As of writing, Rocknix is not officially supported on the Anbernic RG DS, a budget handheld that really needs an optimized OS. (GammaOS Next also works but performance is better on Rocknix - however you can do multi-tasking on GammaOS like on foldables along with some other features.) The following guide shows you how to install and use it.
Credit to Retro Game Corps for their guide,
I would not have figured out I needed to configure extlinux otherwise. Also credit to
the ROCKNIX team for developing the OS! (And half credit to Anbernic cause the handheld
is alright but omg the performance...)
Table of Contents:
- Get a MicroSD card, if you haven't already.
You'll need to wipe it so feel free to use a spare or back up any data. Any amount up to 2TB should work, I used a SanDisk ImageMate 128GB.
EDIT: Apparently SanDisk Ultra cards don't work. If you're buying a new card just make sure you get a non-ultra. You should be able to find a 64GB card for ~$20-25 and should be plenty for DS and other retro games. (I only used 128GB since I had that lying around from another project)
You will also need an SD card reader, these can be found for like $5-10.
- Flash the MicroSD card with Rocknix.
The easiest way to do this is through Rocknix Image Burner, Windows only.
I haven't tried it since I'm on Linux but it should be as easy as installing the program
and selecting Anbernic RG DS. Make sure you select Nightly (under "Select Branch"), then
Anbernic, then RG DS. Do NOT choose RG ARC [D/S] - this is a different device and image.
NOTE: Some users have reported that the burner does not work properly and needing to manually flash it (see below.)
The other option is manual flashing and configuration.
Download the image here,
specifically ROCKNIX-RK3566.aarch64-[DATE]-Specific.img.gz.
Extract it, then flash it using BalenaEtcher, Rufus, dd, etc.
(you can look up specific instructions on how to do so online.)
Once that's done, go into the SD card and look for extlinux.conf
(located in the folder extlinux) and edit like so:
LABEL ROCKNIX
LINUX /LABEL
FDT /device_trees/rk3568-anbernic-rg-ds.dtb
APPEND boot=LABEL=ROCKNIX disk=LABEL=STORAGE quiet console=ttys2,1500000 console=tty0 systemd.debug_shell=ttyS2
The only change is the third line, where we set the specific device to Anbernic RG DS.
- Booting
After flashing, booting should be a simple matter as ejecting the card from your computer, plugging it in to the DS (while it's off,) and then turning it on.
In my testing I did need to reboot to recovery (possibly
due to me testing with GammaOS first,) which you can do with
ADB
using adb reboot recovery. YMMV.
On first boot this will take a few minutes to start before showing the ROCKNIX logo (depending on the sd card speed.) Don't worry and just let it do its thing.
If it boots into a black screen, recovery mode, or the stock OS, the flash isn't working. Double check your extlinux config and try reflashing. You may also want to try a different nightly version (I had 04/19's but you can also try a version only a couple days old.) Your SD card might also be faulty and/or not be able to be booted off of.
Warning: I do NOT recommend doing this just yet since it's unofficial, and you can very easily wipe the wrong thing, leading to a semi-permanent / permanent brick. I and nobody else can NOT claim responsibility if you mess up your handheld. Only do this if you know what you're doing!!! (for this reason exact commands are not provided, and no, you shouldn't use chatgpt or whatever nonsense to get them, if you don't know what you're doing, don't do it!!!!!)
Credit to an anonymous user for finding this method and providing details, and giovanny on Discord for linking them to me.
- Get the image and extract it.
Like mentioned in the SD card installation, you want to download the RK3566 nightly image.
- Wipe the eMMC
Enter recovery mode and, using an ADB root shell, wipe /dev/block/mmcblk0 using dd.
- Flash the image
Once again, using dd, clone the image over to the system.
- Edit extlinux.conf to point to Anbernic RG DS's device tree file
Mount mmcblk0p1 and edit the config like detailed in the SD
card installation.
This is for configuration of the DS emulator, since, you know... For other options in Rocknix refer to the wiki.
These settings can be found in the main menu (start), Game Settings, Per System Advanced Configuration, Nintendo DS.
The best emulator would be DraStic, MelonDS is choppy and should only be used for stuff like RetroAchievements.
Everything should work out of the gate - you may want to toggle Threaded 3D per game (depending on if there's bugs) but for the most part it runs smoothly.
For the best performance, set both CPU and GPU to Performance (in System Options.)
You can try setting the renderer to OpenGL but in my testing this doesn't work (if you're able to figure out how please leave a comment.) Software is faster anyways, you just can't really use shaders.
On MelonDS DS, you can expect around 30-40 FPS on titles like Sonic Rush, and ~60 on lighter titles (like Picross DS or 3D.)
This is not recommended to use - it doesn't seem to work properly on here due to the dual screens. But if you wanna use it anyways:
Like with the RA cores, set both CPU and GPU to Performance (in System Options.)
Set the Screen Orientation to Vertical and Screen Layout to Even. For non-touch games you may want to use Horizontal + Top Emphasis instead, or Horizontal + Top Only.
Set the Graphics Backend to OpenGL (Computer Shader.)
This gives you about the same performance as RA MelonDS, but I can't seem to get the FPS counter to show, so it's hard to tell. Other things, such as RetroAchievements, does not work on here either.
As of writing these mostly seemed to be copied over from AYN Thor's controls. They've been copied here for convenience, as well as a couple additional keybinds found.
(note: these additional keybinds are mostly duplicates and could very well be unintentional.)
| Combo | Description |
|---|---|
| L1 + Start + Select | Quit |
| Select + Start (x2) | Quit (ONLY on non-RA emus) |
| Anbernic + Vol Up | Brightness Up |
| Anbernic + Vol Down | Brightness Down |
| Anbernic + Start + Vol Up | WiFi on |
| Anbernic + Start + Vol Down | WiFi off |
| Combo | Description |
|---|---|
| Anbernic + Start (x2) | Quit |
| Anbernic + R1 | Save State |
| Anbernic + L1 | Load State |
| Anbernic + X | Open RA's menu |
| Select + Down | Open RA's menu |
| Anbernic + B | Reset Game |
| Anbernic + Y | Show FPS |
| Anbernic + A | Take Screenshot* |
| Anbernic + R2 | Fast Forward |
* Screenshots for me are broken and I have no idea if this works so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
| Combo | Description |
|---|---|
| Anbernic | Menu |
| L3 | Menu |
| R2 | Save State |
| L2 | Load State |
| R3 | Fast Forward |
| Combo | Description |
|---|---|
| L2 | Microphone |
| R2 | Change Layout |
| L3 | Open/Close Lid |
| Combo | Description |
|---|---|
| R2 | Save State |
| L2 | Load State |
| L3 | Change Layout |
| Right Stick | Mouse |
| R3 | Click |
Looks like the latest nightlies available don't work. Any chance you could share a known good version?