WMT OS

This project delivers a complete, modern Debian 13 (Trixie) build for devices powered by the WonderMedia WM8505 SoC.

Development is focused on the Sylvania SYNET07526, the $99 Windows CE 6.0 netbook sold by CVS in late 2010. Equipped with a 300 MHz single-core ARM926EJ-S SoC (utilizing the same 2001 CPU architecture as the Nintendo Wii... or rather, its coprocessor), 128 MB of RAM, and an 800x480 display, it was considered e-waste even when it was first released. Naturally, that makes it an excellent candidate for a modern Linux distribution today.

Disclaimer: WMT OS is not affiliated with Debian. Debian is a registered trademark owned by Software in the Public Interest, Inc.

Hardware Support

Component	Status	Notes
Display	🟢	Native LCD output
Backlight	🟢	PWM brightness control
Keyboard & Touchpad	🟢	Native KBDC controller
SD Card	🟢	Native SD/MMC controller
Wi-Fi	🟢	Internal USB adapter (toggled via GPIO)
USB Peripherals	🟢	Keyboards, mice, audio, storage, and networking
Graphics Acceleration
↳ Kernel	🟢	DRM/KMS driver with 2D and console acceleration
↳ Userspace	🟡	Custom 2D IOCTL implemented; X11 driver pending
Built-in Audio	🟢	Headphone and speaker output
Battery Monitoring	🔴	Charge level reporting unavailable
Internal Storage	🔴	NAND flash controller inaccessible

(Legend: 🟢 Supported | 🟡 Partial | 🔵 Planned | 🔴 Unsupported)

Kernel

This project is powered by the actively maintained linux-wmt kernel fork, currently tracking the 6.12.y LTS branch. Active development continues to modernize the SoC's hardware support, with recent work bringing new DRM/KMS, DMA engine, ASoC, CCF, and Serio drivers to the platform. If you are interested in legacy ARM development, contributions are welcome to help build out further support!

System Notes

• First Boot: The first boot process takes less than 5 minutes. You will be prompted to configure your timezone, set a hostname, and create a root password.
• Storage: The root filesystem is automatically expanded to fit the entire SD card on first boot.
• Memory: A 256 MB swap file is included in the disk image and is automatically mounted by /etc/fstab on boot.
• Wi-Fi: The built-in Wi-Fi adapter is enabled on boot. You can configure your network via nmtui. Ensure your network allows 802.11g clients.
• SSH: Dropbear SSH replaces OpenSSH to improve performance, with unique host keys generated automatically on first boot. Since Dropbear lacks SFTP support, file transfers must be done using SCP or the FISH protocol.

Repository Contents

• seed: Contains the list of kernel configuration options needed to "seed" support for the WM8505, overriding options in Debian's default armel_none_rpi config.
• boot.cmd: Contains the commands passed to U-Boot needed to load the kernel and boot Debian.
• patches/: Custom .patch files may be placed in this folder, and will be applied to the kernel at build time.
• Systemd Services: Custom unit files to handle device-specific setup:
  • expand-rootfs.service: Expands the root filesystem using growpart and resize2fs on first boot.
  • gen-dropbear-keys.service: Generates Dropbear SSH host keys on first boot.
  • update-hosts.service: Updates /etc/hosts with the user-defined hostname on first boot.
  • wlan-gpio.service: Uses gpioset to connect/disconnect the built-in USB Wi-Fi adapter.

Building from Source

Building the OS image requires a Debian or Ubuntu-based host system due to its use of mmdebstrap.

1. Clone this repository and navigate to its directory:

   git clone https://github.com/lrussell887/wmt-os.git
   cd wmt-os/

2. Run the build script (requires root privileges):

   sudo ./build.sh

The resulting build files will be placed in the build/ directory.

Releases

Pre-compiled builds are available on the Releases page.

• disk-6.12.y-wm8505.img.gz - Full disk image containing the boot and rootfs partitions. Used for fresh installations.
• upgrade-6.12.y-wm8505.tar.gz - Tarball containing updated boot files and kernel modules. Used for upgrading an existing installation without losing data.

Installing

Follow these steps to set up a new Debian installation.

Requirements:

• An SD card between 4GB and 32GB.
• A copy of disk-6.12.y-wm8505.img.gz.
• An imaging tool like Raspberry Pi Imager (recommended) or dd.

Installation Steps:

1. Image the SD card using your preferred tool:
   • Raspberry Pi Imager:
     • Click "CHOOSE OS", select "Use custom", and open disk-6.12.y-wm8505.img.gz.
     • Click "CHOOSE STORAGE" and select your SD card.
     • Click "NEXT". Choose "NO" for applying OS customizations, then "YES" to start flashing.
   • Command Line (dd):
     • Decompress the image:

       gzip -d /path/to/disk-6.12.y-wm8505.img.gz

     • Flash the image (replace /dev/sdX with your SD card):

       sudo dd if=/path/to/disk-6.12.y-wm8505.img.gz of=/dev/sdX bs=1M conv=fsync

     • Eject the drive:

       sudo eject /dev/sdX

2. Insert the imaged SD card into your netbook.
3. Turn on the netbook. It will automatically boot from the SD card.

Upgrading

For upgrading an existing Debian installation to a newer kernel.

Automated Upgrade (Recommended)

Run the following command directly on your netbook (requires internet and root privileges):

sudo bash -c "$(wget -q -O - https://raw.githubusercontent.com/lrussell887/wmt-os/master/upgrade-kernel.sh)"

Manual Upgrade

If you prefer to upgrade manually from another Linux computer:

1. Mount your SD card's boot and rootfs partitions (e.g., /dev/sdX1 and /dev/sdX2):

   mkdir boot rootfs
   sudo mount /dev/sdX1 boot
   sudo mount /dev/sdX2 rootfs

2. Update the boot partition:

   sudo rm -rf boot/*
   sudo tar -xzvf /path/to/upgrade-6.12.y-wm8505.tar.gz -C boot --strip-components=1 boot

3. Update the rootfs partition's kernel modules:

   sudo rm -rf rootfs/lib/modules/*
   sudo tar -xzvf /path/to/upgrade-6.12.y-wm8505.tar.gz -C rootfs --strip-components=1 --skip-old-files rootfs

4. Eject the SD card:

   sudo eject /dev/sdX

Credits

Special thanks to wh0's bookconfig for keeping the linux-vtwm project alive up to this point. Additional thanks to projectgus's kernel_wm8505 for archiving VIA's original BSP patches, having access to this historical code has proven invaluable to the modernization efforts.