Anbernic RG35XX Beginner's Setup Guide

FIRMWARE OPTIONS

• Stock vs GarlicOS: After the recent updates I am confident that we are at a point where the user experience plus the performance of GarlicOS is now better than the stock firmware. However, if you are not one for fiddling with flashing SD cards, etc then the stock firmware is perfectly adequate. BUT at this stage my official recommendation is to move to GarlicOS as soon as your RG35XX arrives.
• What is GarlicOS: this is a custom firmware made by Black Seraph - please support his patreon at the link in my video description. GarlicOS is an homage to OnionOS which is available for the Miyoo Mini. But GarlicOS is far simpler which is a benefit, especially for newcomers to this hobby.

How to install GarlicOS:

• Firstly, I wanted to mention that I do have a GarlicOS review video where I look at it in detail (link), however I never included a setup guide because two other reviewers had already made detailed setup guides BUT there have been some critical changes to setting up GarlicOS so here is my up to date guide:
• WHAT you will need: two SD card readers, a new 16GB or smaller card , and a larger 64GB SD card for ROMS, and a computer with an internet connection.

Fresh install of GarlicOS:

• Download GarlicOS here: https://www.patreon.com/file?h=76561333&i=12876255 - download the micro SD card image file.
• Also download an app called 7zip here: https://www.7-zip.org/download.html
• Open up the GarlicOS file with 7zip and extract it, paying attention to where it’s extracting to (preferably an empty downloads folder)
• Now download an app called Balena Etcher here: https://www.balena.io/etcher and install it.
• Open Balena Etcher and click on “Select Image” and navigate to your “garlic.img” file - in my case it’s in my downloads folder
• Then click “Select drive” and make sure all your external drives have been ejected so you only see your 16GB SD card (TF1), and select it - make sure one last time it is the correct drive.
• Now select “Flash!” (When you do this any data will be erased, so make 100% sure you’re flashing the right drive)
• Now the next part seems a bit pointless but you need to do it for future updates to work properly
• Grab the files system in the ROMS partition and back it up, I am going to drag it to my Desktop into a folder.
• Then use something like mini tool partition wizard (https://www.minitool.com/partition-manager/partition-wizard-home.html) to delete the partition - just right click and select “delete”
• You will now be left with all the remaining space on your SD card. Right click on the open space and select “create”
• Say YES to the prompt
• Select FAT32 as a file system
• Partition label “ROMS”
• Then click OK
• Now at the bottom left click APPLY (But quickly make 100% sure you have made changes to the correct card, because you will lose all the info on that partition).
• Now close Mini Tool Partition Wizard and open two Explorer windows. Navigate to where you backed up the ROMS partition on your computer in the one window and navigate to the empty ROMS partition on the SD card in the other window.
• Now drag those files into the ROMS partition.
• Now insert the SD card into TF1 on your RG35XX and press and hold the power button until you see the GarlicOS logo appear.
• Once it boots and you see the menu system you can press and hold power to shut it down again.
• Preparing the ROMS SD card (TF2)
• Now insert your empty 64GB SD card that you want to use for Roms
• Format this SD card using Mini Partition Wizard - right click, select format, select FAT32 as a file system, label it ROMS and then select Apply at the bottom left of the window. Once this is done, close Mini Partition Wizard.
• Now navigate back to the folder system you backed up on your computer for the other SD card, and copy that file system onto your second SD card (TF2).
• Now drag your BIOS files into the BIOS folder on the TF2 SD card. Also remember that the NEOGEO bios file needs to be copied into the NEOGEO Roms folder.
• Once all that is done you can start putting your Roms into the relevant folders. I have put the table for the Roms and bios files in my other written guide for GarlicOS https://www.adinwalls.com/2023/01/06/garlicos-review-setup-and-purple-theme-guide-5-jan-2023/
• TOP TIP: Check the table in my written notes, and simply Google the bios file you need.
• You will also find a bunch of tips on my GarlicOS video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=II6SRov-Hu8GarlicOS for Anbernic RG35XX REVIEW, custom settings & PURPLE THEME!

How to update GarlicOS:

• Simply download the RG35XX-Garlic-CopyPasteOnTopOfStock.7z file from Black Seraph’s Patroen https://www.patreon.com/posts/garlicos-for-76561333
• Copy and replace the folders in the corresponding folder on your TF2 card.
• And you should be done! Some users have reported not seeing the update but I do think they maybe doing this process incorrectly - please check the accompanying video to this written article for a clearer visual guide.
  SOME UPDATED NOTES ON GARLICOSThere have been significant performance improvements recently and you should have very few issues with gameplay across the board from Atari to PS1The recent updates are what prompted this setup guide because I can confidently recommend a nice looking OS and overall easy to use operating system for most new users now.
• Playstation is still only working with .chd files
• MAME2003 support was recently added
• HDMI audio out is now supported
• Recent over clocking has significantly improved performance when using things like filters with your games.
• BlackSeraph has improved the battery indicator but says he doubts he will Ever get it working perfectly

ADDING ALBUM ART TO THE RG35XX

• Download Skraper: https://www.skraper.net/
• Create a Skraper folder in your Documents folder on your computer.
• Extract the downloaded file using 7zip to this new folder you created above.
• Then go to this folder and double click on Skraper.UI > I don’t have an account and I don’t want to register > Yes, I am sure > wait…
• Select generic emulation.
• Select inspect sub-folders.
• Plug in your ROMS SD card (TF2)
• Navigate to the roms folder on your SD card (TF2) via Skraper
• Select “Next”
• “Next” again
• We are going to scrape game art system by system so choose the game system you want to scrape for, we are going to choose Gameboy Advance for this tutorial.
• On the left select the Gameboy Advance icon
• Select MEDIA at the top
• Select “use specific configuration for GAME BOY ADVANCE”
• Remove the manual by selecting it and clicking on the minus (-) sign
• Scroll to IMAGE and next to that scroll to TITLE SCREENSHOT - normally I would recommend a mix of a screenshot and boxart but due to the way it displays in GarlicOS I recommend going for a more minimalist approach
• Now you’ll need another SD card reader to insert your TF1 card (the 16GB card).
• We are going to create a folder on TF1 for the game art.
• We will now create a folder for the game art, using Gameboy Advance as our example: So under TF1 > ROMS > Roms > GBA > now add a folder “Imgs”
• Go to TF1 > ROMS > Roms > GBA > Imgs - You need to be careful here that you are using the correct SD card (TF1). Check my video for a visual guide on how to do this, as it’s a little confusing.
• Now go back to Skraper and select your output folder for your media to be TF1 > ROMS > Roms > GBA > Imgs (Again be careful now to use TF1 - the 16GB card)
• Now select resize width to 640 and resize height to 480, and make sure “Keep image ratio” is UNSELECTED
• Gamelist link: No link.
• Then press the play button - this is going to take some time to download, so take a break and come back…
• PHEW! We are done!
• I honestly am not using this myself and just making it available here if you want to try it, because it’s a bit messy at this point. I will also release an update to this in a month or so because there will definitely be changes to this.

SYSTEM BY SYSTEM SETUP RECOMMENDATIONS

• These are my personal recommended render settings for each system that plays on the RG35XX
• Remember to save overrides after each one. Also play around with integer scaling vs keep aspect ratio vs fullscreen mode, some systems are actually quite nice stretched across the screen.
• ATARI 7800
  ○ Fullscreen mode: OFF
  ○ Integer scaling: ON
• PC Engine
  ○ Fullscreen mode: OFF (also try fullscreen on)
  ○ Integer scaling: ON
• NES
  ○ Fullscreen mode: OFF
  ○ Integer scaling: ON (looks great!)
• SEGA Master System
  ○ Fullscreen mode: ON
• Gameboy
  ○ Fullscreen mode: OFF
  ○ Integer scaling: ON
  ○ Video filter: Gameboy3x_DMG
  ○ Save override for content directory
• GameGear
  ○ Fullscreen mode: OFF
  ○ Integer scaling: ON
  ○ Video filter: Grid3x
• Gameboy Color
  ○ Fullscreen mode: OFF (this can sometime be quite nice with fullscreen on)
  ○ Integer scaling: ON
  ○ Video filter: Grid3x
  ○ Save override to content directory
• SEGA Mega Drive / Genesis
  ○ Integer scaling: ON (this is superb)
• SNES
  ○ Just leave as it is for now
• PS1
  ○ Fullscreen: ON

REMOVE SHOULDER BUTTON RATTLE

Add electrical tape to the hinges of the shoulder buttons by unscrewing the back cover and applying some tape to the hinges. This will stop the rattling. You can watch the video for more detail.

SHORTCUTS/HOTKEYS FOR THE RG35XX

I completely forgot to add this section to the video, however it is in my previous GarlicOS video. Here are the shortcuts/hotkeys for GarlicOS on the RG35XX:

• Menu is supposed to exit game but usually it’s a double press

• Menu + volume = brightness

• Menu + X = retroarch

• Menu + R1 = R1,00 fast forward

• Menu + L1 = slow down

• Menu + R2 = save

• Menu + L2 = load save

• L1 / R1 to race through ROM lists

ADDING GAMEPAD / USB CONTROLLER SUPPORT

• If you want to try the Gamepad support - create a file called waitForUSB with no file extension and place it in the misc partition’s root folder.
• To create a file with no file extension open Notepad, go to file>save as, type “waitForUSB” (include quotation marks) as the filename and save this to the misc partition (TF1)

FIX DPAD FOR POKÉMON - SHANE CRAIG

BEST SETTINGS FOR HDMI TO TV

The HDMI is fairly rudimentary at this stage. You can tweak each system individually via retroarch but that will change your rendering on the screen of the device. So my recommendation is to adjust your TV and compromise on the look of the image.
I will note here that audio is now set to work through your TV and not from the device.

MODS

Check out these seemingly decent shoulder buttons on Etsy (I have asked the maker if I can buy them for review because I can’t order them to my country via Etsy): GetBetterButtons - Etsy South Africa

ROM Systems:

Check here for bios files names: https://github.com/OnionUI/Onion/wiki/EmulatorsEmulators · OnionUI/Onion Wiki · GitHub