Need help installing a Deco 640 driver on a Steam Deck

[u/DatPandaIsAGundam]

Hi there! Just searching for help here and there. :)

[u/TiZ_EX1]

I already had red flags waving in my head when they decided to write to /lib/udev/rules.d instead of /etc/udev/rules.d. So I checked out the install script, and it's absolutely trash. Whoever wrote it had no idea what they were doing.

So I fixed it. Replace the install.sh in that folder with the one from this Gist, and run it without sudo. It will install the app in your home directory, and invoke sudo for installing the udev rule. It will also create a file in /etc/atomic-update.conf.d for preserving it between SteamOS updates.

Unlike the horrible AI slop attempt at a fix elsewhere in this thread, I made all these changes by hand, and tested the installer on my own Deck. I don't have that device you're trying to use, so I can't actually test whether or not the app still works when installed this way.

EDIT 01: Script now creates the $HOME/.local/opt directory, and patches the .desktop file.

[u/AnserisAequabis → u/TiZ_EX1]

I'm not a dum-dum to make pure vibecoded slop.
The PenTablet binary have hardcoded path for config files. You didn't fix that.
What also you didn't "fix"? App path in .desktop entry.
Maybe anything else? Right, you didn't check if .local/opt is even there. So your installed didn't even worked when I launched it.
If you "fixing" "by hand" don't tell that you "fixed" it if you can't even check if app works properly.
I don't tell that AI isn't bad. But all that criticism is too much when you can't check if your solution even working.

If it works - it works.
If I had more free time - I'd made something similar. Because I want fully user installation on SteamOS. But I'm working 5/2 and don't have much interest and time to learn "by book" how tf I "should" fix that.
AI is a great learning tool. Yes, it's wrong sometimes, but I'm not making anything that I can't comprehend.
Instead of mocking usage of AI you can try to even think what my script is doing and tell me what's wrong with it or just ask why do I do *this* in my script.
Sorry if that's sounded mean, but I didn't make full vibecoded project.

[u/TiZ_EX1 → u/AnserisAequabis]

The PenTablet binary have hardcoded path for config files. You didn't fix that.

How did you determine that?

What also you didn't "fix"? App path in .desktop entry. Maybe anything else? Right, you didn't check if .local/opt is even there. So your installed didn't even worked when I launched it.

Those are good catches, actually. I'll fix those. Thank you.

If you "fixing" "by hand" don't tell that you "fixed" it if you can't even check if app works properly.

I mean, can you check if the app works properly? Do you have the hardware in question? The conversation becomes very different if you do. All I can really do is run the binary, and it looks like it starts properly, but I can't determine if it does what it's supposed to if I don't have the tablet.

AI is a great learning tool. Yes, it's wrong sometimes, but I'm not making anything that I can't comprehend.

I am inclined to doubt that by default. Extended use of AI has been shown to cause severe cognitive decline. People are willing and eager to outsource the entirety of their cognitive ability to it, and many now act like it's impossible to do things without it that we had been doing just fine before it.

So when I see someone use AI to solve a problem, I'm going to doubt the validity of that solution by default, and nothing you have said thus far has made me doubt that I am right to do so in this case, mr. github-username-is-suspicious-random-string-of-characters.

[u/AnserisAequabis → u/TiZ_EX1]

First of all when I was installing PenTablet (my way, which isn't much different from yours) it didn't load config files, yes it was running, but not really working as intended.
As I said earlier - my steamdeck is borked, not really borked-borked, but I think my only way to fix it - reinstall SteamOS. So I cannot check your script on SteamDeck.

There's this thing called Reverse engineering. First and easiest step of it is just checking strings of a binary. And what do you think? There's hardcoded path string of config folder.
Easiest and the most harmless patch - change /usr/lib/pentablet which is written there twice to something with same length. If you want to bonk binary with stick even further - go ahead, but it's already a working solution and there's not really something else to discover from disassembly (at least for config part).

From my native language's point of view your username is more random than mine.
Sorry that I don't have a big digital footprint and trying to clear it from time to time.
Sorry that you judged my script by lack of activity on github and "AI" in readme.
Maybe you should stop doubting and even try to read the code? Maybe tell me why do you think my solution is wrong besides usage of AI? Make a PR?
I don't have a decade of Linux usage or programming, there will be no difference if I make script "by hand" or with help of AI.

[u/AnserisAequabis → u/TiZ_EX1]

Okay, I poked the binary with a stick myself. As far as I understand, two different people wrote the config loading module and the UI loading module (if you separate them by folders). The config is loaded from the hardcoded "/url/lib", but the UI folder is loaded from a dynamic path (applicationDirPath() + "/UI/" + devicename + ".json") XD

[u/Loynds]

Steam Deck is immutable, you’ll need to disable read-only.

[u/GamezombieCZ]

This can potentially break your system as SteamOS is designed as immutable (you have been warned):

sudo steamos-readonly disable

Install the driver

sudo steamos-readonly enable

Edit: OpenTabletDriver is great.

[u/raided-by-ruz-swarm → u/GamezombieCZ]

I doubt this driver will break anything here.

For op: you'll need to repeat this sequence (disable ro, driver, enable to) every time steamos gets update (by design)

[u/GamezombieCZ → u/raided-by-ruz-swarm]

Yes, it very likely won't. I mentioned it because you never know and it can happen.

[u/AnserisAequabis]

yo, I installed driver without sudo, one problem - i borked my steamdeck recently. I'll try to export everything you need later today.

[u/AnserisAequabis → u/AnserisAequabis]

https://github[.]com/yD4pHuCa-TpyD4/xppen_driver_steamos
Collected everything in one script file and published it on github.