Wacom Intuos2 tablet hotplug only works once after booting

Rebooted with the device plugged in. Works when the device is present at boot.

Disconnected and reconnected device, no longer works.

Please attach Xorg.0.log and 'udevadm info --export-db > udevdb.txt' from both of these cases; after having the tablet attached on boot and the other when plugging it later.

We're closing this bug since it is has been some time with no response from the original reporter. However, if the issue still exists please feel free to reopen with the requested information. Also, if you could, please test against the latest development version of Ubuntu, since this confirms the bug is one we may be able to pass upstream for help.

Hi Bryce and Timo, I have run the tests as suggested and have attached the requested files.

yeah definitely upstream material

(EE) Wacom Intuos2 4x5: usbParse: Ignoring event from invalid serial 0

Timo, Thank you for confirming the error message from the logs. As you recommended that this should be reported upstream, I have done so here:
http://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=27520

this is the correct place for bugs (at the moment anyway):

http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=69596

I tested this on an updated 64-bit system with a slightly different result. The device will work only once when plugged in. If unplugged and plugged back in, I get the same behavior komputes described.

Upstream is saying this looks like a kernel bug, not an xorg bug.

Chris Bagwell wrote:

I quickly looked at the Xorg.log files from launchpad below. Right after
hotplug of tablet, usbParse() goes in infinite loop and prints message about
invalid serial #. Not positive its infinite loop but at least the log stops
with no messages beyond repeating error message. If you wait long enough,
perhaps the tablet corrects itself?

Intuos1 and Intuos2 are unique in that they get serial # from hardware itself
and used by xf86-input.wacom. Serial # is a unique value that allows tracking
multiple tools at once.

You've found a case were tablet streams out packets in a way that serial # is
sent as zero. Either tablet is saying a zero value or else an if() statement
is getting confused and not allowing to init values correctly.

This is all on kernel side, BTW.

Since I do not own own of these tablets, I do not have much more to offer. I
can only say it appears mostly a kernel side bug from information so far

I've actually been able on occasion to get hotplug to work a second time by removing and re-modprobing the kernel module, but success is extremely rare.

I've confirmed that the kernel driver is actually seeing serial numbers of 0 when the tablet isn't working, and large (magnitude) serial numbers when it is by adding a printk to wacom_wac.c.

When the tablet is non-working it is actually getting a serial of 0 for every proximity event. This isn't fixed by unloading the wacom module and unplugging the tablet, which leads me to believe that there's a problem with the lower-level (USB?) driver stack.

Even unplugging the tablet and unloading wacom + usbhid + hid together doesn't seem to reset whatever state is wrong.

http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&aid=3075828&group_id=69596&atid=525124 appears to be related, it worked for one of the devs using xf86-input-wacom 0.10.11 (Maverick ships 0.10.8), but I don't know what version of the kernel driver.

(There don't appear to be any relevant changes to xf86-input-wacom between 0.10.8 and 0.10.11 either.)

Confirmed that upgrading to 0.10.11 doesn't fix the problem for me.

I think this might simply be a race during device initialization, which would explain why some people seem to see it and some don't.

So, in a nutshell: the wacom kernel driver doesn't always initialize the device properly, and as a result it sends bogus tool serial numbers in events to userspace.

It's definitely a kernel issue. Hard-coding the serial numbers to a fixed value let userspace work properly, so long as only a single tool was in proximity at one time (the serial numbers are how individual tools are distinguished).

Thanks Tim for the triage.

This bug still affects me in Ubuntu 11.10 (Oneiric). The first time plugged in it works. All times after that, the device is not registered.

Anyone had a chance yet to retest this in Precise?

Hotplug was working for me when I installed precise but now I have the same issue (some update broke things for me)- I only get the tablet if it is plugged in when I boot. I tried with a work mates Intuos 3 and it hotplugs just fine. One more thing I noticed though it could have been coincidence that I had better luck with the usb2 ports on my laptop than the usb 3 ports).

I've an Intuos2 9x12 USB on ubuntu gnome 13.10.
With xinput I see that the tablet is unplugged and plugged normally, but don't works the any device (stylus, cursor, eraser).
It's necessary to reboot.

Similar problem with Wacom Intuos2 9x12 tablet on Ubuntu 13.04. lsusb, xinput and lsmod all see the tablet when hotplugged. Even the LED on the tablet glows and changes color when the stylus is near it. However, cannot get the mouse cursor to move. If the computer is rebooted with the tablet connected, it works. It's quite an inconvenience to have to reboot each time the tablet is connected and a fix would be much appreciated.

As another datapoint, I get the same problem on Debian Unstable, running a vanilla Linux kernel 3.11, xorg wacom driver version 0.22.99.1-1+b1 (if that matters at all...)

komputes, this bug was reported a while ago and there hasn't been any activity in it recently. We were wondering if this is still an issue? If so, could you please test for this with the latest development release of Ubuntu? ISO images are available from http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/daily-live/current/ .

If it remains an issue, could you please run the following command in the development release from a Terminal (Applications->Accessories->Terminal), as it will automatically gather and attach updated debug information to this report:

apport-collect -p linux <replace-with-bug-number>

Also, could you please test the latest upstream kernel available (not the daily folder) following https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelMainlineBuilds ? It will allow additional upstream developers to examine the issue. Once you've tested the upstream kernel, please comment on which kernel version specifically you tested. If this bug is fixed in the mainline kernel, please add the following tags:
kernel-fixed-upstream
kernel-fixed-upstream-VERSION-NUMBER

where VERSION-NUMBER is the version number of the kernel you tested. For example:
kernel-fixed-upstream-v3.13-rc5

This can be done by clicking on the yellow circle with a black pencil icon next to the word Tags located at the bottom of the bug description. As well, please remove the tag:
needs-upstream-testing

If the mainline kernel does not fix this bug, please add the following tags:
kernel-bug-exists-upstream
kernel-bug-exists-upstream-VERSION-NUMBER

As well, please remove the tag:
needs-upstream-testing

Once testing of the upstream kernel is complete, please mark this bug's Status as Confirmed. Please let us know your results. Thank you for your understanding.

Sadly, the problem is still not fixed on last xubuntu 14.04.1, same result on a linux Mint.

fabien, thank you for your comment. So your hardware and problem may be tracked, could you please file a new report with Ubuntu by executing the following in a terminal while booted into the default Ubuntu kernel (not a mainline one) via:
ubuntu-bug linux

For more on this, please read the official Ubuntu documentation:
Ubuntu Bug Control and Ubuntu Bug Squad: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/BestPractices#X.2BAC8-Reporting.Focus_on_One_Issue
Ubuntu Kernel Team: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelTeam/KernelTeamBugPolicies#Filing_Kernel_Bug_reports
Ubuntu Community: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ReportingBugs#Bug_reporting_etiquette

When opening up the new report, please feel free to subscribe me to it.

As well, please do not announce in this report you created a new bug report.

Thank you for your understanding.

Helpful bug reporting tips:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ReportingBugs

Closing this bug with Won't fix as this kernel / release is no longer supported.
Please feel free to open a new bug report if you're still experiencing this on a newer release (Bionic 18.04.3 / Disco 19.04)
Thanks!