blackseraph

GarlicOS for Anbernic RG35XX (Patreon)

Published:

2022-12-30 20:39:54

Imported:

Tags:

Anbernic GarlicOS OnionOS RG35XX RetroArch

Downloads

Content

Say hello to GarlicOS for RG35XX!

It's a fast & easy to understand operating system that should make Miyoo Mini / OnionOS users feel right at home with its similar look & feel!

Think of it as the natural evolution of my previous RetroArch port for RG35XX, with fully working sleep mode, improved button mappings, a whole new user interface and several under-the-hood bugfixes.

How to install: Download and install 7zip on your system, download the attached files into the same folder, right-click the part with the .001 extension, choose "7-Zip -> Extract Here" and finally open README.txt for further instructions.

Changelog

30. April 2023 (1.4.9):

Added system icons for NESTOPIA, PCFX, PLUS4, C128 & PET folders
Set the GarlicOS version to 1.4.9

30. April 2023 (1.4.8):

Updated the FCEUmm libretro core ("FC" folder)
Fixed the Mednafen PCFX core ("PCFX" folder, thanks to XQuader)
Added the Nestopia core ("NESTOPIA" folder, -||-)
Added the ViceXPlus4 core ("PLUS4" folder, -||-)
Added the ViceX128 core ("C128" folder, -||-)
Added the ViceXPet core ("PET" folder, -||-)
Set the GarlicOS version to 1.4.8

18. April 2023 (1.4.7):

Fixed a Garlic user interface glitch in the recent game menu that occured when exiting games while the FPS counter was enabled
Notifications are now generated via a producer / consumer queue (it makes them feel more fluid / faster)
Fixed a color conversion issue in the freechaf libretro core (thanks to XQuader)
Added the vice_xvic libretro core (thanks to Salvacam)
The 3500mAh DTB file was removed because the batteries used to generate the discharge-curve turned out to be mislabeled 2800mAh batteries (this is the fraudulent AliExpress listing in question)
The GarlicOS 1.3.4 mirror has been removed (most, if not all ports are now compatible with the latest GarlicOS builds)
Set the GarlicOS version to 1.4.7

11. April 2023 (1.4.6):

Sync events for skipped D-pad rollovers no longer fire (there's no need for them on straight jumps between -1 & 1 on the axis scale)
Hardware overlays now get disabled on frames where they aren't needed (which leaves more CPU cycles for actual emulation)
The overlay render thread now renders at 1FPS (which is plenty for notifications and saves CPU cycles)
The overlay render thread is now pinned to the fourth CPU core (which translates to free performance as RetroArch occupies mostly the first two CPU cores)
The overlay framebuffer has been moved to the end of the framebuffer device's memory (which saves us the CPU overhead of re-calculating the offset on every frame)
The PCSX ReARMed core has gotten a few performance improvements (which translate to 2~3 additional FPS)
The battery display in the Garlic menu now snaps to the closest percentage point image based on distance (for example, 81% actual capacity will now snap towards the 80% rather than the 100% image it previously did)
Set the GarlicOS version number to 1.4.6

9. April 2023 (1.4.5):

Brought back the select button for CPU control (--, -, normal, +, ++), but instead of forcing a specific static clock it now sets the maximum CPU frequency instead (this allows for dynamic frequency scaling while also giving us the ability to disable >1GHz frequencies for silicon lottery losers like the recent screen fuzz sufferers)
Tweaked the interactive governor target loads further which should fix the reported stutter in ScummVM, DOS, NES, GBC and possibly other systems
Added DTBs for all currently known-to-fit battery sizes (make sure to pick the DTB that matches your battery size from the misc/dtbs directory, rename it to kernel.dtb and overwrite the one in the misc partition to get proper battery percentage reporting)
Set the GarlicOS version number to 1.4.5

6. April 2023 (1.4.4):

Fixed a bug in the new input driver that caused excessive amounts of D-Pad hat release events to be emitted (this affected the GarlicOS menu in some very strange ways)
Fixed a bug that enabled games to override the main RetroArch config on exit
Patched the new u-boot DTB to bring back the 0% battery boot hack
Patched the kernel DTB battery percentage curve to return better estimates (based on data gathered from 4 separate 2600mAh and 3 separate 2100mAh battery drain tests, 2100mAh battery owners, please delete the kernel.dtb file and rename 2100mAh.dtb into kernel.dtb to show the proper battery percentage for your unit)
Updated the PCSX ReARMed core with D-Pad to Right Analog Stick mapping support (thanks to XQuader)
Tweaked the interactive governor target loads to better scale in the sub-1GHz range (less stutter, better performance & lower battery consumption)
Set the GarlicOS version number to 1.4.4

5. April 2023 (1.4.3):

Made GDB logging optional as it interfered with some cores (ScummVM & mGBA most notably, you can enable it when needed by placing an empty enableGDB file in the misc partition now)
Updated u-boot to the latest retail version (this fixes the new 2600mAh sticker revision PCB getting stuck at the boot logo)
Patched the custom kernel to match the retail DTB property names (this fixes the new 2600mAh sticker revision PCB getting stuck at the boot logo)
The MicroSD card image version no longer installs u-boot updates on first boot (as the MicroSD card version always ships with the latest one anyway)
Fixed a bug in the RetroArch CPU control menu that prevented people from picking the performance governor
Fixed a bug in the RetroArch CPU control menu that caused battery drain
The RetroArch CPU min & max frequency are (for now) silently ignored in all governors except userspace (as changing them triggered a kernel bug which I'm still investigating)
Updated the interactive governor and set it as the new default (it seems to scale pretty well from what I've seen)
The previous CPU core overrides have been reverted as they are no longer needed (please manually wipe your CFW/retroarch/.retroarch/config folder before updating via CopyPaste)
Set the GarlicOS version number to 1.4.3

4. April 2023 (1.4.2):

Fixed sleep & resume (I had to rewrite some of the sleep & resume logic to deal with a GDB quirk that froze the RetroArch process)
Fixed a crash that could occur when toggling threaded rendering on or off
Fixed an issue that broke overlays & notifications after toggling between normal and threaded rendering
Set the GarlicOS version number to 1.4.2

3. April 2023 (1.4.1):

Fixed the D-pad axis zero-point rollover bug
The overlay render thread now gets properly cleaned up on RetroArch exit
Fixed a bug that prevented users from disabling previously enabled RetroArch overlays
ZX Spectrum (fuse) now auto-trims black borders
Fixed a bug that caused non-functional windowed & full-screen options to appear in the RetroArch's video settings when using the mGBA core
Screenshot captures are now executed asynchronously where possible (this fixes savestate creation stutters, auto-savestate screenshots are still created synchronously to ensure timely writing to disk)
Fixed a bug in the GarlicOS menu code that got the CPU stuck at top-clock while idling
Fixed a bug in the GarlicOS menu code that lowered the menu frame rate
Fixed a power button bug in the GarlicOS menu that prevented shutdowns
Powering off now behaves identically in both the GarlicOS menu & RetroArch (tapping the power button is enough now)
Enabled GDB log output to make it easier for regular users to file bugreports (you can find it in CFW/retroarch/.retroarch/logs/gdb.log alongside retroarch.log)
Changed the way RetroArch config files are handled (the configs now get auto-merged into retroarch.cfg)
Fixed a governor related bug in the RetroArch CPU controls (this fixes the crashes when exiting games)
Added support for daemon autostart scripts (just place your daemon start scripts in CFW/autostart and they will execute on device boot)
The TF2 UHS-enabled kernel DTB has been made optional and moved to kernel-tf2uhs.dtb as some user's cards stopped working with it enabled (I on the other hand can't get my card working at all without enabling UHS... as such, I now provide both DTBs and users can choose whichever works best for their cards, just rename the one you want to use to kernel.dtb and reboot your unit to use it)
Set the GarlicOS version number to 1.4.1

1. April 2023 (1.4.0):

Fixed notifications inside the RetroArch menu
Fixed a page scrolling error in the Consoles menu
Removed GarlicOS CPU controls (see next point as to why)
Added RetroArch CPU controls (this allows us to do per-core and even per-game fine tuning of the CPU)
Cores without CPU control overrides will run at max CPU speed from now on (this way we can dial things in as we go without affecting user's gameplay experience in the process)
Removed the Game Mode controls from RetroArch (as RG35XX doesn't support Game Mode anyway)
Configured Gambatte to run at 504MHz (lowest we can go before we run into a scaler bottleneck)
Configured mGBA to run at 1.3GHz (lowest we can go before the Golden Sun battle animations start to lag)
Configured FCEUmm to run at 720MHz (lowest we can go before we run into a scaler bottleneck)
Configured Supafaust to run at 1.3GHz (lowest we can go before Super Mario RPG starts to lag)
Configured Supafaust to run its renderer in a separate thread (pretty much needed to even have a shot at SuperFX games)
The Select button now acts the same way as the Start button inside GarlicOS (for now)
The underclock / overclock graphics have been removed from the skin directory (as they will no longer be needed)
Set the GarlicOS version number to 1.4.0

1. April 2023 (1.3.9):

The menu & volume up button no longer trigger L3 / R3 inside of auto-mapped RetroArch cores (this fixes unwanted double-mapping of these buttons in FCEUmm and can, for those that like to custom map things, be reverted by messing with the "RG35XX Gamepad" automapping file)
The hardware-accelerated overlay render code is now multithreaded, double-buffered and frame-limited (no more flickering notifications)
The hardware-accelerated overlay render code now supports more than 2 Z-layers (which was a requirement for the next point on the list)
System borders (also called RetroArch overlays) are now supported and can be configured within RetroArch (at the moment this is limited to 640x480 pixel single-image overlays)
Several RG35XX-compatible system border overlays have been added (so far FC, SFC, GB, GBC & GBA, feel free to craft your own following the templates found inside the CFW/retroarch/.retroarch/overlay folder and let me know if you want me to bundle yours in future revisions)
The hotkey button guide overlay can now be disabled in the overlay settings of RetroArch
Screenshots are now written to disk synchronously regardless of whether threaded rendering is enabled or not (this is required to ensure the auto savestate screenshots are written to disk in time before exiting RetroArch)
Enabled UHS card support for the TF2 card slot (we will see how that turns out)
Set the GarlicOS version number to 1.3.9

30. March 2023 (1.3.8):

Fixed a bug in the GL5203 SD/MMC driver that caused I/O micro stutters
Set the GarlicOS version number to 1.3.8

29. March 2023 (1.3.7):

Reverted a fake08 commit that caused broken savestates (Commit 89ae9ae)
Fixed a use-after-free bug in fake08's Host::saveCartData function (this was the cause of several games crashing on exit)
Added a D-Pad mapping function to the PCSX ReARMed core (this will allow people to use the DualShock gamepad type / rumble support with games that require both D-Pad and analog stick input, thanks to XQuader for this)
Set the GarlicOS version number to 1.3.7

28. March 2023 (1.3.6):

The power button is now mapped as an additional gamepad button (BTN_Z) in the new kernel driver and can thus be used without additional userspace hacks
The RetroArch power button key scancode hack has been removed as it is no longer needed
The scummvm core has been updated to fix a index-shift bug in the new OSK code (by XQuader)
The fake08 core has been updated (Commit e9fe530)
Savestate auto-loading & auto-resume has been re-enabled for fake08 (I hope the updated core is stable enough for it now)
Set the GarlicOS version number to 1.3.6

25. March 2023 (1.3.5):

The gamepad driver has been rewritten from scratch and now acts like a proper XInput gamepad (this fixes the double-keyboard input issue in all keyboard-based cores, the RA search dialog and several other RA text input menu points but will break ports & apps with hardcoded gamepad mappings, because of this, a mirror of version 1.3.4 will be kept up for a month to give port and app developers time to adapt to these changes)
Set the GarlicOS version number to 1.3.5

24. March 2023 (1.3.4):

The Saves & Screenshots directories are now auto-created on boot (to work around some retroarch.cfg limitations... this fixes the screenshot issues people were reporting)
The rumble motor now receives its data via a separate thread (this fixes the FPS drops people have been experiencing in rumble enabled PlayStation & GBA games)
The rumble motor strength merging formula has been adjusted to provide a better range of motion (this makes driving in Gran Turismo 2 quite a bit more satisfying)
Exiting RetroArch now resets the rumble motor
Set the GarlicOS version number to 1.3.4

22. March 2023 (1.3.3):

Updated the scummvm libretro core with "Virtual On-Screen Keyboard" and "Joypad mappings override" support (thanks to XQuader)
Bundled the ScummVM "BIOS" files (OnionOS seems fine doing it, so I figure they should be okay to have OOB)
Cleaned up some stray files (emptied the Cheats subfolder, wiped the retroarch.log file and a stray mGBA config folder)
Split the archives into 200MB parts (as the ScummVM BIOS files grew them beyond Patreon's file size limitations)
Set the GarlicOS version number to 1.3.3

19. March 2023 (1.3.2):

Fixed another color conversion issue in the sameduck (Mega Duck) libretro core (thanks to XQuader)
Fixed a rendering issue in the reminiscence libretro core (thanks to XQuader)
Set the GarlicOS version number to 1.3.2

17. March 2023 (1.3.1):

Merged tf1save.cfg into retroarch.cfg (so that directly-booted RetroArch instances can share saves with GarlicOS-booted TF1 games)
Screenshots are now saved into the game's MicroSD card's Screenshots directory (another step closer to mimicking the OnionOS directory structure where possible)
Lowered the shutdown power button hold time in GarlicOS' main menu from 1 second to 500 milliseconds (this should help with units rebooting rather than shutting down)
Fixed the sameduck (Mega Duck) libretro core (thanks to XQuader)
Fixed the opera (3DO) libretro core (thanks to XQuader)
Added a hotkey button guide to RetroArch (hold down the Menu button while in-game to display it)
Set the GarlicOS version number to 1.3.1

16. March 2023 (1.3.0):

Fixed the OnionOS (V4.1) mGBA cross save state support
Set the GarlicOS version number to 1.3.0

15. March 2023 (1.2.9):

Rolled back the mGBA core to commit e5532cf to fix a audio stutter regression
Fixed a regression caused by the new V6C compatible bootloader that got the CPU stuck in <= 800MHz mode
Set the GarlicOS version number to 1.2.9

12. March 2023 (1.2.7):

Re-compiled mGBA with additional compiler tweaks (performance gains)
Tweaked the mGBA override to further optimize performance
Updated the mGBA core (to this commit)
Reverted from sinc to nearest audio resampler (as sinc caused audio stutter in several cores)
Changed the audio resampler sample rate to 48 KHz
Changed the default GBA core from gpSP to mGBA (fixes several broken games and adds support for the GBA solar sensor)
The mGBA core is now threaded by default (required for GBA games to run at full speed reliably)
Added a GPSP folder mapping and system icon (for those that absolutely need their GBA games to run with gpSP)
Added support for eggs' improved 3x NEON scaler (this affects both pixel-accurate as well as bilinear scalers)
Added a Bilinear3x scaling option based on eggs' improved 3x NEON scaler
Made the Bilinear3x scaling option the new default (its a little more lightweight than the Bilinear4x option and is good enough for the 640x480 screen inside this device, this translates to free performance gains pretty much)
Added a Gambatte Bilinear4x override (the extremely low input resolution of the Gameboy makes it worthwhile here)
Added a better looking 6x10 Russian bitmap font to RetroArch (thanks to XQuader)
Added Thai localization (thanks to svvv)
Added Greek localization (thanks to Saki)
Added Bulgarian localization (thanks to Saki)
Set the GarlicOS version number to 1.2.7

11. March 2023 (1.2.4):

Added French localization (thanks to mrnestaya)
Added Brasilian Portuguese localization (thanks to Vieira)
Added Japanese localization (thanks to NonStopCombo)
Fixed character encoding issue with the MicroSD card install image
Set the GarlicOS version number to 1.2.4

9. March 2023 (1.2.3):

Corrected German localization
Corrected Spanish localization (this one requires CopyPasteOnTopOfStock users to delete the lang subfolder & language.flag file before copying the new files over)
Added Catalan localization (thanks to nademonogatari)
Added Dutch localization (thanks to Jarno_Jarno & 4UIHV882)
Added Filipino localization (thanks to ponyeta)
Added Indonesian localization (thanks to andhifarij)
Added Italian localization (thanks to l1n0)
Added Portuguese localization (thanks to Loid)
Added Russian localization (thanks to Dmitrii)
Added Simplified Chinese localization (thanks to G.R.H)
Added Traditional Chinese localization (thanks to G.R.H)
Added Vietnamese localization (thanks to Bonano)
Added font size support to localization files
RetroArch now honors the selected language setting and will display localized menus & notifications where possible
Added a gpSP override to run the core threaded (helps alleviate the audio stutter issues some games are exhibiting)
Added a Spanish localization (provided by Vidnez)
Fixed the boot issue some units suffered from (figured out that fscking the cards on the device itself isn't an option as checking 256GB+ cards requires more RAM than we have)
Low battery states no longer prevent the device from booting (now you can use the last 15% of your battery properly)
Added support for localization
Added a German localization
Added a (Google Translated) Chinese localization (to test the CJK font, feel free to send in a better one)
Start now leads to a combined settings menu containing both RTC and language settings
No longer supported skin settings have been removed from skin/settings.json
The Oswald font file has been moved from the skin to the font directory
RTC now reads the localized AM / PM string from the language files
Set the GarlicOS version number to 1.2.3

7. March 2023 (1.2.0):

Fixed the dinothawr libretro core
GarlicOS' recent game menu screenshot renderer now respects the global retroarch.cfg aspect ratio setting
Changed the boot_cap_threshold from 3% to 0% (this should allow the device to boot when the broken battery meter reports the battery as 0%)
Savestates now get synced to disk before poweroff
Partitions now get error-checked on system start
Added external gamepad support to the GarlicOS UI (tested with 8bitdo XInput controllers, we'll probably need a vendor + product ID keylayout database of sorts so we can support a larger variety of gamepads OOB, still debating on how to best share gamepad mappings between RetroArch & the GarlicOS UI...)
External controllers now control the RetroArch player 1 slot by default (if present)
Brightness controls are now ignored while HDMI is in use
The built-in monitor now gets disabled while HDMI is in use
The HDMI overlay flicker issue in GarlicOS' recent game menu has been fixed
Set the GarlicOS version number to 1.2.0

3. March 2023 (1.1.9):

Fixed a speaker malfunction that occured on some (not all) V6.0 PCBs
Set the GarlicOS version number to 1.1.9

2. March 2023 (1.1.8):

Fixed a integer scale regression that snuck in with build 1.1.2
Fixed a button spam issue caused by the recently added V6C PCB support
Set the GarlicOS version number to 1.1.8

28. February 2023 (1.1.7):

Added IPF support for PUAE
Changed the default mount flags to errors=continue to keep the bad stock MicroSD cards at least somewhat functional when they start dying on you (this won't fix them, but the OS won't freeze immediately on the first I/O error they report)
Fixed the mednafen_supergrafx libretro core
Added support for the new V6C PCB revision (this point includes a new bootloader, u-boot and several driver changes to ensure both pre- and post-V6C models can run off the same kernel)
Added some additional checks to the scaler code to ensure width & height don't scale beyond 1280x1280 (this fixes Virtual Boy emulation)
Fixed the 2048 libretro core (this is a single-game core and as such has no folder mapping associated with it, to play it, load and start the core within RetroArch)
Fixed the reminiscence libretro core (this is a single-game core and as such has no folder mapping associated with it, to play it, load and start the core within RetroArch)
Fixed the virtualjaguar libretro core (but its still way too slow to be considered playable)
Set the GarlicOS version number to 1.1.7

25. February 2023 (1.1.4):

Added the atari800 libretro core
Fixed the tic80 libretro core
Fixed HDMI (it regressed in version 1.0.9)
Fixed FPS display flicker
Made the notification text gradient less extreme
Removed useless progress percentage indicator from near-instant tasks
Made all parts of the notification system configurable (RetroArch -> Settings -> On-Screen Display -> On-Screen Notifications) which means you can use a custom font, font size, font color and change the text's alignment as needed (0 is left / top, 0.5 is center, 1 is right / bottom)
Added support for hw-accelerated alpha-blended overlays (these are now being used for RetroArch notifications, but will, in future builds, also be used to provide system-frames and in-game battery / clock display)
Reverted the PS1 gamepad type to digital as the DualShock type rendered too many games unplayable (if updating via CopyPasteOnTopOfStock please make sure to delete the "CFW/retroarch/.retroarch/config/remaps/PCSX-ReARMed" directory before updating)
Set the GarlicOS version number to 1.1.4

24. February 2023 (1.1.1):

Fixed a menu scaling issue that affected PS1 games (and any other system that rendered at exactly 320x240)
Set the GarlicOS version number to 1.1.1

23. February 2023 (1.1.0):

Fixed a scaler resolution issue that occured when manually booting a core
Added new notification renderer
Re-enabled notifications
Fixed filter screen flicker
Fixed fast forward screen notification flicker
Absorbed the fb1 framebuffer (original HDMI framebuffer) into fb0 to ensure we have enough memory to triple buffer for flicker-free fast forwarding
Fast forward top-clocks the CPU now (so we can fast-forward faster)
Saving and loading states top-clocks the CPU now (so we can save or load states faster)
Adjusted <= 1GHz voltages to account for lemon unit (less crashes)
Set the GarlicOS version number to 1.1.0

17. February 2023 (1.0.8):

Removed some debug code
Fixed a memory leak in the recent game menu
Removed a rogue file that snuck into the bundle
We're now using the sinc audio resampler by default
ScummVM games should now start properly (if you used the workaround that's been making the rounds on Discord, please make sure to delete Saves/CurrentProfile/lists/content_history.lpl first before reporting issues)
Cores that don't support savestates will now display a message indicating so in the recent game menu
The GarlicOS menu now runs at 500MHz when idle and increases the CPU clock as needed while scrolling (to increase fluidity AND save battery where possible)
Added a core mapping for QUAKE support (tyrquake libretro core)
Added rumble motor support (built-in gamepad only, mostly for PS1 games)
Changed the PS1 gamepad type to DualShock (so we can make use of the rumble motor)
Added a OnionOS artefact filter to prevent otherwise empty console directories from being listed
One can now press the reset button to escape auto-resume boot-loops caused by broken cores or games
The provided download files are now -mx9 compressed (which shaves off about 20mb or so...)
Set the GarlicOS version number to 1.0.8

14. February 2023 (1.0.7):

Changed the default audio resampler to sinc (makes audio feel less tinny)
Disabled R2 (hold) fast-forwarding in Gambatte & gpSP (as its broken)
The emulation can now be paused via Menu + Start
The FPS overlay can now be toggled via Menu + Select
Screenshots can now be created via Menu + DPad Up
The savestate slot can now be changed via Menu + DPad Left / Right
The audio can now be muted via Menu + DPad Down
Set the GarlicOS version number to 1.0.7

13. February 2023 (1.0.6):

Fixed a typo in skin/settings.json
Arcade cores are now configured to skip savestate auto-loading (as they cause audio glitches, graphical issues and crashes on these cores)
Added video playback support (put them in the VIDEOS folder, encode them with "ffmpeg -i input.mkv -vf scale=640x480 -vcodec libx264 -profile:v main -level 3.1 -preset medium -crf 23 -x264-params ref=4 -acodec libvorbis -movflags +faststart output.mkv" and hard-sub your videos if necessary, don't encode to mp4 files as they confuse ffmpeg when seeking, add additional core-mapping folders and system icons as needed to sort your shows)
Set the GarlicOS version number to 1.0.6

10. February 2023 (1.0.5):

Added support for APPS / PORTS (but someone needs to code some first)
Added support for UTF8 encoded filenames / strings
Skins can now swap every text in the menu (see skin/settings.json)
HDMI can now be hot-plugged without crashing the system (let me know if any of you still encounter issues with it)
The minimum menu CPU clock has been raised to make up for HDMI mirroring overhead (it couldn't quite keep up in the recent game menu)
Fixed the pixel budget calculator (this should fix some fringe-case games that previously overflowed the pixel budget and low resolution games that refused to properly scale with the bilinear multiply scalers)
Set the GarlicOS version number to 1.0.5

4. February 2023 (1.0.4):

Fixed a glitch that occured when entering the RetroArch menu while fast forward was active
Set the GarlicOS version number to 1.0.4

3. February 2023 (1.0.3):

Fixed fast forward framebuffer freezes
Fixed freeintv_libretro core (Intellivision)
Fixed bogus keyboard inputs (should make games like Nebulus, Monkey Island, etc. playable)
Set the GarlicOS version number to 1.0.3

1. February 2023 (1.0.2):

Fast-forward no longer freezes the screen on same-thread rendered cores
fake08 core (pico-8) now runs on the threaded renderer by default (we need the speed boost)
fake08 core is now excluded from loading savestates automatically (as the core tends to crash while loading savestates)
fake08 core is now excluded from sleep-resume (as many pico-8 games freeze RetroArch, which means we need to keep the reset button functional as a emergency exit of sorts for when that happens)
Threaded rendering is now disabled by default to further reduce input latency where possible (except for PS1 & arcade cores which need threaded rendering to reach full speed)
Bilinear has been set as the default scaler for arcade cores (to give these CPU heavy cores more room to breathe)
Updated the gpSP (GBA) core
The iosched queue manager has been changed from cfb to noop (speeds up file access)
MAME name resolution is now done via hash tables for an additional speed boost (~3000 files in ~2 seconds)
The FBA2012 folder now has the right icon set
Pressing start instead of the A-button when selecting a game will now skip the savestate auto-load function
Audio volume no longer gets saved in manually created core overrides (prevents unexpected volume changes on game load)
History & BIOS paths no longer get saved in manually created core overrides (prevents unbootable games on TF2 card pull)
Added a prboom_libretro (DOOM) core-mapping & system icon
Added a meridian time clock style (AM/PM)
GarlicOS now memorizes your menu cursor (to the best of its abilities) and restores it on game exit / system boot
Tapping the menu key inside GarlicOS' menu will now take you to your recent games
Long pressing the menu key inside GarlicOS' menu (> 1000ms without pressing any other keys) will now take you to the main menu
The "Main Menu" text has been replaced with a version number display
Set the GarlicOS version number to 1.0.2

28. January 2023:

Added bilinear-multiply scalers (based on eggs' amazing NEON scaler code)
Set the Bilinear4x NEON scaler as the new default (this reduces CPU consumption by about 50% and increases graphical fidelity)
Fixed keep aspect ratio on all bilinear scalers
The integer scaler got a sizeable speed boost
Bilinear-multiply scalers now drop down to their next lower tier if a framebuffer overflow is likely
Improved the rendering quality of recent game screenshots in the GarlicOS UI
Adjusted default settings and core overrides to make use of the new scalers where possible
Brought back the overclock select toggle as the conservative governor made too many wrong assumptions during extended testing (the toggle now controls the in-game CPU frequency, the GarlicOS menu always runs at 700MHz regardless of the setting to save on battery)
Hidden Linux / MacOS files are now no longer listed in the game browser
Added real-time-clock (RTC) support (press start to configure the clock and B or start again to save your clock changes)
Fixed a R<->B channel flip bug in the MAME2003-Xtreme core

26. January 2023:

Fixed the XRGB8888 color converter in the MAME2003-Xtreme core (fixes Captain America and The Avengers amongst others)

25. January 2023:

Added HDMI audio support (requires you to plug in the HDMI cable before starting the game, also, never unplug the HDMI cable while playing, it will freeze the system so exit your game first and unplug it once you're back in the GarlicOS menu)
Added downscaling support to the hardware accelerated bilinear scaler (this should fix the cut-off screen issues the bilinear scaler had)
Normal4x filter now runs 25% faster (its a viable option for some cores now)
Normal2x is now the default filter for most cores (sharpest looking pixels we can afford while still using most of the screen real estate)
Fixed a backlight related regression that snuck in when I first added HDMI audio support earlier today
Added a core override for gambatte & gpSP to force nearest scaling (as display mode changes cause noticeable flickering on the gambatte core, making it difficult to use the hardware scaler there and gpSP simply looking better on the nearest scaler)
Optimized the savestate screenshot loader (they load a bit faster now)
Reduced input latency
Fixed the O1555RGB color converter in the MAME2003-Xtreme core (fixes Captain Commando amongst others)
Created an overlay for the MAME2003-Xtreme core to disable the Normal2x filter (it doesn't really handle it well)

24. January 2023:

Fixed a crash that occured after removing the last favorite from the list while being inside the favorites menu
Fixed a bug in the recent game list where unsorted lists resulted in duplicate entries
Fixed a typo in the game art paths (pre-populated OnionOS cards in TF2 should now load their artwork properly)
Game art and screenshots are now scaled bilinear to fit the rest of the OS's default settings
Settled for a 1.5GHz overclock because a lot of units out there couldn't reliable handle 1.6GHz
Switched to the conservative governor and applied a few governor related tweaks to ensure the CPU will scale smoothly between CPU states as needed (this will improve battery life as well as reduce potential stutter)
Removed the select CPU frequency toggle because the new governor does a good enough job at picking the right frequency automatically
Corrected a typo in yesterday's changelog's artwork path
Fixed a game launch error caused by single quotes in filenames (revised to deal with some shell quirks)

23. January 2023:

The battery calculation formula has been altered to (hopefully) return more accurate results (its unlikely we'll ever get a 100% accurate battery reading out of this device though)
Files containing $ or ! in their name will now load properly (Wario Ware)
Artwork is now loaded from Roms/SystemName/Imgs/GameFileNameWithoutExtension.png (the old path CFW/skin/games/SystemName/GameFileNameWithExtension.png is still supported though)
Added a 1.6GHz overclock option (+300MHz compared to the last build)
Added UC/OC profiles (toggle between them with the SELECT button, -- equals 500MHz, - equals 700MHz, nothing equals the 1GHz default, + equals 1.3GHz and ++ equals 1.6GHz)
CPU hot-plug has been disabled to ensure in-use cores don't get disabled mid-gameplay (this should reduce thread-relocation-related stutters)
Fixed the screen timing (from 56Hz to 60Hz)

22. January 2023:

Fixed a bug in the recent game list that (sometimes) required you to delete a game twice for it to disappear
The linear scaler is now hardware-accelerated (using the LCD panel's hardware-scaler plus some glue-code to ensure "Keep aspect ratio" doesn't break, using this new scaler also solves all the remainder tearing issues people reported in games like Super Mario Bros)
The hardware-accelerated linear scaler is now set as the default scaler for every core (this translates to a free 20% performance boost & universal tearing fix pretty much)
The LQ2x filter is now enabled by default for all cores except those that have known compatibility issues with it (so we can benefit from the hardware scaler's tearing-resistance on as many systems as possible, let me know if you find cores that are incompatible with it)
Added a core override for PCSX-ReARMed & DOSBox Pure to fall back to the software based nearest scaler instead of the LQ2x filter + hardware based bilinear scaler as it produces what I consider better visuals)
Disabled RA notifications as the mix of hardware and software based scaling across cores produces inconsistently sized font glyphs)
Disabled savestate compression to accelerate savestate creation

21. January 2023:

Overclocked the CPU to 1.3GHz (+300MHz)
Upped the < 800MHz CPU voltage by 0.025V (fixes random freezes)
Upped the Menu button hotkey hold time from 150ms to 250ms (should fix the need for double-tapping the Menu key)
Upped the scroll animation inhibition time (should make single d-pad taps more in the game lists more precise / less likely to skip an entry due to repeats)
Optimized the main menu renderer (60%+ CPU use reduction when idle)
Added a dosbox_pure libretro core setting override to auto-enable max CPU cycles (this should help a few tricky games run fullspeed OOB)
Re-enabled audio synchronization (we previously disabled it because it helped MD frame pacing but it completely destroyed audio output across the board by introducing noticeable stutters)
The main menu is now rendered in 32bit colors
Fixed a bug that could cause duplicated items in the recent game list
Fixed a regression that broke sleep/resume for games stored on TF2

19. January 2023:

Fixed a crash related to file names starting with (, [ or .
Fixed a paging issue in the game system menu that produced empty pages
Changed the key repeat code in the main menu to better handle VSync
Added the puae_2021 libretro core and made it the AMIGA & AMIGACD default core (pretty much a free speed boost, still not full speed though)
Added a 100ms wind-up time to scroll animations (this should prevent accidental item skips on single d-pad presses)
Game lists now load WAY faster
Added support for game art overlays (CFW/skin/game-overlay.png, please use alpha-blending sparingly as it is a very CPU intensive operation)
Added a hide guide button text option (CFW/skin/settings.json)

18. January 2023:

Fixed GarlicOS main menu frame limiter
Fixed dosbox_pure libretro core (DOS games)
Tapping the menu key inside a game now takes you back to the recent game screen
Exiting the RetroArch main screen now properly restores your GarlicOS cursor location
RetroArch now remembers your volume setting

17. January 2023:

Set block_sram_overwrite = "true" to increase savestate stability
Changing the savestate slot in the quick menu no longer crashes RetroArch
Fixed transparent game art (for real now)
The GarlicOS main menu is now double-buffered (less tearing on fast scroll)
Recompiled dosbox_pure libretro core in the hopes of addressing a color space issue (need further feedback on this one, let me know if this did it)
Reduced the minimum screen brightness (added two additional levels)
Themes can now disable the "Main Menu" text (for those that prefer logos)

16. January 2023:

Nearest-point scaler is now dual-threaded (pinned to core 3 & 4)
Semi-linear (Bresenham) scaler is now dual-threaded (pinned to core 3 & 4)
Audio synchronization was disabled (this helps with stuttering on some cores)

14. January 2023:

Transparent game art should now render properly
The Commodore 64 system icon should now render properly
Game art now loads properly after a L1/R1 letter jump
The UI now waits for the scroll operation to finish before loading game art (this should help with slower MicroSD cards)
Resume now works properly for games stored on the second MicroSD card (TF2/EXT)
The recent game list now takes the last used MicroSD card into account when sorting items
The mednafen_vb libretro core (Virtual Boy) should now work properly
Themes can now configure the game list text alignment and margin

13. January 2023:

Arcade games should now display their actual name (it uses a optimized LUT stored in config/mame.csv)
Several memory leaks in GarlicOS have been fixed
The navigation code has been altered to allow for Left / Right to scroll faster and L1/R1 to skip between starting letters
The X button can now be used to remove unwanted games from the recent games menu
Enabled fast-forward frame skipping
Fixed the battery gauge icon padding (it was off by 4 pixel, I knew something felt off about it...)
Fixed a typo in the coremapping.json file

12. January 2023:

Fixed a typo in the core mapping code (fixes PS game loading)
Redesigned the recent game screen (modeled after OnionOS' GameSwitcher)
Added support for game art (put 640x480 pixel resolution GameFileName.png files into the skin/games or skin/games/systemname folder, these will replace the default background image while hovering the game in the menu)
Moved the recent game history file location to Saves/CurrentProfile/lists (which allows us to load OnionOS history files from the TF2 card slot)
The recent game menu now shows recent games from both MicroSD cards (it merges the lists)
The left & right dpad button can now be used for navigating the game lists
Fixed the crocods libretro core (Amstrad emulator, keep in mind this one doesn't support zipped games)
Fixed a regression that affected sleep / resume
Fixed a crash in the RetroArch quick menu
The default libretro core for CPS1, CPS2 and CPS3 was set to fba2012
The recent menu now only shows the last 10 games played OOB (to prevent choice paralysis, 20 if two MicroSD cards are used, 10 per card, this setting can be adjusted in retroarch.cfg)

11. January 2023:

Added vemulator libretro core (Dreamcast VMU emulator)
Fixed a line render bug in mednafen_supafaust (SNES emulator)
Fixed all fbalpha2012 libretro cores (Neo Geo, CPS1, CPS2, CPS3, Arcade)
Added mame2003_extreme libretro core (faster than mame2003_plus, slower than fbneo & fbalpha2012, new default for ARCADE folder as its binary-compatible with the mame2003_plus romset)
Added mame2000 libretro core (so MAME2000 folder gets the core it expects)
All default folder to core mappings now match that of OnionOS on the Miyoo Mini
The default folder to core mapping can now be changed by editing the config/coremapping.json file
The folder structure now reflects that of a OnionOS Miyoo Mini MicroSD card (Roms, BIOS and Saves folder)
BIOS files now get loaded off the same MicroSD card the game ROM is located on (for compatibility reasons: different cards might have been prepared with different BIOS files, which can make a difference in arcade emulation)
Saves are now stored on the same MicroSD card the game ROM is located on
As a result of all of the mentioned above changes, it is now possible to stick a fully prepared OnionOS MicroSD card into the TF2 slot and load / resume games you previously played on your Miyoo Mini allowing for easy swapping of savegames between a RG35XX and a Miyoo Mini
Removed the pre-bundled cheat files again because they made first-time setups "too bulky" (you can always download them from the RetroArch GitHub page)

9. January 2023:

Skins now feature a settings.json file that allow for font color changes
VSYNC should now work better (less tearing once again)
Dropped triple-buffering as its no longer required after today's changes
PCSX-ReArmed is now pre-configured to run at 100% clock speed (57% before)
Fixed the RetroArch HUD notifications when using integer scaling
The RetroArch cheat database is now bundled by default
The battery icon display has been changed to better reflect actual battery life
Neo Geo Pocket games are now associated with the race libretro core (which fixes them, finally)

4. January 2023:

The built-in panel now waits for VSYNC properly (OWLFB_WAITFORVSYNC)
The SNES default-core was set to snes9x_2005 (better overall performance)
The favorites menu is now alphabetically sorted

3. January 2023:

Added the libretro game system icons

2. January 2023:

Added cap32 libretro core (Amstrad)
Added fake08 libretro core (replaces retro8 for pico-8)
Added Amiga CD32 binding (emulated by puae libretro core)
Added o2em libretro core (Odyssey 2 & Videopac+ G7400)
Added dosbox_pure libretro core (DOS games, duh.)
Added virtualjaguar libretro core (seems to not work though)
Added mednafen_supergrafx libretro core (SuperGrafx)
Added nekop2 libretro core (PC-98)
Added mednafen_pcfx libretro core (PC-FX)
Added mednafen_vb libretro core (Virtual Boy)
Added opera libretro core (Panasonic 3DO)
Added px68k libretro core (Sharp X68000)
Added NeoGeo CD support (emulated by fbneo libretro core)
Added uzebox libretro core (UZEBOX, duh.)
Added mednafen_ngp libretro core (Neo Geo Pocket)
Added sameduck libretro core (Mega Duck)
Added mednafen_pce_fast libretro core (TurboGrafx CD)
Added support for game system icons (put them in skin/system/FOLDERNAME.png)
Fixed integer scaling support
Enabled multi-threaded rendering OOB (benefits PS1, fixes FF)
Enabled stretched point scaling by default (the screen is small and my eyes are bad...)

1. January 2023:

Added puae libretro core (Amiga)
Added fbneo libretro core (MAME, CPS1, CPS2, CPS3 & Neo Geo)
Fixed a bunch of previously broken cores (pico-8 for example)
Empty ROM folders are now pre-created
Removed a PS1 BIOS file that snuck in by accident
SNES now scales pixel-perfect OOB
Disabled per-core screen refresh rate adjustment (fixes some more tearing issues we were having)
Disabled per-core screen color mode adjustment (fixes several more previously broken cores that forced non-RGB565 color modes)

31. December 2022:

Disabled rewind support (it messes with PS1 emulation)
Disabled multi-threaded rendering (it caused visible tearing)
Menu + L1 now toggles slow-motion

30. December 2022:

Initial GarlicOS release
Fixed sleep mode
Fixed the RetroArch on-screen keyboard
Added a brand new user interface
Added OnionOS styled hotkeys
Paused games now resume automatically after waking from sleep
Added support for the OnionOS MicroSD card folder structure
Moved the brightness controls to Menu + Volume Up / Down
Added a new garlic-themed boot logo

Credits & honorable mentions

PixelShift for his Switch OnionOS theme which I've used as a source of inspiration for GarlicOS' stock theme
Conyewu for the GarlicOS boot logo design
XQuader for being nice and patient enough to help with ScummVM debugging
anderbubble for letting me borrow some of his time to debug his lemon unit
Burly for letting me borrow some of his time to debug the V6C button spam issue
shauninman for the OWLFB_WAITFORVSYNC code sample
eggs for his amazing NEON scaler and OWL overlay code sample
Anbernic for sending a bunch of test units over for overclock testing

Known issues

Some units get stuck on the GarlicOS boot logo, this seems to be a hardware issue of sorts that can be remedied by removing the back of the device and disconnecting the battery connector for 10 seconds to let the PCB fully discharge (just pressing the reset button doesn't seem to be enough)

Downloads

Content

Changelog

Credits & honorable mentions

Known issues

Files