Wacom Tablet

[msnow]

This would probably be more appropriate in the Software forum but I was wondering if anyone uses a Wacom Tablet. I just purchased one and am having a little trouble with it. It keeps losing connectivity to the USB port.

[PacAce]

I have the Wacom Graphire 2 tablet and I've had it for two years now. Never had a problem with it that the lastest driver upgrade from Wacom couldn't resolve.

What exactly do you mean when you say you keep losing connectivity to the USB port? Are you saying that the connector keeps popping out of the USB port? Or are you saying that the system doesn't recognize the Wacom connected to the USB port?

[msnow]

If I lift it off of the tablet, even just a few inches it doesn't react anymore. Sometimes the mouse that comes with it will but not always. The workaround is to remove it from the USB port and then reconnect it but that is VERY inconvenient, especially if your in PS and your selecting something. I've tried the latest driver (4.78 I think) and it doesn't fix the problem.

[John_T]

Here are two possibilities,

1. As mentioned in the manual, not every USB channel works well with the tablet. My Intuous 2 works in all 16 connectors on my computer and monitor hubs, but try different connectors on yours.

2. Your monitor, loudspeaker, cordless mouse or keyboard remote is interfereing with the pen/mouse tablet communication. Try moving the tablet around to different places and orientations and see if it gets better. If it does get better, put your tablet where you want it and move the other gear around 'til everybody can get along with each other.

[PacAce]

OK, I'm going to assume that you know that when you lift the pen or the mouse off the tablet even an inch, nothing is going to happen until you set the pen or mouse back down on the tablet again. So are you saying that after you lift the pen off the tablet and then set it back down on the tablet, nothing happens when you move the pen around on the tablet?

BTW, what model did you get? Graphire or Intuos?

[msnow]

Right, it won't work when I put it back down on the surface of the tablet unless I go through that workaround I described. I did remove all other USB devices and have moved it around a little but it doesn't fix it.

I have the the Intuous2 9x12 but for $500 if it doesn't work right I'll have to bring it back (which I really don't want to do unless it's a last resort). I appreciate your help.

[Motorsports Photo]

I've had Wacom tablets since they came out with the Artpad II. Very good product.

Make sure you have the latest driver. That can solve a LOT of problems.

One workaround I found when I had some buggy software that "shut the tablet off" was to go to the settings in control panel and there was an on/off button for the tablet. This almost always restored the tablet back to working.

Of course they may have eliminated that option along the way. Give it a check.

I have never had the problem you describe.

-Pete

[scottbergerphoto]

What is your operating system?
I use an Intuos 2 tablet. When I used it with Win 98, I used to have all kinds of intermittent problems with USB conflicts. I'd unplug it and replug it in and it would be fine. I now use it with Win XP and all kinds of USB devices without any problems.
Scott

[msnow]

scottbergerphoto wrote:
What is your operating system?
I use an Intuos 2 tablet. When I used it with Win 98, I used to have all kinds of intermittent problems with USB conflicts. I'd unplug it and replug it in and it would be fine. I now use it with Win XP and all kinds of USB devices without any problems.
Scott

Scott--I'm running XP and it's a fairly clean install (about 3 weeks old) no other problems with anything including other USB devices (e.g. floppy, mouse, card reader). I have to replug it like you did on W98, very frustrating...might have to bring it back if I can't find it. Mucking around in the BIOS now.

[scottbergerphoto]

msnow wrote:
scottbergerphoto wrote:
What is your operating system?
I use an Intuos 2 tablet. When I used it with Win 98, I used to have all kinds of intermittent problems with USB conflicts. I'd unplug it and replug it in and it would be fine. I now use it with Win XP and all kinds of USB devices without any problems.
Scott

Scott--. Mucking around in the BIOS now.

Now I'm scared! Good Luck.
Scott

[msnow]

scottbergerphoto wrote:
msnow wrote:
Scott--. Mucking around in the BIOS now.

Now I'm scared! Good Luck.
Scott

If you don't ever see me again tell everyone "goodbye" for me okay?

[PacAce]

msnow wrote:
scottbergerphoto wrote:
msnow wrote:
Scott--. Mucking around in the BIOS now.

Now I'm scared! Good Luck.
Scott

If you don't ever see me again tell everyone "goodbye" for me okay?


msnow, if you get lost in the BIOS, just make your way towards the networking section (you should be able to find signs pointing you in the right direction). Once there, take the 3rd door on the right. It's going to be padlocked with a alpha key entry lock. Just punch in your network logon id and password and you should be able to get through. Then make your way passed the firewall onto the information super highway but be careful, there are lots of viruses and hacker trolls lingering about just outside the firewall. If you're not sure where to go from there, see if you can get directions to mapquest.com! Good luck! :D

[slin100]

I just got a Intuos2 and I've been experiencing a different sort of problem.

Whenever I put my system into standby mode, the Wacom driver doesn't kick in after resuming. The generic Windows XP graphics tablet driver then takes over. I have to reboot the system before the Wacom driver will work.

Anybody else seen this?

[RichardtheSane]

I've seen the standby problem with dozens of devicec, the best work around is not to use standby unless it is a notebook. With XP the startup time is so quick that is is only a few more seconds than a wake from standby in some cases :)

[shirbit]

same thing happened to me...wrong operating system...doesn't run on NT (tries to tho')

[iwatkins]

slin100 wrote:
I just got a Intuos2 and I've been experiencing a different sort of problem.

Whenever I put my system into standby mode, the Wacom driver doesn't kick in after resuming. The generic Windows XP graphics tablet driver then takes over. I have to reboot the system before the Wacom driver will work.

Anybody else seen this?

I think this might be related to the Wacom Tablet widget that runs at startup. It probably doesn't restart when you come out of standby. I.e. for the Graphire 3 an application called "TabUserW.exe" runs when you first login. Maybe this doesn't run coming out of standby ? It resides in the StartUp group on my XP installation.

Cheers

Ian

[msnow]

I'm also runnng my tablet on a laptop, wonder if there is a common denominator here. There are two workarounds for me.

1. unplug then replug the USB cable.
2. restart the tablet service.

Neither of these are acceptable long term however.

[msnow]

As a follow-up....

I figured it out (actually someone over in dpreview/retouching led me in the right direction). The USB cable from the tablet MUST be attached directly to the computer and not through the docking station. I'm not sure why but that's the way it is. Good news is the tablet is fine, bad news is that if I connect everything directly to the laptop and eliminatae the docking station I'm stuck with the crappy on board video card.

[PacAce]

msnow wrote:
As a follow-up....

I figured it out (actually someone over in dpreview/retouching led me in the right direction). The USB cable from the tablet MUST be attached directly to the computer and not through the docking station. I'm not sure why but that's the way it is. Good news is the tablet is fine, bad news is that if I connect everything directly to the laptop and eliminatae the docking station I'm stuck with the crappy on board video card.

I'm glad to see you finally made it out of the BIOS as well as figure out what your tablet problem was. That's weird, though, since at work, I have a laptop that's hooked up to a docking station and that's where my tablet also plugs into and I haven't had any problems with it. However, I am running Windows 2000 on it instead of XP.

Anyway, good to hear you're back in business and I'm sure you'll find the tablet very useful during your photo editing sessions.

[scottbergerphoto]

msnow wrote:
As a follow-up....

I figured it out (actually someone over in dpreview/retouching led me in the right direction). The USB cable from the tablet MUST be attached directly to the computer and not through the docking station. I'm not sure why but that's the way it is. Good news is the tablet is fine, bad news is that if I connect everything directly to the laptop and eliminatae the docking station I'm stuck with the crappy on board video card.

Ask a few questions, do a little research, check different sources, tinker with the equipment, solve the problem. WAY TO GO MIKE!
Scott

[bfaust]

Did you call Wacom? I have had good, informed responses from their Techs.

[msnow]

bfaust wrote:
Did you call Wacom? I have had good, informed responses from their Techs.


I reported it both in a bug report (although I'm not sure it's *their* bug) and sent email to their tech support.

[John_T]

There are the Wacom drivers, but there are also the latest XP USB drivers which perhaps you haven't updated. I went through this, particularly for USB2, a while ago and now all my USB connections, direct or hub work equally. I don't remember the details, but check Windows Update.

[msnow]

Thanks John but I'm sort of anal about keeping my OS updated, I check Windows update everyday. The problem here is hardware related which could possibly be corrected via a firmware fix to the docking station or some other workaround (which I haven't figured out yet).

[John_T]

Hmmm, in a sense of page 125 of the manual, could it be that your docking stations power supply or something in it is interfering with the pen/tablet communication and once it is broken it cannot reestablish it?

[msnow]

I believe they (Wacom) consider a docking station to be like a USB hub. If it isn't connected directly to the board it isn't going to work right. Below is the text from the email I received from Wacom this morning.

Good morning-
If you have the tablet plugged into a USB hub, please first try it
with a direct connection (no hubs or Docking station/port replicators). 9
times out of ten intermittent connectivity is a problem with either the
ports or the hubs. If the problem persists with a direct connection please
try the tablet on another system to see if it may be a problem with the
tablet itself. If all else fails please describe you current environment
and a detailed description of how you can reproduce the problem. I hope
this helps, and is what you were looking for, but if you have any other
questions please feel free to call the number below.

Joseph Sliger
Wacom Sr. Technical Support
WACOM Online Technical Support