wacom tablet
Bob Mandel and Cindi Wiar
--
Hi all
My understanding was that any Wacom tablet would work on the Amiga.
I am trying a Wacom "Pen Partner", CT-0405-R using Wacom_150.lha from
Aminet as the driver. The software does not recognize the tablet.
Using an A4000, Spectrum graphics card, Picasso 96, Cyberstorm MII
060, OS3.0.
Anyone have knowledge of this tablet with the Amiga?
Any other drivers I could try?
Thanks
Bob Mandel
Doug Smith
tablet":
> Hi all
> My understanding was that any Wacom tablet would work on the Amiga.
> I am trying a Wacom "Pen Partner", CT-0405-R using Wacom_150.lha from
> Aminet as the driver. The software does not recognize the tablet.
Yes, I'm in the same situation - I bought a "Pen Partner" after seeing
the Amiga driver on the Wacom germany webpage. Unfortunately, it looks
like this driver was written before the PenPartner was launched, and
it doesn't work.
> Anyone have knowledge of this tablet with the Amiga?
> Any other drivers I could try?
There are a number of drivers on aminet, search for "tablet" and you'll
find them. None of them work with the PenPartner [IME]
Haage and Partner sell an Amiga driver - have a look on their webpage.
I've tried to order from them a couple of times, but for some bizzare
reason they don't want to take my money.
There is a review [in italian] of the driver on
http://www.cvc.fo.it/3000+/wacom.html
It's in italian, have a go with Altavistas Babelfish translator - you can
almost make sense of it :)
As I currently have a tablet and no driver, I've decided to have a play
at writing one. My record for finishing software is not good, but as it's
useless to me until Haage and Partner decide to charge my credit card
and bother to send me a driver I might as well.
If anyone is interested in writing one, have a look in the includes,
intuition.h - search for tablet and pressure - I was surprised to
see that our OS supports pressure sensitive tablets - though it doesn't
appear that much software does.
As far as supporting the tablet itself goes, it seems simple enough,
have a go with Term, fire it up with 8 none 1 9600 baud, the best
terminal to use is "HEX", then try sending some commands to it and
interpreting the results.
I grabbed the following info out of part of an xf86 distribution,
##define WACOM_PP_RESET "\r#" /*reset to wacom IV command set */
#define WACOM_PP_CONFIG "~R\r" /* request a configuration string */
##define WACOM_PP_MODEL "~#" /* request model and ROM version */
#define WACOM_PP_MULTI "MU1\r" /* multi mode input */
#define WACOM_PP_UPPER_ORIGIN "OC1\r" /* origin in upper left */
#define WACOM_PP_SUPPRESS "SU" /* suppress mode */
#define WACOM_PP_ALL_MACRO "~M0\r" /* enable all macro buttons */
#define WACOM_PP_NO_MACRO1 "~M1\r" /* disable macro buttons of group 1 */
#define WACOM_PP_RATE "IT0\r" /* max transmit rate (unit of 5 ms) */
#define WACOM_PP_TILT_MODE "FM1\r" /* enable extra protocol for tilt management */
#define WACOM_PP_NO_INCREMENT "IN0\r" /* do not enable increment mode */
#define WACOM_PP_STREAM_MODE "SR\r" /* enable continuous mode */
#define WACOM_PP_PRESSURE_MODE "PH1\r" /* enable pressure mode */
#define WACOM_PP_STOP "SP\r" /* stop sending coordinates */
#define WACOM_PP_START "ST\r" /* start sending coordinates */
/* Format of 7 bytes data packet for Wacom Tablets
Byte 1
bit 7 Sync bit always 1
bit 6 Pointing device detected
bit 5 Cursor = 0 / Stylus = 1
bit 4 Reserved
bit 3 1 if a button on the pointing device has been pressed
bit 2 Reserved
bit 1 X15
bit 0 X14
Byte 2
bit 7 Always 0
bits 6-0 = X13 - X7
Byte 3
bit 7 Always 0
bits 6-0 = X6 - X0
Byte 4
bit 7 Always 0
bit 6 B3
bit 5 B2
bit 4 B1
bit 3 B0
bit 2 P0
bit 1 Y15
bit 0 Y14
Byte 5
bit 7 Always 0
bits 6-0 = Y13 - Y7
Byte 6
bit 7 Always 0
bits 6-0 = Y6 - Y0
Byte 7
bit 7 Always 0
bit 6 Sign of pressure data
bit 5 P6
bit 4 P5
bit 3 P4
bit 2 P3
bit 1 P2
bit 0 P1
*/
I've not fully investigated which commands work with the
PenPartner, but the important thing is you can send it a reset
and tell it to start streaming data - you then get a whole load
of seven byte chunks of data back whenever the pen is near the
tablet. Build this functionality into a commodity which generates
the mouse and tablet messages and you've got a driver.
Anyhow, I'll carry on spending what tiny amounts of free time
I've got and perhaps write a driver - though I'd really prefer
that Haage and Partner sold me one. It would be a bit of a shame
if I released a free one and damaged the sales of one of their
commercial product.
Cheers,
Doug.
--
Email: Do...@defocus.demon.co.uk http://www.defocus.demon.co.uk
IRC : arper (IRCnet - irc.demon.co.uk:6667)
IRL : Hazel Grove, Stockport, NW England.
"reliable PC" is an oxymoron. Jolyon Ralph, 13-07-98
Asha DeVelder
Re: PenPartner driver
DS> Anyhow, I'll carry on spending what tiny amounts of free time
DS> I've got and perhaps write a driver - though I'd really prefer
DS> that Haage and Partner sold me one. It would be a bit of a shame
DS> if I released a free one and damaged the sales of one of their
DS> commercial product.
I've got nearly all the drivers that have been written for
the Amiga (or did, I think I sold the SummaDriver with the SummaPad).
The best driver was the Accupoint driver. Unfortunately it was
commercial and the author isn't supporting it nor does he seem to be
anxious to sell the code.
The Tableau driver (H&P) isn't bad, but (IMNSHO) has a ways
to go before I'd be really happy with it. The Wacom_150 driver is
the least satisfactory of the bunch. The driver bundled with
OpalPaint is rather good, but I've heard rumors it doesn't work
without the OV board, which I have no way of testing as I don't want
to pull out the OV. Currently I'm using a Wacom ArtZII (12X12). If
you write your driver, and want to test it on my tablet, I'd be glad
to help out. Computer: A4000/040 CV64 OS3.1 and lots of other
goodies.
Asha
--
@}--`--,--`-- Asha DeVelder.... as...@ashafx.com --'--,--'--{@
Asst Co-Ordinator: Team *AMIGA*
http://www.ashafx.com
Massimo Mancini
[...]
>My understanding was that any Wacom tablet would work on the Amiga.
It does...
>I am trying a Wacom "Pen Partner", CT-0405-R using Wacom_150.lha from
>Aminet as the driver. The software does not recognize the tablet.
Correct.
That`s because it`s based on old specs. Ifyou happen to download the Wacom
Programming Specs you`ll notice that it doesn`t cover the PenPartner or any newer
device, too.
>Anyone have knowledge of this tablet with the Amiga?
>Any other drivers I could try?
Well, atm. the only software I know is the commercial Tableau. You can get
infos/order at "www.haage-partner.com".
The driver runs quite fine with some exceptions:
a) like many serial mousedrivers, too, the emulated left mousebutton does not work
poperly for certain apllications. This includes many MUI apps, where certain
functions require that you "press" very fast/short.
This especially affects e.g. links in ibrowse.
Additionally, it`s quite sad that it can`t be used with Tornado3D, too.
If you try to e.g. rotate an object, only the first moments after "pressing lmb"
is recognized. The it acts like you have "released the button" although you
haven`t, yet.
b) likemany serial mousedrivers, too, the mouse gets a bit jumpy when moving.
this only occurs when moving faster. the pointer is very smooth andaccurate when
moving slowly.
Generally, the tablet is a great tool. Many software can actually use it - although
only a few really support it.
Generally, all applications support it as mouse-replacement with some minor
restrictions listed above.
The recently freely offered TVPaint surprinsingly has the fastest drawing routines
I`ve ever seen. This results in a 100% accurate reading of the tablet.
Whereas most paint programms can`t keep up if you move too fast, tvpaint even draws
e.g. your signature like you were drawing on a real paper.
A good application supporting the additional features (rubber/pressure) is arteffect.
You really should consider buying it... you won`t ever use your mouse with it again
after experiencing the great enhancement of pressure sensitive drawing!
Hm, may sound a bit confusing, but it`s not easy to explain - especially with lack of
sleep ;)
Anyway, I hope this short (?) experience report will help you... if you have any
questions don`t hesitate to ask...
>Bob Mandel
--
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/ //\ \ \ \ 13oMB RAM*11GB UW
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\_/~~~~~~~~~\_/~~~\_/~\_/~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Massimo Mancini
[...]
>to pull out the OV. Currently I'm using a Wacom ArtZII (12X12). If
>you write your driver, and want to test it on my tablet, I'd be glad
>to help out. Computer: A4000/040 CV64 OS3.1 and lots of other
Speaking of making own drivers - has anyone noticed most serial mouse drivers
actually have a slight incompatibility with the left-mousebutton "emulation"?
I have found this with any mousedriver i tried except for the latest newmouse
release.
Unfortunately, my own experimental "serial input-device driver" shows the same effect
and i don`t know why or how to solve the problem.
The problem is that a LMB-press immediately goes to a "released" status again for
certain applications, although it`s still pressed.
For example: you press a link in IBrowse and it gets highlighted, but it doesn`t
actually open the link. you either have to use the "right mouse menu" or actually
press the LMB as fast/short as possible to have it recognized.
Same goes for Tornado3D: in the rotate menu, you usually click on the arcball and
rotate your object until you release the left button. with those existing
mouse/tableau dirvers, you click on the arcball, but it stops rotating shortly after
that because it seemingly thinks you already have released the left button.
Sorry if it got somehow offtopic... maybe someone actually has an idea what causes
this strange LMB-behaviour so it can be fixed in the various serial device drivers...
>Asha
Doug Smith
> I've got nearly all the drivers that have been written for the
> Amiga (or did, I think I sold the SummaDriver with the SummaPad). The
> best driver was the Accupoint driver.
I'm interested to know what makes a tablet driver a good or bad one.
Is it "features", or responsiveness ?
Is there any way of quantifying what's good or bad, or is it an
obscure "feel" sort of thing ?
I see references on the Gimp pages to various methods of removing
"jitter" from the data - averaging etc. What's more important,
representing the path of the pen over the tablet, or representing
the current position of the pen ?
Asha DeVelder
DS> > I've got nearly all the drivers that have been written
DS> > for the
DS> > Amiga (or did, I think I sold the SummaDriver with the
DS> > SummaPad). The best driver was the Accupoint driver.
DS> I'm interested to know what makes a tablet driver a good or bad
DS> one.
DS> Is it "features", or responsiveness ?
Both.
To be good, the driver needs to allow the user to configure
the drawing space (active area of the tablet) and the amount of
pressure so that the artist with a heavy hand doesn't get only thick
dark lines and the artist with a light hand doesn't get nothing.
The driver needs to support all of the features the tablet is
capable of even if no software has those features (yet).
DS> Is there any way of quantifying what's good or bad, or is it an
DS> obscure "feel" sort of thing ?
There's some "feely" stuff in there too. How fast does it
track, how many gradations of pressure response you feel.
DS> I see references on the Gimp pages to various methods of removing
DS> "jitter" from the data - averaging etc. What's more important,
DS> representing the path of the pen over the tablet, or representing
DS> the current position of the pen ?
Both are important, so a lot of sampling needs to be done. I
want the stylus to feel/act like a pen or brush or a pencil.