Wacom driver ADB and OSX

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ibeniibeni
Posted:
in macOS edited January 2014
Hi

Sorry if this is alrready discussed earlier.

I'm one of those unlucky bastards who own an old (but nice) ADB Wacom tablet. It doesn't support OSX.



In the US, Wacom has an USB convert offer on there support page:



Alternative solutions for owners of large tablets

Most users that use serial tablets have one of the two larger tablet sizes (Intuos and Intuos2 12x12 & 12x18). For these tablets, Wacom offers the possibility to convert the tablet from the serial interface to a USB interface for $164 plus shipping. Wacom will replace the interface board and other relevant components and return the tablet with a USB connection to the owner. Please call Wacom Tech Support at 1-360-896-9833 x4 for further details on this service. This offers Intuos 12x12 & 12x18 users an inexpensive upgrade path to the full reliability and functionality of an USB tablet. Unfortunately, this option is not available for the other tablet sizes because their interface components are integrated with the rest of the tablet onto a single board.



I don't find this possibility in europe.

Now what I would like to know, would it be possible for an average share or freeware developer to create a driver for the ADB tablet for OSX ?

Or is only Wacom the company who could do it ?



thanks

ben

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 2
    kedakeda Posts: 722member
    The only useful thing I can contribut is to say that I have read ADB>USB convertors will not work w/Intuous Tablets and OSX.



    Now to the useless...Fvck Wacom!! They have a monoploy on the tablet market, and act like it! When my 1.5 yr old, $500 9x12 Intuous was rendered useless by OSX, their only response was to tell me to 'upgrade my HW.' They have blamed Apple for all of their problems, but go to their site. The last non-beta driver release was in the spring. Their answer to 10.2 is more beta drivers.



    WTF!! If there was a company that offered half the functionality of Wacom, Id support them in a heart beat.



    WACOM claims that they can't support ADB (even w/adapters) because of bandwidth & technical issues, but they find a way to support the two largest tablets they sell. Why? Money!



    They know that the owners of these super high dollar tablets will be very reluctant to replace them. But, they take the 'smaller' Intuous tablets for granted. Am I pissed? Hell yeah! They are blatently lying to their customers in an attempt to force them to make duplicate purchases.



    Sorry iBeni, I didn't mean to highjack your thread, but the mention of WACOM gets me going.
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  • Reply 2 of 2
    dwsdws Posts: 108member
    First off, I'm sorry that the old ADB tablets are not (and never will be) supported in OS X. Wacom is very clear about this. It is a technical issue that cannot be overcome. Dismissing the bandwidth issue with ADB doesn't make it go away!



    Having said that, the latest driver from Wacom (Sep 3, 2002) is incredible. It solves a lot of the little bugs that had existed. It even includes a very nice Ink compatibility function (Ink sure works nice - too bad I can't think of a good use for it ). Frankly, I could care less whether or not Wacom calls a driver a beta or not. If it works wonderfully, then I'm happy. It does (for what I tell it to do), so I'm thrilled.



    I suppose that I can understand Keda's anger, but I have to say that I have incredible success working with my tablet and am pleased with the slow and steady approach to driver updates that Wacom has established. Input devices in OS X are hard! Try to give Wacom a little slack.
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