grr@cbmvax.commodore.com (George Robbins) (08/23/90)
The current DEC direct catalog lists a puck/tablet (VSXXX-AB) as a
DECsystem 5000 option. Does anyone know if this also works on a
DS3100? If so, does the standard "mouse driver" make it look mouse
compatible to higher level software, or is this something that is
handled at the DECWindows or X11R? level or at the application level?
--
George Robbins - now working for, uucp: {uunet|pyramid|rutgers}!cbmvax!grr
but no way officially representing: domain: grr@cbmvax.commodore.com
Commodore, Engineering Department phone: 215-431-9349 (only by moonlite)goldberg@davidsys.com (Seth Goldberg) (08/23/90)
In article <13961@cbmvax.commodore.com>, grr@cbmvax.commodore.com (George Robbins) writes: > The current DEC direct catalog lists a puck/tablet (VSXXX-AB) as a > DECsystem 5000 option. Does anyone know if this also works on a > DS3100? If so, does the standard "mouse driver" make it look mouse > compatible to higher level software, or is this something that is > handled at the DECWindows or X11R? level or at the application level? > I tried this once on a VAXstation 3520 running Ultrix 3.1 and it did not work. Since then I have seen an announcement by Digital about either Ultrix 3.1d (the VS3520 had something earlier than this) or 4.0 that stated it was now offering support of the graphics tablet (as they call VSXXX-AB). So it might work now with the 4.0 release. I was told by the local Digital office that it would work under DECWindows as a subsititute for a mouse and I never did get a resolution as to why it did not under 3.1 (low priority item so I never pursued it more). It was a previous job where I dealt with this so I did not get to test under 4.0. I would be interested in hearing from people who have tried to use the graphics tablet under Ultrix 4.0 as a direct hardware substitute for the mouse. But my impression of the device was that it is a direct hardware subsitute for a mouse. At least it plugs into that port on the back of any of their workstations. -- Seth Goldberg Manager, Computer Resources David Systems Internet: goldberg@davidsys.com UUCP: ...!uunet!sam!goldberg
j_prigot@wrglex (08/27/90)
In article <13961@cbmvax.commodore.com>, grr@cbmvax.commodore.com (George Robbins) writes: > The current DEC direct catalog lists a puck/tablet (VSXXX-AB) as a > DECsystem 5000 option. Does anyone know if this also works on a > DS3100? If so, does the standard "mouse driver" make it look mouse > compatible to higher level software, or is this something that is > handled at the DECWindows or X11R? level or at the application level? > About a year ago we wanted to do this for AutoCAD on a DS3100. We were told by DEC that although it is supported on the VAXstation 3100, it was not supported on the DECstation 2100/3100. Things may have changed by this time though. -- Jonathan M. Prigot "An ounce of pretention is worth a pound of manure" W.R. Grace & Co. 55 Hayden Avenue ...!drilex!wrglex!j_prigot Lexington, MA 02173 (617)861-6600 x2148
gringort@wsl.dec.com (Joel Gringorten) (08/28/90)
In article <13961@cbmvax.commodore.com>, grr@cbmvax.commodore.com (George Robbins) writes: |> The current DEC direct catalog lists a puck/tablet (VSXXX-AB) as a |> DECsystem 5000 option. Does anyone know if this also works on a |> DS3100? Yes. |> If so, does the standard "mouse driver" make it look mouse |> compatible to higher level software, Yes. |> or is this something that is |> handled at the DECWindows or X11R? level or at the application level? No. The DEC tablet is currently supported as the X pointer device on the DS3100/2100 and the DS5000 in Ultrix 3.1D and 4.0. The active region of the tablet surface is mapped onto the root window coordinate space; the tablet coordinates are scaled in x and y and translated to X window coordinates. Thus the pointer at the bottom right hand corner of the tablet moves the cursor to the bottom right hand corner of the screen, etc. No provision was made to provide access to (unprocessed) absolute tablet data. In order to access the 4th button on the pointer, you must start the server with the command line argument "-btn 4". -joel
grr@cbmvax.commodore.com (George Robbins) (04/27/91)
In article <1990Aug27.214141.27908@wrl.dec.com> gringort@wsl.dec.com (Joel Gringorten) writes: > > In article <13961@cbmvax.commodore.com>, grr@cbmvax.commodore.com > (George Robbins) writes: > |> The current DEC direct catalog lists a puck/tablet (VSXXX-AB) as a > |> DECsystem 5000 option. Does anyone know if this also works on a > |> DS3100? > > Yes. > > The DEC tablet is currently supported as the X pointer device on the > DS3100/2100 and the DS5000 in Ultrix 3.1D and 4.0. OK, now how do I get it to work? What happens (on a DS5000 w/Ultrix 4.0) is that that power up diagnostics fail the keyboard test and if you bring up the system, the tablet works to the extent that moving the puck will move the X-cursor, but the buttons are about 99% dead. Once in a while, pressing a random sequence of buttons yields a single random event. Is there some configuration step that is needed at the console prompt level or some Ultrix configuration step that needs to be performed? > ... In order to access > the 4th button on the pointer, you must start the server with the command > line argument "-btn 4". This didn't seem to help - no buttons work. -- George Robbins - now working for, uucp: {uunet|pyramid|rutgers}!cbmvax!grr but no way officially representing: domain: grr@cbmvax.commodore.com Commodore, Engineering Department phone: 215-431-9349 (only by moonlite)
gringort@wsl.dec.com (Joel Gringorten) (04/30/91)
In article <20992@cbmvax.commodore.com>, grr@cbmvax.commodore.com (George Robbins) writes: |> > The DEC tablet is currently supported as the X pointer device on the |> > DS3100/2100 and the DS5000 in Ultrix 3.1D and 4.0. |> |> OK, now how do I get it to work? What happens (on a DS5000 w/Ultrix 4.0) |> is that that power up diagnostics fail the keyboard test and if you bring |> up the system, the tablet works to the extent that moving the puck will |> move the X-cursor, but the buttons are about 99% dead. |> George, Is this by any chance a DS5000 PX or PXG? These two machines did have a bug as you described. There is a paper-patch (sic) available for the tablet on these machines. Further, I believe that the -btn isn't used on the server for these machines. I recall that the patch hard-wires the buttons to four. I'm sorry I might have lead you astray on this. I forgot about the PX systems when I replied to your last message for help. It really helps if you mention which model of 5000 when youreport bugs or ask questions, because they run completely different servers and drivers (although may change in the future.) The DS5000 CX and DS3100 systems should run right out-of-the-box with the tablet. Please let me know if you experience otherwise. Regarding the powerup self test failing... as far as I know, the powerup self test works fine on the DS5000 systems. It does fail with certain DS3100 systems and there's a hardware ECO (rom change) to make it work correctly. Even with the old firmware, if you reset the machine after the error, it can be booted just fine with the tablet. -joel (you can guess which systems I'm more familiar with.)
grr@cbmvax.commodore.com (George Robbins) (05/01/91)
In article <1991Apr29.131738@wsl.dec.com> gringort@wsl.dec.com (Joel Gringorten) writes: > |.... how do I get it to work? What happens (on a DS5000 w/Ultrix 4.0) > |> is that that power up diagnostics fail the keyboard test and if you bring > |> up the system, the tablet works to the extent that moving the puck will > |> move the X-cursor, but the buttons are about 99% dead. |> > > George, > > Is this by any chance a DS5000 PX or PXG? These two machines did have a bug as > you described. There is a paper-patch (sic) available for the tablet on these > machines. Further, I believe that the -btn isn't used on the server for these > machines. I recall that the patch hard-wires the buttons to four. I'm sorry I > might have lead you astray on this. I forgot about the PX systems when I replied > to your last message for help. It really helps if you mention which model of 5000 I think it's a PX - it's just a demo machine that was here for a few days, and I had hoped to demonstrate a PC Board layout package with the puck instead of a mouse, but it looks like it'll be gone again before I can dig up the patch. I orginally got the tablet for use with a DS3100 (where it does exactly the same thing), but then it's not supposed to work with releases prior to 3.1D and I haven't been able to immobilize the DS3100 long enough upgrade it from 3.1C... -- George Robbins - now working for, uucp: {uunet|pyramid|rutgers}!cbmvax!grr but no way officially representing: domain: grr@cbmvax.commodore.com Commodore, Engineering Department phone: 215-431-9349 (only by moonlite)