Linux driver for the Creamware / Sonic Core Pulsar II (snd-pulsar)

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Pulsar Scope, the modular GUI. The meter levels and the notes were recorded on a real Pulsar II while the DSP synth was playing.

A Linux driver for the Creamware / Sonic Core Pulsar II DSP sound card (PCI 14b5:0600, 6× Analog Devices SHARC ADSP-21065L). It was written by reverse engineering the Windows SCOPE 5.1 software: the kernel driver scScope.sys and the Sim2k.dll library.

Project site: https://pulsar.faghy.it

This is an independent project. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or supported by Sonic Core or Creamware. "Creamware", "Sonic Core", "Pulsar" and "SCOPE" are trademarks of their owners and are used here only to say which hardware the driver is for.

Status

Feature	Status
PCI detection, BAR0 mapping, IRQ	working
Boot of the 6 DSPs (puls2os*.21k OS images)	working: every DSP answers
Internal audio clock at 44.1 kHz	working (measured: 44,095 samples/s)
48 kHz	working (default, same as PipeWire)
External clock	implemented, not yet tested
DSP module loading (linker), analog outputs	working: test tone on outputs 1/2
Playback from the PC (ALSA PCM, PipeWire)	working: "Pulsar2 Stereo" output
Recording from analog inputs 1/2	working: "Pulsar2 Stereo" input
Direct input → output monitoring, levels in alsamixer	working: "DSP Out", "Input Monitor"
Installation with automatic start-up (DKMS + systemd service)	working: the card starts by itself at boot
pulsard daemon: DSP modules loaded and wired while the card runs (pulsarctl)	working
"Pulsar Scope" GUI (Qt): module library, drag & drop, cables, input sliders	working (first version)
Projects: save/open (.pulsar), rack restored automatically after a reboot	working
.deb package (DKMS driver, service, tools, GUI)	working
SCOPE devices (.dev): 36 effects (EQ, filters, dynamics, distortion, phaser, flanger, chorus…) as one block with knobs in real units	working
SCOPE-style knobs (Hz, dB…) for devices and common modules, correct float/integer pad encoding	working
SCOPE factory mixers (DynamicMixer, MicroMixer, STM 1632, STM 16 S, STM 48 S) as one block: channels appear when their input is connected, channel-strip panel with faders, pan, mute (On/Muted), aux sends and per-channel input meters	working (DynamicMixer tested on the card)
GUI: drag the rack view with the mouse, zoom to the pointer, on-screen MIDI keyboard (mouse + computer keys), coloured DSP load	working
Delays and reverbs (PC-side delay lines in host RAM, new kernel ioctls)	working (Delay S tested on the card)
Licensed "Effect Package" devices: unlocked by the card with your own SCOPE licence key file (sudo pulsar-import-dsp --license YOURSERIAL.v5)	working: 107 devices with a licence
Factory presets (.pre): preset menu in the device panel, pulsarctl load_preset	working
PC MIDI in (ALSA sequencer client "Pulsar2 MIDI") + polyphonic test synth (4 voices)	working: notes and chords in tune
Factory synths (voice arrays), ADAT/S/PDIF/MIDI ports	to do

Architecture

As on Windows, the kernel driver only exposes the hardware; the DSPs are booted from userspace:

• snd-pulsar.ko: kernel module. It detects the card and handles the IRQ. The hwdep device /dev/snd/hwC<n>D0 allows mmap of BAR0 (4 MB). The ALSA PCM device is created once the DSP modules are loaded (PULSAR_IOCTL_SET_ROUTE ioctl). ALSA mixer controls are backed by DSP module values.
• tools/pulsar_loader.py: card reset, DSP OS upload, start-up and clock configuration.
• tools/sc_decode.py: decoder for SCOPE DSP files (.21k/.dsp/.ol, scrambled Analog Devices COFF).
• tools/pulsar_modules.py: DSP module linker (relocation, upload, execution chain, connections).
• tools/scope_dev.py: decoder for SCOPE device files (.io/.dev/.mdl/.pro).
• tools/pulsard.py + tools/pulsarctl.py: daemon that owns the card after boot and accepts commands (pulsarctl status, load, connect, set, unload) on the /run/pulsard.sock socket (group audio).
• tools/pulsar_scope.py: "Pulsar Scope" modular GUI (Qt/PySide6, any desktop): drag modules from the library onto the rack, wire pads with the mouse, set input values, save and open projects (.pulsar). Started from the applications menu. The current rack is also saved automatically and restored at boot.
• tools/scope_device.py: turns a SCOPE device (.dev) into an assembly plan: DSP modules, internal wires, external ports, parameters with units and SCOPE curves (plan, survey, raw).
• tools/pulsar_values.py / tools/pulsar_widgets.py: pad value encoding (fixed 1.31, integer, float) and the SCOPE-style knob used by Pulsar Scope.
• tools/sharc_dis.py: SHARC disassembler (port of MAME's sharc_dasm.cpp, BSD-3).
• docs/: reverse-engineering notes (register map, command protocol, boot sequence, clock, streaming).

DSP files (not included)

The DSP files belong to Sonic Core and are not distributed in this repository. You need the official installer SONIC_CORE_SCOPE_PCI_v5.1.2709-x64_EN.exe and a valid licence. Extract it with innoextract into a scope_full folder next to the repository:

innoextract -d ../scope_full SONIC_CORE_SCOPE_PCI_v5.1.2709-x64_EN.exe

Alternatively, point the PULSAR_DSP_DIR variable to its App/Dsp folder.

This is the beginning of the README. Read the rest at the original. Read the full README ↗