MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Using the wacom interface of the DR1000S to control a Windows machine

Cliffe · 06-07-2009, 07:32 AM

Grimulkan, you have a point, a bamboo is cheap compared to the DR1000S. However, why spend hundreds of dollars on a device, when I have a nifty wacom Linux device handy? In my opinion it would be very cool to be able to use it as interface to a PC.

Making the USB output compatible with an existing wacom driver would be highly advantageous as all the existing wacom software and compatible graphics software would work without any hassles. Writing a new Windows driver/app would involve interpreting the raw information and things like pressure sensitivity would have to be considered.

I doubt you would need to touch any GTK or X components as the raw information coming straight from the device (represented as files such as /dev/input/event0) may be more likely to be the information wacom devices usually send via USB. Maybe we should ask the wacom Linux guys (http://linuxwacom.sourceforge.net). We might be able to get away with writing the output “driver” as a bash script or a simple c program. It should simply be a matter of setting up and sending the information via the gadgetfs.

I will probably get a chance to have another look at this next weekend. In the meantime it would be great if any progress anyone else makes was shared here.

Is there any chance someone could port a terminal program to the DR1000S at some point? It would make the process of experimenting with the device files etc *much* quicker.

As for getting feedback onto the DR screen, that could be a cool feature to look at implementing after the output is sorted out. If it is possible a screen refresh every few seconds may be appropriate. In my opinion the ability to use it as an interface to a PC would be more useful; as if the device is hooked up to a PC then a local screen with a higher refresh rate (which may be more suited to the tasks done on a PC) would typically be available.

06-07-2009, 07:32 AM	#3
Cliffe Member Posts: 10 Karma: 45 Join Date: Apr 2009 Device: DR1000S	Grimulkan, you have a point, a bamboo is cheap compared to the DR1000S. However, why spend hundreds of dollars on a device, when I have a nifty wacom Linux device handy? In my opinion it would be very cool to be able to use it as interface to a PC. Making the USB output compatible with an existing wacom driver would be highly advantageous as all the existing wacom software and compatible graphics software would work without any hassles. Writing a new Windows driver/app would involve interpreting the raw information and things like pressure sensitivity would have to be considered. I doubt you would need to touch any GTK or X components as the raw information coming straight from the device (represented as files such as /dev/input/event0) may be more likely to be the information wacom devices usually send via USB. Maybe we should ask the wacom Linux guys (http://linuxwacom.sourceforge.net). We might be able to get away with writing the output “driver” as a bash script or a simple c program. It should simply be a matter of setting up and sending the information via the gadgetfs. I will probably get a chance to have another look at this next weekend. In the meantime it would be great if any progress anyone else makes was shared here. Is there any chance someone could port a terminal program to the DR1000S at some point? It would make the process of experimenting with the device files etc *much* quicker. As for getting feedback onto the DR screen, that could be a cool feature to look at implementing after the output is sorted out. If it is possible a screen refresh every few seconds may be appropriate. In my opinion the ability to use it as an interface to a PC would be more useful; as if the device is hooked up to a PC then a local screen with a higher refresh rate (which may be more suited to the tasks done on a PC) would typically be available.