Tablet PCs

[lumak]

I haven't tried it out yet, but was interested in running Salix OS on a Tablet PC with a Fujitsu stylistic ST5010 with serial pen. Has anybody run Salix OS or Slackware on a tablet PC yet?

I pondered stripping down Slackware my self and installing the needed software for a Tablet but realized this is much more work than I'm capable of doing. Additionally, now that I've found Salix OS, it seems like almost a perfect fit. Anybody have any thoughts or recommendations?

[flux]

I use Slackware 12.2 (fluxflux-sl) on my tabletPCs HP TC 1100, Samsung Q1 and the old Acer C100. The first one has a screen working only with the stylus, the other ones have touchscreens working with a pen or a finger.

For a touchscreen there are different drivers (egalax with calibration tool, evtouch with calibration script) which are working fine.

Some special programs are useful for a tabletPC, most of them are available as packages.

flux.

[lumak]

I suppose I should just take the plunge already and try it out... I did a second backup of the partition last night.... Assuming ntfsclone did its job properly while streaming through the network.

[lumak]

Well I finally installed SalixOS on my Fujitsu ST5010... after some failings with trying to manually upgrade to a newer mkinitrd and crypt LVM setup, I settled for just regular LVM until I work out the kinks. USB keyboard support on the initrd for one. Unfortunately there doesn't appear to be Slackware or Salix Packages for any of the programs I want to use so I'll Have to work on getting all those made up.

Currently Working (but needs some tweaks)

fjbtndrv - slkbuild -custom button driver for fujitsu tablets. apanel doesn't function well enough.
libwacom - slackbuild.sh -just used the slackbuilds.org script for now.
qwo - slkbuild -"Quick Writing" input method. Very interesting and one of the more tolerable input methods I have used.
florence - slkbuild -fancy looking on screen virtual keyboard
xvkbd - salix repository - functions well enough, just looks ugly.


Wish List:

Decide on a journal program - jarnal gournal xournal *urnal notetab etc.
gok - gnome on-screen keyboard for better 'out-of-the-box' compatibility with gdm.
Some other stuff, maybe a really nice e-book reader with extra file format support.

[gapan]

I have an SLKBUILD ready for florence:

Code: Select all

#Packager: George Vlahavas <vlahavas~at~gmail~dot~com>
#
# Needs imagemagick installed for some icon conversion

pkgname=florence
pkgver=0.4.6
pkgrel=1gv
arch=i486
source=(http://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/florence/florence/$pkgver/florence-$pkgver.tar.bz2)
docs=("readme" "install" "copying*" "changelog" "authors" "news" "todo")
url=http://florence.sourceforge.net/english.html
options=('noautodotnew')

doinst() {
# Update the scrollkeeper database (Remove stale pieces)
if [ -x usr/bin/scrollkeeper-update ]; then
	usr/bin/scrollkeeper-update > /dev/null 2>&1
fi
}

slackdesc=\
(
#|-----handy-ruler------------------------------------------------------|
"florence (virtual keyboard)"
"Florence is an extensible scalable virtual keyboard for GNOME. You"
"need it if you can't use a real hardware keyboard, for example because"
"you are disabled, your keyboard is broken or because you use a tablet"
"PC, but you must be able to use a pointing device (as a mouse, a"
"trackball, or a touchscreen). Florence stays out of your way when you"
"don't need it: it appears on the screen only when you need it. A"
"Timer-based auto-click functionality is available to help disabled"
"people having difficulties to click."
)


build() {
	cd $startdir/src/$pkgname-$pkgver
	./configure --prefix=/usr --libdir=/usr/lib${LIBDIRSUFFIX} --localstatedir=/var --sysconfdir=/etc --build=$arch-slackware-linux --disable-scrollkeeper --disable-schemas-install --disable-gtktest --without-xrecord --without-at-spi --with-gconf-source="xml::/etc/gconf/gconf.xml.defaults"
	make || return 1
	make install DESTDIR=$startdir/pkg

	sed -i "s/^Icon=.*/Icon=florence/" $startdir/pkg/usr/share/applications/florence.desktop
	mkdir -p $startdir/pkg/usr/share/icons/hicolor/scalable/apps
	cp $startdir/pkg/usr/share/pixmaps/florence.svg $startdir/pkg/usr/share/icons/hicolor/scalable/apps/
	mkdir -p $startdir/pkg/usr/share/icons/hicolor/48x48/apps
	convert $startdir/pkg/usr/share/pixmaps/florence.svg -resize 48x48 $startdir/pkg/usr/share/icons/hicolor/48x48/apps/florence.png

	# gconf stuff
	export GCONF_CONFIG_SOURCE="xml::$startdir/pkg/etc/gconf/gconf.xml.defaults"
	if [ -d $startdir/pkg/etc/gconf/schemas ]; then
		install -v -d -m755 $startdir/pkg/etc/gconf/gconf.xml.defaults
		SCHEMAS=$startdir/pkg/etc/gconf/schemas
		for schema in $SCHEMAS/*.schemas; do
			gconftool-2 --makefile-install-rule $schema
		done
		# Reset / Verify correct permissions
		( cd $startdir/pkg/etc/gconf ; find . -type d -exec chmod 755 {} \; )
		( cd $startdir/pkg/etc/gconf ; find . -type f -exec chmod 644 {} \; )
	fi
} 

Just put it in a directory and run:

Code: Select all

fakeroot slkbuild -X

and you'll get a package.

There is a new mkinitrd package as of today in slackware-current that you might be interested in:

a/mkinitrd-1.4.5-i486-1.txz: Upgraded.
Thanks to Eric Hameleers, and thanks to GazL for contributing improvements
that allow unlocking multiple LUKS/LVM volumes at boot.

[lumak]

Wow thanks for that. That one is much nicer than mine. I also have to switch my gconf stuff from the old doinst method to the newer one of going after the compile.


I find that the options for input methods may be a bit bloated. I chose Florence because it looks slick. But the repositories already have xvkbd. and gdm by default wants to use gok. gok in it self may be useful for other things, but I'm not impressed by the screen-shots. Not to mention people may prefer the option of having a graffiti input method like cellwriter and the experimental input method of qwo.

[lumak]

Some sad notes on the hardware support for my particular tablet.

MMC/SD card reader is part of the O2 Micro, Inc. OZ711M3/MC3 4-in-1 MemoryCardBus Controller and there is no driver at the moment. There was a non working driver for an old kernel that was floating around the net and it was taken down. On the up side. I believe the PCMCIA slot does work. It looks like I'll have to get an ultra mini USB stick for my luks key. It will stick out but should be in the tablet past boot anyway.

the 825GM/855GM portion of the intel driver does not support hardware accelerated rotation. This, I suspect, is because the intel drivers included with Salix 13.0.2a do not support the following options for this chipset:
Option "AccelMethod" "EXA"
Option "MigrationHeuristic" "greedy"

I haven't tried -current with Salix or Slackware so there may be hope. It's not a huge deal... but I do have to look at screen tearing when in portrait.