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Game Console R35S/R36S

Overview

Hardware

SoC CPU GPU
Rockchip RK3326 ARM Cortex-A35 (Quad-core) @ 1.3 GHz Mali G31
Display RAM eMMC Connectivity
3.5-inch 640*480 1 GB DDR3 None None

Software

Kernel GPU drivers Compositor Interface
Mainline Linux libmali (GLES 3.2) & Panfrost (GL 3.1/GLES 3.1) Sway Emulation Station

Controls

RetroArch Hotkeys

Button Combo Action
SELECT+START (x2) Quit Game
SELECT+R1 Save State
SELECT+L1 Load State
SELECT+Y(NORTH) Open RA Menu
SELECT+X(WEST) Show FPS
SELECT+R2 Fast-Forward

Notes:

  • By default ROCKNIX will detect your controller and configure RetroArch hotkeys automatically. This is controlled by the "AUTOCONFIGURE RETROARCH HOTKEYS" option in the Settings > Controller & Bluetooth menu. While the option is enabled, RetroArch hotkeys will be overwritten by the above defaults each time RetroArch is launched. If this behavior is not desired that option can be disabled and your user-defined RetroArch hotkeys will be used instead.

Mednafen Hotkeys

Button Combo Action
SELECT+START (hold for 2sec) Quit Game
SELECT+R1 Save State
SELECT+L1 (hold for 2sec) Load State
SELECT+X(WEST) Show FPS
SELECT+R2 Fast-Forward
START+L1 Select disc
START+R1 Eject/Insert disc
START+D-Pad Left Decrease save slot by 1
START+D-Pad Right Increase save slot by 1
START+L2 Configure buttons on virtual port 1
START+R2 Insert coin

Notes:

  • By default ROCKNIX will expand the configuration file according to the first controller mednafen finds. This only happens when the config file doesn't exist (meaning the first time or if you manually delete it). After the initial expansion you are free to customize the controls.

Global Hotkeys

Button Combo Action
SELECT+Vol + Brightness Up
SELECT+Vol - Brightness Down
START+Vol + Battery Status
START+Vol - WIFI Toggle

HDMI Output

Press L1 + START + SELECT while in EmulationStation to swtich between Screen and HDMI output.

While this should work; it doesn't always result in the correct resolution. The best way to get consistent results is to turn off the device, plug in an HDMI cable and reboot.

"Why doesn't hot-plugging just work?"... Hot-plug HDMI switching is a fairly complex action to accomplish and not something we have implemented on any device. If you are a developer and interested in helping to build this functionality please start here: Contribute

Emulators

Notes

Installation

Download the latest RK3326 version of ROCKNIX from the button below and follow the instructions listed on the Install page.

Latest Version Latest Version

New displays (R36s of year 2024)

Recent R36s have new displays that need some extra actions to work.

The simplest way so far is:

  • Determine which panel do you have (or just try every option until it works)
  • Download a mipi-panel.dtbo.r36s-panel* there
  • Rename the downloaded file and put it to a boot (ROCKNIX) partition as overlays/mipi-panel.dtbo

These files mostly have just basic refresh rate (77.378 FPS) (panel4 has 50, 60, 75 because we tested it)

If you have an original .dtb file, you can generate a mipi-panel.dtbo from it.
Assuming you have an SSH access and you have scp'd the original dtb as rk3326-r35s-linux.dtb, the process would be as follows:

RK3326:~ # mount -o remount,rw /flash
RK3326:~ # mkdir -p /flash/overlays/
RK3326:~ # /usr/libexec/generic-dsi/importpanel.py rk3326-r35s-linux.dtb -O /flash/overlays/mipi-panel.dtbo
RK3326:~ # sync; mount -o remount,ro /flash/
Here we just make an overlays directory writable, then call a script that does all the importing stuff.
Feel free to run this script on your PC, modify it and experiment with panel timings.

This script adds a bunch of potentially useful refresh rates, but we have very few knowledge on which modes work well.
Please check them with wlr-randr or with game configuration and tell us which modes work with your panel.