How to Rotate the Screen for a TX2000 Tablet PC

[Favux]

Hi everyone,

Here's Magick Rotation 0.2-5.

This version includes Ayuthia's fix for the CellWriter hang that affects some folks and some more cosmetic improvements. In addition we've verified that the HP 2700 series tablet pc's (2710p and most likely 2730p) are supported, thanks to zoomy942.

Note: The fix for CellWriter means you no longer should or need to use '&' after a program. For example adding '&' to Cairo Dock as in "cairo-dock -o &" is no longer needed, "cairo-dock -o" is fine because the '&' will now be automatically added. In fact adding the '&' will cause Magick Rotation to hang.

First make sure the infrastructure is in place. Enter "lsmod" (without the quotes) in a terminal. In Intrepid you should see 'wmi' & 'hp-wmi'. In Jaunty and Karmic you should see 'hp-wmi'. If 'hp-wmi' is not present you'll need to add to the 'modules' file in "/etc/modules". See the "Auto-magic Rotation HOW TO" in post #225 for details.

If you haven't already, install CellWriter through Synaptic Package Manager.

If an earlier Magick Rotation is running shut it down by right clicking on it's green rotating arrow icon and clicking on Quit. Download the attachment onto your desktop. Extract it. Open the Magick Rotation 0.2-5 folder. Drag and drop the applet and two icons onto 'yourusername' in the left column of Places (/home/yourusername). To install right click on 'magick-rotation-0.2-5' and select Properties. Then click on the Permissions tab. Check "Allow executing file as a program" and close. Now double click on 'magick-rotation-0.2-5' and choose Run. The applet is installed.

Before rotating right click on the Magick Rotation icon (green arrow) located on the right side of the top panel. Go into advance settings and if you do not have an eraser delete it. Or if you do not have touch delete that. Make any other changes you want and then click on Save. You are ready to rotate.

If you check your /home/username/ directory you'll see that magick-rotation-0.2-5 is grouped with the two icons. In System > Preferences > Sessions or Startup Applications you'll see an entry called Magick Rotation etc.. The .conf file is named magick-rotation.conf. To see it click "Show Hidden Files" in View in Places (Nautilus).

Ayuthia has come up with some debug code to help if you have problems with Magick Rotation. Download Magick Rotation 0.2-5.2 (the debug version) tar and follow the same instructions as for 0.2-5 to extract it and move it to "/home/yourusername/".

To run the debug version quit Magick (if running) and open a terminal. To see the debug output in the terminal use:

./magick-rotation-0.2-5.2 debug

This option let's you quickly eyeball the problem. Remember you have a limited amount of time to swivel into tablet mode and back before the terminal will overflow and you'll lose the beginning of the debug output.

To print the output to the text file "magick-log" in "/home/yourusername/" for more detailed study use:

./magick-rotation-0.2-5.2 log

To stop either command make sure the terminal is in focus and use ctrl + C. You'll see a python traceback after stopping.

You could also use these commands:

python magick-rotation-0.2-5.2 debug

python magick-rotation-0.2-5.2 log

To stop make sure the terminal is in focus and use ctrl + Z.

Looking at the output should help pin the problem down for you. And you have the option of posting it as an attachement if you need help.

[R3fr4cti0n]

hey favux, screen rotation work great, however the mouse wont always follow suit, it stays "normal" after i fold my screen to tablet mode and my screen inverts, so basicly when rotation turns on and my picture inverts my mouse pointer/cusor dosen't for sometimes a minuet or longer. Has this happen to u or anyone else and is there a fix?

[Favux]

Hi R3fr4cti0n,

No first I've heard of that.

You rotate to inverted? And you mean the stylus cursor?

In Advanced Settings did you delete eraser?

[R3fr4cti0n]

ya did all that and yes i rotate to inverted

[Favux]

Hi R3fr4cti0n,

OK, it lags but then kicks in, correct?

See if it goes away after you've done a few reboots.

Are you using Compiz? Are you using the ATI proprietary driver "fglrx"? If so did you do the aticonfig command in Appendix 1 in the Rotation HOW TO?

[R3fr4cti0n]

well its acting a bit weird, when it flips the mouse cursor stays as if the screen never fliped/inverted \ as i said, but now after a reboot the screen will freeze when inverted (clock stops) and the cursor may or my not flip to match the inverted screen, but also i cannot "click" on anything the cusor will move it just wont select anything.. if i twist my screen right side up, sometims it gos back to nomal and and i can use everything again and sometimes its stays inverted and frozen and wont allow me to "click" or select anything useing either mouse pad, touch or stylus.... ok did the ati conf comand from the first page. now what is this about compiz?

[Favux]

Hi R3fr4cti0n,

So I take it you are using the ATI proprietary driver "fglrx"

Compiz is the window manager Ubuntu uses to give fancy 3-D effects. The "fglrx" driver doesn't work right with Compiz when the screen is rotated. So if you are using it you have to replace it with the default window manager for Gnome metacity.

To see if Compiz is running check System > Preferences > Appearance > the Visual Effects tab. If none of the three effects are checked (the little circles in front blank) you are running Compiz.

[ioasw]

I'm using the Auto Magic rotate with the .name.sh file and the launcher, this is what I have in the .name.sh:

#These lines are for use with 8.04 (Hardy Heron) and 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex):
#  For TX2000 uncomment next line (and comment out the following one)-
rotation="$(xrandr -q --verbose | sed -n '2 {p;q}' | cut -d' ' -f5)"
#  For TX2500 using Xorg's “radeon” driver uncomment next line (and comment out the previous one)-
#rotation="$(xrandr -q --verbose | sed -n '16 {p;q}' | cut -d' ' -f5)"

case "$rotation" in 
    normal) 
        xrandr -o right 
        xsetwacom set "stylus" Rotate CW 
        xsetwacom set "touch" Rotate CW 
        xsetwacom set "eraser" Rotate CW 
        ;; 
    right) 
        xrandr -o normal 
        xsetwacom set "stylus" Rotate NONE 
        xsetwacom set "touch" Rotate NONE 
        xsetwacom set "eraser" Rotate NONE 
        ;; 
esac

When I click on the launcher on my desktop that is attached to the .name.sh in my home folder, the screen does rotate but it rotates wrong, it stays in landscape mode, and is vertical with a large gap at the bottom so that half the desktop is off the screen. I'll provide pics if you need it but I was hoping that is something in my .name.sh file that can be fixed. I tried quoting and unquoting the different commands but then it does nothing. I'm on a tx2510us 9.04 (Jaunty) running the xorg driver, and ciaro dock. I do have cellwriter installed but I don't know if I need it. Thanks for any help!

[Favux]

Hi ioasw,

Welcome to Ubuntu Forums!

The TX2500 has ATI video. If you've installed the ATI proprietary video driver "fglrx" through Hardware Drivers make sure you've run the aticonfig command in Appendix 1 in the HOW TO.

If you are using the ATI proprietary driver you probably have Compiz running. The ATI driver doesn't work right with Compiz when rotated so you have to turn Compiz off when rotated. See the Compiz off script attached to the bottom of the HOW TO.

You're using a method 2 rotation script, not either of the "Magic" methods in Method 4. So you don't need CellWriter but it's good to have anyway.

Hope this helps.

[Favux]

Warning: Do Not Use. Test Code.