The darned bamboo again! **SOLVED**

[coyoteawooo]

OK, so MeeMaw got the Bamboo to work   (if you missed that fun, pat yourself on the back. If you'd like to relive the experience, it's under "OK, I need help with a Wacom Bamboo" in Desktop Hardware). Then I updated. Now the Bamboo does not work.   Rather than give poor MeeMaw several nervous breakdowns (again), we downloaded Virtual Box and loaded in Windows XP. Then Service Pack 2 (for a separate reason entirely, but the fact is that it's there). Installed the driver from the disc that was included with the packet and started the tutorial.  The light comes on when the bamboo is plugged in.  The light turns orange when the pen is within range of the tablet.  If a menu is open, like the start menu, different options light up when the pen is moved in the right general area.  But the cursor does not move with the pen. Same with touch.  
Corrupted driver?  Uninstall.  Restart.  www.wacom.com > downloads > bamboo fun pen and touch / windows xp > driver 5.2.4-6.  Install. Same problem.
Start > All programs > Bamboo Preferences > CTRL + (click) About.  The Touch X and Y axis change when touched.  The Pen X and Y axis change when the pen is moved while in range. But the cursor still does not move.
Moment of brilliance!   Turn off Virtual Box mouse integration (since it's reading as a mouse). Maybe Linux isn't letting Windows move the cursor.  Give Windows total control over the mouse... No.  No, not the problem. Turn integration back on.  
Ask Kurt to plug this in to his netbook and Windows 7. The touch works and the cursor moves, but the pen is nonresponsive. He's still ahead of me and only doing the plug-and-play, not the full driver so we'll assume the tablet itself works.  Thanks Kurt!! But that means it's me.
Troubleshoot.  Is the driver on the Hardware Compatibility List?  Yes.  Is there an newer driver? That's the one installed.  Is there an older driver? Assume that was the one on the disc that didn't work either. Windows say, "This troubleshoot cannot solve your problem." The ONLY button says, "OK, I will look for help elsewhere." So here I am.  The computer knows it's there, but it won't tell me where it is. If anybody knows anything, I would appreciate a very hard shove in the right direction.

[Toolfox]

One simple question:

When you say that you "downloaded" VirtualBox, did you get it from the Repository using Synaptic or did you go to www.virtualbox.org and download an RPM from there?

The version in the Repository is the OSE (Open Source Edition) that can be freely redistributed. The version direct from Sun Oracle cannot be redistributed; it can only be gotten from a single source (Oracle).

One of the big differences between the two is that the Oracle edition provides for direct access to USB devices fom the virtual machine.

The OSE version does not allow for this.

If you are using the OSE version, VitrualBox might be blocking access to the tablet.


Just a thought...




Toolfox

[Meemaw]

(Yep, it's me again....)

We updated her laptop and got Virtual Box from the Synaptic script 'Get Oracle Virtual Box', which I believe goes to Oracle and gets that version and installs it.

I was also wondering if any leftover Wacom files in her main system would interfere with the Bamboo files she just installed within Virtual Box?  (Just another thought.....)

Thanks to anyone and everyone who can help!
 

BTW... if this should be in the Virtual Box section instead, mods, please move it....

[Xenaflux]

We updated her laptop and got Virtual Box from the Synaptic script 'Get Oracle Virtual Box', which I believe goes to Oracle and gets that version and installs it.

In case of downloading version 4.0.4.................
Have you also downloaded and installed " Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack-4.0.4-70112.vbox-extpack " ?
Xx

[Meemaw]

We updated her laptop and got Virtual Box from the Synaptic script 'Get Oracle Virtual Box', which I believe goes to Oracle and gets that version and installs it.

In case of downloading version 4.0.4.................
Have you also downloaded and installed " Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack-4.0.4-70112.vbox-extpack " ?
Xx

Nope, that's new with 4.0.4, isn't it?  I just discovered that today after you asked, so no... it isn't.... we'll get that done and see how we come out.
Thanks!!!!
 

[pags]

One simple question:

When you say that you "downloaded" VirtualBox, did you get it from the Repository using Synaptic or did you go to www.virtualbox.org and download an RPM from there?

The version in the Repository is the OSE (Open Source Edition) that can be freely redistributed. The version direct from Sun Oracle cannot be redistributed; it can only be gotten from a single source (Oracle).

One of the big differences between the two is that the Oracle edition provides for direct access to USB devices fom the virtual machine.

The OSE version does not allow for this.

If you are using the OSE version, VitrualBox might be blocking access to the tablet.


Just a thought...




Toolfox

That's not correct, as of the latest (4.0.4) version.

getvirtualbox (script) gets the download from Oracle, now (no more OSE in Synaptic), and if you want USB and remote video, you need to get the Extension Pack...

[coyoteawooo]

After several moments of frustration, we realized the version of VirtualBox on my machine was 3.something.other. So.  Get VirtualBox 4.0.4.  Get extension pack (by the by, could y'all give me directions to these things in the future.  It stands that if I don't know the file exists, I also haven't the foggiest where to find it.  That was one of the several moments of frustration).  And (because I'm OCD and paranoid in very special ways) uninstall and reinstall driver software. Same problem.
Now, it occurs to me that the disc I have came with a tutorial which said it would activate the tablet's functions one at a time while it trained me.  I'm half tempted to uninstall again and reinstall from the disc just to see what happens.  But it didn't work the first time and at this point sounds like a jump to the left and a step to the right, rather than actually getting anywhere.
So.  Yeah...  Same problem.  Any thoughts?  Because I do delight in bringing you only the most difficult and infuriating problems. But thank you for being willing to infuriate yourselves with them!!


... I don't know if it matters, but Windows is reading this thing as about 5 different devices in the hardware menu. It has it as a Wacom HID Pen, Wacom HID Digitizer, Wacom Virtual Hid Driver, Wacom Mouse Monitor, and a Wacom Mouse.  I wouldn't think it would be a problem (in theory that's what it shows up as even when it works).

[Toolfox]

If you're running the Oracle closed-source edition, you might have to activate USB integration and/or create a filter in the Virtual Machine settings for your Windows VM that lets VirtualBox connect a guest OS directly to a USB port. With the Windows VM off, highlight the entry in VirtualBox's main VM Manager and click "Settings." Scroll down to the entry for "USB" and enable it (there's a checkbox, plus one for USB 2.0 support). You might have to create a filter; there are buttons for both creating an empty one that you can custom edit or on preset with information from a particular device plugged into the physical USB device.

You might want to do the latter for ease of setup.




Toolfox


P.S. -- Pags, the OSE -- granted, the old 3.x version --  is STILL in the Repository as of today (March 13, 2011). The GetVirtualBox script is just another method of going to Oracle and downloading a pre-compiled RPM. So I still don't see what I wrote that's so horribly wrong...

[Meemaw]

OK.  Thanks for all the suggestions!

What we have up to the present is what we think is a VirtualBox problem.......
 
Her laptop has VirtualBox 4.0.4 PLUS the extension pack installed (obtained using the 'GetVirtualBox' script from the repo.) The Bamboo is installed and recognized. Win XP's Hardware Manager says it is working properly. However, if she clicks on the start button and then tries to choose something with the touch, you can see the highlighted items change as she moves her finger, but the cursor pointer is still at the start button. Very confusing......        She's running a Toshiba Satellite laptop.

Just in case, we tried installing it to my computer using the hard drive with Win XP. It functions correctly.

While she is double-checking everything, she will take Toolfox's advice and make sure there is a filter created for the Bamboo. We're pretty sure it is, but she will check.

Thanks!!!

[pags]

P.S. -- Pags, the OSE -- granted, the old 3.x version --  is STILL in the Repository as of today (March 13, 2011). The GetVirtualBox script is just another method of going to Oracle and downloading a pre-compiled RPM. So I still don't see what I wrote that's so horribly wrong...

There's nothing wrong, and I wasn't trying to be critical.  As you noted yourself, the OSE in Synaptic (I was clearly in error in that statement) is the 3.x version.  If you want the latest version, there's no OSE.  For a 4.x install (whether with or without USB/rdesktop support), you need to use the getvirtualbox script.

[kjpetrie]

It looks to me as if the distinction between PUEL and OSE versions of VB has now gone, because the basic VB (without USB support) is now available as either and the USB module is available as a PUEL extension pack. If that's true (I haven't got time to test the pack with a packaged VB at present) it might be possible for pclos to dispense with GetVirtualBox and just package under the GPL, with the extension pack added separately. Of course, that's Texstar's decision.

I don't know how this change relates to the current difficulty with bamboo.

[Toolfox]

However, if she clicks on the start button and then tries to choose something with the touch, you can see the highlighted items change as she moves her finger, but the cursor pointer is still at the start button. Very confusing......        She's running a Toshiba laptop.

Here's another thought: Does the Bamboo work under Linux in any way? If the pen portion of the hardware is being grabbed by X, it's output from there might be being sent to Windows through VirtualBox's mouse abstraction -- a case of one piece of hardware being seen as two different devices at the same time. If so, you could try turning off mouse integration and not click on the VM window so the mouse is not captured by VirtualBox.

Yes, that's a pain to do, but it's just a troubleshooting tool for now.



Toolfox


P.S. -- Good clarification for the other readers of this thread, Pags. Thanks!

[Meemaw]

Here's another thought: Does the Bamboo work under Linux in any way? If the pen portion of the hardware is being grabbed by X, it's output from there might be being sent to Windows through VirtualBox's mouse abstraction -- a case of one piece of hardware being seen as two different devices at the same time. If so, you could try turning off mouse integration and not click on the VM window so the mouse is not captured by VirtualBox.

Toolfox

Nope, we uninstalled all the Wacom stuff from PCLOS, so it's not recognized.... we'll have to try turning off the mouse integration (although I think she tried that already....)

Thanks!
 

EDIT:  She had indeed turned off the mouse integration at one point, and it made no difference.... and there IS a filter in VBox for the Bamboo.....   and Linux doesn't even see the Bamboo as far as she can tell.

Thanks again for all your suggestions!

[Meemaw]

Another idea.... is it possible that the touchpad on the laptop is interfering with the Bamboo in VBox?  If so, could that be remedied with a USB mouse with its own filter?

Of course, she would have to make sure the mouse is recognized in Windows by plugging it in before she opened VBox, and then letting Win find new hardware.... then turning off the touchpad in Linux....

Just a thought....   

 

[coyoteawooo]

Ok, so we getsed it working.  Here's what it took:
Windows XP with Service Pack ~3~ ( I had 2 originally for entirely separate reasons), which I'm running inside VirtualBox 4.0.4 with the extension pack.  Then just for good measure go to www.wacom.com and get the newest driver (5.2.4 -  the one on the disc that came with my Bamboo is 5.2.0).  And finally TURN OFF THE INTEGRATION (I wondered at one point whether that was the problem, but it would appear that it wasn't the problem until I got everything else installed).

The sad part to all of this is that it could have been solved two weeks ago if the little girl I spoke to at Wacom's tech support would have asked me if I had downloaded SP3, rather than simply telling me to download the driver and then telling me that if it didn't work with the newest driver then the problem was my computer.
Conversely, the second person I spoke to at Wacom (Tom, Ext 801) swore to me that I needed SP3 (turns out he was right).  He also said that if I was running Linux, they have the Linux-Wacom Project.  At which point I laughed uproariously for several seconds, then wiped my eyes and told him it was a piece of ****.  He didn't seem to believe me and if you agree with him, see "Ok, I need help with a Wacom Bamboo" by MeeMaw.

At any rate, the pen, touch, and button functions all seem to be working wonderfully now.  The only thing I need to find is a handwriting recognition program for LibreOffice through Windows XP.  I'm using ritePen at the moment which is working beautifully (except it's a 30 day free trial.  I want not to spend monies.)  Huzzah!