R36S Custom Firmware

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Info

Refer to the Guides section or the provided links below for help with installing / flashing these firmwares.

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Info

The recommended Firmwares are Community Maintained ArkOS and AmberELEC.

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Warning

The stock microSD cards (those that get shipped with the device) cause a lot of problems and can get corrupted/defect any time. They are very cheap quality and unreliable. Change them as soon as possible. Please refer to the SD card section.

StockOS

StockOS
Description	The R36S is shipped with different versions of ArkOS. Some resellers even have their own boot logo. Not recommended to use.
❌ Cons	Outdated Missing features Possible corrupted files because of bad SD card quality

Custom Firmware for the EmuELEC Clone

Custom Firmware for EmuELEC Clone Devices
Description	Some R36S clones do not support the standard ArkOS or AmberELEC custom firmware. For more information and download links, please refer to the R36S Clones section.

↪ Custom Firmware for the EmuELEC Clone

ArkOS Community Maintained Image

ArkOS Community Maintained Image for the R36S
Latest version
Download	⬇️ GitHub Releases
Additional steps to get it working	Follow the "Panel Picker" steps in the GitHub Releases page. If your R36S has Panel 4 it should work out of the box without additional steps.
Older Versions	⬇️ Old Releases on Mega
Wiki / Documentation / FAQ / How-To	ArkOS Wiki FAQ for RG351MP
Changelogs (includes instructions for added features)	R3XS Changelog & Features Update
ArkOS Screenshots / Options / Tools	R36S ArkOS Screenshot Gallery
Hotkeys	Global & Emulator Event Keys
✅ Pros	R36S optimized ArkOS version Very good performance Lots of features Frequent updates Great customization options Fast boot time (~16 seconds)
❌ Cons	Overlays need to be manually enabled

MyMinUI

MyMinUI for the R36S
Latest version
Download / Instructions	⬇️ GitHub Download & Instructions
Description	A simple alternative to EmulationStation (used in ArkOS). It installs on top of ArkOS and can easily be disabled if you prefer to return to EmulationStation. Instructions are included in the download. Works only on ArkOS devices.
✅ Pros	Very minimalistic Easy to install on top of ArkOS Easy to switch back to ArkOS
❌ Cons	Lots of missing features Different ROM folder path

AmberELEC

AmberELEC
Latest version
Download	⬇️ GitHub Pre-release Downloads
Additional steps to get it working	Try the different files from here: ⬇️ screen specific dtb files
Documentation / FAQ	Getting Started Guide FAQ Page
Hotkeys	Controls & Hotkeys Reference
✅ Pros	Very good performance Lots of features Overlays are enabled by default Newer EmulationStation Better theme support Most emulator settings can be changed in EmulationStation
❌ Cons	No official support for newer screen panels Slower update cycle FN button not mapped for hotkeys Slower boot time (~25 seconds) No easy way to change boot logo and loading screen

PAN4ELEC

PAN4ELEC (Custom AmberELEC for Panel 4 Devices)
Description	Unofficial AmberELEC build by KEgg for the most recent Panel 4 (V5) devices. Includes additional features and general usability improvements.
Latest version
Download	⬇️ GitHub Releases
Documentation / FAQ	Reddit Announcement & Guide
✅ Pros	R36S optimized AmberELEC version Very good performance Lots of features Overlays are enabled by default Newer EmulationStation version Great standard theme with lots of options Better theme support Most emulator settings can be changed in EmulationStation
❌ Cons	Only Screen Panel 4 is supported officially Slower boot time (~25 seconds) No easy way to change boot logo and loading screen

Additional info

ssh login = root

ssh password = pan4elec

syncthing login = root

syncthing password = amberelec

dArkOSRE

dArkOS fork with added features and support for multiple R36S versions.

dArkOSRE
Latest version
Download	⬇️ GitHub
Documentation / FAQ	dArkOSRE Wiki & Setup Guide
Hotkeys	RetroArch Hotkeys
Officially Supported Devices	Devices list (click to expand) Clone R36S devices: G80C-MB V1.1-20250319 Panel 8 G80C-MB V1.1-20250319 Panel 9 G80CA-MB V1.2-20250422 Panel 8 G80CA-MB V1.2-20250422 Panel 9 G80CA-MB V1.2-20250423 Panel 8 G80CA-MB V1.2-20250423 Panel 9 G80CA-MB V1.3-20251212 Panel 8 R36S-V12 2023-08-18 Variant 1 with EMMC and AMP R36S-V12 2023-08-18 Variant 2 R36S-V12 2023-08-18 Variant 3 Genuine R36S devices: R36S-V21 2024-12-18 R36XX-V21 2024-12-18 Soysauce R36S devices: Y3506_V04_20250529 Y3506_V05_20251215 2551 Y3506_V05_20251215 2601

dArkOS

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dArkOS
Latest version
Download	⬇️ GitHub
Documentation / FAQ	dArkOS Wiki & Setup Guide
Hotkeys	Global & Emulator Hotkeys
Officially Supported Devices	Devices list (click to expand) A10 Mini Anbernic RG351M Anbernic RG351MP Anbernic RG351P Anbernic RG351V Anbernic RG353M Anbernic RG353V Anbernic RG353VS Anbernic RG503 GameForce Chi ODROID-GO Advance Powkiddy RGB10 Powkiddy RGB10X Powkiddy RGB10s Powkiddy RGB20 Powkiddy RGB20 Pro Powkiddy RGB30 Powkiddy V10 R35S RK2020 RK2023

ArkOS

ArkOS for the R36S
Latest version	(use the RG351MP version)
Download	⬇️ Official GitHub Download Page ⬇️ Reddit Announcement & Download Info
Additional steps to get it working	Try the different files from here: ⬇️ screen specific dtb files
Documentation / FAQ	ArkOS Wiki & Setup Guide
Hotkeys	Global & Emulator Hotkeys

ROCKNIX

ROCKNIX for the R36S
Latest version
Download	⬇️ GitHub Releases
Additional steps to get it working	Follow the instructions on the ROCKNIX website
Documentation / FAQ	ROCKNIX Wiki & Setup Guide

UnofficialOS

UnofficialOS for the R36S
Latest version
Download	⬇️ GitHub Releases
Additional steps to get it working	Follow the instructions on the UnofficialOS Wiki
Documentation / FAQ	View the Wiki

R36S Multiboot

R36S Multiboot
Latest version
Description	AmberELEC, ArkOS, PAN4ELEC, ROCKNIX, UnofficialOS, Andr36oid and Armbian Linux in one image. You can choose the OS versions you want to be included.
Download	⬇️ GitHub Releases
Documentation / FAQ	GitHub

AndR36oid (LineageOS 18.1)

AndR36oid (LineageOS 18.1)
Latest version
Description	Android on the R36S
Download	⬇️ GitHub Releases
Documentation / FAQ	GitHub
dtb files / sound fix	BATLEXP G350 Panel 5 sound fix (thanks to S1eepy from discord)

Lakka

Lakka on the R36S
Description	Outdated / lightweight Linux distribution with the RetroArch interface. Booting directly into RetroArch is also possible on ArkOS (see FAQ).
Download	⬇️ Download from Lakka.tv
Documentation / FAQ	Lakka Docs and FAQ

cHAos multi panel R3xS

cHAos Multi Panel R3xS
Description	Debug image that supports three different display panels. It is a fork of AmberELEC.
Download	⬇️ GitHub Releases
Documentation / FAQ	AmberELEC Getting Started Guide

JELOS

JELOS (Just Enough Linux OS)
Status	The JELOS project has come to an end, however the sources will continue to be made available. Binaries are no longer provided.
Download	ROCKNIX is a continuation of JELOS, so use this firmware.
Source Code	GitHub Repository

Xorg

Xorg on the R36S
Description	XFCE, LXDE, and LXQT Desktop Environment for the R36S
Latest version
Download	⬇️ GitHub Releases
Documentation / FAQ	View the Wiki
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Gentoo

Gentoo for the R36S
How-To	Gentoo for R36S Status Update & How-To

arkos4clone

arkos4clone (ArkOS for clones)
Latest version
Download	⬇️ GitHub Releases
Documentation / FAQ	Github readme
Info	Based on the ArkOS R3XS community maintained firmware.
Officially Supported Devices	Devices list (click to expand) A10Mini Batlexp G350 DC35V DC40V HG36 [HG3506] K36 K36S O30S Powkiddy RGB20S R33S R36H R36H Pro Max R36Max R36Max2 R36Pro R36Plus R36S [Panel 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 4 V22] R36S Clone [Soy Sauce Panel1 2 3 4] R36S Clone [Clone Type 1 With Amplifier] R36S Clone [Clone Type 1 Without Amplifier] R36S Clone [Clone Type 1 Without Amplifier And Invert Right Joystick] R36S Clone [Clone Type 2 With Amplifier] R36S Clone [Clone Type 2 Without Amplifier] R36S Clone [Clone Type 3] R36S Clone [Clone Type 4] R36S Clone [Clone Type 5] R36T R36T Max R36Ultra R36XX R40XX R40XX Pro Max R45H R46H R50S RX6H SZDiiER D-007 T16MAX U8 [V1, V2] XGB36 [G26] XF35H XF40H XF40V XiFan MyMini XiFan Mini 40 XiFan XF28

muOS

Not released yet The dev has already posted videos on discord (August 12th, 2025)

muOS (MustardOS)
Latest version	MustardOS 2601.1 Funky Jacaranda
Download	⬇️ muOS Homepage
Documentation / FAQ	muOS Homepage
Hotkeys	Handy Hotkeys
Officially Supported Devices	Devices list (click to expand) Anbernic RG28XX Anbernic RG34XX H Anbernic RG34XXSP Anbernic RG35XX H Anbernic RG35XX Plus Anbernic RG35XX Pro Anbernic RG35XX-2024 Anbernic RG35XX-SP Anbernic RG40XX H Anbernic RG40XX V Anbernic RG CubeXX TrimUI Smart Pro TrimUI Brick

Batocera.linux

Early preview build: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1nQu6hC2AoubDZNWxhtZpEgyHUP9v7DU0?usp=drive_linkFor

Reddit thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/R36S/comments/1p714qo/batocera_testing_r36s_support_from_their_discord/

Discord invite link: https://discord.gg/ndyUKA5

Discord link: https://discord.com/channels/357518249883205632/1443005393898049586

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Knulli

Only in early alpha stage.

Reddit thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/R36S/comments/1jwnpfo/knulli_custom_firmware_coming_to_the_r36s/

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Firmware and SD Card Test

A short test that compares the boot time and GBA/SNES performance of various firmwares and SD cards. I am too lazy to copy over the site, so here's a link to the old R36S Wiki on GitHub:

https://github.com/manster-zz/R36S-LINKS/wiki/Firmware-and-SD-Card-Test

🏠︎ R36S WikiR36S OverviewR36S ClonesR36S Buying GuideSetup Guides ‐ Installing FirmwareCustom FirmwareHotkeysCompatibility ListsHow to transfer filesThemesBootlogos and Loading ScreensAdvanced Guides ‐ TutorialsHardware ModificationsProblems and Troubleshooting

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