Batocera Lite/Koriki Alpha for RG35XX Plus - 20240116

[acmeplus]

This is an early alpha image of batocera Lite/koriki for the RG35XX Plus, things are starting to work, but there may features missing at this point.

Important: there are still several performance issues with this release, while there are cores/emulators that are running fine, some others are not there yet. In general the build needs to be updated with optimizations, but there's still work to do.

Installation

New install:

• Flash image to a new sdcard
• Insert sdcard into the RG35XX Plus
• Press power a few seconds to boot

Update from 2023/12/17 or 2023/12/20 version:

• Extract the boot.tar.xz file
• Copy its contents to the third partition of the SDCARD (boot-resource or BOOT)

ChangeLog:

2024/01/16:

• Fixed audio click noise (not perfect but now very subtle)
• Fixed audio volume controls (volume can be controlled with the keys and is saved during reboots)
• Fixed audio not working on some emulators/cores
• Added brightness controls (level is saved across reboots)
• Added samba support. You can mount the SHARE partition as a network drive
• What works: amstrad, mame, atari2600, atari5200, atari7800, wonderswan color, amiga(uae4arm), c64 (libretro x64), pico8, scummvm (core), vectrex, dosbox, pcengine, g&w, nes, gb, snes, gbc, gba, openbor, sg-1000, mastersystem, megadrive, gamegear, spectrum, neogeo, neocd, ngpc, psx, psp, odyssey2, drastic, n64 (.zip with parallel libretro core, z64/n64 with mupen64plus)
• What is broken: scummvm standalone (unless using an external mouse), colecovision (missing core), Intellivision (probably a bios issue), msx2 (core missing), megacd, x86k (bios issue), flycast standalone
• Dreamcast is not working via flycast standalone, but it works via libretro_flycast.so. If you run into issues, download the es_systems_dreamcast.cfg file and add it to [SHARE]/system/configs/emulationstation folder as a workaround

2023/12/20:

• Fixed Overclock settings that were not correctly setup. In EmulationStation, change default setting in emulationstation settings
• mupen64 now working
• Added additional cores (gearcoleco, gem, race, vm, bk, gearbox, meteor, quicknes, cannonball, mame2003-xtreme, crocosd, supafaust, etc.). Note that not all cores are mapped in EmulationStation yet, in some cases you will need to open retroarch, and select the core manually to test.

Things that don't work:

• Bluetooth
• Brightness control
• Audio has a static click sound when starting/stopping an emulator
• Some cores/Standalone emulators:
  • Flycast
  • Drastic (requires a minor update)
  • Amiga performance is not there yet
• Controls in ES are not mapped initially, just press a button and map them using ES mapping tool
• HDMI (not tested)
• Sleep/Supend
• SDCard auto-expansion does not work at this time. You need to use two SDCards at this point
• Boot time needs to be improved
• ~~Error 256 when launching roms. If you get that error mount the sdcard on your computer and create a folder system/logs on the last partition of the SDcard (SHARE). ~~

Things that work:

• Wifi
• Controls
• Many cores/emulators
• EmulationStation
• Simplemenu

Additional features:

• Switching default launcher (ES/Batocera, Simplemenu/Koriki, or Retroarch):
  • Create a new file in [SHARE]/system/customlauncher with the text simplemenu in it.
  • The next time the system starts will launch simplemenu instead of EmulationStation
  • Possible values for the custom launcher file are: simplemenu, emulationstation, and retroarch
• One or two SDCARDs?
  • Since SDCARD SHARE partition expansion does not work at this time, the best solution is to use a second sdcard for content.
  • If you want to use just one SDCARD, you will need to expand the last partition of the SDCARD (partition 4) to use the maximum space available, not that modifying the partition table of the batocera card may break the internal bootloader, so if the sdcard does not boot after expanding the card, refresh the image and use a second card for content.
• General performance:
  • Expect some cores/emulators to perform better than the original RG35XX, but don't be surprised if some of them perform worse at this point. Cores and emulators have not been optimized yet

---

This discussion was created from the release Batocera Lite/Koriki Alpha for RG35XX Plus - 20240116.

[luxmenz]

Thanks for this work, I hope you'll continue to improve Batocera for our RG35XX Plus!

A little feedback:

• I think error 254 is not systematically linked to the logs folder, but rather to authorizations (perhaps retroarch history files or something else).
• Since I reformatted and extended the SHARE partition in ExFat on SD1, I no longer get this error.
• puae_2021 works very well, compared to puae
• as for the SG-1000, default core don't work, the second core works just fine on previous release.

[acmeplus]

For amiga, in general uae4arm > puae2021 > puae, however the best core for performance/compatibility is puae2021.

The error 256 is due to the system automatically remounting the partition as read only. The kernel is forcing that, so until we change the kernel there's little that can be done other than restarting and fixing the errors. Maybe expat mitigates that issue, but it's more prone to happen with FAT32, so thanks for the pointer.

[johnsledget]

I tried this steps below and it seems the 20240116 boot files size is larger than the previous size. Thus, it cant copy its content due to size issue.

Update from 2023/12/17 or 2023/12/20 version:
Extract the boot.tar.xz file
Copy its contents to the third partition of the SDCARD (boot-resource or BOOT)

[acmeplus]

Delete the existing boot/batocera file first.

[WanozBot]

Thanks a lot for your effort creating this, I really hope you can keep updating it.

[johnsledget]

The 20240116 update made Commodore 64 test failed. Meaning, the Armalyte does not open anymore.

Previous update comment:
Commodore 64 - Armalyte. No audio. Button mapped okay. Game run okay

[acmeplus]

Change the core, the default one does not seem to work, but vice x64 should work

[johnsledget]

Your right! Vice x64 works and no audio issues

[johnsledget]

All comments in previous update having no audio are now fixed from this update which is great!

Here's the test continuation which issue still exist:
Atomiswave - Guilty Gear X ver. 1.5. It opens, shows loading and stuck at "starting..." dialog. Pressing hotkey shows more configution.
Dreamcast - Crazy Taxi (USA). It opens, shows loading and stuck at "starting..." dialog. Pressing hotkey shows more configution.
Sega Naomi - Azumanga. It opens, shows loading and stuck at "starting..." dialog. Pressing hotkey shows more configution.
Sharp x68000 - Super Mario Bros. Game open/run fine but does have button map.
Zx81 - pacman. It runs but I don't know how to play. It let me try to write something using a virtual keyboard.
ZX Spectrum - Out run. It runs but I don't know how to play. It let me try to write something using a virtual keyboard.
Supervision - Q-Bert 1983. Does not open.
Amstrad GX4000 - Robocop 2. Does not open..
Atari ST - Adventure (USA). Warning: the system has missing bios files pop up. Does not open.
Lynx - ninja gaiden 1990. Does not open
Atari jaguar - Aliens versus predator. Warning the emulator/core currently set does not support this games file format. Does not open

Msdos - xentar. It has interface but i dont know how to make it play.
Virtualboy - virtual boy wario land. Does not open
Nds - meteos. Warning system missing bios files. Does not open

[acmeplus]

For atomiswave, dreamcast, Naomi you need to use a custom es_config_xxxx.cfg as explained in the release page. You have the template for dreamcast there.

NDS should work, but may fail the first time around. If trying again after restarting does not work, try to delete the system/configs/drastic folder manually and try again.

For the other cores, I'll give them a try. Note that systems like spectrum require user configuration.

[johnsledget]

I think there' an issue. If only es_systems_dreamcast.cfg exist, the naomi and atomiswave will show in selection but not will nor play. If only es_systems_atomiswave.cfg exist, the atomiswave selection disappear. The same goes with naomi will disappear if only es_systems_naomi.cfg exist. So i think dreamcast is only working. Note that the uploaded es_system_dreamcast.cfg is typo and it should be named as es_systems_dreamcast.cfg

[johnsledget]

Ok, i think it is working. The reason why it disappeared is because the extension file was incorrect and it doesn't sees one. By adding correct extension file in the cfg will fix it.

[johnsledget]

I notice in Port there are two Doom games. I think the Doom i have in the /rom/port wont work. However the other Doom, sdlpop and od-commander works. Is there a way i can correctly script my Doom sh similarly to the other Doom that work?

[acmeplus]

I believe there are doom, prboom, SDLPoP, and OD-Commander. PRBOOM is a bomberman port, but not sure if that one works.

There are other ports there that require user game data to be added (e.g. MalditaCastilla, Spelunky, etc.)

[johnsledget]

I encounter this with the stock OS when shutting down the device, the device turn off, LED off, LCD screen becomes hot and eventually drains battery. Is this a hardware issue or some processes are not totally killed? I havent reproduce the issue when i do reset device first then follow the shutdown device. It can be reproduce if you play a couple system and then shutdown device

[docloulou]

@acmeplus Thanks for this update, everything seems to be fine (deleting config drastic folder not working but still investigate).
I'm wondering how to start retroarch from batocera ui, actually i have to launch a game to navigate in retroarch. Thanks

[acmeplus]

You can create a custom launcher in ports for just retroarch, but if you want to edit configuration you can press MENU + B (I believe) and that enters the RA menu.

To create a custom launcher, just a retroarch.sh file in [SHARE]/roms/ports/ with this content:

#!/bin/sh

retroarch -c /userdata/system/configs/retroarch/retroarchcustom.cfg 

[docloulou]

just added the right path (to the config file)

#!/bin/sh

retroarch -c /userdata/system/configs/retroarch/retroarchcustom.cfg 

[acmeplus]

Thanks, edited mine above too in case someone gets confused

[Skrimps304]

Great release, thank you.

I tested Retroachievements and it doesnt seem to work yet. Selecting "Retroachievements" from the menu gives "message "Unauthenticated""errors":[{"status":419,"code":"unauthorized","title"":"Unauthenticated.:"

Games will not launch with retroachievements enabled either, they just fade back to ES.

I double checked my credentials and they are correct.

[Skrimps304]

It did do a scan to see which games achievements were available for.

[acmeplus]

There's a potential workaround using retroarch directly. Edit system/batocera.conf and add the following variables at the end:

global.retroarch.cheevos_enable = "true"
global.retroarch.cheevos_username = "your-username"
global.retroarch.cheevos_password = "your-password"

Batocera/ES won't list the retroachivements, but they should work from RA.

[Hypervisor64]

Can confirm this workaround works perfectly . Thank you acmeplus. really enjoying this build . after this fix i havent had any reason to switch to stock OS.

[rvkasper]

Worked for me too! thanks

[acmeplus]

note that the workaround is no longer needed with the latest release. https://github.com/rg35xx-cfw/rg35xx-cfw.github.io/releases/tag/rg35xx_plus_batocera_lite_koriki_alpha_20240122

Retroachivements now work directly from ES.

[Hypervisor64]

i can only give my feedback as a non developer , but so far it seems basically fully funtional for all of the common stuff, id full time it already if retro achievements where available. probably not a priority but ... from a feature stand point thats all thats holding me back from not throwing in the stock OS.

Eitherway ,excellent job. Doing great work here. thank you.

[luxmenz]

• After various tests, I can confirm that the TV output does not work.
• For Dreamcast, Atomiswave and Naomi, i've just put this in Batocera.conf :
  dreamcast.core=flycast
  dreamcast.emulator=libretro
  atomiswave.core=flycast
  atomiswave.emulator=libretro
  naomi.core=flycast
  naomi.emulator=libretro
• Don't work for Naomi2
• I couldn't set up RGUI from Retroarch, so I set up EmulationStation and it worked.
• Confirm RetroAchievements Work with your method
• Do you have a solution for using 2 cards with roms on both?
  Thx for your Work acmeplus !!

[docloulou]

what are the ssh IDs plz ? (game/game or root/root are not working)

[acmeplus]

the root password is currently broken, so it's not possible to ssh. You can use network share to access the share mount point though.

[retrogamer888]

I just flashed the 20240116 image into my sd cards using win32diskmanger, after the succesful notification. My computet was unable to recognize the sd cards, that is after i inserted the cards into my computer, nothing appeared. Tried rebooting computer, didnt work.
Lost two good sd cards so far.

[Hypervisor64]

i would use belena etcher. i have flashed Acmeplus builds since they started releasing them with that and have had no issues, and im even on the factory cards. lol.

[soaremicheledavid]

Works :

Tested on 2 SD cards, made the shortcut for retroarch in ports, to edit the base settings, because if you edit settings from in-game retroarch, doesn't save configuration. I only use RGU theme, also my own hotkeys.
Skraper works great, boxart for every game you need.
Any batocera theme works, made my own also.
PSP games work great.
Network works great, no drops in conection.
APPS, from the stock OS, you can use them after you copy the files, you can turn off that green light.

Dosent work :

Sound driver is bad here (Crackling noise when volume is at medium), changhed the driver in retroarch but dosent make a difference, dosent matter the game, the sound is very bad, when you turn up the volume, on stock you dont have this problem.
Dreamcast/Atomiswave/Naomi - Dosent work, had the core installed in the base image but lags to much.
PC Engice - CD - Dosent boot games, you have only a white screen.
NES - most of them work, but some games lag (dosent matter what core is used), even on Adventure Island, Power Blade, Blaster Master, for example.
N64 - Lags way to much, for 5 seconds run smooth after the music and the image is bad (tested every core available, same thing).
Battery dosent show percentage correctly, no alert when battery low.
NDS (Nintendo DS)- after using melonds core in base image, the games will not boot.
Sega Saturn - doesn't work, doesn't matter, is not even recognized by the system to see the games.

[johntrnr]

Can you share the retroarch shortcut?

[MartRami]

Hey!
Question; how did you turn off the green light? Been driving me insane and cant find a response as to how to do it

[Aceaku]

Not sure what my error is but when I try and change the '[share]/system/customlauncher' file to one of the other two options, it still boots into EmulationStation. Am I missing changing something else? After looking at another comment about RetroArch, I found that I don't have any configuration files for RetroArch and can't find anyway to open the RetroArch menu.

[acmeplus]

If you have two cards, just edit system/customaluncher file from the last partition of the card (SHARE) and change the test to just simplemenu.

See this other post for a script based solution: rg35xx-cfw/Koriki#95 (reply in thread)

[retrogamer888]

I sincerely hope the coming version had a battery level indicator.

[luxmenz]

Thanks again Acmeplus,

I love using Batocera on our RG35XX (mine and my son's).
I ordered a RG35XX H so that I could use the analog pads on DC/PS/PSP, it runs so well that it's worth it.
If you're still working on Batocera, I'd really like you to look at the HDMI output (because this little console can be used as a home console, Switch-style).
And be able to put more roms (on both SD)
If these two things were implemented, it would be great!

[rvkasper]

Anyone else seeing all cores crashing on the batocera-h5-rg35xx-plus--20240123?

[TechDevangelist]

Yup getting the exact same behavior with the most recent update from 1/23.

[soaremicheledavid]

Dreamcast games run very good with core : flycastVL , Atomiswave lags so much you cant play and Naomi dosent start the game, tested all cores. But its great to see these improvements for Dreamcast! Also, Drastic buttons dont work, not on simplemenu and not on emulationstation, not even that for stilus. ColecoVision games wont start, not even Amiga.

[acmeplus]

For Naomi you need to copy your Naomi bios to the roms folder (roms/naomi).

[javonte-102]

Op I seen the folders for kodi and movies but when I add videos to them the folder doesn't show up any help is appreciated

[javonte-102]

Also drastic works perfect for me on rg35xx plus

[acmeplus]

Kodi has not been compiled, those folders are used when kodi frontend is running.

[javonte-102]

Thanks

[Lendon95]

"Copy its contents to the third partition of the SDCARD (boot-resource or BOOT)"

What does it mean? Which one is the third partition? The one where i put the Roms?

Do i have to create a folder named boot-resource or BOOT?

[acmeplus]

The BATOCERA partition. You don’t need to create any partition if you perform an update

[mikkelnl]

When I flash the latest version (2024/01/22) on my RG35XX+, the SHARE partition is empty? If I am not mistaken, the SHARE partition would automatically populate with the required folder names in the previous release?

[itamar050]

Just happened to me too.
Turn the system off, remove the 2nd SD card and turn the system back on with only 1 card. It'll populate the card with the correct folder structure.

[acmeplus]

Yes. The share partition is empty until it gets populated during the first boot. However if you use a second card the share partition will remain empty if you never boot with one card.

[Sheraph87]

Installed the new release (RG35XX H) but on the first screen, the buttons are all mixed so I can't select any game or do nothing. I don't know how to move arround.

Hope you can fix the problem soon.

Thanks anyway for your work!

[acmeplus]

After that first boot insert the sdcard on your computer and delete the file system/configs/emulationstation/es_input.cfg. The next time you boot just press a button and batocera will ask you to map the controller.

[rZilla2]

Thanks. FYI first boot I had the newly imaged SD in TF1 and a blank (newly formatted) SD in TF2. After first boot I had a "boot" folder and some files on TF1 and the "system" (et al) folder on TF2.... So i deleted the es_input.cfg file from the card in TF2 and but back in and booted up and nothing notable happened (system did not ask me to remap the controller). Not sure if this is expected behavior or not. I'm re-imaging and redoing with the SD in TF1 but nothing in TF2 now.... Then I'll try deleting es_input.cfg again and report back.

[rZilla2]

ok yeah unfortunately that didn't work :( re-imaged my SD card, inserted in to TF1, booted, waited, tooled around in the OS a bit, powered down, deleted es_input.cfg, rebooted, and no joy. H boots up fine to the home screen but i am not asked to remap the controller (and buttons are still whacked). i can figure out the buttons enough to get to settings and controller mapping.

[acmeplus]

This is fixed in the new release: https://github.com/rg35xx-cfw/rg35xx-cfw.github.io/releases/tag/rg35xx_plus_h_batocera_lite_20240125

[itamar050]

Flashed version 20240120 on my RG35XX+ a couple of hours ago and encountered the following:

1. Dreamcast (libretro:flycast) - Controls don't work, Can't map the analog to the DPAD (akin to what the stock OS offers when tapping the power button)
2. Menu button does...nothing. How do I bring a menu up while in game? Also - is there a list of hot-keys, i.e rewind, save/load states etc? Haven't seen anything on this page here
3. Custom Launcher - I created a file under Share/system/customlauncher/simplemenu which has "simplemenu" in it, but I always boot to ES. What type of file should be created? is "customlauncher" a sub folder or is it a .txt/.cfg file?
4. WiFi connected but scraping won't work. I am able to download themes but not check for updates / scrape boxarts. Also I see an IP but Internet Status = Not Connected.
5. No BIOS files at all, would've been nice to be able to download them directly to the device from the "Check broken BIOS" option.
6. OS won't read games from 2nd SD Card only from the top one. If the 2nd SD card is inserted - all configurations made on the OS (i.e WiFi credentials, frontend music) revert to default.

If anyone could shed some light on these issues or point me to the proper documentation it'll be greatly appreciated.

[pinkonmyshoe]

Same issue with internet status disconnected. Not able to access the device remotely either.

[acmeplus]

See this for the default shortcuts: https://wiki.batocera.org/basic_commands

Customlauncher is a plain text file without extension

The network issues you are mentioned have been already fixed in newer releases. Please download today's release and test again. 20240126.

[itamar050]

ooh thanks! flashing now!

[charlessouzanetto]

When I start the H version. The controls are messed. Its hard to map, but I do and works fine. The restart function doenst work. I continue testing. Thanks for your work!

[rZilla2]

having same issue w/ my H. how did you manage to map the buttons correctly??

[acmeplus]

See #69 (reply in thread)

[charlessouzanetto]

I use the r1, r2, l1, l2 and the A button to set the correct mapping. Need find what buttons do the thinghs. Try the buttons to use the interface. Its hard but works.

[qp3jiukc]

2024\01\22

1. Reboot not fixed. Black screen when rebooting. When you press the power button, a quiet sound is made (the game console has turned off). After pressing the power button again, the console turns on;
2. WiFi keeps disconnecting;
3. Battery status is not displayed in the main menu;
4. OS boot time has not improved;

[acmeplus]

Yeah, all know issues except 2. The wireless is working well for most users, check you have a strong signal.

[charlessouzanetto]

How is the recharge? After turning off the device and connecting the charger, it turns on again and does not complete the recharge. There is no battery level indicator. snes, megadrive, gameboy color, gameboy advance, nds are running well. PlayStation is better than stock OS. n64 has lag and framedrop, some cores with visual glitch, psp is worse than stock os, but it's playable. In the H version. The temperature goes to 65°.

[acmeplus]

The issue with connecting the charger is still open. The stock uses a process to keep the system from booting completely when the charger is connected, but I've not yet had the time to add that feature.

Battery indicator is another issue, the internal sysfs path for the battery is not standard, so that breaks the way ES reads the battery.

[soaremicheledavid]

Retroarchievements

Major bug, after you turn on Retroarchievements and set it up, all games that use Retroarch wont boot, only standalone emulators. After Retroarchievements was turned off, games start normally.

[kingzope]

Yes I can confirm the same bug. I've tried many different ways to circumvent the issue but was unable.

[pinkonmyshoe]

Same issue here. Disabling Retroachievements in the main menu and enabling it within the RetroArch menu is a quick fix I found for games using RetroArch.

[acmeplus]

Fixed in the new release https://github.com/rg35xx-cfw/rg35xx-cfw.github.io/releases/tag/rg35xx_plus_h_batocera_lite_20240125

[kingzope]

I can confirm the new firmware fixed the issue with retroachievements breaking core booting.

[npaladin2000]

If anyone wants, the following es_input.cfg will work on a 35XXH...but I'm guessing it won't work on a 35XX+, so I wonder if it's better to just leave es_input.cfg out of the image and have people configure on first boot.

<inputList>
	<inputConfig type="joystick" deviceName="Deeplay-keys" deviceGUID="19000000010000000100000000010000">
		<input name="a" type="button" id="3" value="1" code="304" />
		<input name="b" type="button" id="4" value="1" code="305" />
		<input name="down" type="hat" id="0" value="4" />
		<input name="hotkey" type="button" id="11" value="1" code="312" />
		<input name="joystick1left" type="axis" id="0" value="-1" code="2" />
		<input name="joystick1up" type="axis" id="1" value="-1" code="3" />
		<input name="joystick2left" type="axis" id="2" value="-1" code="4" />
		<input name="joystick2up" type="axis" id="3" value="-1" code="5" />
		<input name="l2" type="button" id="13" value="1" code="314" />
		<input name="l3" type="button" id="12" value="1" code="313" />
		<input name="left" type="hat" id="0" value="8" />
		<input name="pagedown" type="button" id="8" value="1" code="309" />
		<input name="pageup" type="button" id="7" value="1" code="308" />
		<input name="r2" type="button" id="14" value="1" code="315" />
		<input name="r3" type="button" id="15" value="1" code="316" />
		<input name="right" type="hat" id="0" value="2" />
		<input name="select" type="button" id="9" value="1" code="310" />
		<input name="start" type="button" id="10" value="1" code="311" />
		<input name="up" type="hat" id="0" value="1" />
		<input name="x" type="button" id="6" value="1" code="307" />
		<input name="y" type="button" id="5" value="1" code="306" />
	</inputConfig>
</inputList>```

[acmeplus]

The configuration is the compatible for both devices. Already included in the new release: https://github.com/rg35xx-cfw/rg35xx-cfw.github.io/releases/tag/rg35xx_plus_h_batocera_lite_20240125

[acmeplus]

There's a new release out that fixed some of the bugs reported here.

https://github.com/rg35xx-cfw/rg35xx-cfw.github.io/releases/tag/rg35xx_plus_h_batocera_lite_20240125

There's also a new discussion thread for that release, since that's the first one that formally supports both Plus and H