Getting a UD1212R (and other serial tablets) to work on Vista and Win7

[Markos]

Hmmm I must be blind, I didnt notice the power input on the serial cable. Sorry for that. But the power cable wasnt included when I bought this tablet. Can I use another power cable? What specifications does it need?
I still want to convert it to USB but I wanted to test the serial>usb adapter method first because I already have that adapter and the chip for Waxbee I dont have jet

[bernard]

Power requirement is written on the back of the tablet on the sticker. From memory, it can be any voltage from 9V to 12V DC (not AC!). I do not remember the mAmps, but it is fairly low. If it is 100mAmps (0.1 A), then any adapter that provides 100mAmps (0.1 Amps) or more will do. For example, DC output: 9 Volts @ 250 mAmps will be fine. You have to watch for the polarity though so you do not burn the tablet. (ground center or +9V center?).

Do you have a multimeter? You can figure out which one is ground on the connector. We might have that information on the forum somewhere as well. Would need to dig.

If, instead, you have already have access to 5V (like from a broken USB plug!) and it is OK with you to open your tablet. You could solder a 2 wires inside in specific spots (without cutting anything, so you can remove it afterwards) and power the tablet this way, the serial port should work fine. Really, the tablet works at 5V internally. the 9V-12V go through a step-down regulator and feeds 5V to the tablet. At first I thought the serial power was powered by the 9V, but no, I think the only thing that is powered by the 9V is the 5V regulator!

The tablet will not work without power for sure.

Depending on where you get your power adapter from (if you buy it), it might be more expensive than a Teensy!

[Markos]

Thnx for the fast reponse. I already ordered a ATMEGA32U4 chip, but have to wait until it is here. And I am curious if I can get it working with a serial>usb adapter. And at this moment, I dont know if the tablet itself works or not.

This is on the sticker on the tablet:


I found this adapter at home with a plug that fits:


So this might do the trick right? I have a multimeter, but don't know how to work with it. How can I messure it?

[bernard]

Tablet = 0.14A = 140mAmps.  Your adapter says 300mAmps -- so it can provide well enough power. Perfect.  Set it to a lower voltage (like 9v) to start with. I never trust these old adapters.  Find a matching plug.  Now the tricky part:  you have to find the polarity. That means, in which way to position the little connector (- or +). 

Why is the polarity is important? Well, if the tablet is not well protected, inverting the polarity can toast it. 

You can play Russian Roulette and try one way (for a very, very brief moment, and you can try at 6V to start with to be on the safe side).  You have to closely watch the LED: if it lits, even for a split second, it is the good polarity. If it does not lit, it may be because of numerous reasons.

But if you want to play safe, you will have to open the tablet.

Send me a picture of your multimeter, so I will tell you how to use it. You will want to do two types of measurements with it:  #1- test the voltage (coming out of the adapter) and, #2- do what is called a "continuity test" (often has an option to "beep" when the probes are "touching").

Those old adapters will typically yield the "wrong" voltage when there is nothing connected to it. They will output higher voltages. Measuring the voltage coming out of the adapter alone is a good start (to double-check the polarity if we can trust the - and the + signs written on the label).

In short, we want to discover which side of the plug is the "ground" (also denoted as - (minus) and colored black). The other side + (plus) is the 9V and is typically color-coded red.

You ordered a ATMEGA32U4 chip?  Just the chip alone?  What did you order exactly?

[Alan]

Same page as above but different method worked for me! Win 7 64bit (no USB - Serial) I have Serial Port on Computer.

GD-1212-R

As Posted By: Hamms

Setup:

Windows 7 Home Premium x64

Intuos GD-0608-R (connected to serial port.)

Driver 6.10.6 (pro610-6_int.exe) (The one linked in Scherer's post. You can also get it by searching the European Wacom site; it won't appear in the Americas Wacom site.)

 

Here is the stream lined version of what I did.

1.  Before starting, download the international driver version 6.10.6. and uninstall all 'Wacom' and 'Tablet/Pen Tablet' entries using 'Control Panel>Uninstall a program'. Also, unplug any other tablets.

2.  Shut down the computer and connect the tablet to the serial port and plugged in tablet power supply.

3. Turn the computer back on. (At this point the tablet showed up in 'Device Manager' under 'Other devices' as 'WACOM GD'. Because the computer recognized the device, I didn't have to make any changes to the registry.)

4.  Right-click on the driver file and set compatibility mode to 'Windows 2000' and check the box for 'Run program as administrator'. Apply the changes. Install the driver and restart.

5. When the computer started up again the tablet was working, however, there was no 'Wacom Tablet Properties' in the start menu and I couldn't find it elsewhere. (If you have it, then congratulations, you're done and can ignore the rest of this post. If not...) Right click again on the Driver file and change compatibility mode to 'Windows Vista' (leave the 'Run program as administrator' box checked) and apply the changes. Double click on the file to install the drivers again and restart. This should give you the functionality of the Windows 2000 patch with the properties shortcut of the Windows Vista patch. (Be sure to install it using Windows 2000 compatibility mode first. When I tried installing it first with Vista compatibility mode, the tablet did not work.)

EDIT: This way just worked again on July 27th, 2011 on a GD-1218-R just an fyi

I tried this many times with 2x PL-2303 usb-serial, but every time it found the device but no drivers

[bernard]

Making it work with a usb-serial adapter is harder than with a "real" serial port.

[Agerkvist]

So this is an old topic, but as I might be getting my hands on a GD 1209 or GD 1212 its interesting to me - the one I'll be getting is with USB tho, and from what I read that should work well enough with win 7? Seems like its the serial connected ones with trouble?

[bernard]

Actually, it might become the reverse. GDs are Intuos (1).  Look for drivers for Intuos for your OS.  I discovered recently that Intuos2 does not have a driver for Windows 8 (but it might just work with Windows 7 version, would have to check it out). I have no clue if this is a temporary solution or really, Wacom is slowly "dropping" their old tablets.  We should try to search Wacom forums about this or post them a question.

With the serial tablet converted using WaxBee, it now emulates Intuos2 which might be a limitation today for Win8 users. We will (eventually) update WaxBee to emulate a more recent Intuos. That way, it will be possible to have any serial tablets supported in Win8. For the USB tablets, you are stuck with the support Wacom is offering.

[Agerkvist]

Ah but what was I worrying about - I just got the tablet and it works flawlessly. Now lets take it apart!

I'll update my original thread with progress.

[bernard]

Yes?  That is awesome!  Any special steps to allow that?  In short what are the steps to install in "windows 2000 compatibility mode" -- And which version was this? 

I am picking your brain for the people that would want to try it, it's been a very bumpy road, so the more info we have, the better.

Your Windows installation is 32 bits. I wonder if the same is true with Windows 7 (or even 64 bits?

On that note, someone else was able to install the Windows 7 USB drivers under Windows 8 64 bits.