ArkOS Starter Guide (for Anbernic RG353, RG351 devices and more!)

[@eurosoe]

Classic RGC content, right here. These were the types of videos that got me hooked on the channel and these handhelds.

[@RetroGameCorps]

It was fun to go back and make a cfw video, I love doing these.

[@xenpy1603]

For anyone like me who recently bought a RG353V and has a messed up display when installing ArkOS you probably have a V2 screen and need to do the following: After flashing and before ejecting the SD card open the BOOT-partition in your file explorer, delete the rk3566-OC.dtb file and rename rk3566-OC.dtb.v2 to rk3566-OC.dtb (make sure that you do this for the rk3566-OC file and not rk3566-353v !)

[@CSpectre]

Bless you sir. lol

[@anemicmangoes9763]

Thanks my dude, worked for my RG353M that had screen issues also.

[@Cincomitzi]

I'm having this issue, but in my boots partition I only have the rk3326-rg351v-linux.dtb instead.

[@cloudkitt]

I assume by messed up display you just mean the image and that it still runs? I gave this a shot last night and it keeps getting hung up during the initial set up (353M). I tried just leaving it for a really long time and on another occasion tried resetting when it got stuck. Also reflashed the card from scratch and no dice. Strange. It's a brand new Sandisk 16GB

[@atetraxx]

@@cloudkitt after you flash but before you pull it out your conputer. problem is for me, there is no "boot" partition. So this solution doesnt work.

[@mb31415]

Perfect timing - you know just what my current project is! Thanks, Russ!

[@thegitrogguy5511]

Literally same here! Was just about to start working on a 351V!

[@jasonb4954]

Just got my 353p and was looking into ark as well but trying to decide if jelos is better for me. Still not sure

[@smmuny]

Watching this right now.. Still useful even a year later! Thank you

[@Bushidounohana]

Brilliance, as always. GREAT work on the spectrum of user-friendliness for alternate OSes. This is a curiosity I’ve held for a while but didn’t have the time and energy to test myself. Appreciate not only the overall spectrum, but your unpacking of individual strengths and weaknesses. Bravo as usual!

[@jinstinky501]

You're killing it. King of KZbin, imo

[@ungratefulmango]

Agreed

[@assettobam4880]

Agreed

[@ca9inec0mic58]

Nah

[@TeenieTinyTina]

Russ is great but calling him the king of KZbin in such a specific and sometimes even niche topic feels weird to me haha

[@jinstinky501]

@@TeenieTinyTina it was meant to be. I think you're the only other person on the internet with a sense of humor lol

[@lordemperorjacob1339]

I couldn’t thank you enough. This emulation stuff is a dream come true and when it clicked, I was delighted. Your work is some of the most comprehensive and excellent format for this form of content. Thanks, keep up the amazing work!

[@edwardlwittlif]

Perfect guide video. Straightforward, informative, and super useful. I was gifted a 353V and I knew I didn't want the stock OS but wasn't sure where to start, and this video got me from "what is this piece of plastic" to "when I quit out of The Frog For Whom The Bell Tolls it autosaves my progress" right quick. Subscribed.

[@Foughtimor]

Finally! I've been using ArkOS for a while, but I've just been waiting to see it on his channel. Love watching your long-form videos.

[@cloudkitt]

353M on its way to me now as my first such handheld, so this will be a huge help. Thanks :)

[@TarikA]

Thank u so much for this. I googled like a hundred times to find out whether JELOS/UnofficialOS, ArkOS or anything else would suit me the best.

[@elijahboulders377]

Thank you so much for this video, your constant attention to detail, clear explanations and written walkthroughs! You’re the man!

[@mynameisaram]

I just wanted to say thank you for this series. I originally got my RG351M as something to play Pico-8 games on and your videos have helped me turn it into a device to relive my best gaming memories. From NES games I'd forgotten about for decades to obscure Game Gear RPGs to yet another device to play Earthbound on, I'm having so much fun. Just today I finally - with your help - started playing all the arcade games like The Simpsons and TMNT that I fed so many quarters into as a kid. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

[@TheDumontShow]

Because of you, I got the RG353VS. And use ArkOS with it. What a device. Once you have one, you never anything else for handheld games. That D Pad is extraordinary. Thank you Retro Game Corps

[@davebassi7340]

It's has built in wifi correct?

[@TheDumontShow]

@@davebassi7340 yes, it does. because I update my stuff with it

[@rahlekk3464]

I love ArkOS. Been using it on my RG353M since I got it. Really the only issue I had was figuring out where the settings I wanted to change in RetroArch were. Once you spend enough time and know how to get to everything, the granular control is amazing.

[@Angryeddie14]

As a 353M owner, how does the new 405M make you feel? Can’t decide which one to get so I’d like an owners perspective

[@rahlekk3464]

​@@Angryeddie14 just not enough of an upgrade for me. Also for the games I play on my 353m I like the dpad on the top. And then Android only is a turn off for me.

[@Angryeddie14]

@@rahlekk3464 yea they’re pretty close in performance and the android only is def a bummer, thanks for answering!

[@jinstinky501]

Do you know if I can use my batecera SD card with roms if I want to try ark os? Rg353m is amazing!

[@Cujobob]

@@Angryeddie14I have a 353M and really like it. There are some improvements to the 405M I’d love, but ultimately the D pad positioning and Android only nature are huge issues for me. Android emulation stinks compared to Linux in my experience. It just ends up feeling like you’re using a bad phone. The rounded case and slightly bigger screen are all things I’d love, though. The 353M might be as big as you can go and still feel pocket friendly, however.

[@noonesjedi8018]

I only just got a 351p, and just watching your videos on this stuff is more than informative, it is relaxing.

[@odenwaldquelle8228]

Bought myself a RG353M, watched all you different videos about devices that came in question and I decided the RG353M is the one that fits me best. It was a pain to find a shop with the right balance between sketchyness and price. 135€ delivered to my frontdoor seemed a good deal. Now I cant wait the 10-20 businessdays until I can fiddle arround with it.

[@TecKideos]

Although i recently started my KZbin channel & get monetized but anything related to retro handhelds i get the inspiration & knowledge from this gentle man retro game corps. Loved all of your content.

[@paulsingh1984]

Again, this was a great video for a newbie when it comes to ArkOS. When it comes to the menu options I didn’t have a clue about them and didn’t know about the wiki page either. Another fantastic video, thank you so much 🙏

[@doktorwer]

So a helpful tip that I just figured out by reading the installation instructions for UnofficialOS on a RG353V v2 (more recent model) is to load the card on your computer and rename the 2 .v2 files to remove .v2 and it will launch fine. This works for ARKos I know im not explaining it correctly but I wanted others to know about this fix that is already there just under reported.

[@grindhardt]

thank you so much man. this video rules. lost all my save data twice on the stock SD card that came with Anbernic so i used this guide to essentially rebuild my entire device with ArkOS and a massive new SD card with high performance power.

[@EmperorOfTigers]

Yeah ArkOS is absolutely fantastic. Christian has done and still continues to do a wonderful job and he has been super helpful whenever I've had any issues. I can't recommend ArkOS enough, it's simply brilliant and this is a fantastic guide for it.

[@bjamiork]

This video has been a massive help, thank you SO much! I was hoping you'd explain how to save the GB shader setup (I was nervous because there were like 4 or 5 different save options lmao) and you DID. Thorough starter guide and extremely helpful, I really appreciate it. You've made my RG353V look and play like a damn dream and now I'll be able to help my brother get his rockin' as well!

[@MissAudrey-ss2qd]

After you did this with you 353V Did you just put in your rom sd card that already had the games on it that came with the device ??? Any suggestions there ? Like any do’s and don’ts ? I’m guessing install ArkOS Turn off device and pop my sd card in with all the preloaded games in the 2nd slot and turn on ????

[@TutonicKnight]

Man... that looks awesome. I was debating picking up the RG353V until i saw the annoucement for the RG405M. Now I'm kinda considering holding off in hopes they announce a vertical version of the 405. I love nostalgia of a vertical and the larger screen and beefier specs seem worth the wait.

[@theprahs1ne]

Appreciate your videos!

[@Wario_Kart]

My favorite OS 🔥

[@sinkingswamp]

Excited to tinker with this on my day off tomorrow!! Thanks

[@ne0phytee839]

Man, I'm watching this a year later but damn this is good video tutorial and quality content.

[@avelkm]

RG503 had very mixed reviews due to bugs in original firmware and almost noone reassesed the handheld with custom firmware. Meanwhile, I was lucky to grab new open box (probably from a gaming store originally) RG503 for $90 and after upgrading first to JelOS and then (after I've found out it discontinued support) to ArkOS I love it and it's OLED screen. Especially after last update when they added screen panel parameters and made it possible to adjust contrast, hue, saturation and most importantly the level of blacks, making it look just amazing in some games fully utilizing OLED. It's my first handheld and I'm really happy with it mostly because of ArkOS!

[@garydbz6240]

Love the sound of this. I recently picked one up on ebay for £85. Hope to get Friday/Saturday. I got mainly for the oled and really hope the experience is good with arkos. Its my first device of this type

[@Rodrigohero21]

Thanks of this channel i bought a RG351P a few years ago, and it works just as good as the first day.

[@baklij]

I just finished flashing a RG353V the other day with ArkOS. Absolutely love the customization you can have on it. Couldn't have done it without your vids and write up! 😀 THANK YOU!!

[@sharkulashairstylist5505]

He's helping the community preserve history, my consoles are dying fast these days I don't even have a tv to connect them to in many cases... this really helps! Cheers!

[@ultrasquid579]

I just bought an rg353v, so this guide released at the perfect time.

[@xenpy1603]

Me too! Just a heads up that you might have a V2 screen which can have issues with the default installation. In that case you need to do the following additional steps, but try installing normally first: After flashing and before ejecting the SD card open the BOOT-partition in your file explorer, delete the rk3566-OC.dtb file and rename rk3566-OC.dtb.v2 to rk3566-OC.dtb (make sure that you do this for the rk3566-OC file and not rk3566-353v !)

[@crowfan82790]

I got a 353vs coming with arkos pre installed im pretty excited absolutely cant wait till Monday

[@jessehoffman3818]

Russ your videos are always so great. I love how much info you put in here. This is so much of what I've learned over the years. You said it perfectly

[@soulbrotha24]

Thanks for the detailed guide. I was able to update my system with ease.

[@CF542]

Great timing here. Based on your review, I bought an RG353M and it should be here in a week. I plan to follow your guide and setup exactly. I still prefer Linux over Android for retro gaming.

[@samdutton875]

This was fantastic, you've made me a very happy man, very easy to follow, would have likely spent many more hours trying to get everything just the way i wanted it if not for this video, well done sir.

[@Jimmy.Williams]

Fantastic, worked like a charm. I can finally play Colecovision, Intellivision and a few TI-99 games on my RG351p, thanks!!!

[@coldfusion167]

This is awesome! Thank you so much! Recently picked up an RG353M (based off your review) and I'm gonna install ArkOS!

[@dbozgt]

Love Ark os great work Retro Game core and Christian and other team members supported Ark OS.

[@ItsJustHenriHeck]

This is exactly what I've needed! Exactly!

[@piercewiederecht5135]

Russ you really are the hero of the handheld community

[@SLRModShop]

I'm so impressed by the boost in performance of Arkos over Linux and Android OS! On Linux and Android, Colin McRae 2.0 on PS1 is playable but struggles a lot during replays. On Arkos, the game works extremely well, replays are smooth too! Couldn't be happier. Thanks man. EDIT: What the actual fµck... The PS1 runs better in 480p in Arkos than in 240p on linux or android... If you just bought one of these devices and you're reading this: consider arkos mandatory, unless you don't care about 3D gaming.

[@WaverBoy]

ARKOS is Linux-based, like JELOS, UnofficialOS, and AmberELEC, yes?

[@RemyValo]

Literally just installed this on my 353v like a week ago. It's awesome and I love it.

[@kodacvisualz]

What is the difference between stock os vs ArkOS?

[@RemyValo]

@kodacvisualz better n64 preformance primarily and honestly I think it just looks better.

[@N0mad1600]

Thanks for the video... Been using JelOS on my 353M but I think I'll make the switch

[@hadouken2123]

Very nice introduction to retroarch configuration possibilities. But I would have preferred to show it in the rgui menu. It is much easier to get the full picture of all options. In xmb i permanently get lost somehow. Looks cool though ;)

[@grantfielder]

Thank you man, my 353m is gonna love it

[@ArtoriasNX]

I don't usually like screen filters and stuff but that stuff for the Gameboy honestly looks great

[@gchoi25]

Amazing, thank you for all of your guides!

[@energuminum]

I love ArkOS. I've been using it in my RG353P (even though it's not officially supported) for a while and really enjoy it.

[@Frostynezz]

I may need to give this a shot. It seems like it has a bit of a cleaner interface compared to Unofficial OS.

[@RareCheese425]

I was always worried for ds on emulation handhelds until I heard about the r4, including for my rg353m I couldn't find any actual ds things. But now I'm happy thanks retro game corps for the great vid on how to setup arkos 🙃

[@albertobastos]

Fantastic guide, as always. I just ordered a RG353M and can't wait to start enjoying ArkOS and tweak it following your tips. Coming from a RG35XX with MinUI, it will be quite a jump.

[@keatonbednarski]

So are u able to add games on both sd cards? Or just one ?

[@bigbadspikey]

I just bought a R36S and I want to check out where you turn the FPS counter on. Definitely bookmarking this video. Thanks!

[@drphobus]

Very nice indeed. That's from a tortoise to the hare ( man you can talk fast) . I do like the fact your site is not all about reviewing the latest handheld. Nice to see it's not all android in 2023

[@YT2010SJ]

Thanks for all your videos and tutorial 👍

[@EightPieceBox]

I decided to try ArkOS and JelOS on my RG353M a few weeks ago. It was an easy decision for me to stick with ArkOS.

[@chrisenkil]

Which it's better??

[@EightPieceBox]

@chrisenkil for me ArkOS had a few more options. JelOS was mire similar to the stock RG353M when I tried it. Stock is great as it is these days

[@prestoncram7507]

When I first got into these devices I used Amberelec on my 351V and that was great to help me get rolling. Once I learned more about retroarch though I switched to ArkOS and love it so much more for the increased customization options for shaders etc. My game settings all feel perfect now because of it

[@pancon5]

3:30 the user-friendliness spectrum graphic gives an excellent first idea. 🎉

[@iROZAY]

Bro I just got a RG353M Today 😁 Right timing broo 😎

[@nerdy3740]

Thanks for this video 🎉👍😊🙋🏽‍♂️

[@SamuHell782]

I have a Deck but for some reason I want to try all this retro handhelds... Stoopid brain!

[@cadderley100]

I love these devices. Not because of their power, because, I reckon, they will only be like a low power Raspberry PI inside, but because they are a wonderful way of keeping retro, emulated games alive. These games are all games that I grew up playing, from the Spectrum, to the Mega Drive, SNES and PSX, games whose licences are no longer active. If it wasn't for emulators, these classics would be forgotten about, and, ultimately, lost to time.

[@domagojbatinic1526]

i have RG351MP and just updated ArkOS again this Saturday to version that was out on 21st of March. As soon as you hear that some emulator has new update you can pretty much count there will be an update to ArkOS soon after

[@forthenext]

Thanks Christian

[@bluesjinsoo]

This video is ultimate retro machine manual🎉

[@EKAS007]

thank you mr russ 😁 good job sir 🎮❤️‍🔥🙏👍

[@purplepurplesaurasne]

ArkOS is definitely up there is you want everything in Portmaster to work seamlessly, I've had some issues getting stuff to work with other operating systems.

[@MisterBrodo]

Just a reminder to include Leisure Suit Larry on your upcoming rg405m performance test.

[@andrex0071]

Thanks perfect timing

[@thepunlive]

Christian is my hero

[@MooMooTheWolf]

Hey Russ thank you so much for the work you do for the community!! I was wondering if you could make a vid on how to swap the shell of the Ayn Odin pro/lite? I got the lite a few months back but now I want to switch the shell out for the "cold grey" color. Sadly there aren't any vids/tutorials showing how to do this. Thanks in advance!!😁✨

[@rafalvarenga]

arkos rules!!! my rk2020 almost didnt suck with it.

[@Kenoven]

Best video on internet

[@HelloAnrose]

Thank you for this one, Russ! This is exactly what I've been looking for. I love my RG353M, but I'm not loving JELOS these days and was on the fence between UnofficalOS and ArkOS until AmberELEC is ready for this chipset.

[@blidosawr]

Many of us are in the same boat 😅

[@bm63]

I think JelOS beats ArkOS hands down in every way I’ve tried ArkOS on 4 devices never liked it in any. Always gone to AmberElec (351] or JelOS (353)

[@HelloAnrose]

@@bm63 That's fair. I originally chose JelOS because it seemed better. But I'm not a dev, and I'm tired of dealing with some buggy things that will never be addressed. At least the nice thing is it's very easy to switch back if I don't love ArkOS.

[@cheut]

I think Anbernic really needs to simplify their lineup

[@Amauriking]

I agree absolutely: too much devices.

[@RobertPendell]

Just my comments on the Retroarch configuration (mostly because of preference and I get that everyone is going to go one way or the other) UI - I left it at rgui because I think it looks better on the small screen Confirm Quit - I kept it enabled. It's hold select and press start twice while holding. This is just on the off chance that a game has its own trigger for that combo for whatever reason that and an accidental quit. Fast Forward Toggle - I don't use this so I didn't set it. I would like to have seen the difference on the overscan setting.

[@LockeLeon]

One of your best videos and for some reason KZbin hide it

[@yeenplays4435]

Great guide! It helped me greatly with setting up ArkOS on my brand new RG353M it is wonderful! I've only enountered one issue so far: despite being hooked up to my WiFi, Theme Master just refuses to recognize it and keeps saying I am offline (Retro Achievements works fine, updates also work fine), cannot download any themes. Am I the only one? Has anyone found a fix for this?

[@mateoheredia5919]

I had amberelec on my 351v but it crashed on me and corrupted the sd card, so I reformatted it, and installed JelOS and things been smooth ever since! But nooow, I think I want ArkOS

[@SanelessOne]

Interesting take on the User Friendliness chart. I'd actually put ArkOS behind Jelos/UnOfficial if you're newer to RetroArch. Ahead if you prefer more direct control. Plus the little tweaks to loading with save states is really nice on that "bad" end of the spectrum. Best thing about these is it's so easy to try out multiple ones, especially if you have multiple cards

[@waffleghost]

Great video, but what if you have a rg353vs with the version 2 screen?

[@robdog138]

You mention putting roms on a 2nd card so that you may use the card with other devices. I actually tried the 512gb card from my Rasberry PI in the second slot of my Anbernic and it must have automatically formatted it for use with the Anbernic, because it is now just full of empty rom directories. I should point out that this was BEFORE putting ArkOS on it, so this may just be a problem with the stock OS. Thankfully I still had the Retrobliss 512gb image file saved on my PC, so I think i'm good.

[@Psilolysergicamine]

Got my 353M up and running beautifully thanks to you! Would you know why the “tools” section under the options menu doesn’t appear as a choice for me? Thanks again!

[@BankoNuevo]

I've had arkos on my 353m for months 😂

[@SamuelX5X]

When I click on "Switch to SD2 For Roms" the screen goes black briefly but then lights up again immediately, what can I do?

[@Ryan-mt7ec]

Thanks for the guide! The only thing is my ArkOS won’t show an All Games in the console list??

[@3STYLER]

i choose rgui over xmb, more retro feeling.

[@moshingsafely]

One bug with ArkOS on the RG353P that I was never able to figure out was that the L and R buttons are weirdly mapped. Like when playing Super Nintendo, the L button is set to L1 and the R button to R2 (I might have the numbers reversed). Even trying to remap the controls within the OS didn't seem to work, but maybe there's a fix for it somewhere. Now that JELOS is back, I switched back to that OS and am very happy.

[@DezziDuck]

​@@fewtarius918The legend himself. Thank you for your hard work 👑

[@newnameauto]

Not gonna lie bro, I'm up to 3 devices, 8 videos in and every time I hear that "grab your favorite drink and snack" I know I'm leaving with a new something

[@ROX99]

Can we formated the second sd card (128g) ''exfat'' that can stock ps2 iso over 4g on it ?

[@SqueezeFades]

mine is getting stuck where the 4 dots are flashing from white to orange. or it takes a few minutes to get passed that then gets stuck on a black screen

[@Kpez16]

Same for me. No idea why, everyone else seems to be having no issues with the RG353M, but I cannot get ArkOS to boot to emulationstation. I have tried multiple SD Cards etc, but my device consistently gets hung on the ArkOS splash screen, the 4 dots loading screen, or goes to a black screen....

[@MazedulAkash]

Very nice and comprehensive. Although I still won't be moving away from Amberelec just yet. ;D

[@EvEnMoR]

Finally!! I haven't used my 353p much cuz I was waiting for ArkOS support and so much time went by that I forgot about it...Thanks for the reminder, Russ! 👍.... Btw, does AmberElec have support for the 353p yet?

[@jbnetosilva]

Not yet, but they are currently working on it.

[@ObscureOdysseys]

Hey man thanks so much! I got a few roms loaded up. Two questions: When I load a dreamcast game, like sonic adventure 2, it has "arkOS Please wait..." logo that flashes twice, and then it goes back to game select for dreamcast. Any clue why dreamcast games won't run? It's the same story with playstation games too. :( Also, is there a way to enable auto save state? like when I exit a game it will start back at that point Thanks so much man, def earned a sub and a like!

[@Rmilyard]

Odd. I installed the OS on my 16gb SD card. Put in my RG353M and when turn on I get the green LED but doesn't boot. If I remove SD card I can boot fine in Andriod.

[@MaleOpressor]

Great video, thank you for all the useful information. What OS would you recommend for an anbernic rg505?

[@RetroGameCorps]

The RG505 is an Android device, it doesn't have any custom Linux OS options, unfortunately. My recommendation is to use the Daijisho frontend to simulate an EmulationStation experience, I have a video on it! kzbin.info/www/bejne/ol6kmZl7fNqAl9E

[@Bivouac21]

Great video! For some reason I don't have the main menu option to map a bluetooth controller. Also, when I press X and Select I don't get the Retroarch quick menu. I also don't have the tools option for ports. Am I doing something wrong?

[@CellPhish]

I for the life of me can’t get the RG353V software to run but no problems getting the RG353M build to work on my 353V 😂😢

[@Zeebo_Rowte]

Is there a user-friendly Retro OS that supports a handheld / x86 so you can transfer the game SD between the two, if you want to switch between handheld / TV?

[@yotaiji012]

How do I can change the “preview” of the rom from Boxart and Screenshot? I just want to able to choose what image is previewed