Wacom Intuous not recognized on MacBook Pro

November 4, 2018 8:13 AM

I have an older Wacom Intuos tablet that is only sometimes recognized by my MacBook Pro. I think it's a connection problem, but I'm not sure. Has anyone else experienced this and found a solution? Or, found any information about the problem at all?

I can't find the year on the box that the tablet came in, but it's old enough that it no longer looks like the Intuos tablets for sale on the Wacom website (it has mint-green plastic all around the edges, and buttons in the upper left and right corners).

Here's the problem: Most of the time when I plug it in, the little blue activity light does not light up, and the computer doesn't recognize that anything is plugged in at all. (I can even go to settings; it will say there is no tablet plugged in.) I've updated the drivers, which didn't help.

I think it's probably a physical issue because the only way to get it to recognize is to unplug and plug it back in repeatedly. Specifically, this time I got it to recognize by unplugging and replugging the cable connection to the tablet itself (not the computer).

I want to make sure it's actually broken before I spring for a new tablet though. Whenever I try to search the issue, I find people who are having trouble with the software ... the tablet is not working as expected for them, not the tablet is having difficulty connecting at all. I haven't found much info/diagnostics for this type of problem. Does anyone have similar experiences with a tablet like this? Or just are better at finding the right troubleshooting info?

(Also, even though it's older, I never used it hard and I kept it stored safely in its box, so I'll be kind of mad if it's a physical problem...)

posted by Kutsuwamushi to Computers & Internet (4 answers total)

Might pay you to drop a couple of bucks on a new cable before deciding that the tablet's a goner.
posted by flabdablet at 8:55 AM on November 4, 2018

Response by poster: (I forgot to say I've tested with another cable. If it's a problem with the connection I think it's likely in port on the tablet itself. I've also tried dusting it in case it was debris, no luck.)
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 9:28 AM on November 4, 2018

I have a Wacom Intuos 2 and it works fine with my Macbook Pro. Your issue is not inherent to the situation, but that's all I've got.
posted by bile and syntax at 9:58 AM on November 4, 2018

The most likely things that can go wrong with a mini USB-B socket in order to give rise to connection problems are dust and/or gunk and/or corrosion in the contacts, or cracking of the solder joints that attach the socket to its printed circuit board. The former you can fix easily with a good squirt of contact cleaner; the latter is an easy job for anybody with screwdriver and soldering iron skills.
posted by flabdablet at 10:04 AM on November 4, 2018