I've been working hard to get my Wacom tablet to work as my primary pointing device. I've installed the drivers and followed the instructions at the Linux Wacom project at Sourceforge. And I've been largely successful. The drivers are working, the configuration utilities are working. I'm just one step away from success.
Apparently the problem is that my mouse and my USB tablet are fighting with each other for control of input to the pointer. A guy from the Linux Wacom mailing list (I can't believe I'm on a mailing list for how to get a pointing device to work) told me that I need to edit xorg.conf so that my mouse device option points to "mouse1" and not "mice". And he referred me to the following page of explanation. http://linuxwacom.sourceforge.net/index.php/howto/mouse1
The guys who work to make the Wacom driver happen on Linux are good guys who have put in a lot of hard work to make their driver as well documented as possible. But it's a case of information overload and cryptic technobabble. They're talking way over my head.
Anyway, following the gist of their advice, I edited my xorg.conf file where it says: "Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice" ... to: Option "Device" "/dev/input/mouse1" ... but there was no change.
... and the guys on the Linux Wacom list take a long time to respond, if at all.
So, can someone here advise on what setting in xorg.conf will get my mouse input out of the way and let my tablet do it's job? I also tried removing the whole section for the mouse specifications, thinking that if it wasn't there, it couldn't obstruct my tablet. But that caused X windows to crash.
Here is my current xorg.conf:
# Xorg configuration created by system-config-display
Section "ServerLayout" Identifier "single head configuration" Screen 0 "Screen0" 0 0 InputDevice "Mouse0" "CorePointer" InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard" InputDevice "stylus" "SendCoreEvents" InputDevice "cursor" "SendCoreEvents" InputDevice "eraser" "SendCoreEvents" EndSection
Section "Files" # RgbPath is the location of the RGB database. Note, this is the name of the # file minus the extension (like ".txt" or ".db"). There is normally # no need to change the default.
# Multiple FontPath entries are allowed (they are concatenated together) # By default, Red Hat 6.0 and later now use a font server independent of # the X server to render fonts.
RgbPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/rgb" FontPath "unix/:7100" EndSection
Section "Module" Load "dbe" Load "extmod" Load "fbdevhw" Load "glx" Load "record" Load "freetype" Load "type1" Load "dri" EndSection
Section "InputDevice" # Specify which keyboard LEDs can be user-controlled (eg, with xset(1)) # Option "Xleds" "1 2 3"
# To disable the XKEYBOARD extension, uncomment XkbDisable. # Option "XkbDisable"
# To customise the XKB settings to suit your keyboard, modify the # lines below (which are the defaults). For example, for a non-U.S. # keyboard, you will probably want to use: # Option "XkbModel" "pc102" # If you have a US Microsoft Natural keyboard, you can use: # Option "XkbModel" "microsoft" # # Then to change the language, change the Layout setting. # For example, a german layout can be obtained with: # Option "XkbLayout" "de" # or: # Option "XkbLayout" "de" # Option "XkbVariant" "nodeadkeys" # # If you'd like to switch the positions of your capslock and # control keys, use: # Option "XkbOptions" "ctrl:swapcaps" # Or if you just want both to be control, use: # Option "XkbOptions" "ctrl:nocaps" # Identifier "Keyboard0" Driver "kbd" Option "XkbModel" "pc105" Option "XkbLayout" "us" EndSection
Section "InputDevice" Identifier "Mouse0" Driver "mouse" Option "Protocol" "IMPS/2" Option "Device" "/dev/input/mouse1" Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5" Option "Emulate3Buttons" "yes" EndSection
Section "Monitor" Identifier "Monitor0" VendorName "Monitor Vendor" ModelName "Dell P1110" DisplaySize 400 300 HorizSync 30.0 - 121.0 VertRefresh 48.0 - 160.0 Option "dpms" EndSection
Section "Device" Identifier "Videocard0" Driver "nv" VendorName "Videocard vendor" BoardName "RIVA TNT2" EndSection
Section "Screen" Identifier "Screen0" Device "Videocard0" Monitor "Monitor0" DefaultDepth 24 SubSection "Display" Viewport 0 0 Depth 24 Modes "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480" EndSubSection EndSection
Section "InputDevice" Driver "wacom" Identifier "cursor" Option "Device" "/dev/input/event2" Option "Type" "cursor" Option "Mode" "Relative" Option "USB" "on" EndSection
Section "InputDevice" Driver "wacom" Identifier "stylus" Option "Device" "/dev/input/event2" Option "Type" "stylus" Option "USB" "on" EndSection
Section "InputDevice" Driver "wacom" Identifier "eraser" Option "Device" "/dev/input/event2" Option "Type" "eraser" Option "USB" "on" EndSection
Section "DRI" Group 0 Mode 0666 EndSection
On Tue, 2005-08-02 at 20:02 +0900, Dave Gutteridge wrote:
I've been working hard to get my Wacom tablet to work as my primary pointing device.
Any reason not to get rid of the mouse if you want to use the Wacom?
I've installed the drivers and followed the instructions at the Linux Wacom project at Sourceforge. And I've been largely successful. The drivers are working, the configuration utilities are working. I'm just one step away from success.
Apparently the problem is that my mouse and my USB tablet are fighting with each other for control of input to the pointer. A guy from the Linux Wacom mailing list (I can't believe I'm on a mailing list for how to get a pointing device to work) told me that I need to edit xorg.conf so that my mouse device option points to "mouse1" and not "mice". And he referred me to the following page of explanation. http://linuxwacom.sourceforge.net/index.php/howto/mouse1
The guys who work to make the Wacom driver happen on Linux are good guys who have put in a lot of hard work to make their driver as well documented as possible. But it's a case of information overload and cryptic technobabble. They're talking way over my head.
Anyway, following the gist of their advice, I edited my xorg.conf file where it says: "Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice" ... to: Option "Device" "/dev/input/mouse1" ... but there was no change.
The way I read the reference above, you need to define the Wacom tablet as the "CorePointer" device in "ServerLayout" to get the behavior you want. Not clear what protocol is appropriate for the Wacom, but seems you may be able to modify "InputDevice" to use the wacom driver and appropriate protocol. From your description, seems that mouse1 may still be your mouse, or that all the added wacom sections in your xorg.conf are contributing to the the confusing events. What does
# ls -alF /dev/input
show?
I'd try rebooting to runlevel 3 with the mouse disconnected and reconfiguring X as follows:
During GRUB startup, hit Esc or down arrow to get to the menu during the countdown. Type "a" to modify the kernel line, backspace over the "rhgb quiet" and type 3 to boot runlevel 3 (non-GUI). Log in as root at the prompt, backup the /etc/X11/xorg.conf, and run
# system-config-display --reconfig
With any luck, the Wacom will get configured, assuming you can answer the mouse questions appropriately in the configuration. If still not working post what happened in the dialog.
# telinit 5
will get you to the GUI login mode you are used to seeing if successful. Otherwise, can restore /etc/X11/xorg.conf, reboot with the mouse and you will at least not have lost ground. [Ctrl-Alt-F1 will get you back to the virtual console root login if X hangs.]
Phil
Any reason not to get rid of the mouse if you want to use the Wacom?
I would happily ditch the mouse, and in the course of testing what you suggest in this email, I have. No change, though. As I understand it, it's not the mouse itself, but the configuration I have. But I could be wrong about that.
What does # ls -alF /dev/input show?
It shows this: [root@localhost dave]# ls -alF /dev/input total 0 drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 180 Aug 3 2005 ./ drwxr-xr-x 8 root root 5760 Aug 3 01:13 ../ crw-r--r-- 1 root root 13, 64 Aug 3 2005 event0 crw-r--r-- 1 root root 13, 65 Aug 3 2005 event1 crw-r--r-- 1 root root 13, 66 Aug 3 2005 event2 crw-r--r-- 1 root root 13, 63 Aug 3 2005 mice crw-r--r-- 1 root root 13, 32 Aug 3 2005 mouse0 crw-r--r-- 1 root root 13, 33 Aug 3 2005 mouse1 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 6 Aug 3 2005 wacom -> event2
I'd try rebooting to runlevel 3 with the mouse disconnected and reconfiguring X as follows:
I did what you suggest, and the net result was that it wiped out what I had in the xorg.conf and writes a new one. This makes the wacom go to it's default settings, and I also can't access it anymore by using the configuration GUI utility that comes with the drivers. When I start the utility, it says tablet not found. I put the xorg.conf file back to how I had it, and I can start the utility and it finds the tablet, but then I'm basically back to where I was with the first posting, where the tablet will respond to some speed and sensitivity settings, but the buttons can't be configured, and it's stuck in "absolute" mode, and not "relative" mode. In short, I can't configure it because it's conflicting with the mouse still.
It's still opaque to me as to where this conflict is happening. There is no mouse connected to the computer anymore, and yet still if I try to have an xorg.conf file without reference to a mouse, X windows crashes. What's up with that?
Dave
On Wed, 2005-08-03 at 01:44 +0900, Dave Gutteridge wrote:
It's still opaque to me as to where this conflict is happening.
Ditto.
There is no mouse connected to the computer anymore, and yet still if I try to have an xorg.conf file without reference to a mouse, X windows crashes.
AFAIK X is simply not going to run without a pointing device. Hope the Wacom-list guys or somebody else here can help. I'm out of suggestions on this one.
Phil
AFAIK X is simply not going to run without a pointing device. Hope the Wacom-list guys or somebody else here can help. I'm out of suggestions on this one.
Okay. One other question, though. Is there a way I can "reboot" X without rebooting the whole machine? It would make testing different settings so much less labourous if I didn't have to wait for a whole reboot.
Dave
On Aug 2, 2005, at 10:56 PM, Dave Gutteridge wrote:
Okay. One other question, though. Is there a way I can "reboot" X without rebooting the whole machine? It would make testing different settings so much less labourous if I didn't have to wait for a whole reboot.
hit control-alt-backspace to kill the X server. if you're in runlevel 5 (the X server starts automatically when your system boots up), it'll automatically restart, rereading its config files.
-steve
--- If this were played upon a stage now, I could condemn it as an improbable fiction. - Fabian, Twelfth Night, III,v
On Aug 2, 2005, at 10:56 PM, Dave Gutteridge wrote:
Okay. One other question, though. Is there a way I can "reboot" X without rebooting the whole machine? It would make testing different settings so much less labourous if I didn't have to wait for a whole reboot.
On Tue, 2005-08-02 at 23:03 -0400, Steve Huff wrote:
hit control-alt-backspace to kill the X server. if you're in runlevel 5 (the X server starts automatically when your system boots up), it'll automatically restart, rereading its config files.
You can also use "killall -1 gdm-binary" (assuming you're using GDM).
Hey! It works!
I was just going to test out this restarting X thing that was suggested, so I casually edited xorg.conf (I commented out the mouse settings and made my tablet my "core pointer"). I just wanted to try editing the conf file so when I restarted X I could see if there was any difference. In fact, I was totally expecting X to crash, as I did something similar to what I did before and X wouldn't start. That way I'd know the edited xorg.conf file was being loaded when I restarted X.
But somehow I did it right this time. My tablet now works perfectly as my primary pointing device! The buttons are mapped, it's in the right mode, and the settings I give it take effect.
Huh. Got lucky on that one.
Thanks for the help!
Dave
On Tue, 2005-08-02 at 22:14 -0500, Bryan J. Smith wrote:
On Aug 2, 2005, at 10:56 PM, Dave Gutteridge wrote:
Okay. One other question, though. Is there a way I can "reboot" X without rebooting the whole machine? It would make testing different settings so much less labourous if I didn't have to wait for a whole reboot.
On Tue, 2005-08-02 at 23:03 -0400, Steve Huff wrote:
hit control-alt-backspace to kill the X server. if you're in runlevel 5 (the X server starts automatically when your system boots up), it'll automatically restart, rereading its config files.
You can also use "killall -1 gdm-binary" (assuming you're using GDM).
or telinit 3&&telinit 5
-
Bryan J. Smith -
Dave Gutteridge -
Phil Schaffner -
Rohan Walsh -
Steve Huff