ThinkPad X61 tablet: stylus works under Fedora 24 but not 42

t580 (touch)display

D. Hugh Redelmeier

25 Sep 2025 25 Sep '25

10:27 p.m.

I just tried my old X61t and found that the stylus didn't work under Fedora 42 (a "live" USB stick). It still works under Fedora 24. Any thoughts? Could this be due to the switch to Wayland?

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Stefan Monnier

27 Sep 27 Sep

2:04 p.m.

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I just tried my old X61t and found that the stylus didn't work under Fedora 42 (a "live" USB stick). It still works under Fedora 24. Any thoughts?

I'd boot Fedora and try and figure out *how* the stylus works there. e.g. which kernel/Xorg module handles it. Then try and see what happened to that driver in the mean time: is it still included in recent kernels/Xorg? Has it been moved to a separate package? Does the touchscreen work in Fedora 42 (when using something else than the stylus)?

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Could this be due to the switch to Wayland?

If it was handled at the Xorg level, that's possible. Have you tried to use Xorg instead of Wayland (don't know if Fedora still includes Xorg, but Debian definitely does, so in the worst case you may want to try booting a recent Debian). Stefan

Brian

28 Sep 28 Sep

6:09 p.m.

On Sat, 27 Sep 2025 10:04:29 -0400 Stefan Monnier via Linux-Thinkpad <linux-thinkpad(a)linux-thinkpad.org> wrote:

...

I just tried my old X61t and found that the stylus didn't work under Fedora 42 (a "live" USB stick). It still works under Fedora 24. Any thoughts?

I'd boot Fedora and try and figure out *how* the stylus works there. e.g. which kernel/Xorg module handles it. Then try and see what

I have one of these X61T, which I haven't touched in quite a few years. I'm pretty sure it used the "wacom" driver. I never tried running wayland on it. Web searches for "wacom wayland" turn up some interesting results.

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Does the touchscreen work in Fedora 42 (when using something else than the stylus)?

I'm not sure the X61T _ever_ worked with something other than the stylus. I don't remember ever trying finger touch on it. Hmm... this website (https://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/MultiTouch) says maybe.

D. Hugh Redelmeier

29 Sep 29 Sep

6:13 a.m.

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From: Stefan Monnier via Linux-Thinkpad <linux-thinkpad(a)linux-thinkpad.org>

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Could this be due to the switch to Wayland?

I've been told that some of the Fedora Spins run on X: xfce, qt, i3, cinnamon I might try xfce since it is light weight.

D. Hugh Redelmeier

6:08 a.m.

Thanks for the ideas.

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From: D. Hugh Redelmeier <hugh(a)mimosa.com>

<https://lenovo.fandom.com/wiki/X61_Tablet> is a (possibly unreliable) source. It says that there were three display options, one of which supported multitouch. But mine is the higher resolution one which doesn't support multitouch. It also says that the stylus is "Wacom Serial Tablet PC Stylus". ========================================= <https://github.com/linuxwacom/xf86-input-wacom/wiki/How-Wacom-tablets-work> Peter Hutterer last edited this in May, 2022. He is an authority. Under Tablet Types: Serial Tablets, it says: Note that as of version 1.0, the xf86-input-wacom driver no longer supports serial devices. ========================================= I've got an Xorg.0.log from Fedora 24. I don't really want to send it all on this list, so I will cherry-pick. It seems to say that the module wacom has version 0.32.0. I'm guessing that predates xf86-input-wacom version 1.0 where support was dropped. [ 24928.655] (II) config/udev: Adding input device Serial Wacom Tablet WACf004 (/dev/ttyS4) [ 24928.655] (**) Serial Wacom Tablet WACf004: Applying InputClass "Wacom serial class" [ 24928.655] (**) Serial Wacom Tablet WACf004: Applying InputClass "Wacom serial class identifiers" [ 24928.655] (II) LoadModule: "wacom" [ 24928.656] (II) Loading /usr/lib64/xorg/modules/input/wacom_drv.so [ 24928.657] (II) Module wacom: vendor="X.Org Foundation" [ 24928.657] compiled for 1.18.0, module version = 0.32.0 [ 24928.657] Module class: X.Org XInput Driver [ 24928.657] ABI class: X.Org XInput driver, version 22.1 [ 24928.657] (II) wacom: Driver for Wacom graphics tablets: PenPartner, Graphire, Graphire2 4x5, Graphire2 5x7, Graphire3 4x5, Graphire3 6x8, Graphire4 4x5, Graphire4 6x8, BambooFun 4x5, BambooFun 6x8, Bamboo1 Medium, Graphire4 6x8 BlueTooth, CTL-460, CTH-461, CTL-660, CTL-461/S, Bamboo Touch, CTH-460/K, CTH-461/S, CTH-661/S1, CTH-461/L, CTH-661/L, Intuos 4x5, Intuos 6x8, Intuos 9x12, Intuos 12x12, Intuos 12x18, PTU600, PL400, PL500, PL600, PL600SX, PL550, PL800, PL700, PL510, PL710, DTI520, DTF720, DTF720a, DTF521, DTU1931, DTU2231, DTU1631, Intuos2 4x5, Intuos2 6x8, Intuos2 9x12, Intuos2 12x12, Intuos2 12x18, Intuos2 6x8 , Volito, PenStation, Volito2 4x5, Volito2 2x3, PenPartner2, Bamboo, Bamboo1, Bamboo1 4x6, Bamboo1 5x8, Intuos3 4x5, Intuos3 6x8, Intuos3 9x12, Intuos3 12x12, Intuos3 12x19, Intuos3 6x11, Intuos3 4x6, Intuos4 4x6, Intuos4 6x9, Intuos4 8x13, Intuos4 12x19, Intuos4 WL USB Endpoint, Intuos4 WL Bluetooth Endpoint, Intuos5 touch S, Intuos5 touch M, Intuos5 touch L, Intuos5 S, Intuos5 M, Intuos Pro S, Intuos Pro M, Intuos Pro L, Cintiq 21UX, Cintiq 20WSX, Cintiq 12WX, Cintiq 21UX2, Cintiq 24HD, Cintiq 22HD, Cintiq 24HD touch (EMR digitizer), Cintiq 13HD, DTK2241, DTH2242, Cintiq 22HDT, TabletPC 0x90, TabletPC 0x93, TabletPC 0x97, TabletPC 0x9A, CapPlus 0x9F, TabletPC 0xE2, TabletPC 0xE3, TabletPC 0xE5, TabletPC 0xE6, TabletPC 0xEC, TabletPC 0xED, TabletPC 0xEF, TabletPC 0x100, TabletPC 0x101, TabletPC 0x10D, TabletPC 0x116, TabletPC 0x12C, TabletPC 0x4001, TabletPC 0x4004, TabletPC 0x5000, TabletPC 0x5002, usb:172f:0024, usb:172f:0025, usb:172f:0026, usb:172f:0027, usb:172f:0028, usb:172f:0030, usb:172f:0031, usb:172f:0032, usb:172f:0033, usb:172f:0034, usb:172f:0035, usb:172f:0036, usb:172f:0037, usb:172f:0038, usb:172f:0039, usb:172f:0051, usb:172f:0052, usb:172f:0053, usb:172f:0054, usb:172f:0055, usb:172f:0056, usb:172f:0057, usb:172f:0058, usb:172f:0500, usb:172f:0501, usb:172f:0502, usb:172f:0503, usb:1b96:0001, usb:17ef:6004 [ 24928.661] (EE) systemd-logind: failed to take device /dev/ttyS4: No such device [ 24928.661] (II) Using input driver 'wacom' for 'Serial Wacom Tablet WACf004' [ 24928.661] (**) Serial Wacom Tablet WACf004: always reports core events [ 24928.661] (**) Option "Device" "/dev/ttyS4" [ 24928.661] (EE) xf86OpenSerial: Cannot open device /dev/ttyS4 Permission denied. [ 24928.661] (EE) Serial Wacom Tablet WACf004: Error opening /dev/ttyS4 (Permission denied) [ 24928.661] (EE) PreInit returned 8 for "Serial Wacom Tablet WACf004" [ 24928.661] (II) UnloadModule: "wacom" [ 24928.662] (II) config/udev: Adding input device Wacom Serial Penabled Pen (/dev/input/event10) [ 24928.662] (**) Wacom Serial Penabled Pen: Applying InputClass "evdev tablet catchall" [ 24928.662] (**) Wacom Serial Penabled Pen: Applying InputClass "Wacom USB device class" [ 24928.662] (**) Wacom Serial Penabled Pen: Applying InputClass "Wacom PnP device class" [ 24928.662] (**) Wacom Serial Penabled Pen: Applying InputClass "Wacom class" [ 24928.663] (II) systemd-logind: got fd for /dev/input/event10 13:74 fd 21 paused 0 [ 24928.663] (II) Using input driver 'wacom' for 'Wacom Serial Penabled Pen' [ 24928.663] (**) Wacom Serial Penabled Pen: always reports core events [ 24928.663] (**) Option "Device" "/dev/input/event10" [ 24928.663] (II) Wacom Serial Penabled Pen: type not specified, assuming 'stylus'. [ 24928.663] (II) Wacom Serial Penabled Pen: other types will be automatically added. [ 24928.663] (--) Wacom Serial Penabled Pen stylus: using pressure threshold of 27 for button 1 [ 24928.663] (--) Wacom Serial Penabled Pen stylus: maxX=24576 maxY=18432 maxZ=255 resX=100000 resY=100000 tilt=disabled [ 24928.663] (II) Wacom Serial Penabled Pen stylus: hotplugging dependent devices. [ 24928.663] (EE) Wacom Serial Penabled Pen stylus: Invalid type 'cursor' for this device. [ 24928.663] (EE) Wacom Serial Penabled Pen stylus: Invalid type 'touch' for this device. [ 24928.663] (EE) Wacom Serial Penabled Pen stylus: Invalid type 'pad' for this device. [ 24928.663] (II) Wacom Serial Penabled Pen stylus: hotplugging completed. [ 24928.663] (**) Option "config_info" "udev:/sys/devices/pnp0/00:05/tty/ttyS4/serio2/input/input11/event10" [ 24928.663] (II) XINPUT: Adding extended input device "Wacom Serial Penabled Pen stylus" (type: STYLUS, id 12) [ 24928.664] (**) Wacom Serial Penabled Pen stylus: (accel) keeping acceleration scheme 1 [ 24928.664] (**) Wacom Serial Penabled Pen stylus: (accel) acceleration profile 0 [ 24928.664] (**) Wacom Serial Penabled Pen stylus: (accel) acceleration factor: 2.000 [ 24928.664] (**) Wacom Serial Penabled Pen stylus: (accel) acceleration threshold: 4 [ 24928.665] (II) config/udev: Adding input device Wacom Serial Penabled Pen (/dev/input/mouse1) [ 24928.665] (II) No input driver specified, ignoring this device. [ 24928.665] (II) This device may have been added with another device file. [ 24928.677] (**) Wacom Serial Penabled Pen eraser: Applying InputClass "evdev tablet catchall" [ 24928.679] (**) Wacom Serial Penabled Pen eraser: Applying InputClass "Wacom USB device class" [ 24928.679] (**) Wacom Serial Penabled Pen eraser: Applying InputClass "Wacom PnP device class" [ 24928.679] (**) Wacom Serial Penabled Pen eraser: Applying InputClass "Wacom class" [ 24928.679] (II) systemd-logind: returning pre-existing fd for /dev/input/event10 13:74 [ 24928.679] (II) Using input driver 'wacom' for 'Wacom Serial Penabled Pen eraser' [ 24928.679] (**) Wacom Serial Penabled Pen eraser: always reports core events [ 24928.679] (**) Option "Device" "/dev/input/event10" [ 24928.679] (**) Option "Type" "eraser" [ 24928.679] (--) Wacom Serial Penabled Pen eraser: maxX=24576 maxY=18432 maxZ=255 resX=100000 resY=100000 tilt=disabled [ 24928.679] (**) Option "config_info" "udev:/sys/devices/pnp0/00:05/tty/ttyS4/serio2/input/input11/event10" [ 24928.679] (II) XINPUT: Adding extended input device "Wacom Serial Penabled Pen eraser" (type: ERASER, id 13) [ 24928.680] (**) Wacom Serial Penabled Pen eraser: (accel) keeping acceleration scheme 1 [ 24928.680] (**) Wacom Serial Penabled Pen eraser: (accel) acceleration profile 0 [ 24928.680] (**) Wacom Serial Penabled Pen eraser: (accel) acceleration factor: 2.000 [ 24928.680] (**) Wacom Serial Penabled Pen eraser: (accel) acceleration threshold: 4

Stefan Monnier

9:18 p.m.

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It also says that the stylus is "Wacom Serial Tablet PC Stylus".

[...]

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Under Tablet Types: Serial Tablets, it says: Note that as of version 1.0, the xf86-input-wacom driver no longer supports serial devices.

Debian testing has xserver-xorg-input-wacom version 1.2.3-1, so there's a good chance that 1.0 is already considered "old". 🙁 I couldn't find any indication of someone else having picked up the development/maintenance of the support for serial wacom tablets. If you're motivated, the old code is out there so it shouldn't be impossible to resurrect it. Stefan

D. Hugh Redelmeier

10:04 p.m.

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From: Stefan Monnier via Linux-Thinkpad <linux-thinkpad(a)linux-thinkpad.org>

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Thanks for the archaeology! I'm sure support was dropped for a reason. I'm guessing that the people who already knew the code thought it was too much work to maintain. A bit too much of a project for me to pick up! Thoughts on this 17 year old machine. Unfair because I'm comparing it with current machines. - the machine is pretty slow - the fan is always running -- not loud but not silent - the screen lamination now has a few bubbles at near the right edge - the stylus is a bit laggy (maybe they all are?) - I'm not really used to the lack of a trackpad (but a mouse fixes that) - it predates USB 3. - the screen isn't up to my standards (I've often been disappointed by ThinkPad screens). At least I sprung for the high-resolution screen. - the batteries probably are close to shot by now. I suspect that it is hard to replace the main battery. Certainly not worthwhile for me. On the other hand, it is amazing that it still works and can boot a current Linux. I could comfortably use this if I had to. I pulled this machine out of the closet for a particular application. It is my only PC with a stylus. Other than this particular use, I never found a stylus important to me. It feels like a solidly built ThinkPad. The keyboard is nice. (I haven't got Win 10 installed. I guess that I could install it but I'd need to install a larger SSD. Easy: it is an ordinary SATA II 2.5" drive, currently 115G. I imagine that there is no Win 10 stylus driver. Maybe no drivers for any of the specific system features. So I can see no benefit.) I think that this goes back into my museum.

Brian

30 Sep 30 Sep

3:12 a.m.

I strongly suspect that this can be made to work with modern X without any programming required, but a lot more internet research. I think the statement that "serial wacom tablets are no longer supported" may mean that the support has been removed from the X-Windows driver, but there is a different driver that will get it to work (maybe a linux wacom kernel module?) When I was wandering around, I found more recent reference to "ISD-V4" drivers that may be what you need. Probably finding a forum with more wacom-driver experts would be useful. Maybe posting an "issue" in the github would find you somebody helpful. Since Debian was mentioned, I did a little grepping of my downloaded-debian-archive and I have xserver-xorg-input-wacom version 0.7.9.3-2 for Lenny (Debian5) and version 0.34.0 for stretch (Debian v9). It's definitely possible to run old Debian X packages on an otherwise-modern Debian install (or one that started old and has been selectively upgraded). You could poke around http://archive.debian.org/ and grab old versions of the packages. Or maybe this Thinkpad is too old to be worth all that effort...

D. Hugh Redelmeier

5:35 a.m.

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From: Brian <linux-thinkpad(a)brisammon.fastmail.fm>

Thanks for the research.

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I strongly suspect that this can be made to work with modern X without any programming required, but a lot more internet research.

That would be great.

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I think the statement that "serial wacom tablets are no longer supported" may mean that the support has been removed from the X-Windows driver, but there is a different driver that will get it to work (maybe a linux wacom kernel module?)

The sentence says Note that as of version 1.0, the xf86-input-wacom driver no longer supports serial devices. so it appears to refer to the drive version.

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When I was wandering around, I found more recent reference to "ISD-V4" drivers that may be what you need.

I don't know what that means. Sadly, the X log doesn't give any detail of what protocol the driver discovered. Unless WACf004 is a protocol. An old hackintosh page has this intriguing paragraph Tablet Working as of 2008-03-19. There is a project called TabletMagic, InsanelyMac Forum Link, that will support Wacom tablets on TabletPCs or outside the machine. The X61t requires an enabler for the tablet to work, as Lenovo shuts off the serial port in the BIOS, and you have to use ACPI to reenable it. Download is available at the bottom of this post under 'TabletEnabler-1.1', and the source code is available if you'd like to poke at it. Once you have that in, you have to edit Apple16X50Serial.kext/Contents/PlugIns/Apple16X50ACPI.kext/Contents/Info.plist, and replace the PNP0501 with WACF004. You can then configure TabletMagic. If this works well for you, donate to Scott! He has worked very hard on TabletMagic, and deserves a little extra money in his wallet. I only enabled a device, he made it all work.

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Probably finding a forum with more wacom-driver experts would be useful. Maybe posting an "issue" in the github would find you somebody helpful. Since Debian was mentioned, I did a little grepping of my downloaded-debian-archive and I have xserver-xorg-input-wacom version 0.7.9.3-2 for Lenny (Debian5) and version 0.34.0 for stretch (Debian v9).

Those two version numbers don't seem to be in the same system. Both look to be less that 1.0

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It's definitely possible to run old Debian X packages on an otherwise-modern Debian install (or one that started old and has been selectively upgraded). You could poke around http://archive.debian.org/ and grab old versions of the packages.

Interesting.

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Or maybe this Thinkpad is too old to be worth all that effort...

Maybe. Too much effort right now.

Brian

3:24 p.m.

On Tue, 30 Sep 2025 01:35:16 -0400 (EDT) "D. Hugh Redelmeier" <hugh(a)mimosa.com> wrote:

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The sentence says Note that as of version 1.0, the xf86-input-wacom driver no longer supports serial devices. so it appears to refer to the drive version.

Yes, and elsewhere in the page, it appears to contradict (or at least amend) that statement with a suggestion that tablets with internal serial devices can work in linux. Oh, actually, correcting myself -- that contradiction/amendment is in the "Serial Help" document that is linked from the middle of the page. Also note, the sentence you quoted doesn't say "serial devices can't be used with modern X". It just says "this driver doesn't support them". I just think it's a bad idea to assume that the page is 100% well-edited. The sentence you quoted may have been written in 2015 and may have been 100% true then. Other parts of the page may have been written later.

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When I was wandering around, I found more recent reference to "ISD-V4" drivers that may be what you need.

I don't know what that means.

I'm not sure either, but it's a good keyword for a websearch.

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Brian
D. Hugh Redelmeier
Stefan Monnier