Skip to content

TortOS v2.0.0

Choose a tag to compare

View all tags
@ericreinsmidt ericreinsmidt released this 26 Oct 02:23
· 11 commits to main since this release
v2.0.0
83c9c83

The Brick runs on its own system. TortOS on the TrimUI Brick and Brick Hammer now runs on plastron, the small Linux the GKD Pixel 2 has always used, instead of on top of TrimUI's firmware. The card is the whole system: the Brick boots to the shelf in about 1.9 seconds, everything TortOS keeps (settings, saves, Wi-Fi networks, Bluetooth pairings) is on the card, and nothing is written to the Brick itself. Take the card out and the Brick starts its own system as it always did. TrimUI's firmware is no longer supported.

Down To The Wire on the Brick. Plug the Brick into a computer and MENU > Down To The Wire moves games, music, audiobooks, saves and covers over the USB cable, with no Wi-Fi, as on the Pixel 2. It works with a Mac, Linux and Windows 11, with nothing to install.

Wi-Fi on the Pixel 2, from a USB adapter. Plug a USB Wi-Fi adapter into the Pixel 2's USB-C port, one with a Realtek chip Linux's rtl8xxxu driver knows, like the TP-Link TL-WN725N, and the Wi-Fi rows appear: box art fetched on the device, RetroAchievements, Over The Hare, and the clock set from the network. Pull it out and they go; plug it back in and it rejoins.

A battery that runs out saves your game. At 2%, off the charger, TortOS powers off the way the power button does, saving the running game first, instead of the battery cutting out under it. The low-battery dot now shows in games and in the in-game menu too, blinking when the battery is nearly empty.

Also:

  • The Pixel 2 boots to the shelf in about 2.2 seconds.
  • Muting in the in-game menu and unmuting in the game brings the sound back at its volume, where it stayed silent until a volume key.
  • The Brick plays the same boot animation as the Pixel 2.
  • TortOS is now free software under the GPL, version 3 or later. Releases up to 1.6.0 stay MIT. The licenses of everything on a card are in its Licenses folder.

Updating from an earlier version

You need TortOS Installer 3.0.0.

  • Pixel 2: choose Update. The games, music, saves and settings stay.
  • Brick: TortOS 2.0 brings its own system, so the card is erased. First copy your games, music and audiobooks off the card. Then choose TrimUI Brick and Move to TortOS 2: the installer copies your saves, settings and BIOS files to a folder in your Documents, then erases the card. After the Brick's first start, put the card back in the computer and choose Put them back, then copy your games, music and audiobooks back on: the installer leaves the card in for that. Your Wi-Fi networks stay on the Brick itself, not the card, so join them again under MENU > Wi-Fi after the move.

Writing an image by hand erases the card, on either device.

New install

With the TortOS Installer, choose the device and Fresh install. By hand, as in the README: write TortOS-v2.0.0-brick.img.xz (Brick and Brick Hammer) or TortOS-v2.0.0-pixel2.img.xz (Pixel 2) with any program that writes disk images. Each image's -sources.tar holds the licenses and source of the open-source software in it. The Brick's GPU libraries and Wi-Fi firmware are closed and not included; its PROPRIETARY.txt names them. SHA256SUMS has the checksums of all four files.

If you’ve felt down, looked left & right, and no one was around,
a friend may be the one to lift you up, if only they are found.

Assets 7
Loading