Space Pilot LCD can work in ubuntu? or I need other distro?

[eyeJ]

Hello

I've installed maya and space pilot drivers on Ubuntu 8.10 (by converting the rpm's with alien) and I am having problems with the space pilot. When I start the driver blue led lights up, buttons work and navigation works in maya but the LCD is not responding.

I suspected it's probably an issue with the driver not being able to get full access to the device as stated in the Instalation Instructions.
I tried to start the driver with this script:

#!/bin/sh
usleep 2000000
rmmod hid
/etc/3DxWare/daemon/3dxsrv -d usb &
modprobe hid

first problem with the script was that there is no usleep by default in ubuntu so I compiled this code and put it in /bin:

//usleep.c
#include <stdio>
#include <stdlib>
#include <unistd>

int main (int argc, char **argv) {
usleep(atoi(argv[1]));
return 0;
}

after that I run the script from my home folder like this:

sudo ~/me3dx

and I get this output: ERROR: Module hid is in use by usbhid
so I changed the script a little:

#!/bin/sh
usleep 2000000
rmmod usbhid
rmmod hid
/etc/3DxWare/daemon/3dxsrv -d usb &
modprobe hid
modprobe usbhid

now I get this output:
3DxWareUNIX = V1.3.0
Device = SpacePilot
Firmware = V4.04

now the script works? I get no errors but The LCD is still not working
I tried this to:

#!/bin/sh
usleep 2000000
rmmod usbhid
/etc/3DxWare/daemon/3dxsrv -d usb &
modprobe usbhid

no change...
mykernel version is:
uname -a
Linux bibi-buntu 2.6.27-11-generic #1 SMP Thu Jan 29 19:28:32 UTC 2009 x86_64 GNU/Linux

Can someone help please? It would be great if I don't have to install multiple distros. But if I must what distro should I get that will fully suport maya and space pilot?

[crobl]

Hello eyeJ,

the script you're using is/was meant to solve an issue with RHEL3 (Kernel 2.4.x). You shouldn't need to use this on recent 2.6.x kernels and you also don't need to mess with your kernel modules

Reading your post, you write that the LEDs are lit/working. In this case, the LCD should work as well. The driver has the needed access to the device.

Does the LCD still show the 3Dconnexion logo?
Is it erased / all black?

Do you have the possibility to test the SpacePilot on a Windows machine?
If so: Does the LCD work there?

Please try the following:
Login as your std. user and issue a "xhost +" on the command line. Become privileged user via "su" or "su -" and start the driver:

Code: Select all

/etc/3DxWare/daemon/3dxsrv -d usb -debug -E

This forces the driver to output some more information and generates a logfile /tmp/3DxWare.log.
Does the driver start and does the LCD show the currently used configuration with the button mapping for button 1-6?
Please post the output from the command line as well as the contents of /tmp/3DxWare.log.

Regarding your question on the distribution:
Officially we only support RedHat EL 4 or later and SuSE 9.3 or later. Other distributions with kernel versions 2.6.8 or later should work as well, but are not tested and supported.

So, your Ubuntu should work as well!

Regards

Christian Robl
3Dconnexion

[eyeJ]

Hello eyeJ,

the script you're using is/was meant to solve an issue with RHEL3 (Kernel 2.4.x). You shouldn't need to use this on recent 2.6.x kernels and you also don't need to mess with your kernel modules

Reading your post, you write that the LEDs are lit/working. In this case, the LCD should work as well. The driver has the needed access to the device.

Does the LCD still show the 3Dconnexion logo?
Is it erased / all black?

Do you have the possibility to test the SpacePilot on a Windows machine?
If so: Does the LCD work there?

Please try the following:
Login as your std. user and issue a "xhost +" on the command line. Become privileged user via "su" or "su -" and start the driver:

Code: Select all

/etc/3DxWare/daemon/3dxsrv -d usb -debug -E

This forces the driver to output some more information and generates a logfile /tmp/3DxWare.log.
Does the driver start and does the LCD show the currently used configuration with the button mapping for button 1-6?
Please post the output from the command line as well as the contents of /tmp/3DxWare.log.

Regarding your question on the distribution:
Officially we only support RedHat EL 4 or later and SuSE 9.3 or later. Other distributions with kernel versions 2.6.8 or later should work as well, but are not tested and supported.

So, your Ubuntu should work as well!

Regards

Christian Robl
3Dconnexion

1. Does the LCD still show the 3Dconnexion logo?
Is it erased / all black?
The LCD displays the 3dconnexion logo or whatever was last displayed when working in windows (if I restart the computer from windows and go to ubuntu).

2. Do you have the possibility to test the SpacePilot on a Windows machine?
If so: Does the LCD work there?
Yes the LCD works in windows XP

3. Please try the following:
Login as your std. user and issue a "xhost +" on the command line. Become privileged user via "su" or "su -" and start the driver:

Driver starts and navigation and buttons work in maya but the LCD just displays the 3Dconnexion logo.

Here is my commandline output:
bubu@bibi-buntu:~$ xhost +
access control disabled, clients can connect from any host
bubu@bibi-buntu:~$ su -
Password:
root@bibi-buntu:~# /etc/3DxWare/daemon/3dxsrv -d usb -debug -E
3DxWareUNIX = V1.3.0
Device = SpacePilot
Firmware = V4.04

Here is my 3DxWare.log:
3DxWareUNIX V1.3.0 ID 3788 log file
Process ID: 7803
Time: 2009-03-17 18:12:06
Machineinfo 1: Systemname=Linux, Nodename=bibi-buntu, Release=2.6.27-11-generic
Machineinfo 2: Version=#1 SMP Thu Jan 29 19:28:32 UTC 2009, Machine=x86_64
Runlevel-Info: run-level 2 2009-03-17 16:48 last=

-----------------------------------

[2009-03-17 18:12:06] uddev.c, 1171: UdDevInit() 0x16ea010
[2009-03-17 18:12:06] 3dxsrv.c,705: displayname = $DISPLAY set to :0
[2009-03-17 18:12:06] 3dxsrv.c,710: putenv() was successful
[2009-03-17 18:12:06] 3dxsrv.c,712: displayname is now :0
[2009-03-17 18:12:06] auth.c :: authGetUser(), FOUND: user = bubu, id = :0, line = tty7, pid = 6845, host = :0, type = 7
[2009-03-17 18:12:06] auth.c :: authGetUser(), FOUND: user home = "/home/bubu"
[2009-03-17 18:12:06] 3dxsrv.c :: startupCommandLine(), authGetUser(), user=bubu
[2009-03-17 18:12:06] UdDev: Opening USB device on USB port /proc/bus/usb/002/004
[2009-03-17 18:12:06] UdDev: SpacePilot opened
[2009-03-17 18:12:06] UdDev: Opening SpacePilot device on USB port /proc/bus/usb/002/004
[2009-03-17 18:12:06] spilot_usb.c :: UdDevRezero(): Rezeroing the device
[2009-03-17 18:12:06] 3dxsrv.c,730: UdDevOpen() was successful [SpacePilot]

Thank you for reply

[eyeJ]

Hello again...

I just noticed what I didn't notice before, it seams that not all the leds light up in Ubuntu, I also tried fedora 8 and same problem lcd doesnt work and all the leds dont light up.

Can you provide any more information for me based on this?

[eyeJ]

In suse 11.1 same storry... LCD does not work and only about half of the leds are glowing!
Do you support 11.1 since you said 9.3 and later or just the older ones are suported?

[crobl]

Hi eyeJ,

this is a really strange problem!

Is the Windows machine (you wrote that the LCD works there) the same as the Linux machine?
If its a different machine is the SpacePilot connect in the same way on both machines (direct, via extension cable, via hub)?
Is the kernel a custom built or the generic default?

The logs/output you provided don't show an issue at all. Also if the LEDs are working - the LCD should as well...
Please run he driver via strace and send me the output via eMail. You can issue CTRL-C as soon as the output stops the first time for about 2 seconds:

Code: Select all

strace /etc/3DxWare/daemon/3dxsrv -d usb

Regarding your tested Distributions:
I also use Fedora 8 x86_64 and the LCD does work right away. SuSE also works find. I also once had a Ubuntu 7.x running. AFAIR this (LCD) also did work fine.

So, lets see what the strace output tells. This issue has to be solved!

Regards,
Christian
3Dconnexion

[eyeJ]

Is the Windows machine (you wrote that the LCD works there) the same as the Linux machine?
-> Yes it is the same machine.

If its a different machine is the SpacePilot connect in the same way on both machines (direct, via extension cable, via hub)?
-> SpacePilot is always plugged in the same usb port directly on the motherboard (when using xp and when using linux).

Is the kernel a custom built or the generic default?
-> kernel in suse, ubuntu, and fedora was the generic default only thing I installed that has anything to do with the kernel were the nvidia drivers I need in each distro to use 3d acceleration. In fedora nvidia drivers compiled some kernel modules for me but still I was using the default kernel. In suse and ubuntu everything is as automatically installed when selecting nvidia drivers with the default kernel.

The logs/output you provided don't show an issue at all. Also if the LEDs are working - the LCD should as well...
-> I will point out again that only 4 LED-s on the right side are glowing. Counting from the led that is located straight in front of the navigation thing (where a half circle hole is located). If you need I will send you a picture of the leds

Please run he driver via strace and send me the output via eMail. You can issue CTRL-C as soon as the output stops the first time for about 2 seconds
-> what mail should I send to? And it seems to me that the output of the command doesn't fit in terminal history. Should I link the output to a file and how can I do that if I should?

Regarding your tested Distributions:
I also use Fedora 8 x86_64 and the LCD does work right away. SuSE also works find. I also once had a Ubuntu 7.x running. AFAIR this (LCD) also did work fine.
-> I think I remember the lcd working in ubuntu 7.4 I belive. I had some troubles back then with 7.10 but I resolved the issue on 7.10. Still im not 100% sure that it worked because it was a while back... I can't test ubuntu 7.10 now because it doesn't support some of my new hardware Motherboard, graphic card, RAM and processor were upgraded because the motherboard or processor died. Of the older distros I installed only fedora 8 worked.
{Suse 10.3 worked but the update manager kept randomly freezing when downloading repository xml data files from the default update repo LOL!}

I appreciate your efforts greatly! Thank you!

[eyeJ]

I just downloaded the new driver

I wanted to say that with v 1.4.0 the lcd works as expected now!

Thanks to the developers!