Chapter 16. Hardware Configuration

Procedure 16.1. How to add tablet descriptions

1. Use the libwacom-list-local-devices tool to list all local devices recognized by libwacom.
   If your device is not listed, but it is available as an event device in the kernel (see /proc/bus/input/devices) and in the X session (see xinput list), the device is missing from libwacom's database.
2. Create a new tablet definition file. Use data/wacom.example below and edit the respective lines.

   Note

   The new .tablet file may already be available, so check the upstream repository first at https://sourceforge.net/p/linuxwacom/libwacom/ci/master/tree/. If you find your tablet model on the list, it is sufficient to copy the file to the local machine.

   # Example model file description for a tablet
   [Device]
   
   # The product is the product name announced by the kernel
   Product=Intuos 4 WL 6x9
   
   # Vendor name of this tablet
   Vendor=Wacom
   
   # DeviceMatch includes the bus (usb, serial), the vendor ID and the actual
   # product ID 
   DeviceMatch=usb:056a:00bc
   
   # Class of the tablet. Valid classes include Intuos3, Intuos4, Graphire, Bamboo, Cintiq
   Class=Intuos4
   
   # Exact model of the tablet, not including the size.
   Model=Intuos 4 Wireless
   
   # Width in inches, as advertised by the manufacturer
   Width=9
   
   # Height in inches, as advertised by the manufacturer
   Height=6
   
   # Optional features that this tablet supports
   # Some features are dependent on the actual tool used, e.g. not all styli
   # have an eraser and some styli have additional custom axes (e.g. the
   # airbrush pen). These features describe those available on the tablet.
   #
   # Features not set in a file default to false/0
   
   [Features]
   # This tablet supports styli (and erasers, if present on the actual stylus)
   Stylus=true
   
   # This tablet supports touch.
   Touch=false
   
   # This tablet has a touch ring (Intuos4 and Cintiq 24HD)
   Ring=true
   # This tablet has a second touch ring (Cintiq 24HD)
   Ring2=false
   
   # This tablet has a vertical/horizontal scroll strip
   VStrip=false
   HStrip=false
   
   # Number of buttons on the tablet
   Buttons=9
   
   # This tablet is built-in (most serial tablets, Cintiqs) 
   BuiltIn=false

3. Add and install the new file with the .tablet suffix:

   cp the-new-file.tablet /usr/share/libwacom/

   Once installed, the tablet is part of libwacom's database. The tablet is then available through libwacom-list-local-devices.
4. Create a new file /etc/udev/rules/99-libwacom-override.rules with the following content so that your settings are not overwritten:

   ACTION!="add|change", GOTO="libwacom_end"
   KERNEL!="event[0-9]*", GOTO="libwacom_end"
   
   [new tablet match entries go here]
   
   LABEL="libwacom_end"
   

5. Reboot your system.