Skip to content

Wacom: Setting up the Wacom Bamboo

Introduction

Wow! You just bought a Wacom Bamboo and want it to work well on your Ubuntu! No problem!

Installation

Install the necessary packages:

1
sudo apt-get install xserver-xorg-input-wacom wacom-tools

Configuration

Backup your xorg configuration:

1
sudo cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf.bak

Add the following to the module section:

1
2
3
4
5
Section "Module"
    ....
        Load    "wacom"
        ...
EndSection

Then add the following configuration:

 1
 2
 3
 4
 5
 6
 7
 8
 9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
Section "InputDevice"
  Driver        "wacom"
  Identifier    "stylus"
  #Option        "Device"        "/dev/ttyS0"          # SERIAL Tablet
  Option        "Device"        "/dev/input/wacom"    # USB Tablet
  Option        "Type"          "stylus"              # Stylus pen tip
  Option        "USB"           "on"                  # USB Tablet
  Option        "Mode"          "absolute"            # Position on the tablet
  #Option        "ForceDevice"  "ISDV4"                # Tablet PC ONLY
  #Option        "HistorySize"  "64"                   # Buffer size
  Option         "Tilt"         "on"                  # Tilt
  #Option         "TiltInvert"   "on"                  # Tilt inversion
  Option         "Threshold"     "5"                   # pressure sensitivity

EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
  Driver        "wacom"
  Identifier    "eraser"
  #Option        "Device"        "/dev/ttyS0"           # SERIAL Tablet
  Option        "Device"        "/dev/input/wacom"    # USB Tablet
  Option        "Type"          "eraser"              # pen eraser tip
  Option        "USB"           "on"                  # USB Tablet
  Option        "Mode"          "absolute"            # Position on the tablet
  #Option        "ForceDevice"  "ISDV4"                # Tablet PC ONLY
  #Option        "HistorySize"  "64"                   # Buffer size
  Option         "Tilt"         "on"                  # Tilt
  #Option         "TiltInvert"   "on"                  # Tilt inversion
  Option         "Threshold"     "5"                   # pressure sensitivity
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
  Driver        "wacom"
  Identifier    "cursor"
  #Option        "Device"        "/dev/ttyS0"           # SERIAL Tablet
  Option        "Device"        "/dev/input/wacom"    # USB Tablet
  Option        "Type"          "cursor"
  Option        "USB"           "on"                  # USB Tablet
  Option        "Mode"          "absolute"            # Position on the tablet
  #Option        "ForceDevice"  "ISDV4"               # Tablet PC ONLY
  #Option        "HistorySize"  "64"                  # Buffer size
EndSection

In the ServerLayout section:

 1
 2
 3
 4
 5
 6
 7
 8
 9
10
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/Cintiq 21UX/Graphire4 tablets and should not send core events
EndSection

Restart gdm and you're done:

1
/etc/init.d/gdm restart

For the tablet buttons:

1
2
3
4
5
6
xsetwacom set pad AbsWUp 4 #scroll up
xsetwacom set pad AbsWDn 5 #scroll down
xsetwacom set pad button3 4 # key: scroll up
xsetwacom set pad button1 5 # key: scroll dn
xsetwacom set pad button2 1 #FN1 key: left mouse button
xsetwacom set pad button4 3 #FN2 key: right mouse button

The Gimp

And for Gimp? Why doesn't it work perfectly? Well, it can work well!

  • Go to File > Preferences > Input Devices and click on the "Configure Extended Input Devices" button.
  • In the device list, select each of the "stylus", "eraser" and "pad" items, and set the "Mode" option to "Screen" for each one.
  • Click on "Save"

You can now use your tablet with Gimp.

However, by default the stylus and eraser are configured to use the same tool. To change this, turn your pen to use the "eraser" end and select a tool (like the eraser...). It will now be associated with that end :)

Configuration Example

Here's an example xorg.conf:

  1
  2
  3
  4
  5
  6
  7
  8
  9
 10
 11
 12
 13
 14
 15
 16
 17
 18
 19
 20
 21
 22
 23
 24
 25
 26
 27
 28
 29
 30
 31
 32
 33
 34
 35
 36
 37
 38
 39
 40
 41
 42
 43
 44
 45
 46
 47
 48
 49
 50
 51
 52
 53
 54
 55
 56
 57
 58
 59
 60
 61
 62
 63
 64
 65
 66
 67
 68
 69
 70
 71
 72
 73
 74
 75
 76
 77
 78
 79
 80
 81
 82
 83
 84
 85
 86
 87
 88
 89
 90
 91
 92
 93
 94
 95
 96
 97
 98
 99
100
101
102
103
# xorg.conf (X.Org 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"
    Identifier  "Generic Keyboard"
    Driver      "kbd"
    Option      "XkbRules"  "xorg"
    Option      "XkbModel"  "pc105"
    Option      "XkbLayout" "fr"
    Option      "XkbVariant"    "oss"
EndSection

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

Section "InputDevice"
    Driver      "wacom"
    Identifier  "stylus"
    Option      "Device"    "/dev/input/wacom"
    Option      "Type"      "stylus"
#   Option      "ForceDevice"   "ISDV4"     # Tablet PC ONLY
    Option      "USB"       "on"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    Driver      "wacom"
    Identifier  "eraser"
    Option      "Device"    "/dev/input/wacom"
    Option      "Type"      "eraser"
#   Option      "ForceDevice"   "ISDV4"     # Tablet PC ONLY
    Option      "USB"       "on"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    Driver      "wacom"
    Identifier  "cursor"
    Option      "Device"    "/dev/input/wacom"
    Option      "Type"      "cursor"
#   Option      "ForceDevice"   "ISDV4"     # Tablet PC ONLY
    Option      "USB"       "on"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    Driver      "wacom"
    Identifier  "pad"
    Option      "Device"    "/dev/input/wacom"
    Option      "Type"      "pad"
    Option      "USB"       "on"
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier  "Configured Video Device"
    Driver      "nvidia"
    Option      "NoLogo"    "True"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier  "Configured Monitor"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier  "Default Screen"
    Monitor     "Configured Monitor"
    Device      "Configured Video Device"
    Defaultdepth    24
    Option      "RenderAccel"   "True"
    Option      "TwinView"
    Option      "TwinViewOrientation" "LeftOf"
    Option      "MetaModes" "1280×1024 1280×1024"
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
    Identifier  "Default Layout"
    screen "Default Screen"
    InputDevice     "stylus"    "SendCoreEvents"
    InputDevice     "cursor"    "SendCoreEvents"
    InputDevice     "eraser"    "SendCoreEvents"
    InputDevice "pad"
EndSection

Section "Module"
    Load        "glx"
EndSection

Resources