Sync Request: wacom-tools 0.7.4.1

[Stefan]

EDIT -- Sync Request info:
Package: wacom-tools
Version: 0.7.4.1-6
Sync from: Debian Unstable http://packages.debian.org/unstable/utils/wacom-tools
Debian Changelog: http://packages.debian.org/changelogs/pool/main/w/wacom-tools/wacom-tools_0.7.4.1-6/changelog
Ubuntu Diff: http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/w/wacom-tools/wacom-tools_0.7.2-0ubuntu7.diff.gz
</EDIT>

The version of the Wacom driver currently in Dapper (0.7.2) does not support adding and removing tablets while the X server is running. This is a major annoyance on laptops and when trying to move tablets from one running computer to another. Because it fails user expectations concerning USB devices (plug them in and they are available), this alone should be considered a bug, now that input device hotplugging is supported by the Xorg server.

Furthermore, older versions of the driver (certainly the one in Breezy) freeze the computer and thus force a reboot when a tablet is removed while the X server is running. To the best of my knowledge, this is still true of the driver version currently in Dapper, but unfortunately I could not test it myself because the Wacom X driver is not included on the Dapper Flight 6 live CD and I lack a free computer to perform a harddisk install of Dapper Flight 6 on.

Thirdly, the current Dapper Wacom driver (0.7.2) does not explicitly support the Dapper kernel (2.6.15), whereas the newest available upstream version (0.7.3 beta) does.

The solution for all of the above should be to update the Dapper Wacom driver to version 0.7.3 beta, available from the Linuxwacom project. Please compare the comment of Ralf Hölzemer on the related bug 4773 in which he attests to the stability of the 0.7.3 beta driver and affirms that it does, in fact, fix several severe bugs.

[Stefan (stfn2)]

The Linuxwacom project has now released version 0.7.3-1 beta of their driver.

[sam tygier (samtygier)]

this is not a rejection, just a tidy up, the bug does not need to be against ubuntu and wacom-tools

[Stefan (stfn2)]

Is anybody working on this bug? It has been a month since I reported it, and no response yet from the maintainer.

Also, I just checked the Bug Reports link from the xserver-xorg-input-wacom package page:

http://packages.ubuntu.com/dapper/x11/xserver-xorg-input-wacom

and that only lists three bugs, not including this one. Did I report it in the wrong place? If so, where do I need to report it so it gets attended to? A Dapper release without a fix for this bug would be quite disappointing.

[Stefan (stfn2)]

The following bounty (not by me) will pay $60 dollars for the first person to get a hotplugging‐capable version of the Wacom driver (0.7.3-1 beta and up) into Ubuntu:

https://launchpad.net/bounties/graphire4

(Note the requirement for how it should work: “1. Installing a wacom package. 2. Plugging it in. 3. Then adding the device in GIMP.” No restarting X or rebooting the computer.)

[Stefan (stfn2)]

The Linux Wacom Project has now released the first stable version of their driver to support hotplugging (0.7.4):

http://linuxwacom.sourceforge.net/

If the beta sounded to scary, now please do seriously consider including 0.7.4 so that Wacom tablets are fully usable in Dapper.

[Stefan (stfn2)]

The Linx Wacom Project has released the stable version 0.7.4-1, which is just a repackaging of the hotplugging-capable 0.7.4.

[Wouter (woutervanwijk-netscape)]

I would also be very pleased with 0.7.4, as would any tablet user.

[Stefan (stfn2)]

Bug confirmed on Dapper flight 7. In order to confirm the bug, I first had to make several changes to /etc/X11/xorg.conf, as explained in bug #44484, so that X uses the wacom driver at all rather than the mouse driver. After all that, when X is already running and then a tablet is plugged in, nothing at all happens. Hotplugging does not work. (As explained above, an upgrade to the stable upstream version 0.7.4 is needed to enable hotplugging.)

[Stefan (stfn2)]

I should add that even if one does cajole the tablet into working by:

1) changing /etc/X11/xorg.conf as explained above and in bug #44484,

2) stopping X,

3) removing the wacom kernel module,

4) unplugging and replugging the tablet, and

5) restarting X

but then unplugs and replugs it while in X (because one has to move the laptop or whatever), it will also stop working and one has close all programs and repeat steps 2 to 5 above to regain use of it.

[willmeister (willmeister)]

Any updates on this bug? The last post is over two months old and as far as I can tell, the problem still exists (Graphire3). Plugging in the tablet (from a cold boot) and installing as written above works, but when the tablet is unplugged, it requires a reboot to get it working again.

(Much) Worse, the system will usually freeze after unplugging the tablet--this occurs on 3 different up-to-date Dapper systems. It's not a kernel panic, the mouse/KB just stop working, I can ssh in and reboot, but the local user is helpless.

I haven't experimented yet with compiling the 0.74 driver from source (or the debian sid repos), but I have a feeling it would work. It would be awesome if this worked correctly--Ubuntu has the best wacom support of any distro I've tried. By updating the wacom-tools package in the repository and fixing the /dev/input/wacom vs /dev/wacom thing, it could be perfect.

[Graham Crumb (gcrumb)]

see recent comments in Bug 41144 for a possible work-around. (It resolved all the hot-plug issues raised here for my wacom graphire USB tablet.)

[Dries Desmet (dries)]

This bug is still standing for Edgy Eft as well. Upstream, the new driver version 0.7.4.1-5 has been packaged for quite some time: http://packages.debian.org/testing/x11/xserver-xorg-input-wacom

[Dries Desmet (dries)]

Assigned to ubuntu desktop team

[Kristoffer Lundén (kristoffer-lunden)]

Is someone looking at this? It is an annoyance, especially using a laptop.

[Dries Desmet (dries)]

Changed title so it doesn't include dapper only. It would be a pity if the driver wouldn't be updated for feisty. I checked packages, and feisty still uses version 0.7.2.

[Kristoffer Lundén (kristoffer-lunden)]

The updated packages from Debian works OOTB on Edgy, is it possible to get a sync for Feisty?

[Andrew Ash (ash211)]

Bug only needs to be against wacom-tools to make it known. This isn't a rejection of the bug, just LP cleanup.