Welcome to UPDD Solaris platform specific installation instructions and related notes.

UPDD version 4.1.10 now supports the Solaris operating system on x86 hardware. Initial tests have been conducted with version 10 update 8.

These notes should be followed to install the UPDD pointer device driver on Solaris 10 platforms:

Driver build history

Deliverables

The software is delivered within a compressed file called upddsolx86.tgz and is normally downloaded from a HTTP download link as sent in an email.

System Requirements

Installation

Notes

1. Install script
   In order to provide maximum flexibility to the system administrator the installation process is managed by a simple perl script. This script can be edited to set file locations, ownerships and so on to satisfy the requirements of the target system.
   
   
2. USB interface
   USB support is based around usblib-0.1 as supplied with Solaris. If missing it should be installed from the Solaris installation disk. There are a number of issues with this library, in particular it does not always recognise that devices have been disconnected; hence the PnP features of UPDD might not always work as expected. In particular an unplugged device might not be recognised as such. No guarantee can be given that this software will work with all hardware targets and devices as the compatibility of these with Solaris and usblib is outside of Touch-Base’s control; however it is expected that most USB controllers supported by UPDD should work.
   
   
3. Solaris service - xhost
   The install script provides an example installation strategy based around a Solaris service.
   This strategy uses the “xhost +” command to allow the service to interact with a desktop.
   In some cases this might be considered unsecure, if so a system administrator should adapt this script to use a strategy appropriate to the installation.
   The important considerations are:
• The process tbupddwu must be launched to provide the touch service
• This process requires root privileges to access the usb interface.
• If the system pointer (mouse) interface is required then the process must have access to open the display (localhost:0:0)
  
  
4. System libraries
   System libraries required by the driver and its utilities, such as libusb, libaudio, which are not installed by the driver should be installed using the Solaris installation package.

Procedures

To install the software unpack the supplied package to a working directory and run the script as root. E.g.

xhost +       see important ‘Solaris service - xhost’  installation note above

cd ~

mkdir updd

cd updd

cp <delivered package> .

gunzip upddsolx86.tgz

tar –xvf upddsolx86.tar

sudo install_updd_sol.pl  

or depending on system configuration you might need to run

sudo perl install_updd_sol.pl

The updd service is started automatically; there is no need to reboot.

Installed modules

This information is subject to change.

A number of package specific and optional links and files, such as help files will be included. These will be in /opt/tbupddso or one of its child folders. These files are not documented here. The following other files are installed:

Uninstall

To uninstall the software execute the command

sudo /opt/tbupddso/uninstall_updd_sol.pl

(or sudo perl /opt/tbupddso/uninstall_updd_sol.pl)

Notes:

1. This script assumes that the default installation script was used.
2. This removes all installed software including installed shared libraries.

Using the supported programs

Driver

The main driver process (tbupddwu) is installed and executed as a Solaris service. For full information about such services please consult the Solaris documentation. The following useful commands are noted here:

To stop the service: sudo svcadm disable tbupdd

To start the service: sudo svcadm enable tbupdd

To list information about the service: svcs –l tbupdd

Utilities

The following support programs are located in /opt/tbupddso

There are no special requirements to run these programs. They can simply be launched from a terminal.

E.g. to run the UPDD Console to adjust settings

                cd /opt/tbupddso

                dcu

or             /opt/tbupddso/dcu

will show the Console dialog: (Note: In the current release some unsupported options are shown in the console.)

All the programs except dcu and tbutils are also available via appropriate options in the Console program.

A user is free to create a desktop shortcut to any of these utilities. As the method to do this depends on the desktop manager in use, please refer to the help for your desktop manager.

Calibration

Calibration is a procedure used to align the pointer device with the graphically display area or desktop segment. When using the pointer device the mouse cursor should normally position itself under the stylus when it is in contact with the pointer device. If this is not the case then calibration will be required.

Current Limitations

UPDD was originally developed for Windows and has since been ported to other OS. When porting to other OS most key updd functionality is supported except where the functionality is OS specific or it is noted in the exclusions below.

The driver uses two background daemon processes, named tbdaemon and aidaemon, to implement some utility functionality. Options implemented by tbdaemon are not supported as there are no plans use tbdaemon in systems other than Windows desktop. Where appropriate individual features will be migrated to aidaemon (which is multi–platform ready). Aidaemon is NOT included in the current Solaris build. Features covered by aidaemon / tbdaemon are documented here, but includes features such as visual toolbars, event selector, toolbar actions, rotate, resolution monitoring and sound.

Mouse Emulation

This driver does not currently perform desktop mouse emulation and to date has been used by applications using the UPDD API to receive touch data.  Mouse emulation will be supported in the next release.

Exclusions

These are the key functions not currently ported to the Solaris environment

• No support for serial or PS/2 devices (Only USB interface is supported).
• Right click not currently supported
• Interactive touch – visual notification of right click count down
• Dynamic detection of system language.
• Anchor mouse function (daemon process)
• Multi-monitor support untested
• No sound on touch or during calibration (daemon process)
• Light pen calibration (the white lines on black mode)
• Toolbar actions (daemon process)

Screen shot

With the software correctly installed you should be able to run up the various UPDD utility programs to perform the required functions. In this example the UPDD Console and test program are shown on the desktop.  The test program has been placed into Direct mode as this mode receives data directly via the API.

Contact

For further information or technical assistance please email the technical support team at technical@touch-base.com