SpaceNavigator buttons problem, Ubuntu Blender

Questions and answers about 3Dconnexion devices on UNIX and Linux.

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maiatoday
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Joined: Thu Aug 23, 2007 2:04 pm

SpaceNavigator buttons problem, Ubuntu Blender

Post by maiatoday »

I too am excited to use my new SpaceNavigator with Blender.

I am running UbuntuStudio and managed to install the SpaceNavigator without a problem, however

I cannot manage to get the buttons to work in Blender, so I am perpetually in turntable mode. Useful but I want more.

Also if I change applications to checkout the button settings or go to any other app, the SpaceNavigator stops working when I get back to Blender, causing a restart of Blender if I want to continue to use SpaceNavigator. The driver seems to be ok, as when I restart Blender it works again.

I have saved a Blender configuration for the SpaceNavigator with left and right button set to Button 1 and 2 and it does seem to load the right config when I start Blender up.

I downloaded build and plugin from www.blenderbuilds.com
kidb
Posts: 14
Joined: Fri Jun 08, 2007 10:53 am

Re: SpaceNavigator buttons problem, Ubuntu Blender

Post by kidb »

maiatoday wrote:I too am excited to use my new SpaceNavigator with Blender.

I am running UbuntuStudio and managed to install the SpaceNavigator without a problem, however

I cannot manage to get the buttons to work in Blender, so I am perpetually in turntable mode. Useful but I want more.
You have to assign in the driver window the left button to button1. It is set per default to switch the translation.
maiatoday
Posts: 6
Joined: Thu Aug 23, 2007 2:04 pm

Post by maiatoday »

I did that, kidb, but when I click back to Blender the spacenavigator is no longer changing the scene. I close Blender then open it again and I can see that it uses the saved Blender config with L = button1 and R=button2 but it still stays in turntable mode.
ettore
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Post by ettore »

I had a similar problem when I was working on the linux plugin. This is the breakdown of what I did (I don't have my Linux laptop here to double-check this right now but it should be exact):
first launch blender.
Then, as kidb said, make sure to assign the functions "Button 1" and "Button 2" to the L/R buttons inside the driver preference panel. Make sure also to save the config and assign it a meaningful name (like, um... "blender").
If I remember correctly I had to repeat this operation twice before it was actually saved. To verify, simply switch the configs in the driver panel drop down menu (say, select "Any Apps", then go back to "blender", verify the buttons are saved, if they are not change re-assign them, save, repeat).

Now, go back to blender (which is still open). Things should work. If it doesn't close blender and relaunch it. Now if you go back to the driver panel you should see the "blender" config automatically being selected.

BTW this was on Debian.
ettore pasquini
software engineer
3Dconnexion, inc.
maiatoday
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Joined: Thu Aug 23, 2007 2:04 pm

Post by maiatoday »

Thanks ettore, I remember reading a post similar to that here. I am still stuck :(

This is what I
Rapp_Scallion
Posts: 9
Joined: Tue Aug 28, 2007 4:11 am

Post by Rapp_Scallion »

I have exactly the same problem. I am using a SpaceNavigator with the latest driver softare (1.2.11) running on a Debian Testing machine. The device works well so far, but the buttons are ignored by Blender.

I have set the Buttons to "Function 1 - AP1" and 2 respectively, since there is not button 1 and 2 entry.

Also, when I click on the drop down menu for the buttons, the 3dxware applet thinks I changed focus to another window and switches its scheme to "Any application". I have to use the cursor keys to select the button mapping. This is very annoying.
kidb
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Joined: Fri Jun 08, 2007 10:53 am

Post by kidb »

This is the 3dconnexion app using a spacemouse.
http://video.blendertestbuilds.de/spacenavi.jpg
If you have a Spacenavigator there are only two entries with default settings Translation and Rotation. You have to set them to via the dropdown menue to Button1 and Button2.
Rapp_Scallion
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Joined: Tue Aug 28, 2007 4:11 am

Post by Rapp_Scallion »

kidb wrote:This is the 3dconnexion app using a spacemouse.
http://video.blendertestbuilds.de/spacenavi.jpg
If you have a Spacenavigator there are only two entries with default settings Translation and Rotation. You have to set them to via the dropdown menue to Button1 and Button2.
Ok, first of all: I had to delete my old profile, because in the old driver, there is no such thing as Button1 or Button2. Now I have set the preferences like here:

Image

But it does not yet work! The buttons are mapped to Button1 and Button2, but Blender still does not see the events. The rest (motion events) do work nicely.
kidb
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Joined: Fri Jun 08, 2007 10:53 am

Post by kidb »

There is a .3dxrc file and a .3dxcfg directory in the user homedir. Maybe there are old settings from a previous install. Did you delete both of them? The content of .3dxcfg is copied from /etc/3DxWare.
Rapp_Scallion
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Joined: Tue Aug 28, 2007 4:11 am

Post by Rapp_Scallion »

Yes, I tried deleting those files and restarting the driver. This did not help either.
ettore
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Post by ettore »

Probably just re-stating something is already known: the mouse pointer needs to be inside the main view area when clicking the buttons. There's a bug that make that necessary for any SpaceNav event to be processed by Blender.

maiatoday, Rapp_Scallion: could it be that you have many configs for blender? Could you post a screenshot of the "Remove User Configurations" tab on the driver pane?
ettore pasquini
software engineer
3Dconnexion, inc.
kidb
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Joined: Fri Jun 08, 2007 10:53 am

Post by kidb »

Could you send these files to me? - kidb at kidb dot de -
Rapp_Scallion
Posts: 9
Joined: Tue Aug 28, 2007 4:11 am

Post by Rapp_Scallion »

ettore wrote:Probably just re-stating something is already known: the mouse pointer needs to be inside the main view area when clicking the buttons. There's a bug that make that necessary for any SpaceNav event to be processed by Blender.
Yes, I realised that. Also move events won't work if I am not in the main view window.
ettore wrote:maiatoday, Rapp_Scallion: could it be that you have many configs for blender? Could you post a screenshot of the "Remove User Configurations" tab on the driver pane?
No, only one configuration, see here:

Image
kidb
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Joined: Fri Jun 08, 2007 10:53 am

Post by kidb »

@maiatoday:
If you are running a x86_64 kernel, maybe you can try this build:
http://blendertestbuilds.de/ndof/x86_64/ -> install.tar.gz
Rapp_Scallion
Posts: 9
Joined: Tue Aug 28, 2007 4:11 am

Post by Rapp_Scallion »

Ok, kidb sent me a binary that works. I will have to rebuild from SVN and try to make a good, general binary for AMD64. Shouldn't be too hard...
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