Under Windows I've had the issue of the tablet having no pressure for the GTK applications.
Fix
Ater struggling with many steps I came through this reddit post that interestingly it's poster is already deleted and the solution was to
1. If you've installed anything previously for this or any other tablet, uninstall it all and restart. Search for "tablet," "wacom," and "bamboo" on your PC to make sure you get it all
2. Unplug the tablet
3. Install the driver from the link above
4. Restart if needed. Then plug in the tablet and let it finish the final setup by itself.
5. All done! Start drawing :)
Basically, what I've done
- uninstall everything: Wacom v5.x.x driver, Wacom v6.x.x driver, Windows Wintab, Lenovo Wintab (ISD tablet), N-Trig Wintab (didn't install actually)
- restart
- install only Wacom v5.3.5-3 then restart if needed
- plugin the tablet.
And then the device will be set up and working (tested on mypaint 32bit and 64bit and GIMP only needed to use a different brush).
Important Note: By disabling the Use Windows Ink (from the Wacom Preferences: Pen>Tracking>Mapping), we get a much much faster mypaint response, however we'll need to re-enable that before using Xournal++ and OneNote, or any other application that doesn't use GTK, otherwise there would be no pressure sensitivity for them as they depend on Windows Ink.
Following are the original steps I've took to try to fix this issue.
Original Issue
Identifying the pen pressure on windows tablets is not an easy task, at least for old tablets like Bamboo CTH-661.
Note: I tried following the bug: Wacom Bamboo doesn't function with GTK apps in Win32 and the solution mentioned there, but the libgdk-win32-2.0-0.dll was pretty new so I reverse engineered it using the radare2-based cutter, and eventually figured out that the fix was already deployed in GIMP's GTK package vs the old packages that are for example cern's version
Debugging
Wacom drivers have 2 main version trees:
- v5.x.x and
- v6.x.x
Considering Windows 10: Wacom Bamboo fun is only supported on v5.x.x drivers (v5.3.5-3 and v5.3.3-2(non Win10) are tested), as the oldest v6.x.x (6.3.14-1) that supported windows 10 did not support the Bamboo fun.
I've also had v6.3.46-1 installed (it's possible to have both v5.x.x and v6.x.x installed together) but this also did not support Bamboo fun as it's already out of support.
Mypaint v1.0 and v1.0_32bit and v1.2 and v2.0 and GIMP v2.10 all did not work
Further Debugging Info
Using the Wacom driver v5.3.5-3, I'm able to access the wacom device prefernces on wacom preferences program.
I'm also using Wacom Tablet v6.3.46-1, which says that the device is out of support and it asks for using an older version of the software, note that this application comes with a Wacom Desktop Center.
The pressure sensitivity works well for Xournal++ and OneNote, but doesn't work on GTK based software like MyPaint and GIMP.
I have tried to disable the Use Windows Ink option on the wacom preferences>pen, but it was to no avail.
Someone posted that the 32bit version GIMP fixed it, not sure if that would be the case but at least the 32bit mypaint didn't solve the pressure.
Installing Wintab:
Lenovo provides 2 wintab versions
Wintab for Lenovo Pen (Most probably not needed)
Upon installing this version:
ISD tabletsoftware is not installed- post the installation a message is displayed with the following drivers being installed correctly:
- WacHIDRouterISD (v7.7.2.20): Found some files at
C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\wachidrouterisdu.inf_amd64_dc77b5ea9ce22f6e - WTabletServiceISD (v7.7.1.20): Found the executable at
C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\wtabletserviceisd.inf_amd64_929a75d2463a7df6\WTabletServiceISD.exe - WacHIDFilterISD (v7.7.2.20): Found nothing related to that
- WacHIDRouterISD (v7.7.2.20): Found some files at
The HID devices in the device manager also didn't have a mention for those devices
Wintab for Wacom (Could be needed)
Upon installing this version:
ISD tabletis installed and it's locatable atadd or remove programs- The pressure is still not working
Note: I tried also installing Wintab_x64_1.0.0.20.zip from the surface pro4 drivers and software but that didn't make any difference.
While doing updates/installing drivers, if the drawing ended up showing many lines, change the pen-monitor mapping, and that should refresh the pen.
This reddit thread states that we need to disable flicks, which disappeared on newer Windows versions, and based on this answer it's sufficient to disable the long press functionality of the pen from Windows settings to disable flicks.
Following are the releases found at the latest driver
| Version | OS - (size if available) | Release Date |
|---|---|---|
| 6.3.46-1 | (Windows 7, 8, 10, & 11) (64-bit) - 30.9 MB | 29.03.2022 |
| 6.3.45-1 | (Windows 7, 8, 10, & 11) (64-bit) - 29.5 MB | 16.12.2021 |
| 6.3.44-3 | (Windows 7, 8, 10, & 11) (64-bit) - 29.0 MB | 12.10.2021 |
| 6.3.44-1 | (Windows 7, 8, 10, & 11) (64-bit) - 28.8 MB | 03.08.2021 |
| 6.3.43-3 | (Windows 7, 8, & 10) (64-bit) - 30.2 MB | 18.05.2021 |
| 6.3.42-2 | (Windows 7, 8, & 10) (64-bit) - 31.7 MB | 26.01.2021 |
| 6.3.41-1 | (Windows 7, 8, & 10) (64-bit) - 38.5 MB | 06.10.2020 |
| 6.3.40-3 | (Windows 7, 8, & 10) - 38.3 MB | 06.10.2020 |
| 6.3.40-2 | (Windows 7, 8, & 10) - 38.3 MB | 29.06.2020 |
| 6.3.39-1 | (Windows 7, 8, & 10) - 39.4 MB | 27.04.2020 |
| 6.3.38-2 | (Windows 7, 8, & 10) - 38.9 MB | 17.12.2019 |
| 6.3.37-3 | (Windows 7, 8, & 10) - 37.6 MB | 21.10.2019 |
| 6.3.36-1 | (Windows 7, 8, & 10) - 38.5 MB | 15.08.2019 |
| 6.3.27-2 | (Windows 7, 8, & 10) - 56.2MB | 19.12.2017 |
| 6.3.19-3 | (Windows 7, 8, & 10) - 72.3MB | 12.12.2016 |
| 6.3.18-5 | (Windows 7, 8, & 10) - 79.6MB | 28.10.2016 |
| 6.3.17-3 | (Windows 7, 8, & 10) - 79.6 MB | 27.07.2016 |
| 6.3.16-2 | (Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, & 10) - 78.4 MB | 27.04.2016 |
| 6.3.15-3 | (Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, & 10) - 78.3 MB | 22.12.2015 |
| 6.3.14-1 | (Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, & 10) - 78.2 MB | 28.08.2015 |
| 5.3.5-3 | (Windows XP, Vista, Win 7, 8, & 10) - 38.2 MB | 20.08.2015 |
| 6.3.11-4a | (Windows XP, Vista, 7 & 8) - 143 MB | 02.03.2015 |
| 6.3.10w2 | (Windows XP, Vista, 7 & 8) - 100 MB | 10.09.2014 |
| 6.3.9w3 | (Windows XP, Vista, 7 & 8) - 77 MB | 18.08.2014 |
| 6.3.8-4 | (Windows XP, Vista, 7 & 8) - 37.7 MB | 21.04.2014 |
| 5.3.3-2 | (Windows XP, Vista, 7, & 8) | 18.12.2013 |
| 6.3.6-3 | (Windows XP, Vista, 7 & 8) | 03.09.2013 |
| 6.3.5-3 | (Windows XP, Vista & 7) | 18.03.2013 |
| 6.3.7-3 | (Windows XP, Vista, 7 & 8) | 17.03.2013 |
| 5.3.2-1 | (Windows XP, Vista, 7, & 8) | 23.01.2013 |
| 6.3.4-3 | (Windows XP, Vista & 7) | 01.11.2012 |
| 6.3.3-4 | (Windows XP, Vista & 7) | 07.08.2012 |
| 6.3.2-3 | (Windows XP, Vista, & 7) | 11.07.2012 |
| 6.3.2w3 | (Windows XP, Vista, & 7) | 14.06.2012 |
| 6.3.1w3 | (Windows XP, Vista, & 7) | 23.04.2012 |
| 6.2.0w5 | (Windows XP, Vista, & 7) | 25.01.2012 |
| 5.2.5-5a | (Windows XP, Vista, & 7) | 27.09.2011 |
| 6.1.7-3 | (Windows XP, Vista, & 7) | 13.09.2011 |
| 5.2.4-6 | (Windows XP, Vista, & 7) | 15.02.2011 |
| 6.1.6-7 | (Windows XP, Vista, & 7) | 22.11.2010 |
| 5.2.3-4 | (Windows XP, Vista, & 7) | 15.07.2010 |
| 5.2.1-6a | (Windows XP, Vista, & 7) | 15.03.2010 |
| 6.1.5-3a | (Windows XP, Vista, & 7) | 15.03.2010 |
| 6.1.4-3 | (Windows XP, Vista, & 7) | 17.02.2010 |
| 6.1.3-5 | (Windows XP, Vista, & 7) | 21.01.2010 |
| 6.1.2-5 | (Windows XP, Vista & 7) | 25.11.2009 |
| 5.2.0-7a | (Windows XP, Vista, & 7) | 25.09.2009 |
| 5.1.1-1 | (Windows XP & Vista) | 09.04.2009 |
| 6.1.1-3 | (Windows XP & Vista) | 09.04.2009 |
| 6.1.0-6 | (Windows XP & Vista) | 15.12.2008 |
| 5.1.0-4 | (Windows XP & Vista) | 15.12.2008 |
| 5.08-6 | (Windows 2000, XP, & Vista) | 05.05.2008 |
| 5.05-7 | (Windows 2000, XP, & Vista) | 10.09.2007 |
| 6.05-7 | (Windows 2000, XP, & Vista) | 10.09.2007 |
| 5.03-3g | (Windows 2000, XP, & Vista) | 26.07.2007 |
| 4.97-6 | (Windows 2000 & XP) | 12.09.2006 |
| 4.95-6 | (Windows 98SE, ME, 2000 & XP) | 19.04.2006 |
| 4.93-3 | (Windows 2000 & XP) | 07.10.2005 |
| 4.78-6 | (Windows 2000 & XP) | 11.11.2004 |