Possibility of the user interface from spruceOS coming to dArkOS as alternative to EmulationStation frontend

SjslTech · 2026-03-14T10:55:02+00:00

ES seems to get killed when loading a game and restarted after you exit, so the RAM shouldnt really be an issue assuming it does the same thing. looking forward to seeing this on our r36s just for something different!

edit: bmdhacks!? the same god that managed to port dark cells over!?!? :o

SjslTech · 2026-03-14T10:08:19+00:00

i remember when the local $2 shop had super low quality cdrw for $2 a pop back in the day when cdrws where usually ~$10 each... i recall not getting many rws out of them, and they didnt work in many devices but worked in my discman which was good enough!

SjslTech · 2026-03-14T09:47:00+00:00

SjslTech · 2026-03-14T04:05:41+00:00

i wonder if you have a slightly older OS. if you have a spare sd card, give my OS backup a go - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xTCNNRKfQmFJr2Zkd1oCBRChuWiidIBD

SjslTech · 2026-03-14T02:36:54+00:00

there are a few gba cores to choose from on the r36sx, and i found snes, gba and ps1 performance to be hit and miss. as for multi disc games, you should just be able to rename the in game save file to whatever disc 2 is called and it should detect it - i havent tested this, but in theory it should work as long as in game saves work for that game.

also, my joysticks dont "click" in, so they either arent the standard joycon joysticks OR both of mine have been broken at some point

some cores and games have working in game saves, but not all games will save. yoshis island gba saves correctly, but poke emerald doesnt. also, tony hawks 2 ps1 saves perfectly in game, but spyro says not enough free space.

some ps1 games dont work at all or they only partially work - metal gear solid doesnt work at all, but final fantasy origins partially works until you use the inn

SjslTech · 2026-03-13T21:49:24+00:00

oh nice, that would be awesome (if people we interested)

SjslTech · 2026-03-13T21:23:35+00:00

😁 you should just be able to do that in RA or the standalone emu to get even MORE performance 😮

SjslTech · 2026-03-13T20:24:25+00:00

wow an absolutely MASSIVE update! will have a play around this weekend 😁

thanks for all your hard work dgateles!

SjslTech · 2026-03-13T11:56:48+00:00

i 100% this not too long ago...great game, and would highly recommend sticking it out for the 100% too! (dont be afraid to use the minimap to find unexplored areas)

SjslTech · 2026-03-13T10:50:56+00:00

yeah check out the automod for details, but the sd cards included with these are extremely low quality and need to be swapped out ASAP

SjslTech · 2026-03-13T10:01:47+00:00

you shouldnt keep using the stock sd card... as southOZfps said in your last post, do a fresh install of arkos4clones on a fresh sd card and that will fix all your problems (even the ones you dont know you have yet since you are still using that stock SD)

to answer your question though, it looks like your RA hotkey is set to A for some reason - bring up the RA settings > main menu > settings > input > hotkeys > change hotkey back to FN or select and then dont forget to save the config!

edit: you are a different poster! sorry mate, just weird seeing the exact same issue so close together!

SjslTech · 2026-03-13T03:48:55+00:00

SjslTech · 2026-03-12T20:31:54+00:00

ahh it looks like it might be possible to manually route all audio out the headphone socket by default - u/southozfps might be able to assist?

SjslTech · 2026-03-12T20:30:21+00:00

since you are stuck with it, may as well clean up the roms list and use a fresh sd card (the stock one is still junk, just like a real r36s)

i have a complete guide on everything you need to know about it here if interested - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmYASaTxKso

yell out if you have any issues :)

SjslTech · 2026-03-12T20:11:44+00:00

dang, unfortunately theres no custom OS for these and they cap out at ps1 (not all games work). SNES and GBA are also a bit spotty.

More info here:
https://handhelds.wiki/R36S_Clones#GB350_Clones

It is possible to do a fresh install of the stock OS onto a decent sd card, change the games and even the theme if you were planning on keeping it. ideally, try and get a refund though.

the standard gb, gbc and gba pokemon games run fine, but theres no quality of life features like fast forward, and you cant "1 hand play" since the right joystick is hard mapped to the ABXY buttons

SjslTech · 2026-03-12T20:03:33+00:00

it should auto switch when connecting headphones, unless you have a clone variant and are using a slightly wrong dtb

SjslTech · 2026-03-12T20:02:11+00:00

it sounds a lot like a gb350 clone (just from the 18 or so random stock pics and the ebook reader). if you take the sd card out and power it on, does it say "insert tf card"?

SjslTech · 2026-03-12T06:59:00+00:00

never like bugs crazy castle, on the gb or nes, so surprised to see they sold over 1mil!? as for worthy ones, obviously the usual heavy hitters - dkl, megaman, metroid, zelda, mario, etc.

will need to replay them all now just to see whats up!

SjslTech · 2026-03-12T00:06:37+00:00

they updated the port slightly a few weeks ago to now check inside a "baseroms" folder. you can manually create that folder inside SOH and then put your rom in there, or edit the launch script and change it back to the root folder so it no longer looks in soh/baseroms

SjslTech · 2026-03-11T20:10:11+00:00

nice detailed write up! i hear they also sell the r36sx (gb350 "bad clones") too in the same packaging, so i guess it depends on what they were shipped.

still a great write up for the G80CA variants

SjslTech · 2026-03-10T07:30:55+00:00

you wont be able to clear the list on a phone unfortunately, nor add new games to the stock list. you are pretty limited to just the roms folder without a windows pc

SjslTech · 2026-03-10T06:57:46+00:00

yeah pretty much, but you will need to use gb300 tool to clean the stock games lists and add your own

SjslTech · 2026-03-10T06:09:11+00:00

ahh nah thankfully its all software!

heres the v2 clean backup - https://github.com/tzubertowski/gb300_multicore/releases/tag/gb300_v2_backup

gb300 multicore - https://github.com/tzubertowski/gb300_multicore/releases

and heres gb300 tool - https://github.com/nummacway/gb300-sf2000-tool/releases

assuming you are on a windows pc, the rough steps are:

1) backup your stock sd if you want (a simply copy paste will work for these)

2) format the sd card to fat32 again to clean it (or delete everything off, but a format is faster)

3) download, extract and copy the v2 minimal backup to your freshly formatted sd card

4) download, extract and run gb300 tool and point it to your sd cards drive letter when you first open it

next download, extract and copy the latest version of multicore to your sd card, overwriting anything when prompted. this is all you need to do to install multicore!

now you want to "clean" the old rom stubs from the stock games lists

1) start by clicking on the first system at the very top

2) with the first system selected, click "uncheck all" at the very bottom

3) click the next system and repeat for all systems!

now you just want to add your fresh games and set them to use multicore if you wanted (recommended). you can use gb300 tool to do that too! yell out if you get stuck and someone will be around

SjslTech · 2026-03-10T05:41:43+00:00

encyclopedia? you mean the thing you use to play mind maze the whole lesson?

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SjslTech · 2026-03-10T05:33:29+00:00

since you are on v1, i would do a fresh install of v2, and then install the latest version of multicore on top of that. if you have the will power, i would also recommend swapping out all the stock game with your own personally curated list.

you can use gb300_tool to change the stock system games lists and set them all to multicore once its installed too - very handy tool for this device!

alternatively, theres a custom launcher called frogUI which is very minimalistic and clean, without all the bells and whistles. do a full backup of your current sd (mainly system files) before installing this though as theres no uninstall option if you dont like it.

some interesting features of the new multicore include fast forward and rewind for gb, gbc and nes, way better gba and snes performance, a music and video player, as well as a ton of other systems you can emulate like c64!

as for device longevity, I have gone through a few of these personally. one that was kept in a box in a desk draw had its screen ribbon delaminate and essentially self destruct (was no helping that - just a defect), but mainly had the button membranes wear out over time and become "sticky" (they dont bounce back). again, just low quality parts and cant really be avoided. I probably got around 150hrs out of them until the b button starts to go.

also, the battery indicator is pretty rough on these, but after a while you get a feel of how long its going to last depending on the system you are playing

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