Grab and Drag extension for Firefox

A month ago I read about a firefox extension that would help screen panning for touchscreen users.

Since touchscreen in my u810 was not working, I had to first make the touchscreen work, thus I programmed the fujitsu_usb_driver.

So that, last week I installed this extension, which can be found here.

I've been using it during all this last week, and I can tell you that it works very well, it's reliable, and I find it very useful. So that, I recommend you to try it if you use a touchscreen tablet computer.

I find it so useful that I even use it when using an external mouse!

Don't hesitate to go to its website and take a look at the screenshoots.

P.D.- I have not any relationship with the developer(s) whatsoever, just talking as a normal user for this plugin...

Linux on a Fujitsu U810, P1620 - Touchscreen VII

New update of the touchscreen driver package: the driver was not working ok when the screen was rotated.

I think that now, accuracy is good in all screen orientations.

Follow the instructions in this earlier post for download and installation.

Linux on a Fujitsu U810, P1620 - Touchscreen VI

Update 2009.05.19: new version available here!!

Following the feedback from a user complaining about the module not compiling under linux kernel 2.6.30, I'm releasing this new version, 0.3.3, which includes the following improvements:

- compiles under 2.6.30
- installation does not override previous calibration values, if exist
- more robust /etc/rc.local, to make sure the module is loaded before usbhid

If you have it already working, you can forget about this update; this update is for people having trouble with installation or compilation, but does not provide any new functionality.

Linux on a Fujitsu U810, P1620 - Touchscreen V

Update 2009.05.19: new version available here!!


Update 2009.05.16: updated the link to the package with the newer version. See this post for details.


As pointed by one user, when doing screen rotation pen accuracy was not good.

I have reviewed the code and come up with a new version, where I think coordinates calculation is OK now (I think the previous code was a leftover for when I had my screen not well calibrated ...)

So, download the new package and follow the instructions detailed in this previous post.

Please, report your feedback on this new version and calibration values !!

Linux on a Fujitsu U810 - Skype

For installing skype, here's what I did:

1. setup the medibuntu repository where skype package is located:
following these instructions, I did, for jaunty,

sudo wget http://www.medibuntu.org/sources.list.d/jaunty.list --output-document=/etc/apt/sources.list.d/medibuntu.list

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install medibuntu-keyring && sudo apt-get update

2. open synaptic package manager, and install skype (version 2.0.0.72 at the time of this writing)

3. for sound configuration, I opened the Volume Control right-clicking on the volume control icon, and I was playing with it.

Skype sound configuration is set as follows:




Skype works ok, but cpu usage is very high during a simple voice conversation.

I always use skype with a headphones/mic connected, never with the built-in mic or speaker, so I don't know yet whether or not the integrated mic works ok.

Linux on a Fujitsu U810, P1620 - Touchscreen IV

Update 2010.10.18: new version available here!!


Update 2010.07.20: new version available here!!


Update 2009.07.15: new version available here!!


Update 2009.05.19: new version available here!!


Update 2009.05.14: there's a new version of the code in this post. I have also updated the link in this post.

Uhm.. good news for everyone listening ... (is there anyone?)

I finally managed to create a simple enough method for using and calibrating the touchscreen on a Fujitsu u810 (aka u1010), u820 (aka u2010) or p1620.

I think the steps are simple and easy.

To install, download this package (update: latest version here, 0.3.2, 0.3.3, 0.3.4, 0.3.5, 0.3.8), uncompress it into a temporary directory, and follow the instructions included in the README file, which I copy here:

Fujitsu usb touchscreen kernel module and utilities v0.3.8
by zmiq2 ,
updated for Ubuntu maverick (10.10) by nerd65536 , Mon, 18 Oct 2010 18:19:33 +0200,


The goal of this project is to produce a useful linux kernel and utilities to use the
fujitsu usb touchscreen included in tablet laptops like the U810 (aka u1010, u820),
the P1620 and the T1010.

This driver has been tested and proved working on a Fujitsu U810 - 32bit, on a
Fujitsu P1620 - 64bit and on a Fujitsu T1010 - IA64bit.

For other authorship information, see copyright.



INSTALLATION

Installation steps detailed here are based on ubuntu linux distributioni 10.10. It might
be different in your system, but they certainly are very easy to adapt to any other
distribution.

Drop me an email if you have trouble installing the package.

0 set your computer BIOS to use the touchscreen in 'tablet' mode
this is the mode also used by windows, and provides very sharp touchscreen accuracy

1 download the package file to any directory

$ mkdir fujitsu_touchscreen_driver
$ cd fujitsu_touchscreen_driver
$ wget http://

2 uncompress the package
$ tar zxvf fujitsu-usb-touchscreen-0.3.8.tar.gz
$ cd fujitsu-usb-touchscreen-0.3.8

3 install the software
$ make
$ sudo make install
(at this last step you'll be asked for your password to install certain software as root user)

4 setup a startup application for automatic touchscreen rotation
ubuntu hardy (8.04)
once logged into gnome, go to System -> Preferences -> Sessions, and go to the 'Startup Programs' tab, and Add to automatically start /usr/bin/fujitsu_touchscreen_rotate.py at login

ubuntu jaunty (9.04), ubuntu karmic (10.04), ubuntu maverick (10.10)
once logged into gnome, go to System -> Preferences -> Startup Applications. Click Add.
under "Command:", type: "/usr/bin/fujitsu_touchscreen_rotate.py". Click OK.
on your next login, the rotation service will be active.

And you are done!!!

NOTE: you'll need to repeat step 3 every time you upgrade your linux kernel to a new version.



TOUCHSCREEN CALIBRATION

If you feel that the touchscreen is not accurately calibrated, i.e. when tapping the screen,
the cursor appears in a different spot, run the provided calibration tool.

Calibration must be done when screen is in normal orientation; calibration done in this mode
will make the touchscreen work in all orientations; do not calibrate the screen while rotated!


Open a terminal and type:

$ fujitsu_touchscreen_calibration.py


The terminal will start the calibration software. With the laptop stylus, click
several times on each of the four corners of the viewable screen, not the corners of the
hardware screen. When you see that the line "last read" doesn't change after clicking
on the corners, just press S to save the settings and quit.

While in the calibration tool, you can press R to reset current calibration procedure,
or press Q to quit without applying any changes.

After calibration you can see your calibration values by running the following command in
a terminal window:

$ dmesg | grep fujitsu_usb_touchscreen | grep loaded

Please report your computer model and calibration values at spareinfo.blogspot.com to
share with other users.



OTHER SETUP - SCREEN ROTATION

In order to have the touchscreen automatically rotate when rotating the screen, I
suggest you also install the fjbtndrv driver package from the ppa.launchpad.net. With
this package, when pressing the rotate-screen hardware button in the screen bezel in a
U810, the display will rotate and the touchscreen will act accordingly.

$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:khnz/ppa
$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get install fjbtndrv



OTHER SETUP - RIGHT CLICK ON LONG PRESS

In order to have a long-press act as a right-click, configure gnome assistive
technologies to do so:

1 Enable Assistive Technologies
ubuntu hardy (8.04)
in gnome, go to System -> Preferences -> Assistive Technologies and select the
'Enable assistive technologies' check

ubuntu jaunty (9.04) through ubuntu maverick (10.10)
in gnome, go to System -> Preferences -> Assistive Technologies and select the
'Mouse Accesibility' option to get into the details

2 Enable right click
ubuntu hardy (8.04), ubuntu jaunty (9.04) through ubuntu maverick (10.10)
in gnome, go to System -> Preferences -> Mouse, then go to Accessibility tab, and
select the 'Trigger secondary click by holding down the primary button' option

Linux on a Fujitsu U810 - Gnome Phone Manager Issues

Recently I set gnome-phone-manager to automatically start after logging into gnome.

It seems to me this utility (to be able to send / receive sms from the computer using a bluetooth enabled phone) is not ready for production as:

- when started, if the phone was not ready, after activating bluetooth in the phone it would not connect. I had to stop the application and restart it again, with the phone ready, to be able to connect the computer with the phone.

even this 'reconnect' functionality is built-in, it clearly doesn't work as it should

- it was interfering in gnome-power-manager, thus my 'suspend when lid is closed' setting and the gnome brightness applet were not working as gnome-power-manager was crashing. i thought that to be realted with the wifi driver, but I was wrong.

So, my decision now is to stop using gnome-phone-manager and look for an alternative to easily be able to text-message with the computer using my bluetooth enabled phone and u810!

Linux on a Fujitsu U810 - External Monitor III

Good news !!

As of today, I have found the way to have the external monitor work out-of-the-box.

After posting a bug report to the ubuntu team complaining for not updating the xorg-xserver-driver-intel package with fixes submitted for more than 1 month, developers said that an updated driver can be found in another repository!!

After configuring the new repository, my ubuntu installed the new driver which makes external-monitor work out-of-the-box!!

Here are the steps I followed to install packages from the ppa X Updates repository:

1. setup the sources
how to: https://help.ubuntu.com/8.04/add-applications/C/extra-repositories-adding.html
source added: deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntu-x-swat/x-updates/ubuntu jaunty main

detailed instructions:
System -> Administration -> Software Sources
[tab] Third-Party Software -> Add
enter deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntu-x-swat/x-updates/ubuntu jaunty main

[tab] Authentication -> Import Key File
download the file here, save it, and select it when pressing the Import Key File button

Then close the application window; ubuntu it will then automatically reload all package updates; if it doesn't, don't worry, follow to next step.



2. install updated driver

detailed instructions:
System -> Administration -> Update manager
(if necessary, press the 'Check' button to refresh what packages need to be upgraded.

I was asked to 'Run a partial upgrade', which of course I accepted.


3. reboot

And external monitor worked without any tweaks!

Now I can have the external monitor without having to recompiled and so so on every kernel upgrade, great!


Some info: my xorg.conf file, just in case anyone needs it:

# xorg.conf (X.Org X Window System server configuration file)
#
# This file was generated by dexconf, the Debian X Configuration tool, using
# values from the debconf database.
#
# Edit this file with caution, and see the xorg.conf manual page.
# (Type "man xorg.conf" at the shell prompt.)
#
# This file is automatically updated on xserver-xorg package upgrades *only*
# if it has not been modified since the last upgrade of the xserver-xorg
# package.
#
# Note that some configuration settings that could be done previously
# in this file, now are automatically configured by the server and settings
# here are ignored.
#
# If you have edited this file but would like it to be automatically updated
# again, run the following command:
# sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg

Section "Device"
Identifier "Configured Video Device"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Configured Monitor"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Monitor "Configured Monitor"
Device "Configured Video Device"

SubSection "Display"
Virtual 2048 2048
EndSubSection
EndSection