Egret II Mini alpha 0.2

Changelog:

• Updated windows installation script

Notes:

• If you have successfully installed v0.1, you don't need to install this version, it does not provide any new functionality, just fixes an issue with the windows installation script.
• Please go to release v0.1 to download the batocera image and installation instructions.

Batocera v36 for Egret II Mini alpha 0.1

introduction

This is an initial release of batocera v36 for the Egret II Mini (E2M)

WARNINGs:

• Do not try to install this firmware into a Astro City Mini or a Astro City Mini V, they are not compatible
• Do not install if you don't feel comfortable with alpha quality releases, things may work or may not work at this time

This is preliminary alpha release so use it only if you like the cutting edge. The installation modifies the internal boot to add support to boot from SDCARD. Once the system has been flashed the console will boot batocera if the batocera SDCARD is inserted, but if the SDCARD is not inserted it will boot to factory firmware (note that instead of the Egret II Mini secondary logo you will see a custom circular logo instead). Once the internal installation is done, the system is ready to boot this or future batocera images, without having to run the installation again.

Installation instructions are linux based but below are the windows and mac instructions, note that Apple M1/M2 Silicon Macs are not currently supported for installation.

Installing the custom firmware

To get it installed follow the following steps:

1. Download and flash the batocera-sunxi_r16-e2m-36-20221107.img.gz to an empty SDCARD that has at least 16GB of storage. You can use balena-etcher to flash the image.
2. Insert the SDCARD into the E2M SDCARD port
3. Download and extract the e2m-install_20221229.zip to a folder on your computer.
4. Unplug the E2M power adapter (or disconnect the USB C power cable)
5. Find a USB A to USB A cable to connect your computer to the E2M.
6. Set the E2M power switch to the ON position.
7. Run the e2m-backup-and-install.sh script (this is for linux, look at the notes below for windows or mac instructions)
8. When you see the message *** PRESS A KEY WHEN READY AND THEN CONNECT THE E2M TO THE USB *** press a key on the console and connect the E2M power adapter
9. Wait until the bootloader is installed, you will see something like:

$ ./e2m-backup-and-install.sh
E2M custom boot installation
============================

1. Connect the USB C Power cable to the E2M power port
2. Connect a USB A to USB A cable to the E2M 2P USB port
3. Press a key when you are ready, and then plug the USB A cable to this computer.

*** PRESS A KEY WHEN READY AND THEN CONNECT THE E2M TO THE USB ***
No Allwinner devices in FEL mode detected.
Attempt #:1
No Allwinner devices in FEL mode detected.
Attempt #:2
No Allwinner devices in FEL mode detected.
Attempt #:3
No Allwinner devices in FEL mode detected.
Attempt #:4
No Allwinner devices in FEL mode detected.
Attempt #:5
No Allwinner devices in FEL mode detected.
Attempt #:6
No Allwinner devices in FEL mode detected.
Attempt #:7
Initializing...

Sending now...


finished: status:0...31


Astro City Mini should be in FEL mode now.

Booting from memory...
100% [================================================]    13 kB,  126.0 kB/s
100% [================================================]  3423 kB,  191.8 kB/s 
100% [================================================]  3616 kB,  191.7 kB/s 
100% [================================================]  1114 kB,  191.9 kB/s 
Done. The installation will continue on the E2M.
The E2M will reboot when the custom boot has been installed.

10. Once you see that message, the installation will continue on the console. Look at the screen prompts that will basically install the patched firmware automatically.
11. After the machine reboots, the system will now show a circular custom logo message after the TAITO boot logo and will start performing the first batocera boot. Note that this first boot may take up to 3 minutes. Subsequent boots will take less than a minute.

Restoring the original bootloader

The original bootloader backup is internal and typically does not need to be restored. The custom bootloader installed only adds the capability to boot via SDCARD and does not modify any other elements or impacts the stock functionality.

In any case, if you want to revert the bootloader to factory:

1. Unplug the E2M power adapter (or disconnect the USB C power cable)
2. Find a USB A to USB A cable to connect your computer to the E2M.
3. Set the E2M power switch to the ON position.
4. Run the e2m-restore.sh script and follow the screen prompts (this is for linux, look at the notes below for windows or mac instructions). You will see something like:

$ ./e2m-restore.sh 
E2M original boot restore
=========================

1. Connect the USB C Power cable to the E2M power port
2. Connect a USB A to USB A cable to the E2M 2P USB port
3. Press a key when you are ready, and then plug the USB A cable to this computer.

*** PRESS A KEY WHEN READY AND THEN CONNECT THE E2M TO THE USB ***
No Allwinner devices in FEL mode detected.
Attempt #:1
No Allwinner devices in FEL mode detected.
Attempt #:2
No Allwinner devices in FEL mode detected.
Attempt #:3
Initializing...

Sending now...


finished: status:0...31


Astro City Mini should be in FEL mode now.

Booting from memory...
100% [================================================]    13 kB,  126.0 kB/s
100% [================================================]  3423 kB,  191.6 kB/s 
100% [================================================]  3616 kB,  191.5 kB/s 
100% [================================================]  1114 kB,  191.6 kB/s 
Done. The installation will continue on the E2M.
The E2M will reboot when the original boot has been restored.

7. Follow the prompts on the screen. The system will restore the original boot partition to the E2M and will reboot to factory mode.

Notes

This is a preliminary version. While most of the batocera functionality is working, there are also some issues, below is a short list of what works and what's currently broken. This port is not only Egret II Mini based, but Allwinner/Sunxi R16 based, It has also been tested on the Astro City Mini and theoretically it should be possible to get batocera to work on other R16 boards like Astro City Mini-V, Genesis Mini, NES/SNES Classics, etc.

Linux:

• You will need to install sunxi-tools from your distro (e.g. sudo apt install sunxi-tools in ubuntu/debian)
• The sunxi-autofel is compiled on a ubuntu 22.10 64bit, so if you have a different arch (e.g. 32bit or older GLIBC based distro) it may or may not work. You can compile your own version by cloning and compiling this repo.

Windows commands:

• You will need to have zadig drivers or the classic driver for sunxi-fel to work. If you have installed hakchi or Project Lunar in the past you may not need to install any driver.
• Follow the instructions above, but instead of calling e2m-backup-and-install.sh run the following command on the windows command prompt: e2m-backup-and-install.bat
• To restore the original firmware, instead of e2m-restore.sh run e2m-restore.bat

Mac commands:

• For mac you may need to de-quarantine the sunxi-fel-mac and sunxi-autofel-mac that are found on the data folder of the installation files. Open a terminal, navigate to the data folder and execute: xattr -d com.apple.quarantine sunxi-autofel-mac and xattr -d com.apple.quarantine sunxi-fel-mac.
• To install on mac, follow the instructions but instead of calling e2m-backup-and-install.sh run the following command on the mac terminal: sh e2m-backup-and-install_mac.sh
• To restore the original firmware, follow the instructions but instead of e2m-restore.sh run sh e2m-restore_mac.sh

What works:

• Batocera core functionality is working: controller, audio, network (with USB wifi or ethernet), samba, etc.
• Retroarch rotation and autorotation (you can dynamically rotate games without restarting)
• EmulationStation rotation: dynamic but ES is restarted (note that the first time you boot the screen orientation may be wrong, just pop the screen out/in and it will set correctly)
• SDL2 based emulators (SDLPoP, Devilutionx, OpenBOR, etc.)
• Some wifi and ethernet usb dongles are supported (8188eu and 8192cu for wifi, AX88178A and AX88179 for ethernet). Just insert them on the P1 port. Note: sometimes you may need to unplug and plug them after batocera/ES starts.

What's broken:

• HDMI output: The retroarch rotation patches currently interfere with the non-rotated HDMI display. So while the LCD only displays correctly the HDMI display is rotate 90 degrees
• No DRM video support, system uses mali fbdev implementation, so this may mean that some of future batocera features may not be compatible. It shouldn't impact current compatibility yet
• Music volume can be changed, but master volume cannot be changed via the ES menu. You can change the default volume in batocera.conf.
• Retroarch screen autorotation requires these variables to be added to batocera.conf:

global.retroarch.input_rotate_landscape_btn = "14"
global.retroarch.input_rotate_portrait_btn = "15”

• By default controls may need to be redefined. Also you need to add the following lines at the bottom of batocera.conf to make sure all the buttons work correctly on retroarch, including the hotkey:

global.retroarch.input_player1_a = "b" 
global.retroarch.input_player1_a_btn = "5" 
global.retroarch.input_player1_b = "a" 
global.retroarch.input_player1_b_btn = "1" 
global.retroarch.input_player1_l = "f" 
global.retroarch.input_player1_l_btn = "3" 
global.retroarch.input_player1_r = "c" 
global.retroarch.input_player1_r_btn = "4" 
global.retroarch.input_player1_x = "e"
global.retroarch.input_player1_x_btn = "0"
 global.retroarch.input_player1_y = "d" 
global.retroarch.input_player1_y_btn = "2" 
global.retroarch.inpu...

Batocera v36 for Astro City Mini alpha 0.1

Introduction

This is an initial release of batocera v36 for the Astro City Mini (original one, not the V)

WARNING: Do not try to install this firmware into a Astro City Mini V or a Egret II Mini, they are not compatible

This is preliminary alpha release so use it only if you like the cutting edge. At this point the installation process is secure and it's possible to revert to factory. Also the installation will boot batocera if the batocera usb is inserted, but if the USB is not inserted it will boot to factory firmware (note that instead of the astro city mini secondary logo you will see a LOADING text instead). Once the internal installation is done, the system is ready to boot this or future batocera images, without having to run the installation again.

Installation instructions are linux based but below are the windows and mac instructions, note that Apple M1/M2 Silicon Macs are not currently supported for installation.

Installing the custom firmware

To get it installed follow the following steps:

1. Download and flash the batocera-sunxi_r16-acm-36-20221201.img.gz to an empty USB key that has at least 16GB of storage. You can use balena-etcher to flash the image.
2. Insert the USB key to the P2 port of the ACM
3. Download and extract the acm-install_20221203.zip to a folder on your computer.
4. Find a USB A to USB mini B cable to connect your computer to the ACM. Note that the cable provided with the console won't work since it does not have data connections. (For example, the cable to charge the Playstation DualShock4 works)
5. Connect the cable to console but don't connect it to the computer yet.
6. Set the ACM power switch to the ON position.
7. Run the acm-backup-and-install.sh script and follow the screen prompts (this is for linux, look at the notes below for windows or mac instructions). You will see something like:

$ ./acm-backup-and-install.sh 
ACM batocera installation
=========================

1. Copy the folder install to a USB key
2. Insert the USB key into the 2P port of the ACM
3. Connect the usb power cable to the ACM power port
4. Press a key when you are ready, and then plug the USB cable to this computer.

*** PRESS A KEY WHEN READY AND THEN CONNECT THE ACM TO THE USB ***

8. Press a key on the computer and then connect the USB cable. You will see something like this on your computer:

No Allwinner devices in FEL mode detected.
Attempt #:1
No Allwinner devices in FEL mode detected.
Attempt #:2
No Allwinner devices in FEL mode detected.
Attempt #:3
Initializing...

Sending now...


finished: status:0...31


Astro City Mini should be in FEL mode now.

Booting from memory...
100% [================================================]    13 kB,  126.5 kB/s
100% [================================================]  3549 kB,  191.6 kB/s 
100% [================================================]  6472 kB,  191.7 kB/s 
100% [================================================]  1114 kB,  191.8 kB/s 
Done. The installation will continue on the ACM. Follow the ACM screen prompts.
The ACM will reboot when the hack is installed.

9. Once you see that message, the installation will continue on the console. Look at the screen prompts that will basically install the patched firmware automatically.
10. After the machine reboots, the system will now show a LOADING message after the SEGA message and will start performing the first batocera boot. Note that this first boot may take up to 3 minutes. Subsequent boots will take less than a minute.

IMPORTANT!!!

Once the first boot is finished, extract your usb from the ACM, insert it on your computer and make a copy of the backup folder. That backup folder contains a copy of the internal ACM partitions. You will need those to restore the ACM to factory.

Restoring the original firmware

1. Insert the USB key that contains your previously extracted OFW backup to the P2 port of the ACM
2. Find a USB A to USB mini B cable to connect your computer to the ACM. Note that the cable provided with the console won't work since it does not have data connections.
3. Connect the cable to console but don't connect it to the computer yet.
4. Set the ACM power switch to the ON position.
5. Run the acm-restore.sh script and follow the screen prompts (this is for linux, look at the notes below for windows or mac instructions). You will see something like:

$ ./acm-restore.sh 
ACM Backup Restore Tool
=======================

1. Make sure you have your previous backup usb (it should contain a backup folder with nanda.img, nandb.img, etc.)
2. Insert the USB key into the 2P port of the ACM
3. Connect the usb power cable to the ACM power port
4. Press a key when you are ready, and then plug the USB cable to this computer.

*** PRESS A KEY WHEN READY AND THEN CONNECT THE ACM TO THE USB ***
No Allwinner devices in FEL mode detected.
Attempt #:1
No Allwinner devices in FEL mode detected.
Attempt #:2
No Allwinner devices in FEL mode detected.
Attempt #:3
Initializing...

Sending now...


finished: status:0...31


Astro City Mini should be in FEL mode now.

Booting from memory...
100% [================================================]    13 kB,  126.2 kB/s
100% [================================================]  3549 kB,  191.8 kB/s 
100% [================================================]  6473 kB,  191.8 kB/s 
100% [================================================]  1114 kB,  191.7 kB/s 
Done. The image restore from the backup will continue on the ACM. Follow the ACM screen prompts.
The ACM will reboot when the restoration finishes.

6. Follow the prompts on the screen. The system will restore the original backup partitions to the ACM and will reboot to factory mode.

Notes

This is a preliminary version. While most of the batocera functionality is working, there are also some issues, below is a short list of what works and what's currently broken. This port is not only Astro City Mini based, but Allwinner/Sunxi R16 based, It has also been tested on the Egret II Mini and theoretically it should be possible to get batocera to work on other R16 boards like Astro City Mini-V, Genesis Mini, NES/SNES Classics, etc.

Linux:

• You will need to install sunxi-tools from your distro (e.g. sudo apt install sunxi-tools in ubuntu/debian)
• The sunxi-autofel is compiled on a ubuntu 22.10 64bit, so if you have a different arch (e.g. 32bit or older GLIBC based distro) it may or may not work. You can compile your own version by cloning and compiling this repo.

Windows commands:

• You will need to have zadig drivers or the classic driver for sunxi-fel to work. If you have installed hakchi or Project Lunar in the past you may not need to install any driver.
• Follow the instructions above, but instead of calling acm-backup-and-install.sh run the following command on the windows command prompt: acm-backup-and-install.bat
• To restore the original firmware, instead of acm-restore.sh run acm-restore.bat

Mac commands:

• For mac you may need to de-quarantine the sunxi-fel-mac and sunxi-autofel-mac that are found on the data folder of the installation files. Open a terminal, navigate to the data folder and execute: xattr -d com.apple.quarantine sunxi-autofel-mac and xattr -d com.apple.quarantine sunxi-fel-mac.
• To install on mac, follow the instructions but instead of calling acm-backup-and-install.sh run the following command on the mac terminal: sh acm-backup-and-install_mac.sh
• To restore the original firmware, follow the instructions but instead of acm-restore.sh run sh acm-restore_mac.sh

What works:

• Batocera core functionality is working: controller, audio, network (with USB wifi or ethernet), samba, etc.
• Screen orientation (by default the ACM screen is rotated 90 degrees so applications need to be patched)
• Retroarch
• SDL2 based emulators (SDLPoP, Devilutionx, OpenBOR, etc.)
• Some wifi and ethernet usb dongles are supported (8188eu and 8192cu for wifi, AX88178A and AX88179 for ethernet). Just insert them on the P1 port. Note: sometimes you may need to unplug and plug them after batocera/ES starts.

What's broken:

• HDMI output: The retroarch rotation patches currently interfere with the non-rotated HDMI display. So while the LCD only displays correctly the HDMI display is rotate 90 degrees
• No DRM video support, system uses mali fbdev implementation, so this may mean that some of future batocera features may no be compatible. It shouldn't impact current compatibility yet
• Music volume can be changed, but master volume cannot be changed via the ES menu. You can change the default volume in batocera.conf.
• By default controls may need to be redefined. Also you need to add the following lines at the bottom of batocera.conf to make sure all the buttons work correctly on retroarch, including the hotkey (SELECT):

global.retroarch.input_player1_a = "b"
global.retroarch.input_player1_a_btn = "5"
global.retroarch.input_player1_b = "a"
global.retroarch.input_player1_b_btn = "1"
global.retroarch.input_player1_l = "d"
global.retroarch.input_player1_l_btn = "2"
global.retroarch.input_player1_r = "c"
global.retroarch.input_player1_r_btn = "4"
global.retroarch.input_player1_x = "e"
global.retroarch.input_player1_x_btn = "0"
global.retroarch.input_player1_y = "f"
global.retroarch.input_player1_y_btn = "3"
global.retroarch.input_save_state = "x"
global.retroarch.input_save_state_btn = "nul"

• Batocera splash video has the wrong resolution. Once batocera boots, go to settings, developer, splash screen and change it static image. That also reduces the boot time.
• For mo...

Batocera v36 for Egret II Mini alpha 0.3

There are some regressions with EmulationStation refresh in this version. If you have installed this version, you can revert back to alpha 0.1

WARNINGs:

• Do not try to install this firmware into a Astro City Mini or a Astro City Mini V, they are not compatible
• Do not install if you don't feel comfortable with alpha quality releases, things may work or may not work at this time

Changelog:

• Updated batocera to the latest development repository (2022/12/03)
• Added Egret-II Paddle and Trackball support
• Minor fixes

Installation:

Update existing installation:

If you already have installed a previous version, you can just update the boot partition:

• Download the boot.tar.xz for the latest release from this page
• Insert the SDcard with your existing batocera installation on your PC/Mac/Linux
• Mount the first partition called BATOCERA
• Extract all the contents of the boot.tar.xz file and copy the contents to the BOOT partition
• Eject the SDCARD
• Insert the SDCARD on your console and boot

Update full SDCard batocera image:

If you have already installed the bootloader but you prefer to update completely the SDCARD to a new image, download this image and flash it to your SDCARD

Full installation:

If this is the first time you are installing batocera in your Egret II mini, follow the instructions listed here but download this batocera image from this page.

Post installation/update

• Retroarch screen autorotation requires these variables to be added to batocera.conf:

global.retroarch.input_rotate_landscape_btn = "14"
global.retroarch.input_rotate_portrait_btn = "15”

• By default controls may need to be redefined. Also you need to add the following lines at the bottom of batocera.conf to make sure all the buttons work correctly on retroarch, including the hotkey:

global.retroarch.input_player1_a = "b" 
global.retroarch.input_player1_a_btn = "5" 
global.retroarch.input_player1_b = "a" 
global.retroarch.input_player1_b_btn = "1" 
global.retroarch.input_player1_l = "f" 
global.retroarch.input_player1_l_btn = "3" 
global.retroarch.input_player1_r = "c" 
global.retroarch.input_player1_r_btn = "4" 
global.retroarch.input_player1_x = "e"
global.retroarch.input_player1_x_btn = "0"
global.retroarch.input_player1_y = "d" 
global.retroarch.input_player1_y_btn = "2" 
global.retroarch.input_save_state = "x" 
global.retroarch.input_save_state_btn = "nul"

• Batocera splash video has the wrong resolution. Once batocera boots, go to settings, system settings, splash screen, and change it static image. That also reduces the boot time.
• For more information please see this page

General Notes

What Works:

• Batocera core functionality is working: controller, audio, network (with USB wifi or ethernet), samba, etc.
• Retroarch rotation and autorotation (you can dynamically rotate games without restarting)
• EmulationStation rotation: dynamic but ES is restarted (note that the first time you boot the screen orientation may be wrong, just pop the screen out/in and it will set correctly)
• Some wifi and ethernet usb dongles are supported (8188eu and 8192cu for wifi, AX88178A and AX88179 for ethernet). Just insert them on the P1 port. Note: sometimes you may need to unplug and plug them after batocera/ES starts.

What's broken:

• HDMI output: The retroarch rotation patches currently interfere with the non-rotated HDMI display. So while the LCD only displays correctly the HDMI display is rotate 90 degrees
• No DRM video support, system uses mali fbdev implementation, so this may mean that some of future batocera features may not be compatible. It shouldn't impact current compatibility yet
• SDL2 based emulators (SDLPoP, OpenBOR, etc.). Resolution is incorrect at this point
• Devilutionx is not included in this release due to a compilation issue

Acknowledgements: Neocvera for testing, Lykos for pointing out the control mapping issues

Batocera v36 for Astro City Mini alpha 0.2

Introduction

This is an minor update fixing a couple of things for batocera for the ACM:

• Initial HDMI support:
  • Connecting an HDMI display to the ACM while running Emulation Station should switch to the external display
  • Connecting while a game is running is not supported and will result in a corrupted display on HDMI (just switch back to the local display, close the game, and then connect the HDMI)
  • Notes:
    • if the console is switched off while connected to a external display and then started without the HDMI display, the internal display will be rotated 90 degrees. Just navigate to Settings -> Advanced Settings -> Rotate Display, and set it to 90. Exit the menu and ES will restart with the right orientation. Alternatively, connect a HDMI display, wait for display, then disconnect to get the display oriented properly in the internal screen.
    • The same may be true for a first installation from image. Follow the same procedure to get the display to their correct orientation.
• Default control mapping now defined:
  • ACM default controls are not defined internally, so there should be no need to remap them unless desired

Installation

This release includes a full installation image as well as a boot update file. Follow the instructions found here to perform a manual update. The boot update won't modify the contents of your existing data partition.

What works:

• Batocera core functionality is working: controller, audio, network (with USB wifi or ethernet), samba, etc.
• Screen orientation (by default the ACM screen is rotated 90 degrees so applications need to be patched)
• Retroarch
• SDL2 based emulators (SDLPoP, Devilutionx, OpenBOR, etc.)
• Some wifi and ethernet usb dongles are supported (8188eu and 8192cu for wifi, AX88178A and AX88179 for ethernet). Just insert them on the P1 port. Note: sometimes you may need to unplug and plug them after batocera/ES starts.

What's broken:

• flycast, ppsspp, and mupen64plus emulators have their frontends rotated. It's possible to rotate their content via their configuration, but you can also use their equivalent retroarch cores that may be easier to config.
• No DRM video support, system uses mali fbdev implementation, so this may mean that some of future batocera features may no be compatible. It shouldn't impact current compatibility yet
• Music volume can be changed, but master volume cannot be changed via the ES menu. You can change the default volume in batocera.conf.
• Controls may result in multiple buttons being pressed in some emulators. Add the following lines at the bottom of batocera.conf to make sure all the buttons work correctly on retroarch, including the hotkey (SELECT):

global.retroarch.input_player1_a = "b"
global.retroarch.input_player1_a_btn = "5"
global.retroarch.input_player1_b = "a"
global.retroarch.input_player1_b_btn = "1"
global.retroarch.input_player1_l = "d"
global.retroarch.input_player1_l_btn = "2"
global.retroarch.input_player1_r = "c"
global.retroarch.input_player1_r_btn = "4"
global.retroarch.input_player1_x = "e"
global.retroarch.input_player1_x_btn = "0"
global.retroarch.input_player1_y = "f"
global.retroarch.input_player1_y_btn = "3"
global.retroarch.input_save_state = "x"
global.retroarch.input_save_state_btn = "nul"

• Batocera splash video has the wrong resolution. Once batocera boots, go to settings, developer, splash screen and change it to batocera splash image. That also reduces the boot time.
• For more information please see this page