Here's my best guess:
The wacom.o kernel module you compiled is working, because it created two event nodes for the two functions the pad presents. Further, the module creates additional mousex nodes so the hardware is functional as another USB mouse without further effort.
The HAL and udev configuration files are working, links were created: the generic wacom node links to event5 and the "new" generic wacom-touch node links to event6. Further, two additional links named specific to your pad also link to their respective event nodes, so you could have two of the same pad connected simultaneously without them getting mixed up or breaking any Xorg.conf settings.
(Someday soon we'll have dynamic event linking in XWindows itself, but that's a story for another time...)
The wacdump utility doesn't seem to understand the new driver structure for the Bamboo. This could be either you have an older version that you're running (doubtful, since you pulled the package from your system before compiling) or that the development version that you ARE using is broken in terms of support for the newer Bamboo models. If you run
wacdump -l [that's a lowercase "L"]
does the list of supported models include anything other than just a single "bamboo" line. That's what I get with the old package from the Repository.
Anyway, maybe we should try plunging onward and configure to use the tablet AS a tablet instead of just another USB mouse.
Ready? Here we go.
First, make a backup of your xorg.conf file should anything go wrong: Open a file manager, go to the /etc directory, right-click on the "X11" sub-directory, and choose "Open As Root" from the "Actions" context menu. Supply your root password when asked.
You'll get a new file manager window open to the /etc/X11 directory with full root privileges, so be careful. Select the xorg.conf file, type CTRL+C to copy, and CTRL+V to paste. You'll get a dialog box asking if you want to overwrite the original file or rename it. Rename it to something like "xorg.conf.backup" or something memorable so you'll know where it came from and why its there.
When done, close the file manager with root privileges for safety's sake. Go back to the other file manager window, open the /etc/X11 directory (now you don't have root privileges so you can't do any accidental damage), right click on the xorg.conf file, and select "Edit As Root" from the "Actions" context menu. Supply your oot password again.
We're going to add in a few configuration paragraphs describing the four basic functions of a Wacom tablet and then yoke them into the overall XWindows configuration.
Towards the top of the file, there are several sections labeled "Input Device," including one for the keyboard and one for the mouse. We don't have to put things in any particular order, but it helps keep track of what's going on should we have to poke around here at sometime in the far distant future. Grouped with the "Input Devices," add in the following four sections:
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Stylus1"
Driver "wacom"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/wacom"
Option "Type" "stylus"
EndSection
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Eraser1"
Driver "wacom"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/wacom"
Option "Type" "eraser"
EndSection
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Cursor1"
Driver "wacom"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/wacom"
Option "Type" "cursor"
EndSection
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Pad1"
Driver "wacom"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/wacom"
Option "Type" "pad"
EndSection
The "Identifier" lines are the names of each config section, which has to match up in the last section we have to edit at the bottom of the file. You'll see how everything locks together when we're done. The "Device" line has to point to the event node we've been trying to identify so XWindows knows how to find the hardware. Using the generic "/dev/input/wacom" future-proofs our configuration so any Wacom tablet that works with the kernel module will work under XWindows.
We've got one section for each major function: "Stylus" is the pen itself, "Eraser" is the back end of the pen, "Cursor" is the mouse puck that comes with Wacom tablets, and "Pad" is the tablet itself so you can configure and/or use any controls, buttons, etc. on the tablet itself.
Let's slide down to the end of the file where we'll find the "ServerLayout" section. Here's where we yoke everything we want to use under XWindows together. We have to add a few lines into the middle of this section. I put mine within the lines labeled "InputDevice," again, to make everything neat and human-readable. These are the lines to add:
InputDevice "Stylus1" "SendCoreEvents"
InputDevice "Eraser1" "SendCoreEvents"
InputDevice "Cursor1" "SendCoreEvents"
InputDevice "Pad1" "SendCoreEvents"
Here's what my section looks like:
Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "layout1"
InputDevice "Keyboard1" "CoreKeyboard"
InputDevice "Stylus1" "SendCoreEvents"
InputDevice "Eraser1" "SendCoreEvents"
InputDevice "Cursor1" "SendCoreEvents"
InputDevice "Pad1" "SendCoreEvents"
InputDevice "Mouse1" "CorePointer"
Screen "screen1"
EndSection
Note how the name of the InputDevice matches up with the Identifier of the upper sections. You could name these sections "Moe," "Larry," "Curley," and "Shemp," and the system will work so long as the names and identifiers match up perfectly. Its also important to give any table device "CorePointer" status unless you want to make your tablet the sole input pointing device. The Wacom developers don't recommend doing this -- the core pointer MUST be present at ALL times, and tablets can use different stylii...even if you want to flip the pen around and use the eraser function, its a different device and would confuse the system.
Bottom line: Let's just follow Wacom's recommendations for now.
Save the file.
Your tablet is now configured for use as a pressure-sensitive tablet under XWindows.
If your tablet was plugged in from before, simply restarting XWindows by logging out and logging back in will activate it. If not, you have to do a complete cold reboot with the tablet plugged in so the kernel part of the equation can create the event nodes and load the kernel driver before XWindows starts.
Now you should be able to use the tablet pointers as mouse pointers as well as your regular mouse/laptop touchpad. My understanding is that the touchpad function of the Bamboo is not complete and functional yet, but they have the infrastructure in place (the reason for the additional event node that references the touch aspect instead of the pen aspect of the tablet).
I have to log out to start my tablet properly so I can verify the steps on the next section: Configuring the GIMP to work with a pressure-sensitive pen ( it's even easier than editing xorg.conf!)
Back in a few....
Toolfox
