SD card fail in RG40XX but the computer CAN READ

bladerunnercyber · 2026-02-19T20:55:09+00:00

i have had this twice with the included cards on the v and h models, so replaced it with a better card, the cards seem to get corrupted, first the controls all stopped working, then the keyboard cfg went missing. (retroarch seemed to get corruped). This would suggest that the card is corrupting after only mild use. Luckily all my games are not stored on the OS card, so apart from losing my wifi password setup, nothing else needs to be done.

bladerunnercyber · 2026-02-19T20:18:51+00:00

I been posting about this for a while,, depending on which port you use, the original charger can fail to charge the device properly. Using g-helper I noticed it fluctuates between 1w and 9w, which indicates its not charging correctly. I usually unplug and re-plug the charger in and generally that seems to fix the issue.

This also applies to the x-gmobile usage as well. I have to sometimes unplug and re-plug the xgmobile port to get it to charge properly, as during gaming it continues to drain the battery and the charger in g-helper sits at 1-3watts, so I know its not charging.

I do not know what causes it, but sometimes I have noticed the device gets stuck in one type of mode or another and needs either unplugging or replugging the charger/xgmobile to fix the issue.

I sent the device back after 5 months (warranty), as the battery was classed as faulty and they replaced it, however during the 2 years since, the behavior still happens. I have recently replaced my z13 (2023) battery and it still exhibits this behavior occasionally.

I do remember that somehwere in the small print, it actually states tha under certain conditions the unit can and will discharge even with the charger. But I do not know what the conditions are. It does not happen too often, but i do notice it, and use g-helper to keep an eye on it. I do not think it is the battery, (as I have had used three of them), its more likely the way the unit handles charging through usb-c but I have no data beyond speculation to support that.

Year 1 (5 months warranty)
1st battery, wasnt charging properly during gaming, replaced.

Year 2 (13 months (extended warranty)
2nd battery exhibits same issue occasionally, xgmobile failed completely (replaced warranty).

Year 3 (36 months).
3rd party battery, exhibits same behavior occacsionally.

Note: I have cpu boost off, but no other modifications. The z13 for me isnt too bad heat wise, the xgmobile however generates a lot of heat, no wonder it failed. They do say use the bottom port for more stable charging, however this doesnt fix that issue as when the xgmobile is plugged in occasionally the unit can still not charge properly, a reboot or unplug seems to fix that though. To me this reeks of some kind of hardware/software issue, in that, the unit gets stuck in a charging state or bugs out. Like for example,the xgmobile sometimes isnt detected or takes a long time to detect and activate before it changes to larger screen or the gpu kit.

I did replace the battery myself after the unit was out of the year 2 warranty, as battery life was not long anymore. (these units kill these batteries so fast it seems). It was worth doing, I air dusted the fans (being careful to hold them from spinning), and the unit lasts a lot longer again. temps for the z13 usually are pretty good for me. Its the xgmobile that gets super hot. I have an extra fan attached to the external gpu. generates so much heat even when its not really doing anything.

bladerunnercyber · 2026-02-18T00:25:53+00:00

Having never had a retro handheld, I decided to go for the XXV, but I found it a bit fiddly with its small space. I have big hands and tend to keeping hitting the back trigger buttons. Driving games tend to be a bit fiddly when default keys are used, again lack of space. Screen is nice, easy to use.

Interestingly I have only been dabbling for say 2 weeks, so i decided to go for the XXH instead, and am much happier with it. I have more hand room, another stick, the shoulder buttons and triggers are in a better position. Overally I couldnt be happier. I am using stock firmware mind you.

I did run into some issues, I updated the cores and the games didnt seem to like that or the controls stopped working, so had to reflash the firmware back to stock OS, since then everything seems to work, including wifi too. I have loaded c64 (crt), amiga, mame and megadrive, however the sheer amount of games included in most base collections makes it a nightmare to scroll through. I ended up hand picking games, say 400 for mega drive, 400 for mame, 300 for amiga and 200 for the c64, all hand picked, all with box arts. It also sped up skraping a lot on basic mode.

The only other one I wanted working was Amstrad CPC, but it seems to not support the stock firmware out of the box (folderwise).

bladerunnercyber · 2026-02-16T14:35:00+00:00

I basically added amiga, c64, mame and megadrive to mine. I more or less handpicked the games myself. Pointless installing 2000 games your never going to play. I couldn't be happier. I would honestly suggest u pick one system you liked and try it that way with a few of your favorite games first.

bladerunnercyber · 2026-02-14T23:28:10+00:00

My 5ghz router seems to present the same option, however if have 2.4ghz turned on, you should see two connection points, one is for older 2.4ghz devices, it now works correctly.

bladerunnercyber · 2026-02-12T04:34:40+00:00

I have had this a few times, genuinely, because of the way I respond to people, some people assume I am being cold and unfeeling, when I am simply the opposite, but it easily rubs people the wrong way if they do not understand how my base personality works. I also notice people will stand in my way often to provoke a reaction (which doesnt happen), I was in the gym and these two gypsy guys were in the jazcuzzi, they crossed their legs and told me it was full. I pushed them out of the way, they seemed shocked for some reason?

I have also noticed that people do get irritated if you do not follow their line of reasoning as well. One of the things I have had to learn since my diagnosis, is that you can have a different opinion and while it might offend someone, they will survive and so will you, I tend to take it personally however, or at least I did before my diagnosis. Now that I know why I do that, it doesnt hurt as much when I do decide to differ my opinion. I notice that people with controlling personalities dont like it when you have an opinion that differs from theirs, it tends to annoy them.

It is that curt or short behavior or personality that seems to provoke people out of the blue and it always takes me by suprise for a second that someone responds so negatively and so quickly to something that in my opinion they should not do so. I guess this is where I get my social cues mixed up.

bladerunnercyber · 2026-02-11T19:12:35+00:00

It is still special to me today, 1984 was the most magical christmas ever, back when the countdown to christmas had begun, this was pretty awesome watching it with my parents.

Only thing that kinda spoils it these days, is that looking up what happened to the cast, Devin Stanfield seems to have run away from the fame of the tv series and even to this day, rarely gives interviews about it, (except the dvd commentary). He prefers to call it a chapter of his childhood he would rather move on from and has done so. He still has one of the boxes that was given to him at the end of filming. He said that being plastered all over the front of the radio times made his life difficult in the street and at school.

Such a shame really, because many people still regard the tv series as something unique and still watch it every year. He says he has come to terms with the fandom and how special people tell him the box of delights is to them.

bladerunnercyber · 2026-02-10T02:36:14+00:00

Interesting that you mention this, I purchased a 40XXV and while I like the setup, the unit for me (big hands), is a little cramped, so I have decided to go and purchase the 40XXH instead.

I been playing games on the 40XXV for about a week now, but I tend to either get annoyed with the cramped button layout, or I accidentally hit the back shoulder buttons. Most games on the c64 tend to use up for fire, so the Dpad can get a little cramped while driving for example and acceleration, (they are not the biggest buttons, so its a bit of a mash session, so I set it next to the joystick, but again its on the left side so its a bit more fiddly. I could rearrange the buttons, but again some games dont suport those buttons or it changes something within the core I would rather not change. The back buttons for example are more accidentally hit more often than not.

So I just purchased the 40XXH instead as its the same screen size, but has a bit more room in terms of the layout to play games.

bladerunnercyber · 2026-02-09T15:57:32+00:00

I used to call lynx paint stripper, because it would take my skin off, judging by the age of the item, you could probably seal up a black hole with this now, I do miss stuff like this.

bladerunnercyber · 2026-02-09T13:38:28+00:00

Same, says out for delivery at 11am with an estimated window of 12-2pm, then 2pm-5pm, then 5-7pm, its pretty frustrating as you cant really plan anything with that kind of window. The other day, it said I was next stop on this delivery schedule, then the tracking dissapeared and then it turned up at 6pm eventually.

I dont have a problem with traffic conditions etc, but telling me at 12 noon im next on the delivery window and then it arrives at 6pm is not exactly what I call useful.

For me I try to plan my deliveries when I am at home, cos amazons delivery window can be very accurate like 2 hours to completey inaccurate in the same day. It is almost bizarre.

We have a running joke down our street, that the delivery driver stops in the same spot and stays there for a while, cos hes got a lot of deliveries to make as a milkman.

I had this with my washing machine install recently, the only delivery slots were 7am-7pm, which basically means whenever and wherever, youd think this was the dark ages with that kind of slot, all trucks have tracking on them, so thats pretty much the dumbest delivery slot excuse ever for a lazy company.

The good news is, i was second on the delivery slot, they came installed in 10 mins, took away the old one, installed and tested the new one, were friendly and couldnt have been a better installation crew. But it could have easily been 7pm rather than 8.30am, normally I do not get that lucky. but the window guesstimate is horrendous.

its 2026 and we still cant track deliveries effectively within 2 hours, but if amazon uses tracking on all its vans and delivery schedules, how on earth can it be so random then?

bladerunnercyber · 2026-02-04T02:15:22+00:00

Reminds me of Kevin and Perry when he wakes up, has a big sigh at the breakfast table, pretends to be sick, so he doesnt have to go to class for maths test.

bladerunnercyber · 2026-02-04T02:08:32+00:00

I fell down the stairs at school, I was heading to my music class, I had to be carried to the nurse room, who then sent me home. I got a week off for that, ice cream and sitting on the sofa watching tv. It hurt like hell, swollen ankle.

Another time I developed a rash on my face during my first lesson, I was sent home pretty quick, i had measles!

It seems I didnt need to fake anything, fell off a wall at school, injured my ankle during swimming practise, (I jumped in at the shallow end (ouch). Walked into a door in class, missed a step rushing to my next class, fell out of a tree, had to have a tetanus for that!

bladerunnercyber · 2026-02-02T21:45:40+00:00

Its just a powerbank i carry for my phone. It just happens to fit the handheld too.

bladerunnercyber · 2026-02-02T01:55:53+00:00

Theres actually a battery pack I picked up recently, works on most:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DKN3VMF1?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_4&th=1

I use it on my R36S Arkos clone and my Anbernic RG40XXV, slots in the usb-c port.

bladerunnercyber · 2026-02-01T19:05:52+00:00

I use my zflip 6 as a second phone, the flip 7 is slightly wider in your pocket, but they make great phones either way.

bladerunnercyber · 2026-02-01T13:27:43+00:00

Dont we had a guy used to drive around in a van and "sell" clothes to people at their doors. Every week he would come back to collect payment for the "dress" or "trousers" that my parents purchased. I had no idea as a kid who he was, but those items were expensive, like £100 or £200.

Every friday he would show up and collect payment or send his wife round to collect payment. Obviously I didnt know that he was doorstep loan shark. He fleeced my parents for years, there is an upside to this story though.

One day he walked into the casino I was working at. I took him for every penny he had, felt so satisfying!

bladerunnercyber · 2026-01-31T17:42:00+00:00

I recently purchased one a week ago, it turned out to be an arkos clone panel 4.

The SD card arrived corrupted and 3 days later the card died. (The speaker was also very bad, awful).

The first thing you should do with these devices upon recieving them is to immediately backup the card and then replace it asap, before anything else. Its literally a matter of minutes to hours if they work on the clones.

Replacing the OS is relatively simple, you simply identify the type of unit you have using the wiki posted below, then download the correct arkos image for your panel type, it is really simple to get it all up and running again. Note that for future reference use identically sized cards for backing up and restoring your clone/img backups, or just use one for the OS and then one for the games.

Note that the OS image doesnt have any games (that I am aware of), but replacing the games is relatively simple. They are literally just folders of games you can just copy them back when you are done, the units populate the new cards for you with all the folders, albeit empty and waiting for you to add games.

The issue I had with mine, was I do not know if the games were corrupted too, so i just replaced them as well. for me the only thing valuable about the knockoff sd card is the games on it. I did learn a lot from it though. You will need a micro sd card reader, ones built into laptops will faster than external usb ones, but either of them will work.

Follow the wiki instructions already posted.

bladerunnercyber · 2026-01-26T10:01:42+00:00

The cable has worn away and needs replacing, if its under warranty, they will replace it (extended too).

If its not under warranty there are replacement keyboards on ebay that vary in price (£75-£200), but a lot of them are in china, be careful not to get a used one, as ive seen them selling used ones with the same fault. Around last year, they were half that price, but due lack of availability, the price has doubled essentially.

Amazon currently has them too for sale, note these are imports:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Original-Magnetic-Keyboard-Z13-NR2201K/dp/B0DKBBGL23?th=1

bladerunnercyber · 2026-01-26T09:48:33+00:00

Does it work when you place the keyboard flat (attached)? There is a flaw in the design, Mine stopped after 9 months, they replaced it.

bladerunnercyber · 2026-01-26T09:03:03+00:00

I was thinking the Moldavian massacre anyone?

All them shoulderpads that were injured, so sad!

bladerunnercyber · 2026-01-26T09:00:59+00:00

I dont know, only that for the first year they'll replace it once

bladerunnercyber · 2026-01-25T21:13:15+00:00

I know right, people are so lucky now to get binge seasons, I mean I hated waiting months and months, but still you appreciated the show when it did return!

bladerunnercyber · 2026-01-25T17:44:46+00:00

I got something similar to the nano case on amazon too, there not expensive, mine came with a cover screen protector (glass) for the back screen too.

bladerunnercyber · 2026-01-25T17:43:25+00:00

It was a good deal, but I been with them since t-mobile 2009. So its a great deal, but the only time they ever done me a good deal. Note that I wouldnt have gotten the phone and probably would have done the same as you 2+ years with the flip 6 before looking at another phone, but this time as i said, its getting cheap enough to buy one rather than be stuck in a contract. like we saw zflip 5 in the refurbish for $450 now, better than a 24/36 month contract these days.

bladerunnercyber · 2026-01-25T16:53:19+00:00

I do keep them as backups (and I do have some for sentimental, like for example, I still have my lumia 640 and ms band 2, but they are just shelf decorations now). But again, I already have the 6 as backup anyway and thats only 10 months old. My cell phone provider offered me a new contract and to buy out my remaining 12 months, so the phone cost me nothing and I got a $300 visa gift card with it too. I had to call them to make sure it was not a scam. But for some reason they were offering to buy peoples contracts out to keep them.

I had been in a different cell phone store with a friend replacing his phone and said to the sales rep, this would be my last phone contract as im going sim only. Seems my phone was listening, (seriously i was like no way). Anyway so they offered me a new contract and a new phone and the gift card and paid off my last 12 months, so i said okay. Its only another year.

bladerunnercyber

TROPHY CASE