Using Summagraphics Tablets in Unix? 16
WyldOne asks: "I've had this old Summagraphics II tablet around for awhile now. Now that I'm getting started with POVRAY I started to look for software that could see it as a digitizer and not a mouse. I used to have library for Turbo-C that could use it. and wrote a few programs for it. The library, of course, was proprietary (ouch). I've found very little on software that can use a digitizer as a digitizer. To make it worse, I can't find any protocol descriptions that would allow me to talk to the digitizer. Since a digitizer is very accurate (1000 DPI, IIRC) I would like to use it for what it was intended for. I used to work with one digitizer that had a 6ft bed square, and used for digital pattern input to a clothing CAD program for sizing. Since Calcomp took over Summagraphics, the support has been marginal. What I'm looking for is software that can speak to the tablet, source would be optimal. The protocol would also be OK."
If only... (Score:1, Funny)
Easy answer (Score:5, Informative)
Now unless the Unix in this story means "Big Expensive Unix on non-IA-32 Architectures" it shouldn't be too tricky to get it working. Plus, you have the source code.
Re:Easy answer (Score:1)
(For the humor impared: yes, i know.)
Re:Easy answer (Score:1, Offtopic)
No. Those were the days. Logging in to your local BBS, downloading the newest messages since your last visit and uploading your replies to the last batch, downloading some file called babe267.gif hoping it's a good one this time, playing some silly ANSI game to win a better download/upload ratio (to hopefully download more gif pr0n since babe267.gif was crap), looking at how many people have downloaded the C utils you uploaded, wondering what all these files were starting with "linux" that nobody was downloading and then logging off. ; )
Man I loved
Remember when some smart guy wrote a program that let you view a gif as it downloaded? Great for canceling the download half way when you realise it was either crap or you already had it under a different name, but to boot, you did'nt hurt your U/D ratio.
Ahh, the memories! It's funny how technology seems to develop slow enough to take it for granted, until you think back 10 years to what you were putting up with, for me a 12k Rockwell MODEM (yes 12k, before 14.4 was done) a Trident 8900 with a whopping 1Mb frame buffer, i486DX33 with a whole 4Mb of 80nS RAM and a "Brand Technologies" 200MB IDE drive. At college, people thought I was exagerating about my 200MB drive and an Amiga owner was shocked at my 4MB RAM! I was using old IBM PS/2's with DOS and some Unix served off an RS/6000 for our Cobol studies.
Having email at home was kinda cool in 1992 also, even though you pretty much did'nt know anyone with any email address, much less a FidoNet address, besides the guys in Zone3 Computing who want your blood.
10 years before that it was C64's and Microbee's for me. Ahh man, remember the Vic20? Did'nt it have less than 100x100 resolution or something?
I wonder what 2012 is going to be like? Will we all be using Microsoft Wireless Broadband (tm) @ $25/hour, with 3D cards that do real time ray tracing and radiosity rendering at 4096x3072 through our VR goggles with 256bit computing with TB's of RAM and PB's of secure ("you don't need to do that") online disk storage thanks to Microsoft (the World government), running on Microsoft BSD (after the Apple "buy out")?
Oh God, does anyone know how to tie a noose?
Re:Easy answer (Score:1, Interesting)
Connector (Score:3, Interesting)
I was wrong.
The unit has some RJ-45 port on the back that is responsible for bringing both power in, and taking data out (via serial) and I'm missing the magic adaptor. Does anyone out there know the pin-outs for this, so I can build a cable and put it to some use?
Re:Connector (Score:2, Interesting)
Nope sorry (Score:3, Interesting)
I once had one of those digitizers... (Score:1)
I am not sure what model and what brand I got (that was about 4 years ago). The one I had was grey, large (about 300mm x 300mm), had a 25 pin sub-D connector and no description for anything.
After opening it I found out which lines of this "serial connector" have power and which ones transmitted the RS232 signal.
I found some informations of how to initialize the board so it would send out some data (without initializing I always got the same data whenever and whereever I touched the pad with the pen). In a simple terminal program I could see data packets coming in then I moved the pen.
That was the easy part.
The part I tried to solve but did not succeed, was to get something useful out of it, something which I can decode into coordinates. I never found any documentation on the Internet about the protocol.
For a comparison, I had a "Spaceball" from Spacetec which acted as a 3D controller connected to the serial port. Took me some days to find out the protocol. Shortly later I was able to move 3D things. So I expected to solve the "tablet puzzle" fast. Only 2D after all. But I was wrong...
Linux Tablet Homepage (Score:1)
Good luck.
Re:Linux Tablet Homepage (Score:1)
Now It looks like I will have to hack it some. I want to be able to use both a mouse and the digitizer.