The new Wacom Bamboo Pen (CTL-460) doesn't work in Ubuntu Lucid out-of-the-box. You need a newer kernel module than the one that comes with Lucid by default. It's pretty easy to get it working though, you just need to know how.
Update
It seems that since I published this post four months ago, it helped a lot of people. At that time I couldn't find a DKMS script that would automatically compile and install the newer module after every kernel upgrade. Also, I didn't have the time to do it myself. Well, things have changed. After Brett Alton posted his update to my post. Martin Owens replied to his post with a link to a PPA that contains the newer module with a DKMS script. So please, use this PPA and save yourself a lot of trouble! The instructions are really simple, just run this in a terminal:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:doctormo/wacom-plus
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install wacom-dkms
Don't forget to register your tablet at the Wacom website, because you can specify Linux as your operating system. We might get even better support if a lot of people do this.
Old post:
First, install some compiling tools and header files:
sudo apt-get install build-essential libx11-dev libxi-dev x11proto-input-dev xserver-xorg-dev tk8.4-dev tcl8.4-dev libncurses5-dev
Next, download the latest linuxwacom driver (0.8.6 at the moment of writing):
wget http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/linuxwacom/linuxwacom-0.8.6.tar.bz2
Now unpack, configure compile and install it:
tar -xf linuxwacom-0.8.6.tar.bz2
cd linuxwacom-0.8.6
./configure --enable-wacom
cd src/2.6.30/ # I know this is the wrong version, but it's the highest available and it works
make
sudo cp wacom.ko /lib/modules/`uname -r`/kernel/drivers/input/tablet/
sudo rmmod wacom
sudo modprobe wacom
The tablet should work now. You can also add the module name to /etc/modules to automatically load it on boot. There still one issue left for me. In Mac OS X I can use the whole tablet, i.e. the right corner is the right screen corner. In Lucid however the grey lines indicate the screen borders, so the right corner of the gray lines is the right screen corner. This means part of the tablet is not used and this can be quite annoying if you're used to the previous behavior.
Don't forget to register your tablet at the Wacom website, because you can specify Linux as your operating system. We might get even better support if a lot of people do this.
Unfortunately, this doesn't work for me. I have a CTL-660, though, does anyone know if the linux driver has any support for this?
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good post, but I had one problem, can you help me?
after I do ./configure --enable-wacom
this error appear :
"configure: error: conditional "WCM_XORG_XSERVER_1_6_5" was never defined.
Usually this means the macro was only invoked conditionally."
what is this? what I need to do? I'm new in linux =/
Hi fox.
You should be root to do the procedure.
Try "sudo ./configure --enable-wacom".
Also, I recommend "sudo make" after the configure instead of just typing "make".
Good luck.
@toshio: Only the actual installation of the module should be run as root, the other commands (configure and make) can be run as a normal user.
@fox: You have probably not installed all the packages I listed. Make sure you follow the howto exactly. Also, make sure you're running Ubuntu Lucid (10.04), because that's the version this howto is written for.
Thanks for the comment, Frank.
Usually configure and make should be able to be done by normal users,
but after I got exactly the same error fox specified, I succeeded by retrying configure as root.
At least It's worth trying, isn't it?
Yes it is. If you can reproduce this, it means Ubuntu has a bug concerning file permissions. You might submit a bugreport to launchpad.
Sorry. I was confused.
It is not relevant to the problem whether you are root or not.
I found that "pkg-config" package is necessary to configure linuxwacom-0.8.8-3.
After I installed it, configure ended fine.
thank frank and toshio
it works, but now I have other problem...
I used your link and I did the download of the latest driver version (0.10.5) and when I will try open the directory called src/ there is nothing like "2.6..", there are only files
* I had unpacked manually
okay, forget the last post about version,
I put the 2.6.2 but now ...
when I did
"sudo cp wacom.ko /lib/modules/`uname -r`/kernel/drivers/input/tablet/"
the directory wasn't found
(i didn't see wacom.ko in the folder, I saw wacom.h)
I followed your instructions and the tablet worked extremely well except I decided to use it today (a few weeks later) and it no longer works there is no response. I wrote "wacom" into /etc/modules on a new line to load automatically when I followed your instructions and have today tried
sudo modprobe wacomon its own and the terminal goes to a new line with no response and the tablet still doesn't work, help!Thanks a lot !!! Evrything works fine now
Did you finally found a solution for the last issue ?
Hi Frank,
Today I purchased a Wacom Bamboo Pen (model CTL-460). After a few google search, finally I found this post and... all I can say is thank you, thank you, thank you.
I've used version 0.8.8-6 of linuxwacom driver from souceforge.
I had strange behavior during compile on a 64-bit system using linuxwacom-0.8.8-6.tar.bz2
----------------------------------------
BUILD ENVIRONMENT:
architecture - x86_64-linux-gnu
linux kernel - yes 2.6.30
module versioning - no
kernel source - yes /lib/modules/2.6.32-24-generic/build
XFree86 source - no
Xorg SDK - yes /usr/include/xorg
XSERVER64 - yes
dlloader - yes
XLib - yes /usr/lib
xf86config - no
TCL - yes /usr/include/tcl8.4
TK - yes /usr/include/tcl8.4
ncurses - yes
BUILD OPTIONS:
wacom.o - yes
wacdump - no
xidump - no
libwacomcfg - no
libwacomxi - no
xsetwacom - no
wacomxrrd - no
hid.o - no
wacom_drv.so - no /usr/lib/xorg/modules/input
wacom_drv.o - no
wacom*_drv quirks - IsXExtensionPointer key-events dixScreenOrigins
----------------------------------------
Building linuxwacom drivers for 2.6 kernel.
***Note: Drivers not enabled as modules in your kernel config but requested through configure are NOT built
make -C /lib/modules/2.6.32-24-generic/build M=/usr/src/linuxwacom-0.8.8-6/src/2.6.30
make[1]: Entering directory `/usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.32-24-generic'
Makefile:538: /usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.32-24-generic/arch/PPC/Makefile: No such file or directory
make[1]: *** No rule to make target `/usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.32-24-generic/arch/PPC/Makefile'. Stop.
make[1]: Leaving directory `/usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.32-24-generic'
make: *** [all] Error 2
------------------------------
I seems the arch is not detected correctly PPC is totally wrong here
After a while solved the problem with
make ARCH=x86_64
Then it works as expected.
Does anybody has a glue why this happens ?
br heinz
If you install kernel updates, the module will be replaced, so you need to recompile and install the module again.
Hi,
No, I can't find a solution for that
Thanks for the write up, I have my Wacom CTL460 up and running and working well with GIMP. However, I would like to configure the buttons on the pen, does anyone have any ideas how to configure them?
I'd like to configure some of the more common modifier keys to the pen rocker button. Does anyone know if this is possible. It seems that this is possible under Windows.
Thanks again.
You can use wacomcpl or xsetwacom. See the manual at: http://linuxwacom.sourceforge.net/index.php/howto/main
Thanks so much for the article - this totally did the trick!
after do enable-wacom, shows this message ...
"this package only supports Xorg server older than 1.6.5.
You are running a newr version.
Please build xf86-input-wacom instead."
You can build the kernel driver from this package though."
my ubuntu is x64, and I dont't know nothing about ubuntu yet =/
it's appears simple, but I don't understand these codes
You can ignore the warning, just follow the next steps in my post.
The instructions worked for me as written except the version number has changed. As of today it is version 0.8.8-8. So the "wget" command becomes:
wget http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/linuxwacom/linuxwacom-0.8.8-8.tar.bz2
Also changed the version number in the rest of the script as well.
I am using Ubuntu Version 10.04 (Lucid Lynx) on a Gateway NV79. The pad is WACOM Bamboo Pen.
The Wacom Bamboo Pen Pad Works great with MyPaint, GIMP, and other programs in Ubuntu Linux ! Best computer accessory I have purchased for less than $100.
Remember that the pad takes over from the mouse when it is being used. Don't have your arm or the pen on the pad when you are using the mouse
.
Thanks a lot!
Thanks a ton for this concise and to the point write up on the issue.
Worked like a charm for CTL 460 Bamboo Pen! I used linuxwacom-0.8.8-8, which is the latest at the time of writing.
Sadly today, there was a kernel update from Ubuntu and the source no longer works for the current kernel. So, does this mean I should boot into an older kernel and recompile?
Hi,
What version of the source are you using? If you run "make clean" in the linuxwacom-xx directory and run ./configure --enabel-wacom again you should be able to run make in src/2.6.30 and have no problems at all. Note that you need to copy the module again to the /lib/<something> folder as well.
Thanks! will try.
Thanks! I did not know that I had to make clean before redoing the steps.
Great!
Hi Dan,
Yes, if the kernel version changes, most of the time you will need to run "make clean" otherwise it will still built for the older kernel version.
Good you got it working again
THANK YOU!!
I've been looking for a simple and working tutorial to make my bamboo work in Ubuntu Lucid for 2 months. And yours is the simplest! And it works!
I just copy-pasting your command lines into my terminal, except i'm using linuxwacom 0.8.8-8 driver.
Once again, Thank You very much, Sir.
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thx for this solution. I tried several other methods without any luck. I got an error message at "sudo rmmod wacom" but it worked anyway.
Frank. Thank you. Nice job articulating what needs to be done. Got mine working with the CTH-661 and version 0.8.8-8.
I was thinking of writing an automated script for making it do the "it make clean, make, cp, etc.," as part of the update manager post process. Unless you've already done this? It's nice to be able to use something without having to go back and fix it all the time. If I do write one, I'll post it here.
Well, actually, somebody set up a PPA with a DKMS build script. In a few days I will modify my post to explain how you can use it!
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That would be excellent Frank. Thank you.
I've been enjoying my tablet since getting it working. It works great with InkScape. I've been vectoring some portraits.
Thanks again
-Royo
I've changed the post, see the top of this page!
Frank, Thaks.
The last step had errors...
$ sudo apt-get install wacom-dkms xf86-input-wacom
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
E: Couldn't find package xf86-input-wacom
$ aptitude search wacom
i wacom-dkms - Wacom kernel driver in DKMS format
i xserver-xorg-input-wacom - X.Org X server -- Wacom input driver
For reference, here's the latest that I'm running....
uname -a
Linux ubuntu 2.6.32-24-generic #41-Ubuntu SMP Thu Aug 19 01:38:40 UTC 2010 x86_64 GNU/Linux
Royo, can you run apt-get update again? The ppa didn't contain the amd64 packages because of a build error, but that was fixed a few days ago.
Frank, I did do the update. and did it again with the same result. I'll dig around a little and see what I can find.
Cheers,
-Roy
Well, it seems the wacom-dkms package doesn't depend on it anymore or something like that. Doesn't matter, because the wacom-dkms package does exactly what my post did, it is enough to get my tablet working.
Frank. Thanks. I am seeing the same thing. I let Update Manager process the latest and it changed the kernel from #41 to #42 and my tablet is still working. Nice! Thank you again!!!! ...and if it breaks at some point, we still know how to do it manually thanks to you.
-Roy
Linux ubuntu 2.6.32-24-generic #42-Ubuntu SMP Fri Aug 20 14:21:58 UTC 2010 x86_64 GNU/Linux
Thanks so much for those updated instructions! My Wacom Bamboo Pen CTL 460 in Ubuntu 10 working!!!! Three lines copied into a terminal! Unbelieveable!
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THANK YOU! I was a little worried this would not work for me since the tutorials available did not work. Until I came upon your site.
One question however: I'm lefthanded so the pointer does exactly the opposite. When I turn the wacom to have the pointer in sync with my lefthand, my hand keeps hitting the wacom buttons. How can I make it work for 'lefties'?
Your welcome! For lefthanded, I found some info in this thread that talks about just setting your mouse to left-handed, which should effect the tablet as well. I hope this works for you.
Thanks. I did see that but unfortunately it does not work. It appear to me that xsetwacom "Wacom_BambooFun_2FG_4x5_Pen" rotate 3 does not work.
I already tried other option - nothing whatsoever.
If you have any suggestions - be welcome.
Well, none of the xsetwacom commands seem to work for me, I don't understand why, sorry...
Hi Frank I find your guidelines the best so far actually something happened.
Unfortunately I got until "make" everything seem to go smooth, then I stuck, the command
sudo cp wacom.ko /lib/modules/`uname -r`/kernel/drivers/input/tablet/
didn't work for me, I wasnt sure if I had to replace the "uname" with my Username, but that didn't work either. What did I do wrong. I have to say I am just trying to get into this terminal use.
Appreciate any help.Wolfgang
Please use the updated instructions in the first few lines of the post. They are much easier than compiling it yourself using make & friends. Good luck!