Dual Monitors (one is Wacom)

[osarusan]

Hi,

I read about dual monitors in some other posts here. I got my two monitors working using twinview (I have an nVidia) using the nvidia-settings config. It was very easy. One monitor is a 1680x1050 widescreen (primary monitor). The secondary monitor is a 1600x1200 Wacom Cintiq.

I have one problem that maybe someone who is a bit better than me can help me with. Currently, they both display perfectly. But the Wacom pen stretches across both screens rather than being limited to the Wacom's screen surface.

That is the say, the pen thinks I have a 3280x1200 display instead of a 1600x1200 display next to a 1680x1050 display.

Can anyone help me fix it so the pen is limited only to the Wacom monitor?

Thanks!

[osarusan]

*bump*

Does anyone here have any experience with Wacoms and Dual Monitors?

[brokenLockpick]

I'm currently fighting with a similar problem, but in my case I have two monitors and a non-LCD wacom tablet. My problem is that the left half of the tablet seems to work on the left monitor and if I pass the center point the cursor jumps to the right monitor.

These problems may be related and I have a hunch that there is probably a missing option in the xorg.conf file that would fix the problem, but I have no clue what it is at the moment(was looking for a solution when I stumbled upon your post)

I'm using an Nvidia card in "Xinerama" mode according to my xorg file. Based on what I've read this mode treats all monitors as one large virtual screen.

If I can get to the bottom of it I'll post how I managed(the problem I have is especially irritating as I cannot draw on the right half of my primary monitor, only the left half)

Edit: I found a thread which suggested entering the following two lines into the terminal
xsetwacom set stylus mmonitor off
xsetwacom set eraser mmonitor off

which the guy claimed worked on 8.10(I think) and I just tried it on 8.04 with success(it constrained the cursor to my primary monitor), don't know if it will solve your problem as it is slightly different but there's a possible solution.

[Favux]

Hi folks,

This might be of some help:

http://linuxwacom.sourceforge.net/index.php/howto/multimonitor

[osarusan]

Thanks guys. I think you're both on the right track. I found that information a few days ago on the linuxwacom page as well, but I'm having trouble getting it to work... I don't know for sure why, but I have a suspicion it may have something to do with HAL... apparently in 8.10, HAL controls the wacom driver, not xorg. When I checked my xorg.conf, sure enough everything was commented out by HAL. So I uncommented the lines about the wacom device and added in the lines that the linuxwacom site recommended, but for some reason there was no change whatsoever. Is HAL still doing something??

I tried running xsetwacom set stylus mmonitor off and xsetwacom set eraser mmonitor off, but I get an error telling me there is no such device as stylus or eraser... Hm....

[Favux]

Hi osarusan,

No xorg.conf should control, not HAL. Did you remember to remove the comments from in front of "stylus", etc. in the "ServerLayout" section too.

[osarusan]

I think I did it correctly. Here is what my xorg looks like now. I know it's a bit cluttered:


# nvidia-settings: X configuration file generated by nvidia-settings
# nvidia-settings: version 1.0 (buildd@palmer) Mon Nov 3 08:46:46 UTC 2008
# nvidia-xconfig: X configuration file generated by nvidia-xconfig
# nvidia-xconfig: version 1.0 (buildmeister@builder63) Wed Oct 1 15:09:35 PDT 2008
# xorg.conf (xorg X Window System server configuration file)
#
# This file was generated by dexconf, the Debian X Configuration tool, using
# values from the debconf database.
#
# Edit this file with caution, and see the xorg.conf manual page.
# (Type "man xorg.conf" at the shell prompt.)
#
# This file is automatically updated on xserver-xorg package upgrades *only*
# if it has not been modified since the last upgrade of the xserver-xorg
# package.
#
# If you have edited this file but would like it to be automatically updated
# again, run the following command:
# sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg
# commented out by update-manager, HAL is now used
#Section "InputDevice"
# Identifier "Generic Keyboard"
# Driver "kbd"
# Option "CoreKeyboard"
# Option "XkbRules" "xorg"
# Option "XkbModel" "pc105"
# Option "XkbLayout" "us"
#EndSection
# commented out by update-manager, HAL is now used
#Section "InputDevice"
# Identifier "Configured Mouse"
# Driver "mouse"
# Option "CorePointer"
# Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
# Option "Protocol" "ImPS/2"
# Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
# Option "Emulate3Buttons" "true"
#EndSection
# commented out by update-manager, HAL is now used
Section "InputDevice"
Driver "wacom"
Identifier "stylus"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/wacom"
Option "Type" "stylus"
Option "ForceDevice" "ISDV4"# Tablet PC ONLY
Option "TwinView" "horizontal"
Option "TVResolution" "1680x1050,1600x1200"
Option "ScreenNo" "1"
EndSection
# commented out by update-manager, HAL is now used
Section "InputDevice"
Driver "wacom"
Identifier "eraser"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/wacom"
Option "Type" "eraser"
Option "ForceDevice" "ISDV4"# Tablet PC ONLY
Option "TwinView" "horizontal"
Option "TVResolution" "1680x1050,1600x1200"
Option "ScreenNo" "1"
EndSection
# commented out by update-manager, HAL is now used
Section "InputDevice"
Driver "wacom"
Identifier "cursor"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/wacom"
Option "Type" "cursor"
Option "ForceDevice" "ISDV4"# Tablet PC ONLY
Option "TwinView" "horizontal"
Option "TVResolution" "1680x1050,1600x1200"
Option "ScreenNo" "1"
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Default Layout"
Screen 0 "Screen0" 0 0
InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
InputDevice "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
EndSection

Section "Module"
Load "glx"
EndSection

Section "ServerFlags"

# Removed Option "Xinerama" "0"
# Removed Option "Xinerama" "1"
Option "Xinerama" "0"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"

# generated from default
Identifier "Keyboard0"
Driver "keyboard"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"

# generated from default
Identifier "Mouse0"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Protocol" "auto"
Option "Device" "/dev/psaux"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "no"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Generic Monitor"
HorizSync 30.0 - 70.0
VertRefresh 50.0 - 160.0
Option "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor0"
VendorName "Unknown"
ModelName "Iiyama PL2202W"
HorizSync 30.0 - 80.0
VertRefresh 55.0 - 75.0
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor1"
VendorName "Unknown"
ModelName "WAC Cintiq21UX"
HorizSync 31.0 - 92.0
VertRefresh 56.0 - 85.0
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "Generic Video Card"
Driver "nvidia"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "Device0"
Driver "nvidia"
VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation"
BoardName "GeForce 7950 GT"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "Device1"
Driver "nvidia"
VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation"
BoardName "GeForce 7950 GT"
BusID "PCI:1:0:0"
Screen 1
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Device "Generic Video Card"
Monitor "Generic Monitor"
DefaultDepth 24
Option "AddARGBVisuals" "True"
Option "AddARGBGLXVisuals" "True"
Option "NoLogo" "True"
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "nvidia-auto-select"
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Screen"

# Removed Option "TwinView" "0"
# Removed Option "metamodes" "DFP-0: 1680x1050_60_0 +0+0; DFP-0: nvidia-auto-select +0+0"
Identifier "Screen0"
Device "Device0"
Monitor "Monitor0"
DefaultDepth 24
Option "TwinView" "1"
Option "TwinViewXineramaInfoOrder" "DFP-0"
Option "metamodes" "DFP-0: 1680x1050_60_0 +1600+0, DFP-1: 1600x1200 +0+0"
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen1"
Device "Device1"
Monitor "Monitor1"
DefaultDepth 24
Option "TwinView" "0"
Option "metamodes" "DFP-1: 1600x1200 +0+0"
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
EndSubSection
EndSection

Most of the top section of my xorg file had been commented out, with that notice about HAL.

[Favux]

Hi osarusan,

I'm pretty sure you need to add to:

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Default Layout"
Screen 0 "Screen0" 0 0
InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
InputDevice "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
EndSection

The following lines:

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Default Layout"
Screen 0 "Screen0" 0 0
InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
InputDevice "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
InputDevice "stylus" "SendCoreEvents"
InputDevice "eraser" "SendCoreEvents"
InputDevice "cursor" "SendCoreEvents"
EndSection

Actually I would have thought you would have got a format error without them. And ServerLayout should be at the bottom (end) of the xorg.conf. Which model Wacom external tablet do you have?

I also wonder about the video related lines in the stylus, eraser and cursor sections. I am not sure I have seen those before.

And you are right it is cluttered. Wow!

[osarusan]

Hey, that worked! Thanks a lot!

Before Intrepid actually my xorg was cleaner, but apparently, HAL did some tweaking, and then when I set up my 2nd monitor this January it got much more cluttered as things were auto-configured and then as I played around with various multi-monitor layouts.

I'm using a Cintiq 22UX.

So now it's working confined to the tablet, which is great. However, it seems to no longer be pressure-sensitive. Actually, I can't remember if it was pressure-sensitive prior to today's changes... but I think that it was. And I know I had pressure working way back when I was using only the Cintiq. Do you know how I can re-enable pressure? (I tried using Gimp's pressure settings but they had no effect.)

[Favux]

osarusan,

If you've run wacomcpl to calibrate your tablet there should be a .xinitrc in your username directory. If you want to run it each time you log in use Sessions. In the .xinitrc, in the stylus section, should be:

xsetwacom set stylus PressCurve "0 10 90 100"
or something similar. This should give you pressure.

[osarusan]

Hmmm. I ran that program, and double checked the file in my home folder... and now the wacom reverted back to stretching across both monitors. My xorg.conf didn't change since it was working; it just seems to have stopped working. I also don't have pressure, and the eraser no longer works. Any idea what just happened?

[Favux]

None, that doesn't make much sense. Did you reboot or try restarting X? Which version of linux-wacom and wacom tools are you using? There shouldn't be anything in .xinitrc that would over-ride video settings. But you could go over yours.

At the HOW TO here in section 3 I talk about calibrating the tablet and .xinitrc:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=6546012#post6546012

At the top notice the link to Loic2's Wacom wiki's and thread. He also has some 0.8.1-6 debs available. If you're using 0.8.1-4 (in Intrepid repositories), you might want to give them a shot. Is the Cintiq 22UX is one of the tablets with a screen/digitizer in one, like a Tablet PC?

[osarusan]

Yeah, I restarted X a couple of times but no luck. I feel like it had something to do with wacomcpl the first time I ran it; as soon as I ran it the tablet switched back to using both monitors and I haven't been able to un-set it since.

I'm running Intrepid, and so my linux-wacom and wacom tools are the ones from the repositories.

Yeah, the Cintiq is one of the screen+digitizer tablets like a Tablet PC. Just as expensive as a tablet PC too... so I'd love to get it working. ;-)

Anyway, thanks for the links. I'll work my way through that info and post back here later tonight with an update on my progress.

[osarusan]

Alright! I've got things working. I chmodded .xintrc and added it to sessions, cleaned up my xorg a bit, and then I restarted X again, and the stylus is back to the Cintiq alone. Also, I realized the pressure problem was because I hadn't yet re-enabled the stylus in Gimp.

One more question: the tablet Calibration in wacomcpl is a little wonky on my machine. It doesn't actually calibrate to the right locations -- I think because my 2 monitors are set to different resolutions. The top left calibration box appears in the correct location, but the bottom right one is incorrect. This is making it really, really difficult to get a precise calibration. Is there a way to manually input the calibration in the config? Rather, I see that there is, but I don't know what to make of the numbers, so I don't know what I should enter to get the right calibration. My tablet resolution is 1600x1200.

[Favux]

Hi osarusan,

Nice work!

To calibrate you could keeping guessing and manually zeroing in. A little tedious admittedly. I think the coordinates are based on the digitizer grid, not the screen resolution.

Did you change from 0.8.1-4 to 0.8.1-6? If you didn't, fine. Changing linuxwacom drivers willy nilly is not a good idea. However the reason I mention it is that the Cintiq may be new enough that it was supported in a later driver, say 0.8.1-6. You would need to go to the Linux Wacom Project and look at the information posted for the new versions (and change logs). In it you may see in which version support for your tablet was added.

What was the date your model of Cintiq was released? So what I am saying is the wacom tools (which contains wacomcpl) in 0.8.1-4 may not fully support your tablet. Always be sure the version of wacom tools is the same as the version of the linuxwacom drivers.

[osarusan]

Hmm this is tough. No matter what I change the numbers to, it seems to have absolutely no effect on the tablet. I didn't change drivers yet, though I suppose that's next on the list of things to try.

My Cintiq was released 2005, the year I bought it, so it's hardly new. It works great on a single-monitor layout, it's just this dual monitor that is driving me crazy... heh.

The weirdest thing is that it's *so close* to being accurate right now, but just not enough to be useful. The cursor is shifted off center to one side just a slight bit, and if I put the pen near the edge of the screen, the cursor moves over to the 2nd monitor. And it's really hard to make the cursor touch the opposide side of the screen. Top and bottom are fine, actually, just not left and right. And I can't run the calibration tool at all because it doesn't display correctly; one box appears on this monitor, the other calibration box appears halfway straddling both monitors and I can't click in the correct spot.

Any other thoughts?

[Favux]

Hi osarusan,

I think you're using linuxwacom 0.8.1-4 from the Intrepid repository. I don't think it would hurt to change to 0.8.1-6 by using the debs from here:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Wacom

You have i386 right? Just download both packages and install them. See if the updated wacom-tools helps.

Also from page 11 in the linuxwacaom HOW TO:

I've seen displays with Xinerama in their xorg.conf files in fact fall into TwinView setup since the whole desktop is reported as one screen. Use "xsetwacom get stylus NumScreen" to see how many screen you have. You need to use this command without adding any screen mapping related options in your xorg.conf file for Wacom device.

I took a look at your xorg.conf again. Did you add an external mouse and keyboard? Or is the set up the same as what you were using before you updated to Intrepid? If so you may have double entries. Please attach your current xorg.conf.

[osarusan]

Here's my current xorg:


# xorg.conf (xorg X Window System server configuration file)
#
# This file was generated by dexconf, the Debian X Configuration tool, using
# values from the debconf database.
#
# Edit this file with caution, and see the xorg.conf manual page.
# (Type "man xorg.conf" at the shell prompt.)
#
# This file is automatically updated on xserver-xorg package upgrades *only*
# if it has not been modified since the last upgrade of the xserver-xorg
# package.
#
# If you have edited this file but would like it to be automatically updated
# again, run the following command:
# sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg

Section "InputDevice"
Driver "wacom"
Identifier "stylus"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/wacom"
Option "Type" "stylus"
Option "ForceDevice" "ISDV4"# Tablet PC ONLY
Option "TwinView" "horizontal"
Option "TVResolution" "1680x1050,1600x1200"
Option "ScreenNo" "1"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Driver "wacom"
Identifier "eraser"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/wacom"
Option "Type" "eraser"
Option "ForceDevice" "ISDV4"# Tablet PC ONLY
Option "TwinView" "horizontal"
Option "TVResolution" "1680x1050,1600x1200"
Option "ScreenNo" "1"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Driver "wacom"
Identifier "cursor"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/wacom"
Option "Type" "cursor"
Option "ForceDevice" "ISDV4"# Tablet PC ONLY
Option "TwinView" "horizontal"
Option "TVResolution" "1680x1050,1600x1200"
Option "ScreenNo" "1"
EndSection

Section "Module"
Load "glx"
EndSection

Section "ServerFlags"
Option "Xinerama" "0"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Keyboard0"
Driver "keyboard"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Mouse0"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Protocol" "auto"
Option "Device" "/dev/psaux"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "no"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor0"
VendorName "Unknown"
ModelName "Iiyama PL2202W"
HorizSync 30.0 - 80.0
VertRefresh 55.0 - 75.0
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor1"
VendorName "Unknown"
ModelName "WAC Cintiq21UX"
HorizSync 31.0 - 92.0
VertRefresh 56.0 - 85.0
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "Device0"
Driver "nvidia"
VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation"
BoardName "GeForce 7950 GT"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "Device1"
Driver "nvidia"
VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation"
BoardName "GeForce 7950 GT"
BusID "PCI:1:0:0"
Screen 1
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen0"
Device "Device0"
Monitor "Monitor0"
DefaultDepth 24
Option "TwinView" "1"
Option "TwinViewXineramaInfoOrder" "DFP-0"
Option "metamodes" "DFP-0: 1680x1050_60_0 +1600+0, DFP-1: 1600x1200 +0+0"
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen1"
Device "Device1"
Monitor "Monitor1"
DefaultDepth 24
Option "TwinView" "0"
Option "metamodes" "DFP-1: 1600x1200 +0+0"
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Default Layout"
Screen 0 "Screen0" 0 0
InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
InputDevice "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
InputDevice "stylus" "SendCoreEvents"
InputDevice "eraser" "SendCoreEvents"
InputDevice "cursor" "SendCoreEvents"
EndSection


My layout is the same as before; using a wireless kbd and mouse. I never added the extra mouse and keyboard in the previous xorg; for some reason it commented out my original mouse and keyboard and added those new ones. I don't know why...

Anyway, I installed the latest drivers, but there doesn't seem to be any change. Actually, right now I'm boggled over another problem: it keeps reverting back to the stretched-across-both-screens layout when I restart. But not each time, either. Sometimes it works on just the one screen, other times it goes across both screens. Sometimes ctrl-alt-backspace fixes it. Sometimes ctrl-alt-f7 or f8 fixes it. Sometimes rebooting fixes it. But none of them work consistantly... I'm so baffled by this and it's preventing me from trying to solve the other problem.

Using the xsetwacom numscreen command:
osarusan@desktop:~$ xsetwacom get stylus NumScreen
2

[Favux]

Hi osarusan,

First I want to say that the following probably won't address your problem(s).

With Intrepid Ubuntu began the move to HAL (Hardware Abstraction Layer). And it began de-emphasizing xorg.conf. HAL controls things like keyboard and mouse with .fdi files. HAL should also give you your Wacom stylus "out-of-the-box" without any Wacom configuration in your xorg.conf.

But there turns out to be a limitation on HAL. It can only accept one Wacom input. So then you loose eraser, Wacom hockey puck mouse (cursor), stylus side button(s), or Wacom Pad. So to get the use of these back you have to revert to xorg.conf.

A lot of people with Wacom then got lost when they installed Ubuntu for the first time if it was Intrepid. There was nothing in the xorg.conf to configure with. So don't delete useful entries out of xorg.conf unless you have them backed up where you'll remember them. Better to comment out. We don't know for sure what Jaunty will do.

So you shouldn't need the "new" keyboard and mouse entries. Let's try commenting them out, to at a minimum eliminate a distraction. I also rearranged things. You don't need to. As always be sure to back up your xorg.conf so you can "cp" it back if worse comes to worse.

Meanwhile I'll see if I can spot a problem with your video sections. Could you describe the behaviour of the stylus that you want?

Edit: Two other thoughts. Do you have Compiz on? Have you tried turning it off? Also did you NVIDIA X Server Setting to set things up?
Did you mean Cintiq 21UX?

[osarusan]

The HAL explanation does shed some light on my current situation. It seems as though for some reason it's reverting to HAL for me, rather than using the xorg set up. A few days ago I was able to get it working, as you remember, but now I can't even get it back to that stage; the eraser doesn't work, and the stylus is stuck using both screens rather than being restrained to the Wacom (yes, it's a Cintiq 21UX).

The weird thing is nothing changed in my xorg from after it was working to now -- it just seems to have stopped working on it's own.

I used nvidia-settings to set up the monitor arrangement now, and I set ~/.xinitrc to load at startup using sessions.

My ideal set up would be a TwinView style setup (i.e. one big screen) with the stylus/eraser constrained only to the Cintiq. I use it for digital painting and I use it in conjunction with a mouse, so I only want the pen to affect the tablet screen. The cintiq is my painting screen and the other monitor I use with reference images and notes and things like that.

If twin view is not possible, I suppose I would be ok with a simple duplicate screen... As long as I can paint with the tablet.

I really appreciate your help and your fast replies. Thanks so much for sticking with me through this!

[Favux]

Hi again osarusan,

Good, now I understand what you are looking for.

Yes, occasionally I loose the xorg.conf and then my stylus works through HAL. I become aware of it because of no side-switch, no eraser, and no touch. I confirm it by going to wacomcpl and if no stylus, eraser, or touch options are present I know I have to restart X. I do not know what causes this. My guess is that a glitch occurs in the linuxwacom driver feeding input to Xinput and then HAL grabs the stylus.

Am I understanding you right, that you reconfigured your xorg.conf using the Nvidia settings gui? And now the screen part works fine? You see both monitors as one large monitor? If so I need to see your new xorg.conf.

Your cintiq tablet is to the right of your monitor, correct? And it is monitor 1 in your xorg.conf?

Do you have a Wacom mouse with your tablet? Also don't you have a Pad? Because you do not have a Pad listed in your xorg.conf.

Edit: When you do wacomcpl, do you see the stylus and eraser options? Do you see any other options?

[osarusan]

Actually I had used the Nvidia settings GUI to set up Twin View a few weeks ago, so both of the xorg configs I've posted have had my x screen the way I want it -- minus the stylus/eraser working of course.

The Iiyama (1680x1050 monitor) is screen 0, as I want it to be primary when I'm not painting, while the Cintiq us screen 1, and positioned to the left of the primary monitor. Cintiq is Monitor1.

I don't have a wacom pad or a mouse actually. The contiq stands upright like a monitor. I have 1 "6-D art pen" which is pretty much like the Intuos 3 pen and comes with the Cintiq, and I have 1 other felt-tipped cintiq pen with no eraser (shaped like a felt marker) -- though I haven't set that one up yet (it seems I can do that using the serial number option) becuase I'm more concerned with the tablet keeping the main pen contrained to the Cintiq.

When I run wacomcpl, usually I see stylus, eraser, and cursor options. However, sometimes (like right now) I see no options at all.

[Favux]

Hi osarusan,

You didn't say what happened with test 1. Did commenting out the keyboard and mouse work? In other words did HAL pick them up? I'm going to assume it did.

OK without a Wacom mouse (the puck) I don't think you need the cursor section so I'm commenting it out.

Don't you have like 4 buttons in a group on the screen bezel? I think that is your Pad. It also has one or two sliders? I'm not sure what a slider is?

I changed the Wacom sections. Why don't you see if it works. The format is "ScreenNo" some places and "Screen_No" in others. The range of "No" is -1 to 5. If this doesn't work for a lark try "-1" since you have the Cintiq to the left of Monitor 0.

It sounds like you have a problem with intermittently loosing the linuxwacom driver. Or the kernel driver "wacom.ko" is not loading with every boot.

[osarusan]

Hi Favux,

Sorry I forgot to mention it: Yes, the test worked fine. Commenting out the keyboard and mouse, HAL seems to have picked them up fine.

The Cintiq has 8 buttons (four on each side) and 2 sliders (one on each side). The slider is a touch-sensitive verticle strip that can be used to scroll a page or zoom in and out, basically like most laptop touchpads have one edge that can be used as a scroller.

The previous xorg and this xorg seem to have had no effect on the tablet. I think you're right about losing the linuxwacom driver -- in fact I think maybe for the past 20 reboots the driver has not been loading as I haven't been able to get the tablet working since that post last week where I thought it was working.

Why would the driver have suddenly stopped loading? Is there anything I can do to fix that?

[osarusan]

I also tried removing ~/.xinitrc from the list of startup programs in Sessions, but that had no effect either. Is it necessary?

[Favux]

Hi osarusan,

The .xinitrc is necessary if you want to apply the calibration and screen mapping from wacomcpl. It applies after xorg.conf. So say you had some calibration coordinates in xorg.conf and also in .xinitrc. The ones in .xinitrc would replace the xorg.conf. I thought about it being a problem, but you haven't put any video stuff in it have you? They both should be able to co-exist.

I don't know why the driver stops loading, I just know it happens. If you go to Synaptics Package Manager and search Wacom you should see the two linuxwacom packages you installed. Click on them and then go to Package and then Properties and the Installed Files. Hopefully you can figure out where it has wacom.ko.

Then you want to check here and see if wacom.ko is present:

/lib/modules/`uname -r`/kernel/drivers/input/tablet/wacom.ko
if not you want to copy it there with a line something like:

sudo cp ./src/2.6.27/wacom.ko /lib/modules/`uname -r`/kernel/drivers/input/tablet/wacom.ko
Then try rebooting a few times. Maybe restart X a few times. See if it kicks in. I test by seeing if my side-switch acts as a right button (configured in xorg.conf) and if it doesn't checking wacomcpl to see if the options are present. You also have a side-switch correct? A stylus button on the side.

It could be the wrong version (older) of wacom.ko is being loaded.

If that doesn't work try martinjochimsen's fix in post # 3 here:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=6546012#post6546012

So maybe you could configure the buttons and slides? Be a lot of work if possible.

But First try reinstalling the 0.8.1-6 debs.

[osarusan]

I reinstalled the drivers and wacom.ko appears to be in /lib/modules/2.6.27-11-generic/kernel/drivers/input/tablet/wacom.ko (I just navigated there with nautilus and it was there; I don't know if there's anything more I have to do for that.)

Currently the stylus and eraser are visible in wacomcpl. My stylus actually has 2 side switches -- the one for right mouse is working fine. The ~/.xinitrc that wacomcpl made looks like this:


xsetwacom set eraser Screen_No "1"
xsetwacom set stylus Screen_No "1"
xsetwacom set eraser TwinView "2"
xsetwacom set stylus TwinView "2"
xsetwacom set eraser Button1 "Button 1"
xsetwacom set eraser Suppress "2"
xsetwacom set eraser RawSample "4"
xsetwacom set eraser ClickForce "6"
xsetwacom set eraser PressCurve "0 0 100 100"
xsetwacom set stylus TPCButton "on"
xsetwacom set stylus Button3 "Button 3"
xsetwacom set stylus Button2 "Button 2"
xsetwacom set stylus Button1 "Button 1"
xsetwacom set stylus Suppress "2"
xsetwacom set stylus RawSample "4"
xsetwacom set stylus ClickForce "6"
xsetwacom set stylus PressCurve "0 0 100 100"
# run the primary system script
. /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc


I just added the info in post #3 on the link you gave me. I'll restart and see what happens.

Edit: No effect. Restarting X, rebooting; the tablet still functions across both screens.

[Favux]

Hi osarusan,

If you were seeing stylus and eraser in wacomcpl then you didn't need martinjochimsen's fix because the kernel driver was already in place. Apparently the reinstall worked. Otherwise wacomcpl would not have had the stylus and eraser options. I don't think it will hurt you.

Try removing the two "Twinview" "2" entries in the .xinitrc. And also the presscurve for eraser, I don't think presscurve applies to eraser.

Go to "/etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc". Everything in it should be commented out. If you see:

# invoke global X session script
. /etc/X11/Xsession
try commenting it out like:

# invoke global X session script
#. /etc/X11/Xsession
Xsession should not run.

As far as I can tell the only command you should need to confine a Wacom tool to it's screen when using TwinView is Screen_No or ScreenNo. If you have a different understanding please explain. The command "xsetwacom get stylus NumScreen", which returned 2 screens, may have been wrong if you had any other screen mapping options in xorg.conf.

If the Nvidia setting tool is actually setting you up with a Xinerama type setup (despite telling you differently) then"

Option "MMonitor" "off"
would be what you want in stylus and eraser, rather than Screen_No.

If neither works then I'm stumped. It could be a problem with the card, the video driver, TwinView and/or Xinerama, linuxwacom, or Xserver. I don't know how to tell the difference.

I guess you could look for bug reports. I assume you've searched for a similar set-up so you could copy it?

I'm hoping at least your linuxwacom driver is stable now.

[osarusan]

Well I commented out Xsession and turned MMonitor off. (What was Xsession? Is that always supposed to be off, or just for wacom?)

Running xsetwacom get stylus NumScreen again, the first time I got an error about no such device, then a restarted and tried again, and I got 2. Now I restarted and tried again and it's telling me 1.

Then I ran wacomcpl just to see again, and now "xsetwacom get stylus NumScreen" is giving me 2 screens again... Hmm.

I'm stumped as well. I guess I'll have to give up on TwinView and figure out some other way to get the Cintiq working.

Thanks so much for your help. I really appreciate it.

[Favux]

Hi osarusan,

As I understand it in a fresh install the line invoking Xsessions in xinitrc isn't present. I don't know what adds it. It seems to happen occasionally, for reasons unknown to me. Wacomcpl adds the line at the bottom of .xinitrc to call xinitrc. You could make global Wacom settings in xinitrc if you wanted. They would apply to all users. This doesn't seem useful to most people.

There is a chain of scripts called:

~/.xinitrc --> /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc --> /etc/X11/Xsession --> /etc/X11/Xsession.d/*
You could examine them to see if they contain anything of use. So far I haven't seen anything and Xsession tends to mess up Wacom.

Your welcome. I just wish we could have found a solution. I'll keep an eye out. If you find anything please post.

[osarusan]

While I continue to experiment, I was wondering: is there a big difference between TwinView vs Xinerama? Rather, so far we've been trying with TwinView -- is it worth trying with Xinerama instead? I just set up my monitors in Xinerama to see what I could do and I'm sifting through the Linux Wacom docs to figure out how I can do it in this mode, but I thought I'd just check to see if I'm overlooking some major drawback to Xinerama as opposed to TwinView.

I know I don't want to set it up as just a separate X screen, becuase that doesn't work out nicely with separate monitors.

[Favux]

Hi osarusan,

You got me. I guess the idea in TwinView is the natural or default setting is the tablet mapping to both screens which X is seeing as one screen. Cutting down on the tablet resolution. I think that's part of our problem. We haven't found a detailed enough "manual". Here's the Xinerama wiki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xinerama

But you were getting returns of 1 or 2 screens. Almost like you were flipping between TwinView and Xinerama. So things aren't making much sense to me. Or maybe it's because you still had mapping stuff in xorg or .xinitrc.

I think whatever works is what you should shoot for. Or else we need a video pro to explain it to us.

[Favux]

Hi osarusan,

Since developement on Xinerama stopped in 9/07 and apparently calls to Xinerama are answered by Xrandr in disguise these two references may be useful:

http://navetz.com/v/132/Simple-dual-monitor-setup-with-XrandR-in-Ubuntu-Linux

http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Xorg_RandR_1.2

Apparently a bunch of things are broken in Xrandr 1.2 that are suppose to be fixed in 1.3. When I:

dpkg -l | grep [Xx]randr
I get 2:1.2.3-1; so version 1.2.3-1.

[osarusan]

Cool, thanks for the links. I'll explore them some more.

So far Xinerama hasn't proven any better than Twinview. Actually, Compiz stops working in Xinerama so it's actually a little bit worse. I'm still wracking my brain trying to find out what could possibly be wrong with my setup, and why I'm getting 2 screens reported. I'll keep posting back if I find any results.

[osarusan]

Okay, so I think I may have found the problem, though I don't understand it and can't explain what it going on -- but I am hardly skilled with linux so perhaps you can.

I reverted back to the Twinview setup we had earlier, to see if I could tweak settings to get a result the same way I did last week.

Anyway to make a long story short, I ended up hitting ctrl-alt-f1 at one point, and after the screen reloaded, everything worked again; pen, stylus, pressure, cintiq buttons... Then after rebooting it all vanished again; and trying to do ctrl-alt-f1 no longer works.

I have *no* idea what is going on, but do you?

[Favux]

Hi osarusan,

Not a hundred percent sure. You should have called up Virtual terminal tty1 I guess. Without X? Some how TwinView graphics resumed off the resume image correctly? Weird.

See:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=50794&highlight=Ubuntu+key+combinations

And of course there are more. Were you trying to call the Applications menu? That's alt-f1 and alt-f2 is the run command.

[osarusan]

Well actually I wasn't trying to hit alt-1, I was just googling around for ideas and aside from ctrl-alt-backspace I saw ctrl-alt-f7 and ctrl-alt-f1 mentioned so I figured I'd try them. The odd thing is that both of them worked -- just one time. After rebooting the settings reverted back, and using those keys again didn't ever make the tablet work again.

(Thanks for the list of shortcuts, by the way. That will be handy!)

Anyway, this makes me think that the xorg settings are all 100% correct, and just something is keeping wacom from starting up on my normal X login.

[Favux]

Hi osarusan,

That could be. I just don't know where to take it.

[Favux]

Hi osarusan,

Some new info. gleaned off the LWP's forum. In a January post by Lauwenmark Akkendrittae:

> We are all fooled by Xorg! You need to add --enable-quirk-tablet-rescale
> to your ./configure command and reconfigure/build the driver. I was told
> the rescaling code was added to Xorg X server 1.4.2 and later. But that
> wasn't true. So, please do the following:
>
> cd linuxwacom-0.8.2-2
> ./configure --enable-quirk-tablet-rescale
> make
> su
> make install
>
> Then restart your system or just the X server to see what happens.
> Ping
The link is:

http://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/forum.php?thread_name=200901271508.21786.lauwenmar k%40ailesse.com&forum_name=linuxwacom-discuss

and a related bug link:

http://sourceforge.net/tracker/index.php?func=detail&aid=2164355&group_id=69596&atid=525127.

There is another similar post in January and one in February. It is not clear to me that the "fix" provided by Ping Cheng (LWP dev. (lead dev.)) actually totally works. My guess is the compile line could/maybe/would go something like:

./configure --enable-wacom --enable-quirk-tablet-rescale --prefix=/usr
I'm toying with the idea of trying it to see if it affects the resizing of my tablet pc on rotation. Since I see that there may be a kernel upgrade coming, and I'll have to recompile after that anyway, I'm waiting for that before I decide.

Edit: Also have some information on the console thing. Apparently you type <ctrl-alt-F2> to switch to another console and then <ctrl-alt-F7> to switch back. For laptop users this was apparently intended as a "poor man's" hotplug through xorg.conf. This was used before HAL. So apparently you were executing a "hotplug" event?

[osarusan]

Hmmm no luck on that attempt... actually, now the tablet doesn't respond to the stylus at all. Do I need to change something in xorg as well, having built the driver now rather than using the pre-packaged Ubuntu version?

[Favux]

Hi osarusan,

Sorry that didn't work. I had hoped we were finally making some progress.

The xorg.conf should be OK. They stabilized the terms and such a while ago, before 0.7.9?

It could be something isn't right in the compiled driver. Maybe the kernel driver isn't in the right directory? Did you try modprobe wacom? Is wacom present in dmesg | grep [Ww]acom?

I hesitate to suggest it because I doubt you need linuxwacom 0.8.2-2, 0.8.1-6 should be OK. But on that link I gave you earlier for .xinitrc:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=6546012#post6546012

there is a HOW TO on how to compile the linuxwacom driver. Maybe some of the info. there could be helpful?

[osarusan]

Well, I followed that tutorial when I compiled it, and everything seemed to run smoothly except for the fact that the tablet doesn't respond to the pen.

I tried modprobe, and when I did grep wacom I got this:
osarusan@desktop:~$ dmesg | grep wacom
[ 19.110894] usbcore: registered new interface driver wacom
[ 19.110900] wacom: v1.49:USB Wacom Graphire and Wacom Intuos tablet driver

Not 100% sure what that means.



Edit: Update
For whatever reason I thought I'd just try some other things, I re-installed the driver from Synaptic again, and the pen works again... yet oddly when I click on something it stops working, until I wiggle the mouse. Then the stylus responds again.



Edit again:
Upon restarting, the stylus reverts back to stretching across both monitors rather than being confined to just the Cintiq. I'm noticing a pattern here -- it always seems to work correctly one the first restart after it's installed, and after that it mysteriously switches to fill both monitors.

Clicking still doesn't work, though the side switch works correctly.

[Favux]

Hi osarusan,

Why don't you check you .xinitrc and compare it to the one in your post #27. See if ClickForce and TPCButton are the same.

If we go with the pattern you're seeing it is as if there is a temporary "default" that gives you what you want but is then over ridden by wacomcpl or whatever. See your posts #13 & 14. So what could it be? Our problem is that we're dealing with too many variables. Linuxwacom, Nvidia, TwinView, and X.

I was reading post #114 here: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=122735&page=12&highlight=tablet and noticed KeepShape. I followed the link to here: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/AiptekTablet. That got me thinking so I went to: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Wacom.fdi to check on things. Nope KeepShape isn't in the default 10-wacom.fdi. Still...

Admittedly KeepShape is for when you want your active area on screen to be proportional to your tablet. So you don't loose resolution and proportion. But given what the links are saying and that your tablet and screen are the same... And your monitor is a different resolution. So from: http://linuxwacom.sourceforge.net/index.php/howto/inputdev Why not try?:

Option "KeepShape" "on"
I guess it should go at the end of your stylus section? Maybe it should go in your ./xinitrc below the coordinates wacomcpl gives you? Or even try turning it "off".

What do you think, worth trying?

[osarusan]

Hi Favux,

I gave KeepShape a try, but it didn't affect anything, whether it was set to "on" or "off."

Checking .xinitrc, Clickforce is the same, and TPCButton was set to off (as I'm just reverting to the default controls for now until I get it working). However, setting it to on did nothing either.

You're right about there being too many variables. And just too unpredictable results as well. I can't replicate any of the problems or successes that I get, and it seems like there's a new and entirely different bug each time we try this.

I'm not giving up though. Actually, I'm also hoping that next month when Jaunty comes out and gets rid of HAL, maybe this problem will melt away. But I know I shouldn't count on that...

[osarusan]

So here's one more question: Is it possible to do this without TwinView?

Before I had TwinView set up, the pen was restrained to the Wacom Tablet. However, when I used the monitor as a separate X session, I was unable to get it to work right due to the different resolutions of the 2 screens. The Wacom, which is 1600x1200, seemed to be displaying at 1680x1050, the resolution of the other monitor. So the bottom 150 pixels of the screen were a black bar. The mouse cursor could actually go over the black bar, but I couldn't display any windows down there. I think I read that this was not fixable, but do you know anything about it? I'd be fine using it as a separate X session as long as I could get it working...

[Favux]

Hi osarusan,

Not really. But I notice something on the more detailed tutorial that the Simple Dual Monitor HOW TO (which I linked to on post #33) links to:
http://manual.sidux.com/en/hw-dev-mon-en.htm
In the first sample xorg.conf there is the following line:

Option "PreferredMode" "1024x768_85.00"
I noticed you hadn't used it in any of your xorg.conf's. I wonder if it would do what you want? Plus there's good info there. It also refers you to:
http://www.sorgonet.com/linux/nv-online/
which is the nvidia xorg configurator. I think I'd want to know more about it before I used it, but it seems interesting.

[osarusan]

Definitely an interesting site... sadly I couldn't find anything helpful to my problem on the nvidia page.

The xrandr info is more interesting. I'll have to experiment more with it when I have some time. Thanks for the links!

[Favux]

Hi osarusan,

Something interesting, and I hope useful information.

The LWP project just released 0.8.3-1. This is the first of their 0.8.3 development branch. The Release Notes:

Notes:
Removed kernels 2.4.x and 2.6.8 support
Updated TwinView and Xinerama mapping
Bug 2517856 fixed by Calvin Walton
Fixed bug 2578477
Support Intuos4
Patch "Don't touch the button map" from Thomas Jaeger
Patch 2653696 from Matthew Garret
Patch 2653697 from Peter Hutterer
and the Changes:

2009-03-26 Ping Cheng <pingc@wacom.com>
* Patch "Don't touch the button map" from Thomas Jaeger
* Patch 2653696 from Matthew Garret
* Patch 2653697 from Peter Hutterer
* Removed kernels 2.4.x and 2.6.8 support
* Updated TwinView and Xinerama mapping
* Bug 2517856 fixed by Calvin Walton
* Fixed bug 2578477
* Support Intuos4
* Label 0.8.3

I haven't tried compiling it yet. And it is the development branch. But I always found the 0.8.1 development branch stable, except possibly 0.8.1-4.

Let me know your thoughts.

PS: Change not reflected on Home Page yet. Click on All packages.

[osarusan]

Well that's certainly good news. I'm looking forward to trying out the new driver.

Right now I'm playing around on the Jaunty beta. I haven't had any luck as of yet; same problems are manifesting. But I'm spending an hour or two every couple of days trying out new things I find. I'll probably try a lot harder again once Jaunty is officially released.

[Favux]

Hi osarusan,


Right now I'm playing around on the Jaunty beta.
Cool!

[osarusan]

Here are my updates so far with Jaunty:

For some odd reason, X stopped working while I have the wacom entries in my xorg.conf.

Every time it loads, it tells me there are fatal errors on the "Section" lines where my wacom entries are, as well as telling me there are no screens. After I comment out the wacom lines, X loads. Very bizarre... but possibly just a fluke of the beta.

This morning there was an update to xorg wacom, and now the eraser and pen seem to be automatically picked up correctly by HAL. That's cool! On the other hand, it's not working with dual monitors yet, as the stylus causes the cursor to jump to the other monitor when it reaches the middle of the 2nd monitor.

(This is using separate X Sessions, btw. I stopped using TwinView for the time, though TwinView had the same problems with X.)

[Favux]

Hi osarusan,

Interesting. I'm getting the impression that the Wacom 0.8.1-6 drivers native to Jaunty have a usb problem. Usb parsing maybe? Or maybe the kernel driver? Because I've helped set up a couple serial tablet pc users, but usb folks don't seem to be having much luck.

Did the Xorg update have anything to do with post #8 here?

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1090343

[osarusan]

The update was just a regular Jaunty update through update-manager. I haven't tried anything except for what came in through the repository yet.

But your updated drivers look interesting! I'll see if I can try them out tonight and let you know what results I get, if any.

[osarusan]

Well, it seems I already had the 0.8.2.2 versions installed, but I still get the error. Actually I had one revelation this morning in an error message: it seems that the error occurs unless I comment out the wacom entries from ServerLayout such as (InputDevice "stylus" "SendCoreEvents"). If they're commented out I can load fine, but if they're not, I guess an X error message that it can't find the wacom drivers at /dev/input/wacom. I'm clueless as to why they're not there... but it seems like a big hint anyway.

[Favux]

Hi osarusan,

The original linuxwacom for Jaunty was 0.8.1-6. It must have been patched for Xserver 1.6. Timo Aaltonen imported some HAL/.fdi file D-BUS fixes from Fedora and patched 0.8.2-2 with them. And Xserver 1.6 again. He then petitioned to have it accepted. I guess they were excited because it looked like this gave them the Wacom hot plugging they meant to have in Intrepid. And besides if Fedora was using it it must be OK. They accepted the patched driver in less than a week I think.

Oops, there were a few problems. The main one is the call out to D-BUS frome the 10-wacom.fdi file does not return the name strings linuxwacom expects to see. So nothing depending on xsetwacom works, such as wacomcpl and rotation, etc. Rec figured it out on this thread: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1122952 He wrote a script that I modified a little on post #93 here: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1038949&page=10 This looks like it basically gets things to work with HAL/.fdi.

As far as I can tell the development branch 0.8.3-2 is the first linuxwacom to natively support Xserver 1.6. Since it also supports kernel 2.6.28 it is the first to really support Jaunty. You can compile it, as long as you remove libhal1-dev before compiling, and use xorg.conf as normal.

[osarusan]

Well I finally got around to trying the script and reading through that thread. Wow... it's really way over my head but you guys are amazing for the hard work you're putting in to this!

Unfortunately I still haven't had any luck. Well, I mean the wacom still works just fine, including the buttons on the Cintiq panel, but I just can't it to behave the way I want it to with or without TwinView, either using wacomcpl or xorg.conf. I never imagined dual monitors could be so difficult...

[Favux]

Hi osarusan,

Well yeah, but as you know it isn't hard work when you're having fun. This tinkering around gets kind of addictive.

That is disappointing to say the least. Jaunty and Timo Aaltonen's patched 0.8.2-2 linuxwacom still don't work for you. The Xserver 1.6 was supposed to have addressed dual monitor bugs in 1.5 and 1.4. If I remember right there were also some dual monitor patches in linuxwacom versions after 0.8.2-2. So I suppose there is a forlorn hope that the development branch 0.8.3-2 (0.8.3-3 is suppose to be out shortly) has the answer. Unfortunately it's doesn't have the HAL patches Timo put in 0.8.2-2 so I don't think it works right yet with HAL/.fdi. You'd have to revert back to xorg.conf.

Is it possible there is some limitation on the monitor and/or graphic card we are unaware of?

Edit: How about that? LWP just posted 0.8.3-3 and it claims:

Removed kernels 2.4.x and 2.6.8 support
Support kernels from 2.6.9 to 2.6.29
Updated TwinView and Xinerama mapping
Support Intuos4
Support HAL
Updated GPL to version 2

and then specifically:

* Updated README
* Updated GPL to version 2
* Updated wacom_wac.c
* Brought configure.in and inlcude files in-sync with Fedora 10/11
* Fixed a few button and in-prox/out-prox issues
* Label 0.8.3-3

So maybe you don't need the patched 0.8.2-2 drivers? It will work with HAL and all you would need is rec's script? Hard to tell. We'll have to learn more.

[osarusan]

Wow, that looks promising. Here's hoping! I'll try it out when some debs come out, right now I don't have too much free time. I don't know if it could be a problem with my hardware, but I have a pretty mainstream nvidia card so I don't think so... but we'll see what happens when I get a chance to install the new driver. Thanks for the update! :-)

[osarusan]

Well I compiled the 0.8.3-3 driver but it didn't fix the problem. It did have one interesting effect, and that was that it changed my pen from being in "screen mode" to being in "mouse mode..." Or I guess the official terms are "relative mode" rather than "absolute mode." So clearly it has actually had some effect, though I'm not sure what.

Wacomcpl once again recognizes the devices as well (yay!) but neither editing xorg.conf or wacomcpl's config has any effect on the wacom devices it seems. Any ideas?



Edit:
Another problem: my wacom symlinks seem to keep disappearing. Every time I reboot it can't find /dev/input/wacom and I have to recreate the symlinks. Grr...

[osarusan]

The symlink problem seems to have stopped, and I think I found 1 more clue, but I don't know what it means.

When I go to System>Preferences>Graphics Tablet, I can see entries for "stylus" "eraser" and "pad" from my xorg.conf, as well as "Wacom Cintiq 21UX" "Wacom Cintiq 21UX eraser" and "Wacom Cintiq 21UX cursor" which I think must have been created by the computer automatically. I wonder if these mystery entries are overriding all my settings from xorg? That would make sense why it appears wacomcpl and xorg and everything else appear to be set up correctly.

Any idea what created these entries, and how to either override them or edit their settings?

[Favux]

Hi osarusan,

That's interesting. It looks like 0.8.3-3 (0.8.4-4 now out) has enough HAL stuff in it to start working with the .fdi file even though it does not have Timo's HAL patches. Or some sort of update came through. So you're getting both your xorg.conf names, which are correct linuxwacom names and the HAL names which aren't. You can see the difference if you check:

xsetwacom list
which returns the names linuxwacom is seeing and that wacomcpl and the xsetwacom commands need. And compare it to what:

xinput --list
sees. From what you've posted:
stylus=Wacom Cintiq 21UX
eraser=Wacom Cintiq 21UX eraser
cursor=Wacom Cintiq 21UX cursor
as far as HAL is concerned.

As you know we used rec's script to translate them back to linuxwacom names so wacomcpl would work again. Or you can rename everything in .xinitrc which would get wacomcpl working if you weren't using xorg.conf.

The default 10-wacom.fdi did not include touch for usb tablet pc's. Gali98 and I spent a lot of time finding a way to add touch and finally succeeded. We had to use rec's script too. Then cyberfish came along and took our .fdi and modified it so that the names were correct without rec's script. This changed our understanding. We thought the names problem was fundamental to HAL or Xserver, but it isn't. It was a .fdi problem. It wasn't parsing the HAL names correctly. So gali98 modified cyberfish's .fdi slightly (removed the HAL info.callout in touch) and it works for our usb tablet pc's with touch without any need for rec's .fdi. Eureka!

So I modified the .fdi further for usb Wacom external graphics tablets. I posted it on post #176 here: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=967147&page=18 And it seems to work, well for two tablets anyway. I'm hoping something similar can be done with serial Wacom external graphics tablets. But I would need the lshal.txt from "lshal>lshal.txt" and someone willing to experiment.

I would say the extra names shouldn't matter because wacomcpl and xsetwacom won't see them anyway. But what is System>Preferences>Graphics Tablet? To be sure you could rename 10-wacom.fdi to say 10-wacom.bak and move it somewhere. If you want to keep using xorg.conf.

On the xorg.conf front and the "ServerLayout" breakage. It turns out that may be a bug rather than expected behaviour. I found a bug report where Timo had a patched xorg-xserver that people used to prevent the breakage with entries in xorg.conf. At least that's what I think was happening.

[osarusan]

Well, you sir have done it! That fdi worked, and finally, you've gotten my tablet working in TwinView exactly the way I want it to work, pressure, calibration, and screen recongition and all! Thank you so, so much!!! I replaced the fdi and restarted x, and wacomcpl worked right away!

The Graphics Tablet Preferences is a handly little app that I found a long, long time ago and have been using it on my tablet PC and cintiq. Actually, I forgot that it wasn't default in Ubuntu, having used it for so long. It lets you tweak the pressure sensitivity with a graphical interface, and also has a gnome panel app that shows you the current pressure level of your pen.

Actually, since changing the fdi file, the gnome panel pressure monitor no longer, but it isn't much more than eye candy so I don't care. The most important thing is that finally I can paint!!

Thank you again so much!:guitar:

[Favux]

Hi osarusan,

Wow! I can't believe it! We finally got it working?!

You are welcome.

[osarusan]

I'm getting a slightly strange behavior, though nothing too serious.

It seems my computer occasionally "forgets" the settings. For example, when I restart, it goes back to mapping the stylus to the whole desktop. Also, if I leave the computer for a while and come back, it goes back to mapping to the whole desktop. If I run wacomcpl again, or run .xinitrc from a terminal, it fixes itself again.

I do have the wacomcpl startup config in my Startup Programs, but it doesn't seem to be having any effect.

Anyway, it's not a serious problem because I can quickly fix it, but it is puzzling.

[Favux]

Hi osarusan,

We ran into the problem too and cyberfish fixed it with a daemon. See Section 4 in gali98's HOW TO: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1038949&page=11 And cyberfish improved his daemon on post #247 here: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1038949&page=25 gali98 hasn't updated his HOW TO with this improved version yet.

[osarusan]

Awesome! The improved daemon did the trick! I restarted and it appears to have loaded correctly! I'll post again if there's any changes.

Thanks again!

[Favux]

Hi osarusan,

Sweet! All copacetic finally.

[osarusan]

I'm still getting slightly strange behavior from the daemon. If I leave my computer for a bit and come back, it appears to have reset to Twinview mode across both monitors. Restarting x fixes the problem though. As does running /home/osarusan/.monitor_wacom /home/osarusan/.xinitrc in a terminal. But it doesn't seem to keep the tablet alive on its own.



Edit:
A clue! The daemon seems to stop working if I turn off my Cintiq (makes sense...). I turn off my monitors whenever I'm not using them to save power, and when I turn it back on, the settings have reset back to default. Is there a reason the daemon stops affecting it after I turn the Cintiq off/on? Again, it's not a serious problem as I can easily run a line and fix it, but it would be even better if I didn't have to do that.

[Lazarusrat]

This seems like the likeliest candidate of the existing Wacom threads.

I'm having similar Twinview troubles with two monitors and an Intuos4 under Jaunty. I have a 1280x1024 and 1440x900 LCD hooked up. The 1280x1024 is VGA (using an adapter into digital input), while the 1440x900 is digital. So the 4:3 shows up as CRT, and the 16:10 shows up as DFP.

I've installed the 0.8.3-5 wacom.ko (tried -4 as well), and I'm using Favux' 10-wacom.fdi file with some modifications for settings that used to go in xorg.conf. I can successfully constrain the Intuos to the widescreen monitor, or leave it over the entire Twinview desktop.

But I can't constrain it to the 4:3 monitor at all, and when I constrain it to the widescreen, it's at the wrong resolution, 1280x1024. So the stylus tracks across the left portion of the screen, but stops 160 pixels short of the right edge, and drops below the bottom.

Here is my xorg.conf:

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor0"
VendorName "Eizo"
ModelName "EIZO L66"
HorizSync 27.0 - 80.0
VertRefresh 50.0 - 75.0
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen0"
Device "Device0"
Monitor "Monitor0"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Module"
Load "glx"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "Device0"
VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation"
BoardName "GeForce 8600 GTS"
Driver "nvidia"
Option "NoLogo" "True"
Option "TwinView" "1"
Option "TwinViewXineramaInfoOrder" "DFP-0"
Option "metamodes" "DFP: 1440x900_75, CRT: 1280x1024_75; DFP: nvidia-auto-select, CRT: nvidia-auto-select"
Option "HorizSync" "CRT: 27.0 - 80.0; DFP: 30.0 - 81.0"
Option "VertRefresh" "CRT: 50.0 - 75.0; DFP: 56.0 - 75.0"
Option "TwinViewOrientation" "DFP LeftOf CRT"
EndSection

Section "ServerFlags"
Option "Xinerama" "0"
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Default Layout"
Screen 0 "Screen0" 0 0
EndSection

And here is my 10-wacom.fdi:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <!-- -*- SGML -*- -->

<deviceinfo version="0.2">
<device>
<match key="input.originating_device" contains="if0">
<match key="info.product" contains="Wacom">
<merge key="input.x11_driver" type="string">wacom</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.Type" type="string">stylus</merge>
<merge key="info.product" type="string">stylus</merge>
<append key="info.callouts.add" type="strlist">hal-setup-wacom</append>
<append key="wacom.types" type="strlist">eraser</append>
<append key="wacom.types" type="strlist">cursor</append>
<append key="wacom.types" type="strlist">pad</append>
</match>
</match>
</device>
<device>
<match key="input.x11_options.Type" contains="eraser">
<merge key="info.product" type="string">eraser</merge>
</match>
</device>
<device>
<match key="input.x11_options.Type" contains="cursor">
<merge key="info.product" type="string">cursor</merge>
</match>
</device>
<device>
<match key="input.x11_options.Type" contains="pad">
<merge key="info.product" type="string">pad</merge>
</match>
</device>
<device>
<match key="input.x11_driver" contains="wacom">
<match key="input.x11_options.Type" contains="stylus">
<merge key="input.x11_options.TPCButton" type="string">on</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.KeepShape" type="string">on</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.Threshold" type="string">1</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.Mode" type="string">Absolute</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.TwinView" type="string">Horizontal</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.TVResolution" type="string">1440x900,1280x1024</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.ScreenNo" type="string">0</merge>
</match>
</match>
<match key="input.x11_driver" contains="wacom">
<match key="input.x11_options.Type" contains="eraser">
<merge key="input.x11_options.TPCButton" type="string">on</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.KeepShape" type="string">on</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.Threshold" type="string">1</merge>
</match>
</match>
</device>
</deviceinfo>

I've pretty much only been experimenting with stylus in the .fdi, but I've tried most of this on eraser as well. I've tried swapping the resolutions in TVResolution, turning KeepShape on and off, changing ScreenNo to 1 and 0. I've tried the wacomcpl-exec and xsetwacom that compiled with 0.8.3-5, setting the TVResolution0/1 manually, setting them both to 1440x900. I've tried setting the stylus button1 to "displaytoggle" so that it changes the screen_no so that it cycles through -1, 0, 1.

The result is always the same. With Twinview set to Horizontal, the Intuos is constrained to the 1440x900 display, but with a resolution of 1280x1024. With Twinview set to None, the Intuos covers the entire desktop area (2720x1024).

Any ideas? :D

Edit: Oh, and one last thing. The resolution reported by xsetwacom get stylus
tvresolution0/1 is always some huge number, I assume some calculation
of the dimensions. The resolution reported for them by xsetwacom -s
get stylus tvresolution0/1 is always width width for 0 and height
height for 1 (e.g. 1440 1440 for tvresolution0, 900 900 for
tvresolution1).

Edit: Going to post this in linuxwacom-discuss as well.

[Favux]

Hi Lazarusrat,

As I discovered with osarusan, what looks relatively straightforward is not necessarily so. He's the "expert" on TwinView. One thing though. I thought the tablet is not suppose to necessarily map 1 to 1 to the screen. That can distort the proportions, so that a circle turns into an ellipse. That's what I thought KeepShape was for.

Anyway what I'm writing about is the .fdi. With the disclaimer that it is new enough and my understanding of it limited enough to be wrong with what I'm about to say.

I don't think you need the extra stylus and eraser sections at the end. I think you can put the stylus modifying options in the first (stylus) section. Say under:

<merge key="info.product" type="string">stylus</merge>
and before the info.callout append line. Maybe indenting 4 spaces further to keep it organized. And the eraser options in the first eraser section, say under the line:

<merge key="info.product" type="string">eraser</merge>
Indented 2 spaces.

If it works I doubt it will help with your TwinView problem but it will give you a more compact and organized .fdi. I'll watch and see if a solution comes.

[Lazarusrat]

Hi Favux,

As far as KeepShape goes, I've got an Intuos4 Medium, which has the same width to height ratio (8.8" x 5.5") as my widescreen monitor (1440 x 900). I've gone back and forth with KeepShape, but since it's not getting the correct resolution on that monitor at all, I don't think it matters that much right now. ;) If I can get it to see where my pixels are, then I'll worry about that.

You're right about the .fdi sections. I moved the options into the main declarations for each item and it works fine, so that is a little cleaner. It didn't help with the Twinview problem, but thank you. :)

[Favux]

Hi Lazarusrat,

Good about the .fdi. It would have been nice if that helped wouldn't it? Oh well.

I'll follow along and see if you figure it out. Meanwhile I'll see if I can come up with something. Obviously not likely.

[Lazarusrat]

So, it turns out that (at least part of) the problem was with the xorg driver, which I hadn't replaced from the default 0.8.2-2. Replacing it with 0.8.3-5 lets me work with the tablet on Screen 0 (widescreen) at the proper resolution, and the entire desktop (non-twinview), or Screen_No -1, where it switches from one screen to the other when I drag the cursor to the appropriate edge.

I still can't constrain it just to screen 1. Or rather, I can, but it won't move horizontally at all; it just floats up and down the far right edge of that screen. This isn't a problem for me, personally, though. And every time I switch from Screen_No -1 to Screen_No 0, I have to reset my BottomY (or, since I've got everything in my .fdi file, just unplug and replug the tablet).

So everything seems to be working well enough for now.

Here's my 10-wacom.fdi just in case anyone's curious (I'm going to be putting as much as I can in here once I find all the settings I like, because it gets read every time you plug the tablet in; makes for a convenient reset if things get strange.):

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <!-- -*- SGML -*- -->

<deviceinfo version="0.2">
<device>
<match key="input.originating_device" contains="if0">
<match key="info.product" contains="Wacom">
<merge key="input.x11_driver" type="string">wacom</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.Type" type="string">stylus</merge>
<merge key="info.product" type="string">stylus</merge>
<append key="info.callouts.add" type="strlist">hal-setup-wacom</append>
<append key="wacom.types" type="strlist">eraser</append>
<append key="wacom.types" type="strlist">cursor</append>
<append key="wacom.types" type="strlist">pad</append>
<merge key="input.x11_options.TPCButton" type="string">on</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.KeepShape" type="string">on</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.Mode" type="string">Absolute</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.BottomX" type="string">44704</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.BottomY" type="string">27940</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.TwinView" type="string">Horizontal</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.TVResolution" type="string">1440x900,1280x1024</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.ScreenNo" type="string">0</merge>
</match>
</match>
</device>
<device>
<match key="input.x11_options.Type" contains="eraser">
<merge key="info.product" type="string">eraser</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.TPCButton" type="string">on</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.KeepShape" type="string">on</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.Mode" type="string">Absolute</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.BottomX" type="string">44704</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.BottomY" type="string">27940</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.TwinView" type="string">Horizontal</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.TVResolution" type="string">1440x900,1280x1024</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.ScreenNo" type="string">0</merge>
</match>
</device>
<device>
<match key="input.x11_options.Type" contains="cursor">
<merge key="info.product" type="string">cursor</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.Mode" type="string">Relative</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.TwinView" type="string">None</merge>
</match>
</device>
<device>
<match key="input.x11_options.Type" contains="pad">
<merge key="info.product" type="string">pad</merge>
</match>
</device>
</deviceinfo>

[Favux]

Hi Lazarusrat,

So in addition to a 0.8.3 series wacom.ko you also need a wacom_drv.so from the 0.8.3 series? Starting with about post #63 here: http://ubuntuforums.org/newreply.php?do=newreply&noquote=1&p=7374440 we get things working using the 0.8.3 wacom.ko. Sanette is trying to put everything in his .fdi too. It's later in the thread. Right now he's having trouble with core key and has also posted on linuxwacom-discuss. You might want to get together with him. He could try adding the 0.8.3 wacom_drv.so too and see if that gets core key working.

[Lazarusrat]

Favux,

Not your fault at all! It's something I should have tried earlier. I appreciate the help. :)

I read about the situation with .fdi and core key assignments. Haven't discovered anything there myself yet.

[Dave M G]

Okay, I'm just going to throw my opinion out there, because this is a frustrating situation that I think should be acknowledged. Be aware that I am a strong advocate of Ubuntu and open source, so it's not easy to make this rant.

I have been using my Wacom on Ubuntu since about 2005 or 2006. I slogged through constant changes in the Linuxwacom drivers and xorg.conf. It seemed like with almost every upgrade in either Ubuntu, or with my Nvidia drivers, or something, there was a whole new learning curve.

My dream was to get to the point where finally I could just have the settings done and not have to be constantly tweaking this device.

And then this whole HAL thing comes along, and now I've got to learn a whole new XML syntax to get back to where I was.

I'm sorry to say it, but I feel let down by the developers. It would be one thing if they came along and replaced manual xorg.conf editing with some easy to use GUI or some kind of improvement that had the end users, the people who use Wacom tablets, in mind.

But no, all we get is trading one incredibly obscure syntax for another incredibly obscure syntax.

I've been waiting for the day when I can start recommending Ubuntu to all my Windows using friends on the premise that it's not your father's Linux anymore. No need to learn binary assembly language to get your keyboard to work, it just installs and works.

This new development is a step backward from that day. Somewhere, some engineer or someone is convinced that using HAL is so much better than the previous drivers for some reason to do with how things run on the back end. And maybe for some performance or kernel compatibility reasons they are right.

But for a person who wants nothing more than to stop configuring the damn tablet and actually use it for what the tablet is made for, which is graphics, this is a lot of sand in the face.

I know the developers will dismiss me as just another whiny end user. But I kept my mouth shut for all the years of working with Wacom drivers in Linux because I understood Wacom was ultimately at fault for not making their drivers available, and because I had faith that eventually things would work out and I wouldn't have to be doing all this coding anymore.

And now, instead of having my faith realized, I have to start all over again.

To whoever is responsible for this HAL thing, you should have waited until switching offered a better solution. No, really, you should of.

There, rant over.

[Favux]

Hi Dave M G,

Basically I can't disagree with you.

But I think you can see Ubuntu's perspective too. The whole HAL/.fdi thing is about usb hot plugging. I think they feel they can't call the Ubuntu OS a modern OS unless it has hot plugging. They've been trying on Wacom, just not quite getting there. After all they're trying to coordinate several upstream projects: HAL, Xorg's Xserver, and the LWP.

Loic2 has been working hard for a while to improve Wacom on Ubuntu. He mocked up a gui that was intended to configure Wacom for xorg.conf and/or the wacom.fdi. And he got Ubuntu to devote some developer time to it, trying to get it ready for Jaunty. But just before Jaunty released they announced that due to a lack of developer resources the Ubuntu Wacom configuration gui wasn't going to make it in Jaunty.

The 0.8.2-2 linuxwacom packages for Jaunty were specially patched to support Xserver 1.6 and HAL. They expedited the inclusion into Jaunty within about a week of them first being made available by Timo Aaltonen for testing. I think that's pretty unheard of. So like I said, they are trying.

So we can hope they have things set up for Kharmic.

[spaznrq]

Wow, I have no idea what is going on here technically, but I am having the same problems with a Lenovo X61T tablet laptop and an external monitor running dual screen together.

I'm sorry I don't possess the technical know-how to be of any help, but I just wanted to let everybody know that I appreciate the work done here and I will be happy when this problem is solved, so I'll be watching this thread.

[Dave M G]

Favux,

Thanks for your understanding and your patient explanation. Ultimately, I think this is what makes the Ubuntu community great - the user level discussion that is inclusive.

I've struggled a bit and almost have the FDI file configuration to where I want it to be.

I hope the efforts in working on this new syntax won't simply be thrown out in the future by having the system changed.

More importantly, I hope that with 9.10 or 10.04 I'll finally be able to tell my friends they should be using Ubuntu, completely without qualification or reservation.

[hoisin]

Hello all --

First off, let me just say this thread is quite a read - full of twists and turns and plot changes. Most entertaining, while informative. Favux and osarusan, thanks for a most productive exchange, indeed. Now, onto business...

I'm currently trying to configure my Cintiq 12wx to correctly work using TwinView. I've made all the configurations in xorg.conf and got the stylus, eraser, and pad to get recognized by xsetwacom and wacomcpl. However, when trying to constrain the stylus to the Cintiq, it just stays on the main monitor.

I'm not at my main computer, so I'll try and post the abbreviated xorg.conf entries here:




Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Animation Standard"
Screen 0 "Screen0" 0 0
InputDevice "stylus" "SendCoreEvents"
InputDevice "eraser" "SendCoreEvents"
InputDevice "pad"
Option "Clone" "off"
Option "Xinerama" "off"
EndSection

Section "Module"
Load "glx"
EndSection

Section "ServerFlags"
Option "Xinerama" "0"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Driver "wacom"
Identifier "stylus"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/wacom"
Option "Type" "stylus"
Option "USB" "on"
Option "Twinview" "vertical"
Option "TVResolution" "2048x1152,1280x800"
Option "ScreenNo" "2"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Driver "wacom"
Identifier "eraser"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/wacom"
Option "Type" "eraser"
Option "USB" "on"
Option "Twinview" "vertical"
Option "TVResolution" "2048x1152,1280x800"
Option "ScreenNo" "2"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Driver "wacom"
Identifier "pad"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/wacom"
Option "Type" "pad"
Option "USB" "on"
Option "Twinview" "vertical"
Option "TVResolution" "2048x1152,1280x800"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor1"
VendorName "DELL"
ModelName "D24WD"
HorizSync 30.0 - 96.0
VertRefresh 50.0 - 160.0
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "VideoCard"
Driver "nvidia"
VendorName "NVidia"
BoardName "GeForce 9600 GT"
Option "TwinView" "on"
Option "MetaModes" "2048x1152,1280x800"
Option "TwinViewOrientation" "Below"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen0"
Device "VideoCard"
Monitor "Monitor1"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
EndSubSection
EndSection


This is all from memory, but I think it's all there. As you can see, I've set up my main monitor as the first display and my Cintiq 12wx as the secondary. For both Stylus and Eraser, I've constrained them - supposedly - to the Cintiq, but instead, they remain on the main display.

xsetwacom and wacomcpl pick up the devices no problem, as I said before.

Does the 10-wacom.fdi entries have anything to do with the problem I'm facing? Obviously, I haven't had a chance yet to look at the 10-wacom.fdi on my main machine, but can you give me a clue into whether that might hold the key?

osarusan got his Cintiq working, so I am hopeful that you guys can help me out. I'm a professional character animator and my productivity depends greatly on whether my Cintiq 12wx works, or not.

Thanks.

[Favux]

Hi hoisin,

Some more information may be of use.

Which version of Ubuntu are you on? (Jaunty (9.04), Intrepid (8.10), etc. This will help with knowing whether the .fdi is relevant.)

Which version of linuxwacom are you using?

Did you configure TwinView through the Nvidia configuration tool?

Did you alter the 10-wacom.fdi or add a custom_wacom.fdi?

It would be nice, when you get a chance, to confirm your xorg.conf.

[hoisin]

Thanks for getting back to me so quick!

I'm using Jaunty 9.04 (clean install) and have done all the recent updates, including backports. Whatever the version of linuxwacom that shipped with it is what I'm using, plus any updates, if any.

I configured TwinView by hand in xorg.conf. I'm usually quite comfortable doing so.

I have not touched the 10-wacom.fdi at all.

My xorg.conf is almost exactly as posted, except that I know there are mouse and keyboard lines in there that I haven't included in the above post.


Hope this helps.

[Favux]

Hi hoisin,

I think there has been an update, at least to xserver-xorg, because wacom entries in xorg.conf, especially "ServerLayout" seemed to be breaking X when Jaunty came out. It didn't happen to everyone, and I didn't see a pattern. You've checked Synaptic and made sure wacom-tools was installed? Your Cintiq 12wx connects via usb like osarusan's, correct?

So your choice is to use xorg.conf or go the .fdi route. If you use xorg.conf you loose hot plugging. And we know folks have got it working with the .fdi.

I hope you saved your original Jaunty xorg.conf. There were probably just some vanilla video sections. Because xorg.conf is being deprecated apparently they are changing the syntax and some of the functionality (even for video). For instance I think the syntax for video entries in "ServerLayout" has changed, which may be your problem. I don't think I've seen a "ServerLayout" in a fresh install Jaunty xorg.conf. And it used to be necessary otherwise X would break. That's why I was wondering if the Nvidia configuration tool supports TwinView configuration of xorg.conf in Jaunty. That may tell us how things are suppose to look. Of course it may just horribly break things. Since Intrepid you do not need keyboard and mouse entries, HAL usually handles them fine. Unless your mouse is real fancy, in which case you may need to mess around with it's .fdi etc., to get it configured the way you want it.

If you want to try the .fdi route you can use a modified 10-wacom.fdi for usb tablets located in post #176 here: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=967147&page=18 Then you can look at Lazarusrat's post #73 in this thread. That will show you the syntax necessary to add TwinView entries to the .fdi. The concept is basically like adding them to xorg.conf.

[hoisin]

You're correct, Favux... there were indeed no ServerLayout entries in the vanilla xorg.conf. In fact, the stylus/eraser/pas entries made the tablet work just fine under Gimp without ServerLayout entries.

Yes, wacom-tools are installed and my Cintiq connects via usb.

I do, indeed have the vanilla xorg.conf saved. I'll revert back to it and make all of my tablet adjustments in 10-wacom.fdi. I like the idea of hot-plugging, but I like stability even better, so that will be the determining factor.

I have generated xorg.conf code from nvidia-settings. It does work in terms of restarting X and maintaining the TwinView settings. Nothing broke for me. However, MetaModes option looks completely different and there is no TwinViewOrientation option. The layout, resolution, and orientation are all done on one line in MetaModes. The reason why I didn't use this in my xorg.conf is because no one else really had when I started investigating this thing.

The one concern I have about going the .fdi route is whether it will break X if something is wrong, or not. If so, how easy is it to fix without X? I will try this tonight if it's relatively safe.

[Favux]

Hi hoisin,


MetaModes option looks completely different and there is no TwinViewOrientation option. The layout, resolution, and orientation are all done on one line in MetaModes.
Right and I saw similar things in the Jaunty Development Forum for getting resolution, etc.

That's a good question about breaking X. I don't know the answer. I don't think I've seen anyone break X with the .fdi yet. But that's why in post #176 with the new 10-wacom.fdi I suggest making the backup. If you can get to a command line just reversing the cp command will restore the original 10-wacom.fdi.

Good luck!

[hoisin]

Hello again to Favux and everyone who's been following this thread.

I spent all of last night experimenting with TwinView settings in xorg.conf and 10-wacom.fdi (seperately, of course) for my Cintiq 12wx. First, I'd prototype the settings in xorg.conf and when I was satisfied that the settings were correct after numerous tests, restarting X, and restarting the computer, I'd then replicate those same settings in .fdi (doing away with the xorg.conf settings, of course).

I'm quite satisfied that the settings are quite consistent across both methods. Naturally, xorg.conf and .fdi both have their advantages and I'll leave it at that. I was very pleased with how .fdi allows for hot-plugging devices - Wacom tablets in particular - and with the functionality, resets the device live by removing and replugging the USB cable. Brilliant!

Be that as is may and without getting into too much detail here (I'd only be rehashing much of what's already been discussed in this thread), I want to share some of my preliminary conclusions with you all.

First off, setting up the Cintiq as TwinView with nvidia drivers works in every way, shape and form. I can find no fault with it's mappings, xorg.conf output, or any other functionality which one would demand from the driver and nvidia-settings tool (I'm talking about the proprietary drivers).

Likewise, the device settings for the Cintiq, as well as other Intuos Tablets that I've tested, all work as expected after entering the proper settings within either xorg.conf or .fdi. In other words, you can set-up the pressure, etc. within Gimp, wacomcpl and xsetwacom. Pad settings all work in a vanilla state. The Touch Strip scrolled by default and I did some tests mapping express keys to keystrokes and those worked fine, as well.

With the main monitor and the Cintiq set-up as TwinView (I tested both horizontal and vertical positions), and TwinView set to "none" in the .fdi, the tablet easily worked as expected, with the stylus and eraser going from one monitor to the next with ease. So, yay for that.

However, any artist will tell you that you can't draw proportionally correct images with this set-up. So, setting TwinView to "horizonal|vertical"; TVResolution whatever your monitor and Cintiq are; and ScreenNo to whatever screen is absolutely necessary.

This is where the wacom drivers failed rather miserably. The results are not only a stylus and eraser that's constrained to Screen0's TopX,TopY,BottomX,BottomY, but incorrect proportions, too. KeepShape has results that really are not intuitive to what I'm used to with one monitor and and Intuos tablet set-up. So, obviously, there's no switching between Screens. The stylus and eraser stay in the wrong spot.

Granted, I have not compiled the 0.8.3 series drivers, nor do I intend to since others on this thread have already done so with similar undesirable results.

After combing the internet for answers for some time now, and seeing how this is a pain on all distros, I feel it's time I looked into this from the driver side. Namely, linuxwacom. I will need to dig into that code, for sure.

Also, I feel that it's time that a project that addresses end-user needs for setting Wacom tablets up with ease begin immediately. There are GUIs for configuring keyboards and mice. There needs to be a one-stop solution for tablets, as well that will situate itself in the System > Administration menu, as well as Control Centre.

With these two things - driver and GUI - combined, I feel a stable and supported project can develop fairly quickly since there are so many Intuos/Cintiq users out there.

Anyone willing to lend their knowledge and support for this project is welcome to contact me at this very account. While I can code, I'm an artist first, so I'll certainly need the help of hardcore coders out there.


Thanks for reading.

[hoisin]

I've already discovered an alternative way of mapping the tablet to a screen. That is, alternative to how it's currently done through wacom-tools. The way tablet resolution is handled within the driver is a bit tricky and I'm going to attempt to play with that after I've worked the bugs out of the tablet/screen switcher applet I'm working on.

I'll post my findings here when I've had a chance to prove they work and are stable.

[Favux]

Hi hoisin,

I hope that works!

It's interesting that you've localized the problem to the LWP drivers. I've been wondering about that. I have noticed that LWP and Xorg occasionally seem to not communicate so well on Xserver changes.

Loic2 has been working a long time to get a Wacom gui for Ubuntu. He did a mockup and they did assign Alberto Milone to code it. But they announced before Jaunty came out that it was dropped due to lack of dev. resources. So maybe he has some code available. Loic2's mockup and the plans: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/X/Blueprints/WacomTabletsUi and some discussion about it: http://www.mail-archive.com/ubuntu-devel-discuss@lists.ubuntu.com/msg06115.html It was mentioned in their Desktop Experience Plans: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UDSJaunty/Report/Desktop

Other code available would of course be LWP's wacomcpl. Also the Gnome Graphics Tablet Apps: http://www.alexmac.cc/tablet-apps/ And the Wacom Control Panel here: http://www.gtk-apps.org/content/show.php?action=content&content=104309

Possibly the X/OptionsEditor plans might have some useful ideas: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/X/OptionsEditor?highlight=(Xfix)

Hope this is helpful.

[osarusan]

I've run into a new problem this week, after moving to a new appt and changing my monitor positions a bit.

Using the methods in this post, I can easily get the tablet working with no editing of xorg at all, just using wacomcpl and Twinview, IF the Cintiq is the left monitor.

However, if it's the right monitor, no matter how I set up the TwinView, the pen always maps to the left monitor.

I wonder if this has something to do with how the Twinview monitors are set up, and that my Cintiq is now located at +1680+0.

Do you have any ideas on how to make the pen map to the same location of the screen?

Thanks again for all your help.

[Favux]

Hi osarusan,

You may be running into a bug that I think is actually Ubuntu's fault. To setup dual screens you need to run nvidia-settings as root.

gksudo nvidia-settings
Using TwinView, put the monitors where you want them. In X Server Display Configuration->set position to Absolute if screens are not the same resolution, or use Left Of, Right Of if they are. Enter Apply and then Save to X Configuration File. This should make the settings permanent. If you do it from the Desktop Nvidia X Server Settings the configuration isn't saved (although it should be) because you're not root.

Hopefully this works and I'm not telling you things you already know.

[osarusan]

Yeah, I had already been trying that and it didn't work. I ended up just repositioning the monitors so the Cintiq is back on the left, and I can get it to work fine now. It's a very strange bug I think... the pen *only* works for the leftmost monitor.

[Favux]

Hi osarusan,

Exactly what about all of this hasn't been "strange"? ;)

I figured you already knew about it, you're usually ahead of me. But since I was certain about this little tidbit I was compelled to post it, in the forlorn hope it might actually be useful.

[osarusan]

Well it's a perfectly good suggestion, plenty of folks wouldn't have thought of it. I wouldn't say I'm usually ahead of you... I'm good at figuring out what's broken, but I have no idea how to fix it. You deserve all the credit for me being able to use my tablet at all in Ubuntu.

[skullmunky]

Hi all,

This thread and the others connected to it sure are a fascinating read. Until now I've always just cut & pasted things into xorg.conf, and never sat down to try and understand what's really going on. Fun!

I'm also having the "Left Monitor Only" problem that osarusan mentioned, on Jaunty with an Intuos3. Here's my situation:

- two monitors, same resolution
- twinview set up and working in xorg.conf:



Option "TwinView" "1"
Option "TwinViewXineramaInfoOrder" "CRT-0"
Option "metamodes" "CRT-0: nvidia-auto-select +0+0, CRT-1: nvidia-auto-select +1440+0"


- no wacom tweaks to xorg or the .fdi file, just using the defaults.
- I can turn on twinview using xsetwacom:



xsetwacom set "Wacom Intuos3 9x12" TwinView horizontal


This constrains the tablet to the left screen. Good, but not perfect - I'd like to constrain it to the right screen, because the keyboard and mouse are in front of the left screen. I'm right handed, so I usually keep my left hand on the keyboard while drawing with my right.

I thought this would do it:



xsetwacom set "Wacom Intuos3 9x12" Screen_No 1


but it still stays on Screen 0.

I tried doing this with the old xorg.conf method, which I had working on 8.04, but it had the same results - cursor stays on screen 0. Is this maybe just basically a driver issue?


Also: In GIMP, the cursor stays on screen 0. But, all the tools are actually still mapped to the whole range of both monitors. So, if I paint a stroke with the cursor at (100,100), the actual painting happens at (200,100).

[osarusan]

Yeah, I think you have to just give up and go with left screen only. Logically, the setup should work for right if you change the settings to Screen 1, but it just doesn't work. I was trying the same thing and just gave up, leaving well enough alone.

As for GIMP, make sure your tool is set to "screen" and not disabled or window. That should fix it.

[osarusan]

Favux,

A while back you posted a script to keep the wacomcpl config active. I can't find the post now, it may have been in another thread, but I was wondering if there'd been any updates on that script. Since my Cintiq is a tablet and a monitor, if I turn it off and then back on again, it forgets the wacomcpl settings. I have the daemon running, but it appears to have no effect. It's not a major problem since I can just run sh .xinitrc and get it working again, but I was wondering if there's been a working way to make it remember the settings automatically.

[Favux]

Hi osarusan,

The second version of cyberfish's script is in Section 4 of gali98's HOW TO: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1038949&page=11 He hasn't updated it in a while, and I think it's the version you have. But take a look and check. Maybe you have the first version.

[osarusan]

Yeah, that's the one I have. It works for suspend/resume, just not for turning off and on the monitor. Hm...

[Favux]

Hi everyone,

The new linuxwacom 0.8-4 has just been released (7-30-09). It claims support for the Intuos4, support for Xorg up to 1.6.0, and updated TwinView and Xinerama mapping. I'm wondering if it is in time to be considered for inclusion into Kharmic.

[osarusan]

Slightly delayed response to skullmonkey, but I read on the linuxwacom documentation that the "Horizontal" setting for TwinView actually is the same thing as "LeftOf," which is why you can't get anywhere but on the left screen.

I haven't tried it on my machine, but what about trying "RightOf" instead of "Horizontal" for your TwinView setting?