You are halfway through a drawing and the pen suddenly stops.
You move the pen again. Nothing.
Then you notice the tablet driver no longer recognizes the device.
Unplug the USB cable. Plug it back in. It works again.
Until it happens again.
When a tablet keeps doing this, it is easy to assume the hardware is failing. That is certainly one possibility, but there are several other things worth checking first. The USB port, cable, power connection, driver, and computer environment can all play a part.
The easiest way to deal with it is to start with the physical connection and work toward the software side.
Before reinstalling anything, try another USB port.
On a desktop computer, a rear USB port is also worth testing. This is especially useful when the tablet is sometimes recognized and sometimes not.
If the problem disappears after changing ports, keep using the stable connection for now. There is little point in reinstalling a driver while the basic connection is still in question.
A cable can look perfectly normal and still be worth checking.
Make sure both ends are firmly connected. Then notice whether the tablet disconnects when the cable or tablet is moved.
If you have another suitable cable, try it.
This matters because some tablet connections carry both power and signal. A damaged or poorly connected internal line can therefore affect the device even when the outside of the cable looks fine.
For the same reason, a cable that works for charging another device is not necessarily the right replacement for a drawing tablet. Use a cable appropriate for the tablet's connection requirements.
If you are using a pen display, power is another thing worth checking.
The exact connection depends on the model. Some devices use a separate power connection, while others use an integrated cable arrangement.
For certain smaller pen displays, the troubleshooting procedure includes checking the power side of the integrated cable and, where applicable, using the specified 5V power source.
So this is one place where the model's own connection instructions are important. Do not assume every pen display uses the same setup.
Once the basic connection looks fine, open the tablet driver.
The question to answer is simple:
Does the driver still recognize the tablet?
If the device has disappeared from the driver completely, keep looking at the connection and driver installation.
If the driver still recognizes the tablet but pen input stops working in only one application, that points you in a different direction.
From the user's perspective, both problems may look like “the tablet stopped working.” They are not necessarily the same problem.
This is worth doing if you have used another drawing tablet on the same computer.
Perhaps you switched brands. Perhaps you installed a second tablet for testing. Or perhaps an older driver was simply never removed.
Check the installed tablet software.
The recommended approach is to uninstall the old tablet driver, restart the computer, and then install the correct driver for the current device. Installing one tablet driver directly over another can lead to conflicts.
This is especially worth checking when the disconnecting problem started around the same time as a driver change.
When the driver needs to be reinstalled, do not keep installing different versions over the existing one.
A cleaner sequence is:
Uninstall the existing tablet driver.
Restart the computer.
Install the correct driver.
Reconnect the tablet.
Test it again.
The same sequence is used in the troubleshooting procedure for devices that are not being recognized.
Also close your drawing software before installing the driver.
Before going further, test the tablet outside the application where you first noticed the problem.
Move the pen around the desktop.
Open the tablet driver.
Then try another drawing application.
If the tablet works normally everywhere except one program, the connection itself may be fine.
Different creative applications can handle tablet input differently. The support material includes application-specific cases involving Photoshop, Krita, GIMP, and ZBrush, including differences related to input protocols and driver settings.
So if the problem only appears in one application, check that application's tablet settings before assuming the tablet is disconnecting.
When the usual checks have not solved the problem, test the tablet on another computer.
This is one of the most useful ways to separate the device from the computer environment.
If the tablet works normally on the second computer, the original computer becomes the more likely source of the problem.
If it disconnects there as well, pay more attention to the cable and the tablet itself.
The existing troubleshooting procedure also uses another computer as part of this kind of diagnosis.
One question is easy to forget:
When did the problem start?
Did you recently change the driver?
Install another tablet?
Change the USB connection?
Update the computer?
Change the way the tablet is connected?
You do not need to find the answer immediately. The point is to see whether the disconnect appeared after a specific change.
A tablet that has worked normally for a long time but starts disconnecting after a driver change is a different troubleshooting case from one that has had connection problems from the beginning.
The same basic checks apply to DIGIDRAW tablets.
Start with the USB connection and check whether the device is still recognized by the driver. If an older tablet driver is installed on the computer, remove it before installing the appropriate DIGIDRAW driver. A clean installation is preferable to installing a new tablet driver directly over an older one.
If the connection remains unstable, try another USB port or suitable cable. Testing the device on another computer can also help separate a tablet-side problem from an issue with the original computer.
When contacting DIGIDRAW support, it helps to describe what you have already tested.
For example:
The tablet disconnects on my main computer, but stays connected on another computer.
That gives support a much clearer starting point than simply saying the tablet keeps disconnecting.
Not after the first failed connection.
If you have already checked the USB port and cable, confirmed the relevant power connection, cleaned up the driver installation, and tested the tablet on another computer, the hardware becomes a more reasonable possibility.
At that stage, continuing to change random settings is unlikely to tell you much more.
The troubleshooting procedure follows a similar progression for connection problems: check the USB connection and power first, then the driver and computer environment, and move toward the cable or device itself when those checks do not resolve the problem.
When you contact support, describe the sequence rather than only the symptom.
“Disconnects randomly” is useful.
“Works normally on another computer but disconnects on this one” is much more useful.
A quick check:
Try another USB port
Try another suitable cable
Check the power connection, if applicable
See whether the driver still recognizes the tablet
Remove older tablet drivers
Reinstall the correct driver
Test another application
Test another computer
You may only need the first one or two steps.
Change one thing at a time, though. Otherwise, the tablet may start working again and you will have no idea which change solved the problem.
The goal is simple: find the point where the connection becomes unreliable, fix that part, and get back to drawing.
