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.

[karmoffel]

@R+5 eredeti hozzászólása:

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?

yes I did. the hub has no influence on the accuracy of the tracking. I tried the tablet with a usb-c videocable, without the hub ... same thing. but I got it working now.

[gpj252]

Did anyone get the screen to output on the kamvas 13? I am getting really frustrated here, tried everything

[Slinky]

gpj252 eredeti hozzászólása:

Did anyone get the screen to output on the kamvas 13? I am getting really frustrated here, tried everything

You need to turn off the steam decks built in screen, in the display settings. 'Click' "Application Launcher" and head to "Display Settings" you will see your tablet and the deck screen. UnCheck primary on the deck screen

[d[-_-]b]

ive used a huion kamvas 13, the only thing i had to do was install the program to change what the buttons do.
it does have the touch input area issue but its easily solved by just making the tablet the primary screen

[MuchoArcade]

#/DragonKeeper eredeti hozzászólása:

ive used a huion kamvas 13, the only thing i had to do was install the program to change what the buttons do.
it does have the touch input area issue but its easily solved by just making the tablet the primary screen

hey how do i install the drivers it tells me to extract it and then more files come out. lmk thanks!

[d[-_-]b]

TheEnhancer eredeti hozzászólása:

#/DragonKeeper eredeti hozzászólása:

ive used a huion kamvas 13, the only thing i had to do was install the program to change what the buttons do.
it does have the touch input area issue but its easily solved by just making the tablet the primary screen

hey how do i install the drivers it tells me to extract it and then more files come out. lmk thanks!

install from AUR not from huion, it does work without this iirc . shows as a display and basic inputs

[MuchoArcade]

#/DragonKeeper eredeti hozzászólása:

TheEnhancer eredeti hozzászólása:

hey how do i install the drivers it tells me to extract it and then more files come out. lmk thanks!

install from AUR not from huion, it does work without this iirc . shows as a display and basic inputs

like the command console right? i found this video tutorial on how to install deb files without using deb is this the best way to do it? lmk im still new to arch and for the most part linux
https://youtu.be/n1dMMsJzac4

also it does't get in the way of the decks preinstalled touch screen software at all or does anyone know how to turn it off while i'm using the tablet?

[d[-_-]b]

TheEnhancer eredeti hozzászólása:

#/DragonKeeper eredeti hozzászólása:

install from AUR not from huion, it does work without this iirc . shows as a display and basic inputs

like the command console right? i found this video tutorial on how to install deb files without using deb is this the best way to do it? lmk im still new to arch and for the most part linux
https://youtu.be/n1dMMsJzac4

also it does't get in the way of the decks preinstalled touch screen software at all or does anyone know how to turn it off while i'm using the tablet?

Use the AUR repo there is a package there.
dont install packages for other distros it will break things. deb files are for debian not arch

the device should just work without this software if youre confused on how to do this.
make the tablet the primary screen and it touch will work.

[iMakeKomics]

Hi I'm new to all of this and the steam deck is my only option when it comes to a computer of any kind, I just got the kamvas 13 and I was hoping if anyone could help me figure out how to install the stuff and make it work, I'm kinda dumb so please bare with me.

[MuchoArcade]

iMakeKomics eredeti hozzászólása:

Hi I'm new to all of this and the steam deck is my only option when it comes to a computer of any kind, I just got the kamvas 13 and I was hoping if anyone could help me figure out how to install the stuff and make it work, I'm kinda dumb so please bare with me.

most I my self got it working by making the huion tablet the main and only scream during use and works fairly normal as far as recalibrating the pen if you don't like the current calibration I don't know and sorry for the late reply life has been horrible lately.

[MuchoArcade]

d-_-b eredeti hozzászólása:

TheEnhancer eredeti hozzászólása:

like the command console right? i found this video tutorial on how to install deb files without using deb is this the best way to do it? lmk im still new to arch and for the most part linux
https://youtu.be/n1dMMsJzac4

also it does't get in the way of the decks preinstalled touch screen software at all or does anyone know how to turn it off while i'm using the tablet?

Use the AUR repo there is a package there.
dont install packages for other distros it will break things. deb files are for debian not arch

the device should just work without this software if youre confused on how to do this.
make the tablet the primary screen and it touch will work.

do you remember the name of the package? yea sorry I had not idea what AUR(Arch user repository) was at the time. you said the package was only able to you let you assign commands to the buttons on the tablet but not recalibrate the pen right? also did you say you did this on the steamdeck or on a linux pc?

[d[-_-]b]

MuchoArcade eredeti hozzászólása:

d-_-b eredeti hozzászólása:

Use the AUR repo there is a package there.
dont install packages for other distros it will break things. deb files are for debian not arch

the device should just work without this software if youre confused on how to do this.
make the tablet the primary screen and it touch will work.

do you remember the name of the package? yea sorry I had not idea what AUR(Arch user repository) was at the time. you said the package was only able to you let you assign commands to the buttons on the tablet but not recalibrate the pen right? also did you say you did this on the steamdeck or on a linux pc?

Not used this in a while as had no need for button assignment so I'm not sure off top of my head what I used, but it should be easy to Google available packages for this tablet though.
Also this should have opentabletdriver support now, which I don't think it did when this thread opened... so that would probably be worth a go instead.

The Steamdeck is a Linux pc.

[MuchoArcade]

d-_-b eredeti hozzászólása:

MuchoArcade eredeti hozzászólása:

do you remember the name of the package? yea sorry I had not idea what AUR(Arch user repository) was at the time. you said the package was only able to you let you assign commands to the buttons on the tablet but not recalibrate the pen right? also did you say you did this on the steamdeck or on a linux pc?

Not used this in a while as had no need for button assignment so I'm not sure off top of my head what I used, but it should be easy to Google available packages for this tablet though.
Also this should have opentabletdriver support now, which I don't think it did when this thread opened... so that would probably be worth a go instead.

The Steamdeck is a Linux pc.

hey was just watchmaking a video on how to install Aur packages is it recommend to install the yay package before i install the huion packages?

[@R+5]

MuchoArcade eredeti hozzászólása:

hey was just watchmaking a video on how to install Aur packages is it recommend to install the yay package before i install the huion packages?

i think you are confusing a bit some things.

AUR is a "repo" (repository; the AUR = "Arch User Repository") for packages and programs compiled and maintained by other users, to be used in arch distros.

many work well, but some may not work if whoever maintains it is not longer active or something else that lead the program to remain broken (until other users can take over and fix whichever dependencies issues may arise).

"yay" is a package manager, and makes easy to install stuff you can find in the AUR. so, yes, its convenient to install that program if you want to install one or more programs from AUR, but is not obligatory since there are other ways (and package managers; ie "pacman" is the basic one, "pre-included" in most arch based distros) to also install stuff from the AUR.

i recommend you to check guides to manage and install stuff specifically for steam deck, since you may need to do extra steps to make things work (steam os v3 tries to keep things tidy and makes a bit difficult to normal users to modify a few things, to decrease the likelihood of them breaking the os, and then needed to reinstall from scratch).

anyway, i found this script that helps to install yay in steam deck. you could try running it, or just copy pasting the commands manually in a terminal; and then you could try to use pacman to install it from source ("sudo pacman -S yay") rather than building it

https://gist.github.com/matheusfaustino/dce9f23a60475ad62a73aadb0fd3d1d8

# Allow to write over file system (steam os block)
sudo steamos-readonly disable

# Ensure we have the keys updated
sudo pacman-key --init
sudo pacman-key --populate archlinux
sudo pacman-key --populate holo
sudo pacman -S glibc linux-api-headers

# Install git and base-devel dependencies
sudo pacman -S --needed git base-devel
# Ensure that dependencies get installed correctly (this may be not necessary in some cases)
sudo pacman -S git base-devel
# When prompted, select all options

#previous step are fro the script, then try "sudo pacman -S yay"
sudo pacman -S yay

# Disable again the write over file system
sudo steamos-readonly disable

just consider something else may prevent that from working, and that before trying to install this, you should probably update your system and check everything else is updated too

heres another script that maybe works better

https://github.com/XimoLB/yay_installer

update: this one mentions another method to disable "read only mode"

https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/comments/t8al0i/install_arch_packages_on_your_steam_deck/