kernel 3.5.3-1 breaks wacom tablet on X220T [WORKAROUND]

wes · 2012-08-29 05:29:46

Hello fellow Arch users. I spent the last hour struggling to fix my wacom
tablet (X220T) after the recent kernel upgrade. If you have an X220T and have
not yet upgraded to kernel 3.5.3, then go add linux to your ignore list in
pacman.conf. Do it now! Come back and read this later.

The Problem
===========

Wacom module is not loaded. There's no mention of wacom in the dmesg logs or
in lsmod. You can still find it in lsusb, however. Manually loading it does
not seem to help (you can load the module before you start X, but still it
will not show up in /dev/input/ even after this).

The Workaround
==============

First, you must downgrade the kernel. 3.4.9-1 works for me. Now, reboot with
linux 3.4.9-1, and check dmesg for mention of wacom:

dmesg | grep -i wacom

If you see no output, then you must uninstall and then reinstall the wacom
drivers:

sudo pacman -R xf86-input-wacom
sudo pacman -S xf86-input-wacom

Reboot again, and things should be working.

Remarks
=======

* I'm a linux noob, so there might be an easier fix than this. Please let me
know if you find one.
* Make sure you reinstall the wacom driver *from the old kernel 3.4.9*. Doing
this from the new kernel didn't seem to work.
* If this helps you, please let me know. I'd like to make sure this issue
isn't something me-specific.

**EDIT:** Marking title with "workaround"

Last edited by wes (2012-08-31 01:25:47)

The Compiler · 2012-08-30 08:22:33

Thanks, that worked for me as well as a workaround.

If anyone is lazy, just do this to downgrade linux and linux-headers to 3.4.9:

pacman -U http://arm.konnichi.com/core/os/$(uname -m)/linux{,-headers}-3.4.9-1-$(uname -m).pkg.tar.xz

wes · 2012-08-30 21:15:14

Thanks for confirming. Glad I could help : )

So, is this worth a bug report? I did a little searching, and I didn't see it
reported anywhere yet:

https://bugzilla.kernel.org/buglist.cgi … rch=tablet
https://bugzilla.kernel.org/buglist.cgi … arch=wacom

If yes, is it best to report to arch, or upstream? Looking at the PKGBUILD
for the kernel, it seems like this is not Arch's fault (I don't see any
patches that seem at all related).

naxan · 2012-09-01 23:21:27

It seems like I'm having exactlyy the same issue over at https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?pid=1154414.

I'm also not sure where to post, but I've gone ahead and created bug reports with both Arch Linux and the mainline Kernel:

https://bugs.archlinux.org/task/31384
https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=46821

creatorlarryli · 2012-09-03 23:35:40

I confirm this problem. I can also confirm this is caused by the 3.5 kernel because the same thing happened when I was using SuSE tumbleweed. The problem is that wacom does not even show up in: /proc/bus/input/devices. So tweaking something like xf86-input-wacom or x-server related things won't help. I tried to use alternative udev configs but it didn't help.

Last edited by creatorlarryli (2012-09-03 23:36:28)

wes · 2012-09-06 02:42:31

@naxan -- thanks! I can take that off my todo list now : )

@creatorlarryli -- Good to know, thank you.

Let's hope they fix this soon... having the kernel in my pacman ignore list
is not a great feeling +_+

naxan · 2012-09-07 05:10:47

Recompiling the kernel with the patch at http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/g … 106784c617 appears to resolve the issue for me.

Not a long term fix certainly, but hopefully the Arch devs will roll it into 3.5.3-2 (or it will make it into 3.5.3+ on the mainline).

yucht · 2012-10-06 19:52:10

Sorry to bump, but does anyone know if this issue has been resolved for the version 3.5.5 kernel now in the core repo?

WonderWoofy · 2012-10-06 22:38:55

Be a hero and try it out for the benefit of the community!!

naxan · 2012-10-07 01:32:06

@yucht: Just upgraded, and the issue does appear to be resolved for me with 3.5.5-1. Can anyone else confirm?

wes · 2012-10-07 06:44:38

I can confirm -- tablet works fine on 3.5.5-1. Yay : )

yucht · 2012-10-08 16:21:24

Thank you guys. @WonderWoofy, at the moment I really can't afford to lose the tablet functionality on my laptop. If it weren't so crucial for me, I would gladly test it out. Thanks to all who have gotten back to me so quickly though!

Arch Linux

#1 2012-08-29 05:29:46

kernel 3.5.3-1 breaks wacom tablet on X220T [WORKAROUND]

#2 2012-08-30 08:22:33

Re: kernel 3.5.3-1 breaks wacom tablet on X220T [WORKAROUND]

#3 2012-08-30 21:15:14

Re: kernel 3.5.3-1 breaks wacom tablet on X220T [WORKAROUND]

#4 2012-09-01 23:21:27

Re: kernel 3.5.3-1 breaks wacom tablet on X220T [WORKAROUND]

#5 2012-09-03 23:35:40

Re: kernel 3.5.3-1 breaks wacom tablet on X220T [WORKAROUND]

#6 2012-09-06 02:42:31

Re: kernel 3.5.3-1 breaks wacom tablet on X220T [WORKAROUND]

#7 2012-09-07 05:10:47

Re: kernel 3.5.3-1 breaks wacom tablet on X220T [WORKAROUND]

#8 2012-10-06 19:52:10

Re: kernel 3.5.3-1 breaks wacom tablet on X220T [WORKAROUND]

#9 2012-10-06 22:38:55

Re: kernel 3.5.3-1 breaks wacom tablet on X220T [WORKAROUND]

#10 2012-10-07 01:32:06

Re: kernel 3.5.3-1 breaks wacom tablet on X220T [WORKAROUND]

#11 2012-10-07 06:44:38

Re: kernel 3.5.3-1 breaks wacom tablet on X220T [WORKAROUND]

#12 2012-10-08 16:21:24

Re: kernel 3.5.3-1 breaks wacom tablet on X220T [WORKAROUND]

Board footer