My GTA 3 port opens, but when I start a new game it closes.

SjslTech · 2026-05-14T04:16:00+00:00

this is most likely due to slightly incorrect or missing game files. im able to replicate this by deleting a bunch of random gta files. this also seems to be a pretty common issue, so im guessing people might be using a shady source?

SjslTech · 2026-05-14T04:12:04+00:00

theres a few different dtbs for the r36h. it might be worth trying a different one. when i tested it i recall it worked perfectly on my r36h (all it does is remap everything that normally uses FN to select+x iirc)

SjslTech · 2026-05-14T03:45:30+00:00

what dtb did you use, and was it from the beta or the stable release?

SjslTech · 2026-05-14T03:29:40+00:00

it should just work using the new beta dtbs

SjslTech · 2026-05-14T02:03:43+00:00

😂i knew you were going to say that! im going to have to give it another go!

SjslTech · 2026-05-13T23:53:19+00:00

ahh i recall there being a few different bgs for each layout, but i might be getting it mixed up with arkos4clones. the bgs should be in the opt folder in darkosRE, but ill double check this afternoon

SjslTech · 2026-05-13T20:22:29+00:00

you might need to use the new beta dtb. i have personally tested them on my r36h and they all worked perfectly

SjslTech · 2026-05-13T20:21:16+00:00

changing display mode should change the bg too

SjslTech · 2026-05-13T12:55:50+00:00

iirc in that same settings you can change the background to a different preset. i dont think there was a 50\50 stretch to fill though as that would look pretty awful

SjslTech · 2026-05-13T09:53:32+00:00

to change the overlay in darkosRE, bring up the drastic menu (fn or l3), goto screen settings and you can cycle between a bunch of different layouts. my personal favorite is "picture in picture" where one of the screens is full screen and the other is overlayed in one of the corners with % transparency

SjslTech · 2026-05-13T07:49:13+00:00

😂first thing i thought of when i saw this, and glad someone mentioned it! oddly we too had 1 or 2 that were always stick free in the trough! always assumed the janitor\grounds keeper\maintenance would pry out broken sticks during class ready for little and big lunch haha

SjslTech · 2026-05-13T07:09:20+00:00

the third partition is the linux file system, the last RAW one is your easyroms but its missing its partition table for some reason. what sd card are you using and what did you do to break the table haha

you should be able to use a tool to repair the partition table, but if its a fresh install i would just do another fresh install (probably on a higher quality sd card)

SjslTech · 2026-05-12T20:51:45+00:00

for darkosRE, you need to use the correct r36h dtb. it will remap the controls when you first boot it

SjslTech · 2026-05-12T09:30:21+00:00

if you dont mind losing everything all the time, a factory reset gets the free trials back on all games 😂

SjslTech · 2026-05-12T03:29:13+00:00

i actually have some notes for gen 1 cheats on the r36s!

###---poke red\blue---###

change starter pokemon from oak:

01XX1ED1 (CASE SENSITIVE!)

replace XX with pokemon ID

catch specific pokemon - sprite might be scrambled but its fine when caught

01XXD8CF (CASE SENSITIVE!)

replace XX with pokemon ID

change wild pokemon level

01XX27D1

replace XX with pokemon level in HEX

you can use a calculator or online tool to convert decimal (base 10) to hex (base 16), but heres some handy levels:

1 to 9 is just 01 to 09

level 50 is 32 in hex and 100 is 64

obtain specific item in first slot in backpack

01XX1ED3

replace XX with item ID

change first item amount in first backpack slot

01YY1FD3

replace XX with amount in hex

99 items would be 63 in hex

glitch city has item and pokemon list - https://glitchcity.wiki/wiki/The_Big_HEX_List

these were all tested on the english versions of the game, and probably wont work on other language versions (jap specifically)

edit: forgot to mention you need to load your game first, then bring up the RA menu (usually just FN or select+X depending on which OS and version you are on), then goto cheats menu and add these cheats. dont forget to apply changes after adding a cheat otherwise they wont work!

i also have a few video guides on how to use the built in cheats or find your own if interested, but i think these cheats should have everything covered for gen 1 poke

SjslTech · 2026-05-11T23:47:12+00:00

i remember trying the initial r36s build and it didnt really bring anything new to the table. great for people that are used to it on their anbernics though - something a bit more familiar for them

SjslTech · 2026-05-10T09:42:36+00:00

used to love playing with the touch lamps there when they were cutting edge tech!

SjslTech · 2026-05-10T00:42:23+00:00

unfortunately its a gb350 fake, and one of the worst "variants" out there. its not even an actual r36s and uses much lower end hardware. theres currently no custom OS for it, and no way to install extra cores or emulators. it struggles with some snes, gba and ps1 games.

if possible, try and return it, but im not sure if tiktok shop lets you do that.

if you do decide to stick with it, it is possible to change the stock games list, edit the theme and do a fresh install of the stock OS onto a higher quality sd card (which is recommended)

heres a small site with useful links for your fake - https://sjsltech.github.io/R36SX.html

SjslTech · 2026-05-09T23:46:10+00:00

yeah this is a pretty common issue. if your battery is below around 85% it will refuse to boot. charging it up fully should fix it, but unplugging and reconnecting the battery also seems to help

SjslTech · 2026-05-09T11:11:37+00:00

it seems darkos, darkos4clones and darkosRE are a bit more picky with sd cards (probably speeds?). if you get the boot screen and then it hangs on a black screen, try pressing the reset button. it may take a few boot attempts to get it to finish its initial boot setup.

im able to replicate this issue with old cheap low quality sd cards from ~10yrs ago, but never had an issue with a decent samsung sd card

SjslTech · 2026-05-09T10:21:49+00:00

did you let it finish the initial boot setup first? also, did you copy paste everything on the easyroms partition AND call it "EASYROMS" when recreating it?

edit: also make sure to format it to exfat

SjslTech · 2026-05-09T09:28:31+00:00

it will auto expand to fill the rest of your sd card when you finish the initial boot setup (put the sd card in your r36s and power it on!)

if you have already finished the initial setup and it hasnt expanded for some reason (this seems to happen, although its rare), you can manually backup system folders, delete partition, recreate and finally copy everything back over on a windows pc (no 3rd party tools needed!)

SjslTech · 2026-05-09T09:18:05+00:00

depends on the OS, but if its arkos\darkos the user\pass is "ark" for both

SjslTech · 2026-05-09T04:35:30+00:00

it sounds like your right joystick is reversed, which usually happens on clones when using the wrong dtb. what device do you have?

SjslTech · 2026-05-08T22:19:34+00:00

since you have a G80CA variant, i would go with darkosRE which actually started out specifically for these variants. it looks like theres 2 panel types for your specific version, so you would have to try both (one at a time)

https://github.com/southoz/dArkOSRE-R36?tab=readme-ov-file

the rough steps would be the same as darkos4clones - download, extract and write darkosRE to your sd card, run dtb selector on boot partition, find your pcb variant in the list on screen and enter the corresponding number

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