09302026b

Change Log

Emulators

• updated Retrorun and Retrorun32 with versions that work with the ProMax (1024x768)
• restored libasound.so.2.0.0, a custom 32-bit library that was nuked in the Debian 13.7 update
• Retrorun32 and Retroarch32 are restored as a result

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Offline Update Available - Download Source Code.zip Below

• unzip the contents to your Tools folder and run dArkOsen_offline from the menu.

09302026

Change Log

Emulation

• fixed Advanced Drastic

  • the project appears to be abandoned and is closed source
  • there will be no further updates
  • there will be no further support
  • not compatible with rotated displays

• fixed Duckstation!!!!! (NEEDS A BIOS TO RUN!)

  • compatible with rotated displays

• updated Kodi with rotate capable version

  • updated Kodi to dArkOSen edition Omega 21.3
  • fixed playlist bug where it always played the same first item on shuffle

• updated PPSSPP with a version optimized for the rk3326

• updated Retroarch64 and 32 with rotate capable versions

• updated Retrorun64 and 32 with rotate capable versions

• updated SDL2 with rotate capable version

• updated Flycast with rotate capable version

  • enabled hardware acceleration in Flycast
  • changed Flycast entry in ES to "standalone-Flycast"

• fixed BigPEmu (Atari Jaguar) controls

• added .zip detection to Atari Jaguar in ES

Audio & Performance

• changed audio volume to a log curve instead of linear

  • much louder at 50% volume (equivalent to 70% previous)
  • minimum and maxiumum values were not changed

• fixed ZRAM not setting to 768M, added 1024M setting

Display & Rotation

• the rotation tag is in /home/ark/.config/.DEVICE, add or remove the string "rotated"
• updated 351Files with scaling for large screens, added keymapping

DTB & Device Support

• updated R36S-V12 2023-08-18 Panel 4 in the dtb folder

• added more models to the dtb folder:

  • HL-R50S-V30 2025-12-18
  • HL-R50H-V11 2026-03-31 2617
  • HL-R40PRO-MAX-V12 2025-09-18

Boot & System

• updated Debian Trixie OS to version 13.7

• added 'Boot Splash Manager.sh' by @Jason3x to the System folder

• updated RetroArch Manager, new feature 'Migrate from Arkos'

• end of the road for Vulkan integration, the vendor blobs are lacking support

• added SELECT MODEL.exe and SELECT MODEL_OSX.app to /boot

• all boot logos/images copy from centralized folders to reduce redundant copies

• installed KMSGrab

• installed ImageMagick

• added a Screenshot tool via KMSGrab

  • type screenshot in a terminal to capture the current screen
  • default save location is /roms/screenshots/screenshot.png
  • does not overwrite previous screenshots
  • use <location>/<name>.png as an arg - ex. screenshot /roms/tools/pikachu.png

Global Controls

• replaced "Switch A/B in EmulationStation" with "Switch A/B Globally"

  • toggles scripts, ES, RetroArch, Portmaster, Thememaster, Kodi, 351Files and File Manager
  • choose 'US' for western button layout, 'JP' for traditional layout

SaveSync

• fixed content folder sync bug in SaveSync
• created missing savesync.crd file, needed to save credentials in Savesync

Storage & System Settings

• added "Storage Settings" to "Advanced Settings" in ES

  • 'Switch to SD2 for Roms.sh' is now "Enable SD2" in the menu
  • updated 'Switch to SD2 for Roms.sh' and 'Switch to Main SD for Roms.sh'; fully idempotent
  • 'SYSTEMS Manager.sh' has been fully integrated as "Reassign Systems to SD1"
  • 'SD Scan and Repair.sh' has been fully integrated as "Scan and Repair"

Security & Networking

• SECURITY: fixed - connect wifi via execvp instead of shell to prevent SSID injection
• updated ES translations

09162026

Change Log

Performance & Hardware

• fixed CPU/GPU governor settings not sticking
• added CPU Grade to Performance Settings
• added RAM governor apply at boot
• fixed GPU Max Freq in Performance Settings decreased when pressing right
• fixed CPU and GPU opp tables in all dtbs
• fixed BatteryPlus calibration
• blacklist redundant 8192cu driver

Wi-Fi & OTG

• fixed race condition in wifi/otg toggle
• OTG has been confirmed working

Display & UI

• fixed vertical battery icon displaying incorrectly
• fixed video and title image positioning in RetroDark

Emulation

• fixed permission error in RetroArch32 that was preventing saving settings
• fixed PSP displaying wrong manufacturer in settings
• updated Advanced Drastic (latest version from dArkOSRE beta)
• updated Retro Shaders to 2.1 (added CRT bezels)

DTB & Device Support

• fixed R36Plus not showing boot logo (reselect in the dtb selector to apply)

• fixed R36H Pro Max missing GPU overclock (reselect in the dtb selector to apply)

• added to the dtb selector:

  • HL-R36H-V21 2024-11-18 (replaced)
  • HL-R36H-ProMax-V20 2025-11-18
  • HL-R45H-V22 2026-03-09
  • R36S-V21 2024-12-18 2544
  • R36S-V22 2024-12-18 2545
  • R36S-V30 2025-18-11 2603

SaveSync

• added SaveSync to Advanced Settings (see Wiki for instructions)

  • hotkey shortcut L3 + A button to sync any time

EmulationStation

• added 'Last 20 Played Games' to Game Collection Settings (thanks u/Jason_2x)

08312026

Change Log

This update brings a ton of new improvements and visuals. All of the AI placeholder slop has been replaced with real artwork and my favorite theme, RetroOz, has been remixed into RetroDark. Many of the scripts that were accumulating in the System folder have now been integrated into the Emulation Station menu.

Boot & Performance

• new boot logo,loading screen and theme, RetroDark! AI placeholders have been moved to /BMPs.old and /JPGs.old
• faster boot time, fixed a hanging logo service
• restored libOpenCL.so.1 symlink after dArkOS update, needed for ffmpeg

Emulation & RetroArch

• fixed 'PSX - CHD to ISO.sh' not running
• fixed Retroarch pointing to /roms2/bios, /roms/bios is the default now
• added hotkey to Rice standalone emulator --> SELECT + X = reset emulator
• added 'Retroarch Manager' to the Advanced folder
  • easily change game saves location
  • moves the game saves too
  • dArkOSen default is ~/.config/retroarch/saves
  • can choose game content folders,
    /roms/<system> or /roms2/<system> according to es_systems.cfg

DTB & Hardware

• R36S-V22 2024-12-18 2535 added to the DTB SELECTOR
• HL-R46H-V22 2026-3-12 added to the DTB SELECTOR
• R36S-V21 2024-12-18 2551 added to the DTB SELECTOR

Wi-Fi & Network Settings

• integrated Wi-Fi Manager completely into the OS

  • everything is in top level of NETWORK SETTINGS

  • if you have SD2 enabled toggle REMOTE SERVICES to activate 'roms2' in Samba sharing

  • toggle WIFI MONITOR SERVICE to turn off the wifi monitoring service

    • the service attempts to reconnect any unexpected broken network connections
    • if it cannot reconnect within ten minutes it turns off wifi to save power
    • parameters such as retry interval and timeout can be edited at /usr/local/bin/wifi_monitor.sh
    • it uses minimal resources but can be turned off if behaviour is undesirable

EmulationStation

• updated Emulation Station (thanks to @Jason3x)

  • click on 'Distro Version' in the main menu to update dArkOSen (Update.sh moved to /usr/local/bin)

  • added Gamma slider to Display Settings

  • added Boot Volume level to Sound Settings

  • added Joystick Deadzone to the Advanced Settings

  • added Network Settings to the menu (with contributions from @Jason3x, @lcdyk0517)

    • integrated Wi-Fi Manager
    • menu link to Bluetooth Manager script (moved to /usr/local/bin)
    • HOSTNAME can be edited by selecting it in the menu

  • added Performance Settings to the menu (with contributions from @lcdyk0517)

    • ported all functions from CPU Manager
    • added temp and cores from A4C ES menu

  • added Date & Time to the Advanced Settings

    • time can be set manually
    • network sync overrides manual setting

  • added Root File Access toggle to the Advanced Settings

  • added BatteryPlus Settings in Advanced Settings (@Jason3x)

  • added Battery Icon to the UI Settings (@Jason3x)

  • added Network Icon to the UI Settings (@Jason3x)

  • scraping for games in Ports is fixed, now linked to 'PC Windows' category

System Folder Changes

• removed 'BatteryPlus Mode Switcher' from the Advanced folder
• removed 'R36 Boot Volume' from the System folder
• removed 'R36 Joystick Deadzone Adjuster' from the System folder
• removed 'CPU Manager' from the System folder
• removed 'Adjust Gamma' from the System folder
• removed 'Change LED to Red' from the System folder
• removed 'Update' from the Systems folder
• removed 'Wi-Fi Manager' from the Options folder
• removed 'BT Manager' from the Options folder

dArkOS 08272026 Change Log

Emulation & Gaming

• fixed many Daphne games not loading
• fixed the ability to backup and restore settings from BaRT
• fixed parallel_n64 core for retroarch32 (Thanks to Czapa86 for reporting the issue)
• fixed nice priority settings not taking effect when launching emulators (Thanks to cino893 for reporting and resolving the issue)

System Updates

• updated batteryplus (Thanks to Mikhailzrick)
• updated retrorun and retrorun32
• updated Debian Trixie OS version to 13.6

08152026

Change Log

The last update enabled the Safe Shutdown shortcut in the hotkeys. Many of you may have found out, as I did, that it was anything but safe. It had a tendency to corrupt SD2 due to how it was unmounting before shutdown. I have repaired the Safe Shutdown script and also added the new SD Scan and Repair utility for those of you who may not have access to a PC to repair your filesystems. It cannot repair a damaged card, but if you find games were missing or the system is otherwise acting weird after using Safe Shutdown running an SD scan can fix most filesystem issues.

Documentation & Support

• created the dArkOSen Wiki

Boot & System

• fixed 'finish.sh' - no more worry of SD corruption from using the 'Safe Shutdown' hotkey

• fixed 'recovery-check.service' - was loading before /boot was mounted

• updated SYSTEMS Manager to allow moving Tools and Ports back to SD1

• added 'SD Card Scan and Repair' to the System folder

  • runs fsck.fat or btrfs scrub to check for and automatically fix errors
  • unmounts partitions first, reboot may be required
  • detailed logs are created after each scan at /home/ark/sd_scan.log
  • limited to repairing corrupt filesystems, cannot fix a dying card
  • rootfs is limited to simple repairs, if a PC scan is needed it gives instructions

Emulation

• fixed Retrorun Saturn for non-R36S devices

• fixed conflicting Hotkeys in Mupen64Plus, see Wiki

• added 'Update Retroarch Cheats' to the Advanced folder

  • the most recent Cheats update is included as part of this update

• added 'PSX - CHD to ISO' to the Advanced folder

• changed menu hotkey in Drastic/Advanced Drastic to L3

• added 'Drastic Bilinear Filter Mode' to the Advanced folder

  • use the script to turn bilinear filtering on or off
  • changes settings for Drastic and Advanced Drastic at the same time

Vulkan & Development Tools

• fixed missing Vulkan support (libmali)
  — registered missing ICD file so Vulkan apps can use the Mali-G31 GPU instead of falling back to software rendering (not tested)
• installed strace, ltrace, vulkan-tools, usbutils, gdb

Video Tools

• added 'R36 SD MP4 Video Converter' to the Tools folder

  • converts any selected video in /movies to 640x480, 24fps, 196k audio
  • choice of padding or cropping non-4:3 AR videos
  • takes around 1 minute per minute of video to convert
  • outputs new video with appended filename to /movies folder - does not delete original

DTB & Hardware

• marked all clone and soysauce dtbs as UNSUPPORTED in PC and macOS DTB SELECTORS to remove ambiguity

• fixed R36S-Plus-V20 2025-03-18 2551 rg351mp-uboot.dtb to properly display the boot logo

• added more DTBs to the selector:

  • HL-R36H-V21 2024-11-18
  • R36S-V21 2024-12-18 2529
  • R36S-V21 2024-12-18 2547

• added 'R36 Joystick Deadzone Adjuster' to the System folder

• updated all dtbs with an improved deadzone value of 384 ADC

• updated 'dArkOSen_dtb_patcher_v1.2' to include adc-deadzone values

Wi-Fi

• updated to 'Wi-Fi Manager 4.3.7' see repo for changes

07312026

Change Log

System Updates

• retore EmulationStation after dArkOS update
• restore dArkOSen system hotkeys after dArkOS update
• removed dArkOS update path
• renamed 'Update-dArkOSen' to 'Update'
• changed hostname to 'dArkOSen-r36'
• fixed fstab device path error

System Utilities

• added 'BatteryPlus Mode Switcher' to the Advanced folder BatteryPlus
• updated R36 Backup and Migration Assistant to apply Retroarch hotkeys
• added 'Restore dArkOSen' to the Advanced folder
  • restores dArkOSen's kernel and ogage (overclock and hotkeys) and @Jason3x's emulationstation

Emulation & Gaming

• added 'Dave's Retro Shaders 2.0' - major performance updates to the CRT and LCD shaders!
• added Advanced Drastic NDS emulator (lifted from dArkOSRE, thanks go to southoz)
• applied dArkOSRE style Retroarch hotkeys (Reset Retroarch Settings in Advance folder to apply)
• enable single press of Fn button to open Retroarch menu (systemd service)

Hotkeys

Retroarch Hotkeys

FUNCTION	HOTKEY COMBO
Retroarch Menu	Function or Select for 2 seconds
Quit Retroarch	Start + Select
Pause	Select + R3
Reset Core	Select + R2
Save State	Select + B (Bottom)
Load State	Select + A (Right)
Prev State	Select + Y (Left)
Next State	Select + X (Top)
Fast Forward	Select + D-Pad Right
Fast Forward Hold	Select + D-Pad Down
Rewind	Select + D-Pad Left
Frame Advance	Select + D-Pad Up
Screenshot	Select + L3

System Hotkeys

• Fn or R3 (right joystick press) both act as the hotkey
• gamma hotkeys switched to D-Pad left and right

FUNCTION	HOTKEY COMBO
Brightness Up	Hotkey + D-Pad Up
Brightness Down	Hotkey + D-Pad Down
Gamma Up	Hotkey + D-Pad Right
Gamma Down	Hotkey + D-Pad Left
Volume Up	Hotkey + R1
Volume Down	Hotkey + L1
Safe Shutdown	Hotkey + Power
Mute	Hotkey + L3
Battery Level	Select + R3
Toggle Wifi	Select + L1
Toogle Bluetooth	Select + R1

Performance & Thermal Management

• fixed boot race condition in CPU Manager/ZRAM service

• thermal protection and the overclocked kernel:

  The Three Checkpoints

  • 70°C — "Slow down a bit"
    The coach notices you're getting hot and says jog instead of sprint.
    Barely noticeable, still moving fast.

  • 85°C — "Walk it off"
    Now the coach makes you walk. Your top speed gets capped until you cool down.
    This is where the real throttling kicks in.

  • 115°C — "Sit down, you're done"
    Emergency stop. The system shuts itself off before anything gets hurt.

  Who's Watching

  • A temperature sensor checks in once every second.
  • Based on what it reads, it tells the CPU: "you're allowed this much speed, no more."

  Why It's Safe Without a Heatsink

  Even with nothing cooling the chip, it physically cannot run itself past 115°C —
  the kernel forces it to stop before that happens.

07272026

Change Log

Boot & Startup

• DTB SELECTOR.apk (for Android) added to /boot (thanks u/Jason_2x!)
• SELECT MODEL MAC_OSX.sh (for Mac) added to /boot (thanks to moroboshi69)

System Utilities

• repaired FFMPEG and Libvulkan1 installations
• added 'Dave's Retro Shaders v1.7' back, got missed in last update somehow
• added 'Adjust Gamma' to the System folder (thanks to u/southozfps for the reference materials)
• added back full screen Files viewer for 1024x768 screens (dropped by accident in the first release)
• restored 'Remove ._ Files' to the System folder (for our Mac users)
• added 'PSP - CHD to ISO' to the Advanced Folder
• added 'Convert GIF to MP4' to the Advanced folder
  • run to convert and crop /roms/launchimages/loading.gif to /roms/launchimages/loading.mp4
• added 'Convert Loading Animations' to the Advanced folder
  • run to convert and crop /roms/launchimages/loading.gif or /roms/launchimages/loading.mp4 to a format readable by ES/FCAMOD
  • added sample gif and mp4s to /launchimages

Hotkeys

• NEW HOTKEYS! More functions added:

  • repeat-on--hold key presses are active
  • Fn or R3 (right joystick press) both act as the hotkey
  • HOTKEY + D-pad up or down adjusts brightness
  • HOTKEY + Volume up or down adjusts brightness
  • HOTKEY + D-pad left or right adjusts volume
  • HOTKEY + L or R triggers adjust volume
  • HOTKEY + L2 or R2 triggers adjust gamma
  • HOTKEY + Power button for instant safe shutdown
  • HOTKEY + L3 toggles mute
  • SELECT + R3 speaks battery percentage
  • SELECT + L trigger toggles wifi
  • SELECT + R trigger toggles bluetooth

Emulation & Gaming

• installed mame-tools to enable game and video conversion on the console
• fixed Retrorun and Retrorun32 no controls and wrong display for R36H and R45H boards
• fixed Retrorun32 had no audio
• fixed PPSSPP-2021 not saving games

Connectivity

• added Italian language support to EmulationStation (thanks u/Jason_2x!)
• added Bluetooth controller support to BT Manager
• added automatic detection of SD2 for samba sharing to Wi-Fi Manager

Device Support

• fixed 'rg351mp-uboot.dtb' for R36S-Plus-V20 2025-03-18 2551

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07202026

Change Log

Boot & Startup

• everyone gets new boot logos! (1024x768 and 720x720 supported)
• new dArkOSen loading images
• fixed boot logo for 1024x768 devices, everyone uses the same image/build now
• added Recovery boot service
  • '/boot/recovery.sh' is called before ES loads
  • 'recovery.sh' can be anything, allowing to fix an unbootable system
  • system loads as normal if 'recovery.sh' not present
• hostname and hosts changed to 'MYDEVICE'
• updater changed to 'Update-dArkOSen.sh'
• fixed ownership of root folder
• fixed fstab to prevent boot failure with 2 SD cards

Kernel & Hardware

• added new dArkOSen OC kernel (a heatsink is recommended if using overclocking)
• USB gadget (ECM/RNDIS/EEM + mass storage) enabled in kernel
• all dtbs for genuine R36S models are patched for accurate battery reporting
• new dtbs added to selector:
  • R36S-Plus-V20 2025-03-18 2551
  • R36S-V22 2024-12-18 2534
  • HL-R45H-V20 2025-11-18

Networking

• added NetworkManager dispatcher to disable IPV6 for faster PC connections
• fixed missing battery and bluetooth icons
• updated Wi-Fi Manager and BT Manager

System Utilities

• updated 'Switch to SD2 for ROMs' to copy '/roms/tools' to '/roms2/tools' during setup
• added R36 Tuner to the System folder (thanks to u/z3nmode-adri)
• added R36 Boot Volume to the System folder (default set to 60%)
• added Kodi Remover to the Advanced folder
• added dArkOSen_dtb_patcher_v1.1 to the Advanced folder
  • if you added your own dtb run dtb patcher to access overclocking

Audio

• added more delay to volume-resume-fix, raised to 0.65s as some buffer pops were still leaking in ES

Themes & Graphics

• major update to Gameboy and NGP overlays in Retro Shaders
• updated R36 Theme Patcher

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How the Overclock Works

• Chips get a factory "grade" based on quality — lower-grade chips get told to stay slow
• Unlocked new speed steps (1368–1512MHz) in the DTB that didn't exist before
• Kernel now pretends the chip has a top-tier grade when max_cpufreq=1512 is set — without this, clock reports higher but real performance stays capped

Risk

• Not measuring the actual chip's real quality — just assuming top-tier and running top-tier voltage
• If a specific chip isn't actually top-tier: possible instability, crashes, or faster long-term wear (over years not hours)

Safeguards Still in Place

• DTB voltage ceiling (1.4V) — hard cap, can't be exceeded regardless of cmdline
• boot_cpufreq floor (1296MHz default) — always boots safe, only ramps up if userspace raises it
• Requests above the DTB ceiling get rejected

Not Yet Built

• Thermal step-down (auto-drop speed if running hot) — still on the to-do list, nothing currently stops sustained heat

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07042026

This update is for both my repacks, dArkOS R36H Pro Max and dArkOS R36S Enhanced.

• It installs an update script, Update-dArkOSen, in the System folder. You will be ready for future updates.

For Pro Max users:

• grants root access to the file explorers
• installs R36 Backup and Migration Tool to System