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#title Example Lines for /etc/X11/xorg.conf for Wacom tablets

Example Lines for /etc/X11/xorg.conf

This section is intended as a complement to https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Wacom, in order to help users configure Wacom tablets in /etc/X11/xorg.conf when needed. Please note that in Ubuntu 8.04 and newer, xorg.conf is less and less used in favour of other methods, and editing xorg.conf manually is a risky business (you can easily hose X). Having an example xorg.conf from an older release of Ubuntu on your hardware can be a great help.

For an LTSP client, update the /usr/bin/dexconf script instead, this is run at boot time to generate a new xorg.conf configuration file, and so any changes made to xorg.conf are lost on reboot.

In Ubuntu 9.04 beta (Jaunty Jackalope)

  • If updated to use the 1:0.8.2.2-0ubuntu2 versions of xserver-xorg-input-wacom and wacom-tools USB Wacom tablets will hotplug, including support for stylus, eraser and cursor. So try this before editing your xorg.conf file, as it will probably be all you need. (This should also work for inbuilt serial (non-USB) tablets that use the pnpbios to signal their presence to the system.)

  • If this doesn't meet your needs, for example because you are using an older external RS232 serial tablet, then editing the xorg.conf file to add sections as detailed below for Ubuntu 8.10 can be made to work.
  • Do back up your working xorg.conf before starting.
  • Have external serial tablets plugged in and powered up before starting the system.
  • When the new version you have edited fails, Jaunty does now drop you to a set of diagnostic tools that allow you to easily view the logs and find out what went wrong.

In Ubuntu 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex)

  • The following lines are for Ubuntu 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex), but should also work in Ubuntu 8.04 (Hardy Heron). Note that:

  • you will have to modify some lines if you are using a serial Wacom tablet (most Tablet PC are serial tablets) instead of an USB one;

  • LCD tablets like Cintiq don't have the "cursor" type, so just remove the relevant section and the corresponding line in the Section "ServerLayout";

  • if you want to make sure your tablet isn't picked up by HAL when you unplug it and plug it again, you can also take this step.

The InputDevice Sections

  • Add these sections or uncomment them (removing the # at the beginning of the lines) if they are already present.

    Section "InputDevice"
      Driver        "wacom"
      Identifier    "stylus"
      Option        "Device"        "/dev/input/wacom" # USB ONLY?
    #  Option        "Device"        "/dev/ttyS0"      # SERIAL ONLY
      Option        "Type"          "stylus"
    #  Option        "ForceDevice"   "ISDV4"           # Tablet PC ONLY
      Option        "USB"           "on"               # USB ONLY
    EndSection
    
    Section "InputDevice"
      Driver        "wacom"
      Identifier    "eraser"
      Option        "Device"        "/dev/input/wacom" # USB ONLY?
    #  Option        "Device"        "/dev/ttyS0"      # SERIAL ONLY
      Option        "Type"          "eraser"
    #  Option        "ForceDevice"   "ISDV4"           # Tablet PC ONLY
      Option        "USB"           "on"               # USB ONLY
    EndSection
    
    Section "InputDevice"
      Driver        "wacom"
      Identifier    "cursor"
      Option        "Device"        "/dev/input/wacom" # USB ONLY?
    #  Option        "Device"        "/dev/ttyS0"      # SERIAL ONLY
      Option        "Type"          "cursor"
    #  Option        "ForceDevice"   "ISDV4"           # Tablet PC ONLY
      Option        "USB"           "on"               # USB ONLY
    EndSection
    
    Section "InputDevice"
      Driver        "wacom"
      Identifier    "pad"
      Option        "Device"        "/dev/input/wacom"    # USB ONLY
    #  Option        "Device"        "/dev/ttyS0"         # SERIAL ONLY
      Option        "Type"          "pad"
      Option        "USB"           "on"                  # USB ONLY
    EndSection
    
    # Uncomment the following section if you you have a TabletPC that supports touch
    # Section "InputDevice"
    #  Driver        "wacom"
    #  Identifier    "touch"
    #  Option        "Device"        "/dev/ttyS0"       # SERIAL ONLY
    #  Option        "Device"        "/dev/input/wacom" # USB ONLY
    #  Option        "Type"          "touch"
    #  Option        "ForceDevice"   "ISDV4"            # Serial Tablet PC ONLY
    #  Option        "USB"           "on"               # USB ONLY
    # EndSection

The ServerLayout Section

  • The lines for the sections "InputDevice" you enabled need to be added in the section "ServerLayout"

      InputDevice   "stylus"  "SendCoreEvents"
      InputDevice   "eraser"  "SendCoreEvents"
      InputDevice   "cursor"  "SendCoreEvents" # For non-LCD tablets only
      InputDevice   "pad"                      # For Intuos3/CintiqV5/Graphire4/Bamboo tablets
    # InputDevice   "touch"   "SendCoreEvents" # Only a few TabletPCs support this type
    If the section is not present then you need to create it. However, be warned that adding this section may well make your system unbootable. If you successfully configured your tablet in Hardy and have access to the old xorg.conf file, you may wish to try copying it over to Ibex to avoid other potential problems.

Create the section as follows:

Section "ServerLayout"
  Identifier    "Default Layout"
  Screen        "Default Screen"
  InputDevice   "stylus"  "SendCoreEvents"
  InputDevice   "eraser"  "SendCoreEvents"
  InputDevice   "cursor"  "SendCoreEvents" # For non-LCD tablets only
  InputDevice   "pad"                      # For Intuos3/CintiqV5/Graphire4/Bamboo tablets
# InputDevice   "touch"   "SendCoreEvents" # Only a few TabletPCs support this type
EndSection

If you experience difficulties after creating this section, consult your /var/log/Xorg.0.log file for details of errors during the last running of X.

Serial Tablet and Tablet PC Users

  • If you are configuring a serial tablet, you have to comment the lines that are marked # USB ONLY and uncomment the lines marked # SERIAL ONLY by respectively adding or removing a # at the beginning of the lines.

    If you are configuring a Tablet PC, make sure to also remove the # at the beginning of the line

    # Option   "ForceDevice"  "ISDV4"  # Tablet PC ONLY

    So for a Tablet PC this line will look like this (leave the # before "Tablet PC ONLY")

     Option   "ForceDevice"  "ISDV4"  # Tablet PC ONLY

    You also have to uncomment the line #  InputDevice  "touch"  "SendCoreEvents" if your Tablet PC supports touch input (make sure you also uncommented the "touch" section in Section "InputDevice".

In Ubuntu Versions Before Ubuntu 8.04 (Hardy Heron)

  • On versions of Ubuntu released before Ubuntu 8.04, the InputDevice sections should be the same, and the same notes apply to serial tablet and Tablet PC users. However, the ServerLayout section should be similar to this (remove or add the lines in accordance to the sections "InputDevice" you created):

    Section "ServerLayout" 
      Identifier    "Default Layout"
      Screen        "Default Screen"
      InputDevice   "Generic Keyboard"
      InputDevice   "Configured Mouse"
      InputDevice   "stylus"   "SendCoreEvents"
      InputDevice   "eraser"   "SendCoreEvents"
      InputDevice   "cursor"   "SendCoreEvents" # For non-LCD tablets only
      InputDevice   "pad"                       # For Intuos3/CintiqV5/Graphire4/Bamboo tablets
    # InputDevice   "touch"    "SendCoreEvents" # Only a few TabletPCs support this type
    EndSection

Tips

Disabling Input Hotplug Through HAL for Your Wacom Tablet

  • If you want to make sure your tablet isn't picked up by HAL when you unplug it and replug it, just remove the file /usr/share/hal/fdi/policy/20thirdparty/10-wacom.fdi . In a terminal, type:

    sudo rm /usr/share/hal/fdi/policy/20thirdparty/10-wacom.fdi

    To restore the file, remove the package xserver-xorg-input-wacom then reinstall it.

Disabling Input Hotplug Through HAL for All Devices In Ubuntu 8.10

  • On Ubuntu 8.10 (and possibly following releases), if you want to disable input hotplug through HAL for all devices, you need to create this section :

    Section "ServerFlags"
            Option "AutoAddDevices" "False"
    EndSection

    If you have already modified your xorg.conf and this section is present, check if the line

            Option "AutoAddDevices" "False"
    is present, else just add it inside the section.

    It is in no way necessary to add this option if you want to configure your tablet with the xorg.conf method (Option B in the guide).

History

  • Here is an extract of Dapper Drake default xorg.conf relating to Wacom USB tablets (kept for reference if you're using this version of Ubuntu) along with instruction to modify it :

    Section "InputDevice"
      Driver        "wacom"
      Identifier    "stylus"
      Option        "Device"        "/dev/wacom"          # Change to 
                                                          # /dev/input/event
                                                          # for USB
      Option        "Type"          "stylus"
      Option        "ForceDevice"   "ISDV4"               # Tablet PC ONLY
    EndSection
    
    Section "InputDevice"
      Driver        "wacom"
      Identifier    "eraser"
      Option        "Device"        "/dev/wacom"          # Change to 
                                                          # /dev/input/event
                                                          # for USB
      Option        "Type"          "eraser"
      Option        "ForceDevice"   "ISDV4"               # Tablet PC ONLY
    EndSection
    
    Section "InputDevice"
      Driver        "wacom"
      Identifier    "cursor"
      Option        "Device"        "/dev/wacom"          # Change to 
                                                          # /dev/input/event
                                                          # for USB
      Option        "Type"          "cursor"
      Option        "ForceDevice"   "ISDV4"               # Tablet PC ONLY
    EndSection
    You should replace the 3 /dev/wacom occurences to point to /dev/input/wacom

    Here is the above section of /etc/X11/xorg.conf after modification :

    Section "InputDevice"
      Driver        "wacom"
      Identifier    "stylus"
      Option        "Device"        "/dev/input/wacom"          # Change to 
                                                          # /dev/input/event
                                                          # for USB
      Option        "Type"          "stylus"
      Option        "ForceDevice"   "ISDV4"               # Tablet PC ONLY
    EndSection
    
    Section "InputDevice"
      Driver        "wacom"
      Identifier    "eraser"
      Option        "Device"        "/dev/input/wacom"          # Change to 
                                                          # /dev/input/event
                                                          # for USB
      Option        "Type"          "eraser"
      Option        "ForceDevice"   "ISDV4"               # Tablet PC ONLY
    EndSection
    
    Section "InputDevice"
      Driver        "wacom"
      Identifier    "cursor"
      Option        "Device"        "/dev/input/wacom"          # Change to 
                                                          # /dev/input/event
                                                          # for USB
      Option        "Type"          "cursor"
      Option        "ForceDevice"   "ISDV4"               # Tablet PC ONLY
    EndSection

    These lines are added in the section "ServerLayout"

            InputDevice     "stylus" "SendCoreEvents"
            InputDevice     "cursor" "SendCoreEvents"
            InputDevice     "eraser" "SendCoreEvents"

    If they are not present, you can paste them into the section, which will look like this :

    Section "ServerLayout"
            Identifier      "Default Layout"
            Screen          "Default Screen"
            InputDevice     "Generic Keyboard"
            InputDevice     "Configured Mouse"
            InputDevice     "stylus" "SendCoreEvents"
            InputDevice     "cursor" "SendCoreEvents"
            InputDevice     "eraser" "SendCoreEvents"
    EndSection


CategoryWacom

WacomTroubleshooting (last edited 2011-05-19 21:14:13 by 173-9-98-221-NewEngland)