Huion Kamvas/Tablet-Display compatibility and performance with the Steam Deck

[◢ k r i s ◤]

Now that users here have finally had the chance to start handling the Steam Deck, I want to present this prompt. Huion tablets have always kinda-sorta worked in Linux unofficially. They say they're working on official, Linux drivers - but they've been saying that for a while and most Linux users get-by with just the general tablet drivers available. Huion's newer tablets also feature USB-C to USB-C connections that work without the need for a USB-C hub/Dock with an HDMI port.

In theory, I would expect a Huion Kamvas display to connect to Steam Deck via USB-C and work after setting up evdev or some other. Alas, I'm queued After Q2 and won't be able to test this for myself for a while and hoping somebody more fortunate may be able to start testing this and give some feedback or insight. Given the system specs, I had considered the Steam Deck to be enough of a powerhouse for some decent Blender sculpting and modeling or even just digital painting in Krita should I ever decide to attach it to a tablet-display.

Again, I'm interested in feedback from anyone who has actually tried running Huion or some other tablet-displays with their Deck. I know it should be possible, but I want to know what kind of actual troubleshooting someone may have proceeded through already to achieve this (given the uniqueness of SteamOS3 and lack of official-drivers) and if pressure sensitivity and tilt and other tablet-stylus features seem to function correctly if so.

We're quite fortunate to have Blender and Krita on Steam already too for added accessibility. I can't be the only one thinking of using the Deck for creative potential, given how many posts I've read already suggest using the Deck as a desktop-substitute.

[thoughtsofspeaking]

You talking about the drawing tablet? I mean, I guess that could be a thing. I have one. I’ll test later.

[kodkuce]

i am too interested in this? using huion 13/16 kamvas would be top :)

[Pluffy]

I'm using a Huion Kamvas Pro 13(GT-133) with an Anker dock(555 model) and it doesn't seem like it works with the Steam Deck.

The screen remain blanks. After installing the official Huion driver for Linux, the Huion software sees the tablet, if I use the pen I can see the cursor moving on the Steam Deck screen, but the screen of the tablet remains blank.

I've tried the dock with a TV and my computer monitor and it works. The Huion tablet also works under Manjaro Linux on my desktop. I'm assuming there's a compatibility issue with the SteamDeck and the Huion tablet.

If anyone else manages to get this to work, please let us know how.

[◢ k r i s ◤]

Originally posted by Pluffy:

I'm using a Huion Kamvas Pro 13(GT-133) with an Anker dock(555 model) and it doesn't seem like it works with the Steam Deck.

The screen remain blanks. After installing the official Huion driver for Linux, the Huion software sees the tablet, if I use the pen I can see the cursor moving on the Steam Deck screen, but the screen of the tablet remains blank.

I've tried the dock with a TV and my computer monitor and it works. The Huion tablet also works under Manjaro Linux on my desktop. I'm assuming there's a compatibility issue with the SteamDeck and the Huion tablet.

If anyone else manages to get this to work, please let us know how.

Thank you for the feedback - that's some valuable insight.

To clarify, that display uses the 3-in-1 cable with HDMI for display output, correct? Based on the Anker 555 dock, that would be my assumption, but I'd rather ask to be safe.

[Pluffy]

That is correct. One cable goes to the Huion tablet, and it splits into three. The HDMI and USB connects to the hub while the power connector directly to the wall.

[Pluffy]

I've installed Windows 10 on the Steam Deck today and I'm having the same issue as with SteamOS. The Huion software detects the tablet, but the monitor part of it says "no signal".

So, the problem isn't the operating system.

[karmoffel]

For anyone interested. I'm using a Huion Kamvas 16 2021 Model and it works with my Steam Deck out of the box in Desktop mode. The pen thinks both monitors are the active area though (steam deck display and huion display) and therefore there is no accurate tracking. If I'm only using the tablet as main monitor, it works without a problem.

Not sure how to install the drivers though, since I'm a linux noob. Maybe then I could set up the active area to only the tablet.

[derram]

Originally posted by karmoffel:

For anyone interested. I'm using a Huion Kamvas 16 2021 Model and it works with my Steam Deck out of the box in Desktop mode. The pen thinks both monitors are the active area though (steam deck display and huion display) and therefore there is no accurate tracking. If I'm only using the tablet as main monitor, it works without a problem.

Not sure how to install the drivers though, since I'm a linux noob. Maybe then I could set up the active area to only the tablet.

Touch the pen to the screen at least once so it moves the cursor and then open Konsole:

 xinput --list

Look for the listing for the pen, remember the ID number.

 xrandr 

Look for the listing of the tablet, Look at the start of the listing for the "name." Should be something along the lines of HDMI-A-0

 xinput map-to-output ID DISPLAY-NAME 

replace ID with the pen's ID number and DISPLAY-NAME with the tablet's identifier.

You can save that command in a file and name it dtab.sh, and then

chmod 755 dtab.sh 

Whenever you connect the tablet you would just run ./dtab.sh in Konsole without having to type it all up every time. There is a chance the pen ID number can change, so you might have to check the xinput list if it randomly doesn't work some day.

[karmoffel]

wow thanks for the help, although i can't do the xinput --list command. it gives me this message "bash: xinput: command not found". not sure if it has to do something with the read only access of the deck. did u try this on arch or directly on a steamdeck?

the command xrandr gives me 2 listings. eDP and DisplayPort-0. I assume the latter is the DISPLAY-NAME I wanna use.

if i could get it to work, that would be awesome.

Originally posted by derram:

Originally posted by karmoffel:

For anyone interested. I'm using a Huion Kamvas 16 2021 Model and it works with my Steam Deck out of the box in Desktop mode. The pen thinks both monitors are the active area though (steam deck display and huion display) and therefore there is no accurate tracking. If I'm only using the tablet as main monitor, it works without a problem.

Not sure how to install the drivers though, since I'm a linux noob. Maybe then I could set up the active area to only the tablet.

Touch the pen to the screen at least once so it moves the cursor and then open Konsole:

 xinput --list

Look for the listing for the pen, remember the ID number.

 xrandr 

Look for the listing of the tablet, Look at the start of the listing for the "name." Should be something along the lines of HDMI-A-0

 xinput map-to-output ID DISPLAY-NAME 

replace ID with the pen's ID number and DISPLAY-NAME with the tablet's identifier.

You can save that command in a file and name it dtab.sh, and then

chmod 755 dtab.sh 

Whenever you connect the tablet you would just run ./dtab.sh in Konsole without having to type it all up every time. There is a chance the pen ID number can change, so you might have to check the xinput list if it randomly doesn't work some day.

[derram]

Hmm, no didn't try it on the Deck, that's just the way I typically do it.

Not entirely sure what other route to take there.

[derram]

Well, this makes it a lil more complicated and means you're gonna have to enable write to the OS and reinstall xinput when there is an OS update, but it should get the tablet set up.

In Konsole:

If you haven't set a password yet you'll need to run passwd first, otherwise skip that bit:

passwd 
sudo steamos-readonly disable
sudo pacman -S xorg-xinput 

You can re-enable the readonly flag if you want.

I checked both desktop and game modes and there doesn't seem to be any negative effects, guessing Valve just left it out because they want people to handle everything with SteamInput.

[karmoffel]

:: Proceed with installation? [Y/n] Y
warning: no /var/cache/pacman/pkg/ cache exists, creating...
:: Retrieving packages...
xorg-xinput-1.6.... 28.1 KiB 23.5 KiB/s 00:01 [##############] 100%
(1/1) checking keys in keyring [##############] 100%
warning: Public keyring not found; have you run 'pacman-key --init'?
downloading required keys...
error: keyring is not writable
error: required key missing from keyring
error: failed to commit transaction (could not find or read file)
Errors occurred, no packages were upgraded.

not sure what to do though. I did the disable readonly command. it's no biggie as I use my mouse for the pixelart I do most of the time.

Originally posted by derram:

Well, this makes it a lil more complicated and means you're gonna have to enable write to the OS and reinstall xinput when there is an OS update, but it should get the tablet set up.

In Konsole:

If you haven't set a password yet you'll need to run passwd first, otherwise skip that bit:

passwd 
sudo steamos-readonly disable
sudo pacman -S xorg-xinput 

You can re-enable the readonly flag if you want.

I checked both desktop and game modes and there doesn't seem to be any negative effects, guessing Valve just left it out because they want people to handle everything with SteamInput.

[derram]

Oh right, sorry. I forgot that pacman's keyring needs to be updated after that last OS update.

sudo pacman-key --init
sudo pacman -S archlinux-keyring 
sudo pacman-key --populate archlinux

[@R+5]

have you tried using the tablet without your dock?
maybe the deck has a compatibility issue with it and is unable to use the tablet through it?

[karmoffel]

Originally posted by derram:

Oh right, sorry. I forgot that pacman's keyring needs to be updated after that last OS update.

sudo pacman-key --init
sudo pacman -S archlinux-keyring 
sudo pacman-key --populate archlinux

dude! thank you. I only got around to test this today, managed to get it to work. the pentracking is working now, while the steam deck display is still on as secondary monitor.