SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 SP4

Appendix E. Support of Tablet PCs¶

Contents

E.1. Installing Tablet PC Packages
E.2. Configuring Your Wacom Device
E.3. Using Common Tablet PC Features
E.4. Troubleshooting
E.5. For More Information

SUSE Linux Enterprise® comes with support for Tablet PCs with serial Wacom devices. Although the majority of installation is the same as on other systems, several packages must be added manually. Then configure the input device properly.

	Tablet PC Features on 64-bit Architectures
Currently, Tablet PC support is only available for 32-bit architectures. To use Tablet PC features on 64-bit architectures, you need to install a 32-bit system.

After you have installed the Tablet PC packages and configured your digitizer correctly, input with the pen, also called a stylus, can be used for the following actions and applications:

Logging in to KDM or GDM
Unlocking your screen on the KDE and GNOME desktops
Actions that can also be triggered by other pointing devices (such as mouse or touch pad), for example, moving the cursor on the screen, starting applications, closing, resizing and moving windows, shifting window focus, dragging and dropping objects
Using gesture recognition in applications of the X Window System
Drawing with The GIMP
Taking notes or sketching with applications like Jarnal or Xournal or editing larger amounts of text with Dasher

	Keyboard or Mouse Needed for Installation
During installation of SUSE Linux Enterprise, the pen cannot be used as an input device. If your Tablet PC does not feature a built-in keyboard or touch pad, connect an external keyboard or mouse to your Tablet PC for installation of your system.

E.1. Installing Tablet PC Packages¶

Because YaST does not automatically detect Tablet PCs, install additional packages during or after installation of your system. The TabletPC installation pattern contains the following packages:

jarnal: a Java-based note taking application
xournal: an application for note taking and sketching
xstroke: a gesture recognition program for the X Window System
xvkbd: a virtual keyboard for the X Window System
x11-input-wacom: the X input module for Wacom tablets
x11-input-wacom-tools: configuration, diagnostics, and libraries for Wacom tablets

You can manually install the packages from command line or select the pattern for installation in YaST:

Start the YaST package manager from the command line or open YaST and select Software+Software Management.
For Filter, select Pattern to view the available packages grouped in patterns.
In the Additional Software group, mark the TabletPC pattern for installation.
Click Accept to start the installation of the packages.

E.2. Configuring Your Wacom Device ¶

After the Tablet PC packages have been installed, configure your tablet device. Currently, SUSE Linux Enterprise does not support configuration of Wacom devices with SaX2. Instead, it is necessary to edit a system configuration file. Only the system administrator can make the changes to the /etc/X11/xorg.conf file.

	A Faulty X Configuration Can Damage Your Hardware
Before editing the `/etc/X11/xorg.conf` file, create a backup of the original file. Do not edit other sections of the file, because this can cause damage to your hardware.

For Wacom devices, add a couple of lines to /etc/X11/xorg.conf as shown in Example E.1, “Configuration for Wacom Devices”.

Example E.1. Configuration for Wacom Devices¶

Add the following InputDevice sections:

  Section "InputDevice" 
    Driver       "wacom"
    Identifier   "Mouse[5]"
    Option       "Device" "/dev/ttyS0"
    Option       "ForceDevice" "ISDV4"
    Option       "InputFashion" "Tablet"
    Option       "Mode" "Absolute"
    Option       "SendCoreEvents" "on"
    Option       "Type" "cursor"
  EndSection
  
  Section "InputDevice" 
    Driver       "wacom"
    Identifier   "Mouse[7]"
    Option       "Device" "/dev/ttyS0"
    Option       "ForceDevice" "ISDV4"
    Option       "InputFashion" "Pen"
    Option       "Mode" "Absolute"
    Option       "Type" "stylus"
  EndSection
  
  Section "InputDevice" 
    Driver       "wacom"
    Identifier   "Mouse[9]"
    Option       "Device" "/dev/ttyS0"
    Option       "ForceDevice" "ISDV4"
    Option       "InputFashion" "Eraser"
    Option       "Mode" "Absolute"
    Option       "Type" "eraser"
  EndSection

	Configuration for the tablet cursor input device connected to `/dev/ttyS0`. If you use a HP Compaq tc4200, try `/dev/ttyS2` instead. The device is given the `"Mouse[5]"` identifier to avoid problems in upcoming SaX2 versions.
	Configuration for the tablet stylus input device.
	Configuration for the tablet eraser input device. This part of the pen can be used in some applications to erase input.

Add the following lines to the ServerLayout section:

  InputDevice  "Mouse[5]" "SendCoreEvents"
  InputDevice  "Mouse[7]" "SendCoreEvents"
  InputDevice  "Mouse[9]" "SendCoreEvents"

With these changes, your /etc/X11/xorg.conf should resemble the following:

   [...]
   
   Section "InputDevice"  
     Driver       "mouse"
     Identifier   "Mouse[3]"
     Option       "Buttons" "5"
     Option       "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
     Option       "Name" "ImPS/2 Generic Wheel Mouse"
     Option       "Protocol" "explorerps/2"
     Option       "Vendor" "Sysp"
     Option       "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
   EndSection
   
   Section "InputDevice"  
     Driver       "wacom"
     Identifier   "Mouse[5]"
     Option       "Device" "/dev/ttyS0"
     Option       "ForceDevice" "ISDV4"
     Option       "InputFashion" "Tablet"
     Option       "Mode" "Absolute"
     Option       "SendCoreEvents" "on"
     Option       "Type" "cursor"
   EndSection
   
   Section "InputDevice"  
     Driver       "wacom"
     Identifier   "Mouse[7]"
     Option       "Device" "/dev/ttyS0"
     Option       "ForceDevice" "ISDV4"
     Option       "InputFashion" "Pen"
     Option       "Mode" "Absolute"
     Option       "Type" "stylus"
   EndSection
   
   Section "InputDevice" 
     Driver       "wacom"
     Identifier   "Mouse[9]"
     Option       "Device" "/dev/ttyS0"
     Option       "ForceDevice" "ISDV4"
     Option       "InputFashion" "Eraser"
     Option       "Mode" "Absolute"
     Option       "Type" "eraser"
   EndSection
   
   [...]
   
   Section "ServerLayout"
     Identifier   "Layout[all]"
     InputDevice  "Keyboard[0]" "CoreKeyboard"
     InputDevice  "Mouse[1]" "CorePointer"
     InputDevice  "Mouse[3]" "SendCoreEvents"
     InputDevice  "Mouse[5]" "SendCoreEvents"  
     InputDevice  "Mouse[7]" "SendCoreEvents"  
     InputDevice  "Mouse[9]" "SendCoreEvents"  
     Option       "Clone" "off"
     Option       "Xinerama" "off"
     Screen       "Screen[0]"
   EndSection

	Default mouse configuration.
	Newly added configuration for tablet cursor input device.
	Newly added configuration for the tablet stylus input device.
	Newly added configuration for the tablet eraser input device.
	The tablet input devices `"Mouse[5]"`, `"Mouse[7]"`, and `"Mouse[9]"` are added to the X server devices.

This example configuration should work on most Tablet PCs. For more information check the HOWTO on the Linux Wacom Web site: http://linuxwacom.sourceforge.net/index.php/howto/x11.

After finishing the X Window System configuration, restart your X server by logging out or leave the user interface and run init 3 && init 5 in a virtual console.

E.3. Using Common Tablet PC Features¶

After your Wacom device has been configured, you can now make use of your pen as input device.

E.3.1. Using the Virtual Keyboard¶

To log in to the KDE or GNOME desktop or to unlock the screen, you can either enter your username and password as usual or via the virtual keyboard, xvkbd, displayed below the login field. To configure the keyboard or to access the integrated help, click the xvkbd field at the left lower corner to open the xvkbd main menu.

Figure E.1. xvkbd Virtual Keyboard ¶

If you want to use xvkbd after login, start it from the main menu or with xvkbd from a shell.

E.3.2. Rotating Your Display¶

When rotating your Tablet PC monitor, the orientation of your display and of your graphics tablet is not automatically adjusted. For the KDE desktop, use KRandRTray to rotate or resize your display manually on the fly. KRandRTray is a KDE applet for the RANDR extension of the X server.

Start KRandRTray from the main menu or with krandrtray from a shell. This adds the KRandRTray icon to your system tray.
To rotate your display, click the icon and select the desired orientation from the context menu. Your display is immediately tilted to the new direction. Also the orientation of the graphics tablet changes so it can still interpret the movement of the pen correctly.

For the GNOME desktop, a similar functionality can currently only be provided by a work-around. See Section E.4, “Troubleshooting” for more information.

E.3.3. Using Gesture Recognition¶

With xstroke, you can use gestures with your pen or other pointing devices as input for applications on the X Window System. The xstroke alphabet is a unistroke alphabet that resembles the Graffiti* alphabet. When activated, xstroke sends the input to the currently focused window.

Start xstroke from the main menu or with xstroke from a shell. This adds a pencil icon to your system tray.
Start the application for which you want to create text input with the pen (for example, a terminal window, a text editor, or LibreOffice Writer).
To activate gesture recognition mode, click the pencil icon once.
Perform some gestures on the graphics tablet with the pen or another pointing device. xstroke captures the gestures and transfers them to text that appears in the application window that has the focus.
To switch focus to a different window, click the desired window with the pen and hold for a moment (or use the keyboard shortcut defined in your desktop's control center).
To deactivate the gesture recognition mode, click the pencil icon again.

E.3.4. Taking Notes and Sketching with the Pen¶

To create drawings with the pen, you can use a professional graphics editor like The GIMP or try one of the note taking applications, Xournal or Jarnal. With both Xournal and Jarnal, you can take notes, create drawings, or comment PDF files with the pen. As a Java-based application available for several platforms, Jarnal also offers basic collaboration features. For more information, refer to http://www.dklevine.com/general/software/tc1000/jarnal-net.htm. When saving your contents, Jarnal stores the data in an archive format (*.jaj) that also contains a file in SVG format.

Start Jarnal or Xournal from the main menu or by entering jarnal or xournal in a shell. To comment a PDF file in Xournal, for example, select File+Annotate PDF and open the PDF file from your file system. Use the pen or another pointing device to annotate the PDF then save your changes with File+Print to PDF.

Figure E.2. Annotating a PDF with Xournal¶

Dasher is another useful application. It was designed for situations where keyboard input is impractical or unavailable. With a bit of training, you can rapidly enter larger amounts of text using only the pen (or other input devices—it can even be driven with an eye tracker).

Start Dasher from the main menu or with dasher from a shell. Move your pen in one direction and the applications starts to zoom into the letters on the right side. From the letters passing the cross hairs in the middle, the text is created or predicted and is printed to the upper part of the window. To stop or start writing, click the display once with the pen. Modify the zooming speed at the bottom of the window.

Figure E.3. Editing Texts with Dasher¶

The Dasher concept works for many languages. For more information, refer to the Dasher Web site, which offers comprehensive documentation, demonstrations and training texts. Find it at http://www.inference.phy.cam.ac.uk/dasher/

E.4. Troubleshooting¶

Virtual Keyboard Does Not Appear on Login Screen

Occasionally, the virtual keyboard is not displayed on the login screen. To solve this, restart the X server by pressing Ctrl+Alt+<— or press the appropriate key on your Tablet PC (if you use a slate model without integrated keyboard). If the virtual keyboard still does not show, connect an external keyboard to your slate model and log in using the hardware keyboard.

Orientation of the Graphics Tablets Does Not Change in GNOME

With the xrandr command, you can change the orientation of your display from within a shell. Enter xrandr --help to view the options available. To simultaneously change the orientation of your graphics tablet, the command needs to be modified as described below:

For normal orientation (0° rotation):

xrandr -o 0 && xsetwacom set "Mouse[7]" Rotate 0

For 90° rotation (clockwise, portrait):

xrandr -o 3 && xsetwacom set "Mouse[7]" Rotate 1

For 180° rotation (landscape):

 xrandr -o 2 && xsetwacom set "Mouse[7]" Rotate 3

For 270° rotation (counterclockwise, portrait):

 xrandr -o 1 && xsetwacom set "Mouse[7]" Rotate 2

Note that the commands above depend on the contents of your /etc/X11/xorg.conf configuration file. If the example configuration presented in Example E.1, “Configuration for Wacom Devices” has been used, the commands should work as they are written. If you have changed the Identifier of the tablet stylus input device in xorg.conf, replace "Mouse[7]" with the new Identifier.

E.5. For More Information¶

Some of the applications mentioned here do not offer integrated online help, but you can find some useful information about usage and configuration in your installed system in /usr/share/doc/package/packagename or on the Web:

For the Xournal manual, refer to http://xournal.sourceforge.net/manual.html
The Jarnal documentation is located at http://www.dklevine.com/general/software/tc1000/jarnal.htm#documentation
Find the xstroke man page at http://davesource.com/Projects/xstroke/xstroke.txt
Find a HOWTO for configuring X on the Linux Wacom Web site: http://linuxwacom.sourceforge.net/index.php/howto/x11
Find a very informative Web site about the Dasher project at http://www.inference.phy.cam.ac.uk/dasher/