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❌ Cons	Outdated Missing features Possible corrupted files because of bad SD card quality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 ⬇️ Older Versions 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
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

ArkOS

ArkOS for the R36S
Latest version
Download	⬇️ Official GitHub Download Page ⬇️ Reddit Announcement & Download Info
Documentation / FAQ	ArkOS Wiki & Setup Guide
Hotkeys	Global & Emulator Hotkeys

ROCKNIX

ROCKNIX for the R36S
Latest version
Download	⬇️ GitHub Releases
Documentation / FAQ	ROCKNIX Wiki & Setup Guide

UnofficialOS

UnofficialOS for the R36S
Latest version
Download	⬇️ GitHub Releases
Documentation / FAQ	View the Wiki

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.
Continuation	ROCKNIX is a continuation of JELOS.
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
Video Guide	Load video YouTube YouTube might collect personal data. Privacy Policy ContinueDismiss

Gentoo

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

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

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