Wacom Tablets in Fedora 9

[Nikobelia]

This is a description of how I got my Wacom Bamboo Fun tablet working in Fedora 9, but it should be relevant to other USB tablets.

Disclaimer: I'm in no way an expert on anything Linux or Fedora (I'm a recent convert from Windows), and this is cobbled together from various guides for other Linux distributions. It may well not be the quickest or best way of doing things, and the only promise I can make is that it worked for me. But since I've spent several hours working all this stuff out, and Linux users in general are such nice people, so I thought I'd try and help the community by writing it up.

Step One:

Check for drivers. Fedora 9 should have the right ones already, but to check they're updated and all that, run:

yum install linuxwacom

If so, you'll get told "nothing to do".

Step Two:

Check the drivers are in the right place. According to the nice (if longwinded) people at linuxwacom, there are various drivers that could be taking control of your tablet. Make sure your tablet is plugged in, and run this:

more /proc/bus/usb/devices

You'll get quite a number of different devices listed. Scroll through them until you see one like this:

T: Bus=03 Lev=01 Prnt=01 Port=01 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=0017 Rev= 1.13
S: Manufacturer=Wacom Co.,Ltd.
S: Product=CTE-450
C:* #Ifs= 1 Cfg#= 1 Atr=80 MxPwr= 60mA
I:* If#= 0 Alt= 0 #EPs= 1 Cls=03(HID ) Sub=01 Prot=02 Driver=wacom
E: Ad=81(I) Atr=03(Int.) MxPS= 9 Ivl=4ms


If the Manufacturer matches that of your tablet, you've found out the computer's seeing it. That's a good start. But the important bit here is the part saying "Driver=". If that says the driver's wacom, you can move on.

If not, the wrong driver's talking to your tablet. To remedy this, try here:

http://linuxwacom.sourceforge.net/in...wto/testtablet

Step Three:

Now, the howto on this forum for Fedora 8 tells you to go to dev/input/wacom to check whether linux is recognising your model of tablet. Fedora 9's default kernel doesn't recognise Bamboo tablets - if you have one, you'll only have a file called "wacom", when you should also have one specifying the model of tablet you have. If you have a different tablet, it might be supported, and you'll then have various filenames there. To see the big list of supported tablets, you can check the config file "60-wacom.rules" out:

gedit etc/udev/rules.d/60-wacom.rules

Or replace the gedit with whatever text editor you wish. Open that file, and there are various tablet names after this: "SYMLINK+="input/wacom-tablets/___".

You can create an entry for your own tablet, but it doesn't seem necessary so long as the right drivers are in place for yours. As far as I can tell (not very far, admittedly), it seems that unless you use more than one different tablet with the same computer, you'll probably be fine. But here's how to add your own entry:

1) Look at the first part of the specifications in that file:

ATTRS{idVendor}=="056a", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0000",

To find these, run:

more proc/bus/input/devices

For my Bamboo Fun I get

I: Bus=0003 Vendor=056a Product=0017 Version=0113 N: Name="Wacom BambooFun 4x5"

Fill in the part labelled "idVendor" above with "056a", and "idProduct" with "0017"

For the next, I'm not really sure.

SYMLINK+="input/wacom-tablets/penpartner input/wacom-tablets/penpartner-%b"

(If anyone knows what needs to be put here to make a new entry in the conf file, could you tell me?)

But anyway, fiddling around here doesn't seem to be necessary.

Step Four:

As root, open the file "/etc/X11/xorg.conf". Add this code in the section that lists InputDevices:

Section "InputDevice"
Driver "wacom"
Identifier "stylus"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/wacom"
Option "Type" "stylus"
# Option "ForceDevice" "ISDV4" # Tablet PC ONLY
Option "USB" "on"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Driver "wacom"
Identifier "eraser"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/wacom"
Option "Type" "eraser"
# Option "ForceDevice" "ISDV4" # Tablet PC ONLY
Option "USB" "on"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Driver "wacom"
Identifier "cursor"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/wacom"
Option "Type" "cursor"
# Option "ForceDevice" "ISDV4" # Tablet PC ONLY
Option "USB" "on"
EndSection

If yours isn't a USB tablet, you should not use this code. Look at this guide http://www.fedoraforum.org/forum/sho...9&page=1&pp=15 for the non-USB-specific version of it.

If you have a Bamboo tablet, add this, too:

Section "InputDevice"
Driver "wacom"
Identifier "pad"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/wacom"
Option "Type" "pad"
Option "USB" "on"
EndSection

Now, look either right at the bottom of the file or right at the top for: Section "ServerLayout". After the other entries in it but before the bit saying "EndSection", add this:

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Default Layout"
Screen 0 "Screen0" 0 0
InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
InputDevice "stylus" "SendCoreEvents"
InputDevice "cursor" "SendCoreEvents"
InputDevice "eraser" "SendCoreEvents"
InputDevice "pad"
EndSection

Note that you should not add "SendCoreEvents" for the pad device. There's some complicated reasoning behind this, and if you do add it, it may be helpful in getting the buttons to work, but - here's the drawback - it also makes the tablet likely to crash and stop working completely. It's safest to leave it out.

Also: if you don't have a tablet with a pad, either don't add "pad" or comment it out with a hash.

Adding that, saving it and restarting my computer got my tablet working. Various buttons may or may not be functional, but the tablet itself works and has pressure sensitivity.

Step Five for people who use GIMP:

Open GIMP, go to File, Input Devices, Configure Extended Input Devices, and change the settings for your tablet's functions there. Set screen, eraser and cursor to "screen" from "disabled", and leave pad on "disabled".

You can then change what pressure sensitivity affects on the Brush menu: opacity, size, etc.

Happy drawing

[Lindy]

Thanks Nicobelia, very helpful!

[lepyr]

Thanks alot for the info, my wife is very happy now (she's the artist, I'm the nerd!).

[Nikobelia]

That's quite okay. And... I'm both

[KKJensen]

I'm picking up a Bamboo tomorrow morning on sale.

Nerd sees something on sale and aspires to become an artist...actually I'm sick of trying to annotate and check technical drawings with a mouse.

Thanks for howto!

[KKJensen]

The pen seems to be working good...I think I've got to spend some time on it before getting the hang of looking at the screen while doodling somewhere else. I expected it to work more like a touch pad where after moving the cursor, lifting the stylus and then dropping it again it would just continue it's movement, relative to where it got left. It's a bit of a pain to draw in the far corners but I guess I could always just zoom up and keep my work are in a more practical part of the tablet so my hand isn't falling off the side. If I get the hang of it I'll get a bigger one later.

Anyone know how to get the buttons and pad on the top working right (I've got a Bamboo)???

I'm going to need more specific help with setting up GIMP. It would be great to get the eraser actually erasing and those top buttons actually zooming (or whatever).

Cheers!

[Nikobelia]

If you change the mode setting on Input Devices - pad, eraser, cursor and stylus - to "screen", that should make the tablet behaves more like a touch pad and doesn't reset where your cursor is.

Hope that helps.

[KKJensen]

I've set them to screen as per the recommendation on the linuxwacom sourceforge page...but if I drop down on the top left my mouse just appears up in the top left...or if I lay the stylus down on the pad the mouse cursor is frozen in one spot of the screen. This is the behavior outside of gimp so it's not surprising that it happens in gimp.

Any idea how to map the buttons on the top of the unit? Left/Right arrow and FN1 FN2? The touch pad in the middle makes stuff quiver a bit on the screen (like it's trying to pan or something) but I can't figure out how to change settings for it.

My xorg looks like (in F9)

# Xorg configuration created by livna-config-display

Section "ServerLayout"
	Identifier     "single head configuration"
	Screen      0  "Screen0" 0 0
	InputDevice    "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
	InputDevice "stylus" "SendCoreEvents"  #by kris
	InputDevice "cursor" "SendCoreEvents"   #by Kris
	InputDevice "eraser" "SendCoreEvents"    #by kris
	InputDevice "pad"   "SendCoreEvents"    #by kris
EndSection

Section "ServerFlags"
	Option	    "AIGLX" "on"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"

# keyboard added by rhpxl
	Identifier  "Keyboard0"
	Driver      "kbd"
	Option	    "XkbModel" "pc105"
	Option	    "XkbLayout" "us"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
# wacom bamboo added by Kris
	Driver "wacom"
	Identifier "stylus"
	Option "Device" "/dev/input/wacom"
	Option "Type" "stylus"
	# Option "ForceDevice" "ISDV4" # Tablet PC ONLY
	Option "USB" "on"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
	Driver "wacom"
	Identifier "eraser"
	Option "Device" "/dev/input/wacom"
	Option "Type" "eraser"
	# Option "ForceDevice" "ISDV4" # Tablet PC ONLY
	Option "USB" "on"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
	Driver "wacom"
	Identifier "cursor"
	Option "Device" "/dev/input/wacom"
	Option "Type" "cursor"
	# Option "ForceDevice" "ISDV4" # Tablet PC ONLY
	Option "USB" "on"
EndSection
	
Section "InputDevice"
	Driver "wacom"
	Identifier "pad"
	Option "Device" "/dev/input/wacom"
	Option "Type" "pad"
	Option "USB" "on"
EndSection

Section "Device"
	Identifier  "Videocard0"
	Driver      "intel"
EndSection

Section "Screen"

#	Monitor    "Monitor0"
	Identifier "Screen0"
	Device     "Videocard0"
	DefaultDepth     24
	SubSection "Display"

#		Modes     "1280x800" "1024x768" "800x600"
		Viewport   0 0
		Depth     24
	EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Extensions"
	Option	    "Composite" "Enable"
EndSection

See anything obvious?

[Nikobelia]

Try removing the "SendCoreEvents" for the "pad" option.

[KKJensen]

I've removed "SendCoreEvents" from the "pad" line. Now instead of weird jittering I get no response at all. Is there somewhere to go now?

Do the buttons on your Bamboo work in Gimp? Did you do something to get them mapped? I tried hunting last night on the linuxwacom sourceforge page but the most I saw was setting the buttons on the stylus to be the reverse of what they are now.

Thanks.


[edit]
I found this post on the wacom site which says leave the 'SendCoreEvents':
bamboo pad on wacom site

[/edit]

[edit #2]
So without the "sendcoreevents" it DOES work by spinning around the outside...I just stumbled across this in gedit while looking at xorg.conf but I am still not sure what to do so gimp recognizes the movement. I've already enabled 'pad' and set it to 'screen'...'window' doesn't seem to make any difference....
[/edit #2]

[Nikobelia]

Oh, sorry, I was in the middle of something when I was answering your comment last night. This walkthrough http://www.fedoraforum.org/forum/sho...9&page=1&pp=15 tells you adding it risks makes everything crash; but leaving it out means no support for the buttons. I chose not to risk it and to leave the buttons non-functional, you presumably chose otherwise. I never looked into getting the buttons to work - the two on the stylus worked as soon as the rest of the stylus did, and mapping stuff onto the keyboard seemed easier than doing the same to the buttons on the tablet itself.

As for the current non-functionality of your tablet, I'm really not sure. I'm not even moderately well-versed in Linux, so the only things I can give much advice on are either common sense or the stuff I've trawled through the internet to learn to get working myself (this being so it may have been foolish to make a how-to guide, but it seemed worthwhile given there wasn't a single recent one). Still, common sense is sometimes worth a try...

So, is your tablet not working in GIMP or at all?

Edit: this seems to be how to set keys: http://osdir.com/ml/linux.drivers.wa.../msg00050.html

Another edit: One option is to set the mode to either screen or window for everything except the pad, which you leave disabled. Doing this then removing the tablet, turning your computer off and back on again, then seeing if it works might be worth a try.

[KKJensen]

The tablet itself works great! I've got pressure sensitivity and even drew a tomatoe with layers (quite the accomplishment for me...laughing is allowed).

I've removed the "SendCoreEvents" for now...the rest of the tablet worked whether it was there or not.

It' good to hear the buttons can be mapped...but to what? Would it just be an alias for some other keyboard key? I guess I need to find an example since that second link you posted doesn't have anything more than the commands to map the keys. I'd like to map the up/down/left/right panning/scrollbars to 4 of the keys and then the FN1 and FN2 keys to something else like 'last tool used' or something. The circular movement of the pad seems to pan up and down but the movement is pretty jerky/jumpy. It'll move a bit and then hop in the other direction.

Thanks for the help. Any working howto is helpful...tougher questions are what the rest of the forum is for.

btw: Give "xournal" a try. A note taking program I've used quite a lot since it can be used to make notes, annotate screenshots and pdfs...quite useful in keeping you desk clutter free, especially if you deal with lots of paper drawings or reviewing things like I do.

[Nikobelia]

That's good! That you got the tablet working, at least. Layers and tomatoes I'm not quite so sure about, but... :P

I think you'd be able to decide what to map the keys to in GIMP itself - there's an option under Preferences in the main menu called Keyboard Shortcuts, so presumably you could just set it from there once the keys were mapped. When I used my tablet with Windows I had an undo button mapped, which was useful, and scrolling on the wheel. It's pretty handy.

Good luck figuring the rest out, and thanks for the tip with xournal. It sounds well worth a try

[AutoStatic]

The buttons won't work with the current version of the wacom drivers (0.7.9.8-6.fc9), X will crash when assigning them to a keystroke. Let's hope there wille be a 0.8.0.3 package soon.

[KKJensen]

Is that with or without the 'SendCoreEvents'? I was just about to start playing with it to get a 'undo' button mapped at the very least.

Is there any way we can contribute debugging info?

Thanks for the heads up!