RE: [XFree86] Interactive Whiteboard...
When the Activboard is used on Windows does it act like a mouse or does a dedicated application have to be run to use it. It sounds to me like you will need to write your own driver for this. A good place to start is the Elographics touch screen driver as it will use absolute coordinates like I presume the Activboard does. You will need to delve into the serial protocol between the Activboard and the PC. You may have to nag them for them to give it to you. Kevin email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Tel: +44 (0)118 971 5032 -Original Message- From: Grant Sewell [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: 20 January 2005 23:35 To: xfree86@XFree86.Org Subject: [XFree86] Interactive Whiteboard... Hi all. I teach at a local college where we have a fair number of interactive whiteboards (touch sensitive, or pen-activated boards onto which the screen is projected). The particular model I am interested in is the Promethean Activboard. I use a laptop running Debian Sid with XFree 4.3.0.1. I have the Graphics side of things setup very nicely thank-you, but I would like to get the interactive pen running as a pointing device so that I can leave the laptop in the corner of the room and not have to revisit it every couple of seconds. The whiteboard connects to the computer via a standard (I presume, RS232) serial port (9pin variety). I have tried every combination of driver/protocol that I could imagine for serial mice, and I have tried using both the laptop's own serial port and a USB-serial adaptor, but nothing has worked so far. Has anyone had any success using these whiteboards with X? I have contacted the manufacturer but they didn't seem particularly interested in my request for assistance (now there's a surprise). Thanks. Grant. -- Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity. ___ XFree86 mailing list XFree86@XFree86.Org http://XFree86.Org/mailman/listinfo/xfree86 ___ XFree86 mailing list XFree86@XFree86.Org http://XFree86.Org/mailman/listinfo/xfree86
Re: [XFree86] Interactive Whiteboard...
On Fri, 21 Jan 2005 08:36:28 - Benstead, Kevin wrote: When the Activboard is used on Windows does it act like a mouse or does a dedicated application have to be run to use it. Nail on the head with the former. It acts as a pointing device... it would potentially be easier if it required their application, but unfortunately it doesn't. It sounds to me like you will need to write your own driver for this. A good place to start is the Elographics touch screen driver as it will use absolute coordinates like I presume the Activboard does. I was hoping you wouldn't say that. I'm no hacker by anyone's standards. But, I'll go get the X sources and have a peek, see what I can make of it. You will need to delve into the serial protocol between the Activboard and the PC. You may have to nag them for them to give it to you. Okey dokey. I'm not expecting miracles on this. Although, it would seem that the company are more proud of their software that let's you annotate over the top of a displayed screen, so perhaps they won't be guarding their serial protocols with high enthusiasm. We'll see. Thanks. Grant. ___ XFree86 mailing list XFree86@XFree86.Org http://XFree86.Org/mailman/listinfo/xfree86
RE: [XFree86] Interactive Whiteboard...
I'm no hacker either. It's just that we use touchscreens on a number of our products so I've played with various drivers with varying degrees of success. A google search on Interactive Whiteboards+Linux revealed that several other White board manufacturers support Linux. http://www.smarttech.com/company/mediacenter/press/releases/linux.asp is an example. Try beating Promethean over the head with this fact. With the ever increasing use on Linux in schools and universities it I would think that they will be getting more and more requests for this. If they think they are going to loose sales by not supporting Linux it might spur them into action. Kevin email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Tel: +44 (0)118 971 5032 -Original Message- From: Grant Sewell [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: 21 January 2005 08:53 To: xfree86@XFree86.Org Subject: Re: [XFree86] Interactive Whiteboard... On Fri, 21 Jan 2005 08:36:28 - Benstead, Kevin wrote: When the Activboard is used on Windows does it act like a mouse or does a dedicated application have to be run to use it. Nail on the head with the former. It acts as a pointing device... it would potentially be easier if it required their application, but unfortunately it doesn't. It sounds to me like you will need to write your own driver for this. A good place to start is the Elographics touch screen driver as it will use absolute coordinates like I presume the Activboard does. I was hoping you wouldn't say that. I'm no hacker by anyone's standards. But, I'll go get the X sources and have a peek, see what I can make of it. You will need to delve into the serial protocol between the Activboard and the PC. You may have to nag them for them to give it to you. Okey dokey. I'm not expecting miracles on this. Although, it would seem that the company are more proud of their software that let's you annotate over the top of a displayed screen, so perhaps they won't be guarding their serial protocols with high enthusiasm. We'll see. Thanks. Grant. ___ XFree86 mailing list XFree86@XFree86.Org http://XFree86.Org/mailman/listinfo/xfree86 ___ XFree86 mailing list XFree86@XFree86.Org http://XFree86.Org/mailman/listinfo/xfree86
