ArchR Linux 3.0.3

ArchR Linux 3.0.3

3.0.3 gathers everything that reached consoles through updates since 3.0.2, and fixes a problem that only a new image can fix for new installs: on some consoles, a first start with the clock in the past left the console unable to update at all. The biggest changes: a controller tester and stick calibration, date and time and mute in the settings, Wi-Fi that keeps its saved networks and connects on adapters that refuse the first try, a safe processor setting for weak chips, and the volume no longer coming back at maximum or muted after a restart.

This is an official build.

Upgrading

• Already on 3.0.2 and the Updates page works: everything below is already on your console, or arrives through Settings › System › Updates. You do not need to flash.
• Already on 3.0.2 and the Updates page fails with "Check network" while Wi-Fi works: your console's first start ran with the wrong date and could not load the Arch R package key. Either flash 3.0.3 (copy your saves to a PC first; they are in the ARCHR_ROMS drive), or, without reflashing, turn on Settings › Network › Network services › SSH, connect from a computer (ssh root@archr.local, password archr) and run pacman-key --populate archr; then update as usual. Details: Updating Arch R.
• Without network: download the newest update from arch-r.io/update and use Settings › System › Updates › Update from the card.
• New install: flash 3.0.3 with the Arch R Flasher or any image writer, then add your panel overlay as before. A 32 GB or larger microSD is recommended; 8 GB is the minimum.

Highlights

• Updates no longer break on a wrong first date. The Arch R package key is loaded whenever it is missing, and a wrong date is shown as such ("Wrong date"), with Settings › Region and language › Date and time to correct it, instead of a network error.
• Date and time in Settings › Region and language: day, month, year, hour and minute, each changed with left and right, then Apply. The clock chip keeps it after power off.
• Mute in Settings › Sound and display, kept across restarts; a volume step turns it off. The speaker no longer comes back muted or at full volume after a restart.
• Controller tester and stick calibration in Settings › Controls › Test controller: every button and both sticks, and a guided calibration (hold Y) that applies to the launcher, every emulator and every port. A calibration never makes a stick slower than it came from the factory.
• Wi-Fi: saved networks stay after a restart (thanks @marianomd, #53), adapters that refuse the first connection attempt now connect, and joining a network from the settings works right away.
• Safe processor setting for weak chips in the overlay generator: some consoles (an R36S V22) freeze at 1416 MHz and never start; Safe caps the processor at 1296 MHz. The offline generator is the same as the online one.

Fixed and improved

System

• A frozen console restarts on its own after 30 s and reports it at the next start; the report now carries the end of the session that froze.
• Battery: no more 0% after a charge taken with the console off, and no drain while it is off.
• R36S Soysauce: random freezes fixed (the SD card is powered as the board expects).
• Ports copied by hand no longer fail with "Permission denied".
• J2ME games (FreeJ2ME) work: the Java runtime installs once on the card.
• Python apps and PySDL2 ports find system libraries again; apps using the DejaVu fonts show their text; unified storage mounts again.
• A reset while the controller settings were being saved no longer stops every later start.
• Tools you add yourself to the launcher stay after a restart (#54).
• God of War (PSP) runs at about 17-19 fps instead of 7-8; arcade sets in .7z open in FinalBurn Neo; Solarus games, older PortMaster ports and 32-bit GameMaker ports fixed.

Launcher

• Start opens the Start Menu inside a game list; favorites first in each system's list.
• Coming back to the last game only after leaving a game; leaving the game switcher returns to the last game.
• Modules get more time to start on a slow CPU profile.
• Games copied from a PC show up right away; the theme store grid moves with the d-pad.

Overlay generator (arch-r.io)

• Processor speed: ArchR (up to 1416 MHz), Stock DTB (lower or higher than ours) or Safe (up to 1296 MHz).
• The offline edition is kept identical to the online one.