Ubuntu makes Draw Tablet installation easy as could be

So I own a Wacom Cintiq 12WX draw tablet. Yes, it is a very expensive toy and I use it in Linux.

Prior to switching to Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty, the process involved with getting my tablet to work was somewhat involved.

1. Plug in the device
2. Throw some generic config lines into /etc/X11/xorg.conf to enable the input devices
3. Compile the latest Linux Wacom Project drivers myself and load them into my kernel
4. Change my nvidia settings to accommodate my new display
5. Restart KDE
6. Enable the input device in The Gimp
   

Oh yeah: I also needed to make sure I had the darn thing plugged (usb and vga/dvi) in properly. (I have missed it a few times among all my other cables).

Not a lot of work and the compilation is pretty simple.

But now with Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty, my job is much simpler:

1. Plug in the device
2. Change my nvidia settings to accommodate my new display
3. Restart KDE
4. Enable the input device in The Gimp

Let me tell you, it does not get much easier than this. I mean, plug it in and go!

I am having a minor configuration issue with simultaneously using my tablet input and my mouse to work on the same drawing area. It seems that somewhere along the way, the tablet input takes precedence and disables using the mouse to affect the Gimp Drawing area. I'm looking for a solution and I will post it when I know it.

Logitech diNovo Edge bluetooth connectivity issues

Sort of like USB support years ago, BlueTooth still has some bugs under Linux. Currently I'm referencing just connectivity issues. From what I can tell, this particular issue has been around in Linux since July 2007 at least according to some bug reports.

I use the Logitech diNovo Edge. This keyboard is awesome and I love it. When the dongle is not initialized as a bluetooth device - ie in bios, boot, install etc it simply emulates a usb keyboard / mouse and works (without any fancy features) perfectly. Hence, it works in text mode great. This happens during during System Startup, BIOS access or during the actually Linux console startup sequence.

However, as soon as it is initialized as a bluetooth device it forces you to use bluetooth pairing to work (this applies to Windows too). So, as you can imagine, by the time I reach KDE the keyboard doesn't work.

A solutions I have found to this problem (Source http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=355497):

Edit with sudo (text-editor) /etc/default/bluetooth

Then look for the line that says:
HID2HCI_ENABLED=1

and change it to this:
HID2HCI_ENABLED=0