(K)Ubuntu 8.04 HP TC1100 Tablet Functions Howto
Thanks to the TC1100 thread in the Ubuntu Forums, and the Pen Buttons thread. Following the instructions, and the hard work and research from the people in the threads, allowed me to work out how to get the Tablet with basically the same functionality as in Windows, on a Hardy(8.04) (K)Ubuntu, with KDE4.
First, some minor housekeeping and a caveat about the functionality of this install versus Windows Tablet Edition on the same PC.
The caveat is that, so far, there is -NO- Q Menu. There is one written that I have not yet got working, but when I do (or find a substitute/write my own in a fit of pique), I will update this page. The SD Card reader also seems to be defunct hardware on Linux - but again, should I find out otherwise, will update merrily:)
I will assume, by the way, that you have done the initial install of (K)Ubuntu Hardy. I actually installed Ubuntu, installed the KDE4 desktop (sudo apt-get kubuntu-kde4-desktop, or use synaptic, aptitude, adept_manager, some other favourite method), and then removed Gnome and GDM making sure KDM was up and running(sudo apt-get kdm-kde4 , sudo dpkg-reconfigure kdm-kde4, sudo apt-get remove gdm ubuntu-desktop).
I have set this tablet up to mirror the windows install, using KDE4, but providing Gnome/KDE3 variants. Other window managers, and different key mappings, are possible. You may find them in the howtos I referenced in the beginning, or elsewhere online. Feel free to let me know how you get on:)
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Right, to the actual how to do all the stuff that makes the tablet so fun and shiny and makes people go oooo and ahhhh:) The technical specifications are here, and we will refer back to them as needed. Below is a somewhat explanatory image.
Taking the Tablet.
(Red pill or blue pill?)
I will assume you have worked out how to remove the keyboard and do all the physical swivel actions. These are beyond the scope of this howto. For making all the magic happen, all you will need is a working internet connection, and probably a good cup of $caffeine_of_choice:)
Making the NVIDIA card jump through hoops.
The graphics card is : NVIDIA GeForce 4 Go 420 with 32MB (4X APG). You need to get this configured properly, before we start amending the configuration file further. There is the Ubuntu way, or easy ‘just make it work shiny!’, aka the Envy way. Both are listed on the Ubuntu Guide, here.
Poke things with the stylus/pen.
The first thing to be done is to install wacom-tools, sudo apt-get install wacom-tools (or use your favourite gui tool, like synaptic or adept_manager).
You next need to add the wacom commands for the stylus into your xorg.conf. (This used to be in by default, don’t know why they removed it. They also changed the device option to /dev/input/wacom from /dev/ttyS4 for Hardy. No, I have no idea why, let us just run with it).
These are the additions:
Section “InputDevice”
Driver “wacom”
Identifier “stylus”
Option “Device” “/dev/input/wacom”
Option “Type” “stylus”
Option “Button2″ “3″
Option “ForceDevice” “ISDV4″# Tablet PC ONLY
EndSection
This adds the stylus device. The button 2 option enables the small button on the side of the stylus to function as a right mouse button. Previous versions that had the wacom tools included had eraser and cursor as options, if they are still in your xorg.conf, they are unnecessary.
Section “ServerLayout”
Identifier “Default Layout”
Screen 0 “Default Screen” 0 0
InputDevice “Generic Keyboard” “CoreKeyboard”
InputDevice “Configured Mouse” “CorePointer”
InputDevice “Synaptics Touchpad”
InputDevice “stylus” “SendCoreEvents”
EndSection
The last section has to be at the end of your xorg.conf.
This is my xorg.conf, (with the NVIDIA drivers installed by Envy).
Rotate that screen.
You need to further alter your xorg.conf to allow rotation. Again, my xorg.conf is available as a reference. This is the section to amend, adding in two options, RandRotation and NvAGP.
Section “Device”
Identifier “Configured Video Device”
Driver “nvidia”
BoardName “vesa”
BusID “PCI:1:0:0″
Screen 0
Option “RandRRotation” “on”
Option “NvAGP” “1″
EndSection
Once you have restarted X (logout, use GDM/KDM to restart XServer, reboot if you are an absolutist, or ctrl-alt-backspace if you are an anarchist, to force restart of X:)
This is the rotate script. (I actually renamed it rotate, but here it is as rotate.sh, as was suggested in the forums). It uses xrandr, which should be available ready to use:) I mapped it (see below) to the buttons on the side, but you can choose to map it in KDE or Gnome as you prefer.
Lets play!
Now that we have a rotating screen and a stylus, what about handwriting tools? An equivalent for Windows Journal? Relax, easy.
For the handwriting, I installed Cellwriter. There is also xvkbd (just a keyboard, no handwriting) or OnBoard.
For a Journal equivalent, it would be hard to top Xournal, though some people like Gournal.
Both Xournal and Cellwriter are available via apt:
sudo apt-get install xournal cellwriter
OnBoard, xvkbd, and Gournal are also available with apt.
To have the handwriting/keyboard tool at startup, prelogin (should you have keyboard detached, for example), and depending on your window manager…
add to end of :
KDE 3 - /etc/kde3/kdm/xsetup (Login style must be changed from Themed to Plain in System>Administration>Login Window - Local tab)
GNOME - /etc/X11/gdm/Init/Default (or /etc/gdm/Init/Default (Depending on your version)
KDE4 - /usr/lib/kde4/etc/kde4/kdm/Xsetup
xvkbd -geometry -300-100 -no-keypad &
cellwriter –keyboard-only –window-y=600 &
onboard &
The launch buttons - what the heck do they do anyway?
And how can we use them?
Well, the launch buttons, the 3 icons on the direct right hand side are operated with the Stylus. The three from top down are :
a rotate screen symbol - mapped as rotate in Windows
a pad with pen symbol - mapped as Journal in Windows
an e & pen symbol - mapped as the keyboard/handwriting application in Windows.
I decided, to complete the ‘wow’ factor of the tablet in Linux, to map the buttons to the equivalent functions in Linux.
Therefore:
rotate screen symbol - mapped to call the rotate script
pad with pen symbol - mapped to call Xournal
e with pen symbol - mapped to call Cellwriter
To map these buttons, we need to install xbindkeys, which as its name suggests, binds, or maps, a key to a function.
Again, easy to install via apt:
sudo apt-get install xbindkeys
We need to call this again - I have set mine up to be invoked when I login. To autostart in various window managers, hit this wiki.
This is my xbindkeysrc, which lives in my home directory
(/home/username/.xbindkeysrc )
BELLS & WHISTLES
Compiz works quite well, not my thing, but many like it:) So, to retain all the nice functionality we have just worked on, lets make sure Compiz plays nicely.
sudo vim /usr/bin/compiz (or sudo gedit or sudo kate or sudo kwrite the same file…)
comment out the line
NVIDIA_MEMORY=”65536″ # 64MB
so that it reads:
# NVIDIA_MEMORY=”65536″ # 64MB
Compiz may mean the 3 side buttons we slaved away at stop working with Compiz running. It’s because Compiz has afffected the key mappings. To fix, use your window manager’s Compiz Config Settings Manager, and under General Options, add the commands we had earlier in the Commands tab, and the key mappings in the Actions tab, under the Commands section. Bad Compiz!
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