# wacdump /dev/input/wacom-touch                      
(output with finger)

wacdump gives this in failsafe and in X

xxd is the same.... in failsafe and in X

Are you saying that the kernel module is working and that you get proper output from both test programs? If that's the case, we're back to where we were before -- the kernel module working and we're ready to tackle XWindows!

Yes, I was getting output from both wacdump AND xxd which looks like it matches.... at least I get 'pen' and 'eraser' when I do wacdump using /dev/input/tablet-wacom-bamboo-pen_touch-stylus  and  /dev/input/wacom

Can I also assume that the version of wacdump that you're using is the one that came with the new development source code? I thought that the older version that comes with PCLOS doesn't understand the new hardware data stream.

Verify my suppositions before we continue.

I'm using the older Synaptic version of wacdump.... it's the newer version where I kept getting the error message... 
(wacdump: wacusb.c:637: USBIdentifyModel: Assertion `nCnt == sizeof(keybits)' failed.
Aborted)

I get output using the older version, but I see it still says unknown device.

Maybe I am still messed up.......    

[Toolfox]

Actually, it sounds like the ID routine in the newer wacdump code got scrambled when the developers tried to update it's database on what types of devices are out there and how to talk to them.

One more annoying confirmation on what you're saying:

Yes, I was getting output from both wacdump AND xxd which looks like it matches.... at least I get 'pen' and 'eraser' when I do wacdump using /dev/input/tablet-wacom-bamboo-pen_touch-stylus  and  /dev/input/wacom

Which means that it might look something like this:

Code: [Select]

 
MODEL=Unknown                           ROM=1.1-0
CLS=USB  VNDR=Unknown  DEV=Unknown  SUB=UNKNOWN

04 95 4b 4b 9a 1c 09 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00          ..KK.............

 BUTTON=+00001 (+00000 .. +00000)      RELWHEEL=-00014 (-00001 .. +00001)

    LEFT=DOWN         MIDDLE=              RIGHT=              EXTRA=
    SIDE=              TOUCH=             STYLUS=            STYLUS2=
     BT0=                BT1=                BT2=                BT3=
     BT4=                BT5=                BT6=                BT7=
     BT8=                BT9=               BT10=               BT11=
    BT12=               BT13=               BT14=               BT15=
    BT16=               BT17=               BT18=               BT19=
    BT20=               BT21=               BT22=               BT23=


And some of those semi-cryptic action names in the lower half "light up" when you, say, press with the stylus...or press one of the stylus's barrel buttons...or flip the pen around and press with the eraser.

And you see X and Y coordinates flash by when you move the pen around, either when pressing and dragging or by moving the pen while holding it just above the surface of the tablet.

And when you press with the pen or eraser, you see a number that scrolls up and down between +000000 and something like +000512 (or maybe +001024) depending on how hard you press the stylus or eraser to the tablet...which means that pressure information is being passed from the hardware to the kernel module.

If this is so, then you're probably not "messed up." You've got the tablet recognized by the kernel module and you're therefore ready to configure XWindows.

Verify my suppositions first before plunging ahead. We're going to take the next phase in baby steps; the XWindows driver is unknown territory and it might not work.



Toolfox

[Meemaw]

Yes, I'm getting that chart when I do wacdump.....when I touch it with the stylus or eraser using
/dev/input/tablet-wacom-bamboo-pen_touch-stylus  or  /dev/input/wacom - one of the items  changes to  'pen' or 'eraser' and the numbers change from zeros. (I think it's where it says 'button'?)

On xxd I just get lines of numbers and letters (using the stylus or eraser on the two items above.) The other two events do the same thing but only when I use my finger.

I didn't know if I would mess things up using newer drivers and an older version of wacdump (not knowing anything about programming, I am worried about borking my system again.... )

It will probably be tomorrow before I can get back to this.......      Thanks!
 

If this is so, then you're probably not "messed up." You've got the tablet recognized by the kernel module and you're therefore ready to configure XWindows.

Hopefully, we're there.

[Meemaw]

I tried to open wacomcpl from a terminal and got this.......

wacomcpl: using TCLLIBPATH="[list  /usr/lib ]"
Error in startup script: can't find package LIBWACOMXI
    while executing
"package require LIBWACOMXI"
    (file "/usr/bin/wacomcpl-exec" line 28)

[/list]

I don't know for sure but it seems to be a new file we don't have, because I searched for it in Synaptic..... either that or the Linux Wacom Project has stuck something new in their package....

Just wondering if that's what one problem is.....

I haven't changed anything since the other post (I'm afraid to do anything for fear I'll bork something!)
 

[Toolfox]

Moving forward, then, to XWindows. Here are some important groundrules to remember:

1) Don't touch the kernel module. At all! Keep a backup copy of it in a safe place.
2) Don't touch the udev rules or the HAL config files. At all! Keep a backup copy of them in a safe place.

Let's proceed:

FIrst, find the precompiled XWindows driver in the source code for 0.8.5-9. Under the main directory (from wherever you unzipped it to) you should find:

../linuxwacom-0.8.5-9/prebuilt/32/

In that directory you should find two versions of the XWindows driver: wacom_drv.o and wacom_drv.so. We're only using the .so driver, NOT the .o version.

Copy the wacom_drv.so file to this location:

/usr/lib/xorg/modules/input

The version that came with PCLOS is 88.3K in size. The precompiled binary from the 0.8.5-9 tarball is 123.9K in size.

Open the /etc/X11/xorg.conf file as root and edit as mentioned before. Just put in the information for "stylus" and "eraser." Don't bother with "touch" at this time because of the reports that the touch feature of the Bamboo is not working properly.

With just this minimal configuration, restart XWindows, log back in, and see if the stylus works like a mouse. Also check the xorg log in /var/log as we did before. Don't bother with wacomcpl or any of the other utilities; I don't have a lot of faith in them for truthful reporting of information at this time. Also remember, once you have the XWindows driver running, you can't use wacdump anymore unless you shut down XWindows completely. I've discussed methods of doing that before. Let's hope it doesn't come to that; we already have the kernel portion of the equation working.

Just one more baby step at a time.  We'll get there  




Toolfox


EDIT: I see our posts crossed in cyberspace (you posted while I was still writing my response)...

[Meemaw]

Moving forward, then, to XWindows. Here are some important groundrules to remember:

1) Don't touch the kernel module. At all! Keep a backup copy of it in a safe place.
2) Don't touch the udev rules or the HAL config files. At all! Keep a backup copy of them in a safe place.

Let's proceed:

FIrst, find the precompiled XWindows driver in the source code for 0.8.5-9. Under the main directory (from wherever you unzipped it to) you should find:

../linuxwacom-0.8.5-9/prebuilt/32/

In that directory you should find two versions of the XWindows driver: wacom_drv.o and wacom_drv.so. We're only using the .so driver, NOT the .o version.

Copy the wacom_drv.so file to this location:

/usr/lib/xorg/modules/input

The version that came with PCLOS is 88.3K in size. The precompiled binary from the 0.8.5-9 tarball is 123.9K in size.

I had already done all that..... (including saving back-ups of everything.)

Open the /etc/X11/xorg.conf file as root and edit as mentioned before. Just put in the information for "stylus" and "eraser." Don't bother with "touch" at this time because of the reports that the touch feature of the Bamboo is not working properly.

I added this;
Section "InputDevice"
  Driver        "wacom"
  Identifier    "stylus"
  Option        "Device"        "/dev/input/tablet-wacom-bamboo-pen_touch-stylus"   # USB ONLY
  Option        "Type"          "stylus"
  Option        "USB"           "on"                  # USB ONLY
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
  Driver        "wacom"
  Identifier    "eraser"
  Option        "Device"        "/dev/input/tablet-wacom-bamboo-pen_touch-stylus"   # USB ONLY
  Option        "Type"          "eraser"
  Option        "USB"           "on"                  # USB ONLY
EndSection

plus the corresponding Core Events at the bottom.

With just this minimal configuration, restart XWindows, log back in, and see if the stylus works like a mouse. Also check the xorg log in /var/log as we did before. Don't bother with wacomcpl or any of the other utilities; I don't have a lot of faith in them for truthful reporting of information at this time. Also remember, once you have the XWindows driver running, you can't use wacdump anymore unless you shut down XWindows completely. I've discussed methods of doing that before. Let's hope it doesn't come to that; we already have the kernel portion of the equation working.

Much better!  Xorg.0.log has this;

(**) Option "Device" "/dev/input/tablet-wacom-bamboo-pen_touch-stylus"                                    
(**) Option "SendCoreEvents"                                                                              
(**) stylus: always reports core events                                                                    
(**) stylus device is /dev/input/tablet-wacom-bamboo-pen_touch-stylus                                      
(**) stylus is in absolute mode                                                                            
(**) WACOM: suppress value is 2                                                                            
(**) Option "USB" "on"                                                                                    
(**) stylus: reading USB link                                                                              
(**) Option "BaudRate" "9600"                                                                              
(**) Option "Device" "/dev/input/tablet-wacom-bamboo-pen_touch-stylus"                                    
(**) Option "SendCoreEvents"                                                                              
(**) eraser: always reports core events                                                                    
(**) eraser device is /dev/input/tablet-wacom-bamboo-pen_touch-stylus                                      
(**) eraser is in absolute mode                                                                            
(**) WACOM: suppress value is 2                                                                            
(**) Option "USB" "on"                                                                                    
(**) eraser: reading USB link                                                                              
(**) Option "BaudRate" "9600"                                                                              
(II) evaluating device (eraser)                                                                            
(II) XINPUT: Adding extended input device "eraser" (type: Wacom Eraser)                                    
(II) evaluating device (stylus)                                                                            
(II) XINPUT: Adding extended input device "stylus" (type: Wacom Stylus)                                    
(II) evaluating device (Mouse1)                                                                            
(II) XINPUT: Adding extended input device "Mouse1" (type: MOUSE)                                          
(II) evaluating device (Keyboard1)                                                                        
(II) XINPUT: Adding extended input device "Keyboard1" (type: KEYBOARD)                                    
(==) Wacom using pressure threshold of 61 for button 1                                                    
(==) Wacom USB Bamboo tablet speed=9600 (38400) maxX=21648 maxY=13530 maxZ=1023 resX=2540 resY=2540  tilt=disabled

and I again have this!!! (I probably have to report that the picture was done with the stylus in Inkscape, but when I go to Gimp, it is the eraser that is writing and the stylus that is moving the canvas around - which is backwards..... is there a setting in Gimp I can change?) However, it does seem lots more stable, ie the mouse doesn't jump to the upper left of my monitor now and it seems like it is moving with the stylus - when I pick my hand up to move over for the next letter, it doesn't jump away; it moves with me.... much better than before.

[attachment deleted by admin]

[Toolfox]

when I pick my hand up to move over for the next letter, it doesn't jump away; it moves with me

That's the acid test: The Wacom driver is sending mouse data and tablet data as appropriate. Can you also use the stylus to click on drop-down menus, drag-n-drop between file manager windows, and do other basic mouse stuff? Also, do the buttons on the stylus barrel work as left button/right button?

On to the GIMP: First, make sure that the GIMP is configured to see the tablet entries as currently named. As previously mentioned (Reply #40 on page 3), run through the configuration again. This time, you'll only have two devices to activate (stylus and eraser) and they're going to have different names then what you gave the devices in xorg.conf before ("stylus" vs "stylus1")

Like I said before, to change the active tool for the stylus or eraser in the GIMP, just select another tool with that device. The GIMP will remember which tool you were using with a particular device as you switch between devices.

With pressure sensitivity turned on and linked to a particular effect (example: the Brush tool can apply pressure data to opacity, line width, or foreground/background color shift...or any combination of the three!), does it work?

Inkscape has a similar input device interface as the GIMP: it's located under "File --> Input Devices..."




Toolfox

[Meemaw]

Cool!  Now I just have to mess with it some.
I'll report back in a few days.....

Thanks!!!  You've been so patient with everything I messed up.... I sure appreciate it....

(Now to get it on her laptop!!! I'll probably do that on her birthday in February...... fingers crossed...)

 

Edit; It's only been a few hours, but Gimp's working correctly now...... thought I'd let you know......
(this was a fuzzy paintbrush)

[attachment deleted by admin]

[Meemaw]

Played a little over the weekend, and can use the tablet's stylus and eraser with Gimp and Inkscape. It WILL work like a mouse, allowing me to choose the tool I want to use and then letting me use it.... (I've been mostly writing and scribbling/drawing - I'm not a freehand artist at all, so my drawing isn't very good - but the stylus works and I'm having great fun with it!)

I drew a rectangle at one point and tried to change from solid color fill to a gradient.... it wouldn't do it and kept going back to solid color, but I think that's more me not being used to using the stylus than it is the stylus not working.....

I'm going to try to go from the beginning on my laptop and see if I can install it in one sitting, so I can do the same on her laptop....

If I add the xorg.conf line for touch, it won't mess the stylus up will it? (I know touch isn't completely working yet, but maybe just to move the mouse with her finger.......)

Thanks! 

[Toolfox]

If I add the xorg.conf line for touch, it won't mess the stylus up will it? (I know touch isn't completely working yet, but maybe just to move the mouse with her finger.......)

No, this next step should not destroy what we've accomplished in terms of device drivers. Naturally, there's always the possibility that the malfunctioning touch interface could interfere with the stylus/eraser, but if so, the fix is easy: Just remove the entries for the touch function from xorg.conf and restart XWindows. The kernel module is untouched; the XWindows driver is untouched; the udev and HAL files are untouched. The only change is going to be adding an entry (or two, actually) to xorg.conf.

With older Wacom tablets, there's an entry for the tablet itself because there are additional controls/buttons on the tablet itself. For example, my Graphire has two additional buttons on the tablet that surround a rubber cylinder about the diameter of a pencil. When I include an entry for "pad" in my system, I get two additional left/right mouse buttons and a scroll wheel -- handy for scolling documents and Web pages when I'm using my stylus as a mouse.

It could be that your Bamboo uses the "touch" function to handle all controls built into your tablet; the Linux-Wacom people could probably answer that with greater authority.




Toolfox

[Meemaw]

It could be that your Bamboo uses the "touch" function to handle all controls built into your tablet; the Linux-Wacom people could probably answer that with greater authority.

Maybe that will be true....

I also have another question.... I've read in a couple of places that you use EITHER xorg.conf entries OR the .fdi file, and using both will mess things up..... so I'm wondering why it works with both at the moment..... is it ignoring the .fdi?    and if I take out the .fdi, will it still work?  also, if I can't get any kind of control panel to work, do I use xsetwacom to change any settings?

I'll need to figure out what I did that absolutely worked so I can do it on her laptop....

Thanks!      

Edit;   Success!!!!!  Well, at least I have gotten it configured to the same point on my own laptop!!!! and in only one day, instead of one month!!!!

 

[Meemaw]

OK.... Saturday afternoon I removed it all from the laptop and re-did it in about an hour.

She has also asked for a program that changes her printing into text!

I have found CellWriter in our repo, and heard of one called Xstroke. Xstroke looked like it hadn't been worked on in a while (the first link I found was dated 2002) but it seems like Mandriva has a newer version of it that they are updating - it's newest build date is May 2009. I haven't looked to see if it's in our repo or not. If it isn't, one of the guys from the Linux Wacom Project has asked if I would test the rpm I found ...... is that something you could try as well?

Thanks for all your help!!!!   You've been very patient. Hopefully, when I leave this at my daughter's house this weekend, it will be working as she wants......

[AndrzejL]

OK.... Saturday afternoon I removed it all from the laptop and re-did it in about an hour.

She has also asked for a program that changes her printing into text!

I have found CellWriter in our repo, and heard of one called Xstroke. Xstroke looked like it hadn't been worked on in a while (the first link I found was dated 2002) but it seems like Mandriva has a newer version of it that they are updating - it's newest build date is May 2009. I haven't looked to see if it's in our repo or not. If it isn't, one of the guys from the Linux Wacom Project has asked if I would test the rpm I found ...... is that something you could try as well?

Thanks for all your help!!!!   You've been very patient. Hopefully, when I leave this at my daughter's house this weekend, it will be working as she wants......

AFAIK kooka can do OCR but never tried it. It may be Your next goal will follow that thread too ... Just looked and there is no more kooka in the repo for kde4? Ooooppppsssssss... Dont know will it be available later...

Andy

[Meemaw]

Thanks, but I looked at Xsane yesterday, and I was thinking it only does OCR of you are scanning something.....

CellWriter has a little grid you print into and then when you click on Enter, it sends your printed text to a word processing program (like OO Writer) as typed text. I've been told that Xstroke is better - but I haven't a clue...

 

[Meemaw]

Thanks!  This is what I found

http://www.rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/mandriva/devel/cooker/x86_64/media/contrib/release/xstroke-0.6.cvs20040921-5mdv2010.0.x86_64.html

if you want to try it.