Enhanced audio driver for Zaurus SL-C1000/C3x00 available

Today I’m officially releasing my extended driver and mixer for the Wolfson WM8750 CODEC / sound chip that comes included in the latest Zaurus models.
The driver exposes the following new features:

  • ability to set and control Treble, Bass and 3D stereo sound enhancement;
  • ability to set and control various cut-off frequencies supported by the sound chip;
  • output source selection (Autodetect, Internal Speaker, Headphone).

These features can be easily accessed via a Qt based mixer control app or directly via a /proc/driver/wm8750 kernel interface.

{wm8750mixer} WM8750 mixer control app running on pdaXii13 and X11.{wm8750mixer} WM8750 mixer control app running on Cacko ROM and Qtopia.

Both, the driver and the control app are available for Sharp ROM / Cacko ROM and pdaXrom beta 3 / pdaXii13.

Kernel patches are available for Sharp’s Linux kernel 2.4.20 and can be downloaded here:
http://www.katastrophos.net/zaurus/sources/wm8750mixer/
(No kernel 2.6.x support yet. Sorry folks.)

By default the audio driver is compiled into the kernel. Sharp didn’t compile it as module, so it can’t be easily replaced. Same goes for most third party ROMs. You’ll have to reflash your kernel to install the new driver.
In case you don’t want to roll your own kernel, I’ve made pre-compiled kernels available for all supported ROMs and models here:

http://www.katastrophos.net/zaurus/kernels/v55/

The control app and start up scripts are available as IPK here:

wm8750mixer_0.9_arm.ipk – WM8750 mixer for Sharp ROM / Cacko ROM
wm8750mixer_0.92_armv5tel.ipk – WM8750 mixer for pdaXrom beta 3 / pdaXii13

On a side note, we’ve been discussing the extended features of the WM8750 audio chip for quite some while in this thread over at the OESF forums. I have the feeling the driver and the Qt application have received a fair bit of testing. So, that’s why I am officially releasing it today.

9 thoughts on “Enhanced audio driver for Zaurus SL-C1000/C3x00 available

  1. What a cool~!

    I have tried to use bass/treble mixer for zaurus, but I couldn’t.
    First, I used Mplayer’s equalizer, but it was terrible. I couldn’t use That Equalizer without overclocking to 624Mhz, And sound quality was terrible, too.

    Now, That’s the answer what I really wanted to. Thanks Very Much~!

  2. Hi,

    C-1000 Cacko 1.23 user here. Just flashed your precompiled kernel (fastfpe-cachedfb) and it’s working flawlessly :D. Bass and 3D sound controls enriches audio hearing experience to an upper level, now it’s possible to use our Zaurii as a quality portable music player!

    Thankyou very much for your coding effort. Now I’m really looking forward to see the release of Quasar Media Player. Looks truly awesome!

  3. HI, I thought I had every useful program for the Zaurus but I was wrong! Your mixer is excellent! Thank you! I’m using a C3200 with Cacko, I updated the kernel as instructed. Yes its almost 2015 and I still use the great Zaurus and have no plans to stop. I’m waiting for delivery on a SHARP CE-RH2 remote, not sure it will work on the 3200, I sure hope so. Thanks again.

  4. Thanks! If you are using Quasar Media Player (check this site) the remote control will work just fine with any C[4digits]. The stock player should work as well.

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