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ArchR Linux 2.1

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@dgateles dgateles released this 08 Jul 00:55
v2.1
8b0f09c

ArchR Linux 2.1

Performance, hardware compatibility and quality-of-life release for the R36S family (Original, Clone, R33S and Soysauce). Flashing the new image is the recommended path; from this release on, most fixes (including kernel and device trees) can also be delivered through the built-in updater (EmulationStation > Updates) thanks to the new boot-partition sync.

Performance

  • Memory clock doubled: the DDR now trains at 666MHz at boot (previous releases were locked at 333MHz). This was the single largest performance gap against BSP-based systems and translates directly into higher and more stable FPS across emulators.
  • Emulators now run with elevated CPU scheduling priority, and the default audio latency was tuned to eliminate audible crackling.

Fixed

  • USB WiFi dongles (RTL8188EUS family): dongles could scan networks but never completed the WPA2 handshake. The driver hand-off rule was rewritten and now moves the adapter to the correct driver deterministically. Covers the common TP-Link, Edimax EW-7811Un and generic 8188EUS adapters (#19).
  • R36S Clone V20 speaker: no sound from the built-in speaker while headphones worked. The V20-era boards route the speaker through an external amplifier; the audio profile now configures it, and headphone plug/unplug switching was fixed along the way (#35).
  • Power LED: the POWER LED COLOR menu now actually drives the LED on every board (on/off/heartbeat), the DISABLE POWER LED switch is visible and applies immediately, and the menu default matches the real boot state. On the Soysauce the LED polarity was inverted; on the Original the bicolor LED (green/red) is now fully described.
  • Soysauce PMIC interrupt: the power button, headphone detection and charger events were dead on Soysauce boards because the PMIC interrupt line differs from the rest of the family. All of them work now.
  • Soysauce gamepad in ports and standalone emulators: SDL-based titles now recognize the built-in controller without manual mapping.
  • Internet Status in Network Settings no longer clips, and the network menu no longer freezes while checking connectivity.
  • Second SD card: booting with a card in TF2 no longer breaks boot (partitions are resolved by label) (#34).

Sleep

  • Pressing the power button now puts the console into a light sleep: screen and backlight fully off, audio muted, CPU at minimum, instant wake on the next press. Kernel deep suspend is disabled by default because the SoC cannot reliably wake from it on mainline kernels (it remains available for experimentation under SUSPEND MODE).

Updater

  • Kernel and device-tree updates now flow through the package updater: after an update transaction the boot partition is synchronized automatically, with per-file checksums and verified writes. User overlays and bootloader files are never touched. Only the low-level bootloader (TPL/U-Boot, e.g. the DDR frequency change in this release) still requires reflashing the image.

Overlay generator (website)

  • The DTBO generator extracts more board-specific data from your stock DTB: speaker amplifier wiring, headphone-detect wiring (including legacy layouts), battery/charge LED wiring on clones and the PMIC interrupt pin. If a variant board misbehaves on the generic image, regenerating your overlay on the website now fixes considerably more cases without reflashing.

Checksums

bad4def59fb8b6d9964b325e2b768029ff8014790d7d43a09084575211888d52  ArchR-R36S.aarch64-20260708-original.img.gz
05ef38790b2f7269575db22d78299ca543734912ae51b0c39d1aacfa937e9f92  ArchR-R36S.aarch64-20260708-clone.img.gz

Always verify the checksum after downloading and before flashing.

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