G-Pen 560 on Jaunty

Update (11/11/2009) for Karmic: In Karmic the .fdi files are still working dispite the deprecation of HAL but you’ll have to create/edit them again if you’ve upgraded from Jaunty. However the Wacom driver which I was using in Jaunty doesn’t work anymore. The Aiptek driver works but with poor pressure sensitivity support (To use the Aiptek driver follow the instructions I’ve updated at Ubuntu Community Documentation: Aiptek Tablet). I’m using the Wizardpen driver as the pressure sensitivity works much better (Download and install the Wizardpen driver for Karmic and follow the original instructions below).

I finally got my G-Pen 560 graphic tablet working on my Ubuntu Linux which at the time I write this is 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope, and you know what? It’s easy!
Update (7/29/2009): At the moment I’m using and recomending the Wacom driver. Skip the Wizardpen part and scroll down to read instructions on how to enable the Wacom driver for your tablet. Continue reading from here if you prefer to use the Wizardpen driver.

1. Download the Wizardpen driver DEB package and install it on your system
2. Create a new file with gedit by starting the Run Application dialogue with Alt F2 and executing:
   gksudo gedit /etc/hal/fdi/policy/gpen560.fdi
   note: you will be promted for your password
3. Paste the following content into gedit:
   <?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1" ?>
<deviceinfo version="0.2">
<device>
<match key="info.product" contains="Aiptek">
<merge key="input.x11_driver" type="string">wizardpen</merge>

   <merge key="input.x11_options.SendCoreEvents" type="string">true</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.TopX" type="string">185</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.TopY" type="string">372</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.BottomX" type="string">11811</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.BottomY" type="string">8793</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.MaxX" type="string">11811</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.MaxY" type="string">8793</merge>

   <merge key="input.x11_options.TopZ" type="string">32</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.MaxZ" type="string">1023</merge>
<merge key="input.x11_options.BottomZ" type="string">1023</merge>

   </match>
</device>
</deviceinfo>

4. Save the file and close gedit
5. plug in (or re-plug in) your tablet and you should be done

Note that if you want to make use of pressure sensitivity you’ll have to configure it on the specific applications.
Also note that I haven’t figured out how to make the two buttons on the stylus work.

For other Wizardpen compatible tablets you’ll have to find out the right configuration for the .fdi file. Other than that it’s the same process. Consult the sources at the bottom of this article.

You could instead also use the Aiptek driver, or the Wacom driver, have a look at this Ubuntu forum post: Genius Mouspen 8×6 under Jaunty Jackalope. When I tried them, one of the stylus buttons worked as right click, but performance overall was not as good as with the wizardpen driver.

I’d recomend you to try the Wacom driver nevertheless to see for yourself, which one you prefer:

1. Disable the .fdi file previously created so it doesn’t interfere with the Wacom configuration (only if you followed the instructions above about configuring the Wizardpen driver):
   Open nautilus with root priviledges by starting the Run Application dialogue with Alt F2 and executing:
   gksudo nautilus
   note: you will be promted for your password
   navigate to /etc/hal/fdi/policy/ and rename gpen560.fdi to gpen560.fdi.wizardpen
2. Open the Wacom configuration file using gedit with root priviledges:
   gksudo gedit /usr/share/hal/fdi/policy/20thirdparty/10-wacom.fdi
   note: you will be promted for your password
3. Change the line:
   <match key="info.product" contains"Wacom">
   to
   <match key="info.product" contains_outof"Wacom;Aiptek">
4. Save the file and close gedit
5. plug in (or re-plug in) your tablet and you should be done

By the way the Windows driver is buggy and the driver for Mac doesn’t work, at least not for leopard. Update (7/29/2009): However, the guys at Genius sent me a link to a newer driver (probably beta) which does work for me. Try it!

Sources:
The Digital Blue Wave
Genius Mouspen 8×6 under Jaunty Jackalope
Genius G-Pen 560 Tablet on Ubuntu Linux 8.10 Intrepid
Ubuntu Community Documentation: TabletSetupWizardpen
Ubuntu Community Documentation: Wacom

Tags: Open Source, Tutorial, Ubuntu