Emulation Homebrew Super Retrocade Lakka Rebooted

[PSX_Specter]

Hello new friends and old , today I am revisiting the Super Retrocade. I am proud to have been involved when Kuwanger
and WD_GASTER2 shed light on the hackability of this device. Gaster Blaster CFW is a very nice piece of work, and seems bulletproof-stable, but it left me wanting more. I'm talking mostly about controller compatibility.

Today I will show you how to get Logitech F710 and Xbox 360 wireless controllers (possibly more) working along with tweaks to get the newest possible version of Lakka running on your Super Retrocade. I'm going to assume that if you landed here, you have some idea how to handle the tasks at hand. It's not difficult, and the rewards are pretty good, so let's get started!

You will need: Lakka-H3.arm-3.7-orangepi-lite.img.gz, Lakka-H3.arm-3.7-orangepi-pc.img.gz, and optionally
Lakka-H3.arm-3.7-orangepi-pc-plus.img.gz (for advanced users who want to make the onboard storage visible).

1) Let's start by flashing Lakka-H3.arm-3.7-orangepi-pc.img.gz to an SD card (or micro SD with adapter) with Etcher.

2) Make a copy of the dtb file from the root of the flashed micro SD and save it on your PC.

3) Next, flash Lakka-H3.arm-3.7-orangepi-lite.img.gz to the SD card.

4) Copy the dtb file you saved earlier to the root of the SD card.

5) Open the extlinux folder on the root of the SD card and edit the file extlinux.conf, changing the third line to read
"FDT /sun8i-h3-orangepi-pc.dtb" without the quotes.

6) Put the SD card in the Super Retrocade and boot it up!

7) Set up your controller, grab your refreshment of choice, and congratulate yourself, but we're not done yet.

8) In Settings, go to User Interface and change menu to 'rgui', this will free up enough RAM for games to run. This Lakka distribution is heavier than the one used in our previous effort, and needs this tweak to achieve any sort of stability.

9) From here, I started trimming the visibility of menu items in User Interface settings. Even changing the color scheme of the UI can trim precious megabytes of RAM, leading to more stability and greater chances of games loading.

10) In Settings/Services, make sure SSH and Samba are both enabled. Lakka will save settings changes when you reboot. From your PC, either through the file browser or FTP client of your choice, create your roms folders and populate them with your games. Don't forget to put BIOS files in the System folder for emulators that require them.

11) So all of this is great, but what a pain having to load content/cores manually every time to play a game. Lakka's scan folder option tends to scatter my games to multiple playlists and generally anger me. Enter - the manual playlist scan option -. Creating manual playlists allows you to associate all of your roms in a particular folder with a particular core. It's not difficult, and you're going to be happy with the end result. Easy enough to use your Google Fu to learn how to do this relatively simple step.

12) Optional- In settings, go to directory, cache, and set it to your roms directory. This will allow large roms (some NEO-GEO and CPS2 in particular) to temporarily extract to your SD card, saving precious ram. This may possibly benefit MAME and other cores as well, I haven't compared and tested.
For advanced users, If you can find it, you can manually add the fbalpha2012_libretro.so core from a previous Lakka build (i'm not sure where I got mine, it was years ago). With this tweak, I was able to run KOF2002, a very large NEO-GEO game, from a clean reboot.

Known Issues: If a game that was previously working fails to load, simply reboot from the main menu and try it again. Switching between emulator cores and/or multiple games seems to lead to this issue. As with the previous efforts to run Lakka, this setup is not 100% stable, but once a game is loaded and running, it's fine.


Known Benefits above previous Lakka attempt: Hugely better controller compatibility, manual playlist creation, newest Lakka version known to run acceptably well on the Super Retrocade.

I have attached zip files for the FBA 2012 core and the dtb file which will allow you to skip steps one and two, streamlining the process.

Feel free to comment and help improve on this if you're able !!!

For those who like their cake already baked (and more stable), here's a link to a pre-built 2.1rc6 image that can be directly flashed to SD/micro SD and is self expanding to use all of the space of your card. This image contains a few core fixes along with some pre-configured folders for your games. Change the GUI to RGUI to save some RAM for more stability. Enjoy.

https://www.mediafire.com/file/8kg8...ore_fix_plus_folders_autoresize_720p.zip/file

Here are links for the original 2.1.1 and 2.1rc6 Lakka images that were lost from Lakka's server, for posterity.

 

[WD_GASTER2]

Damn. Nice release! Didn't expect something like this to drop. Also hi! Long time no see!

 

[PSX_Specter]

Damn. Nice release! Didn't expect something like this to drop. Also hi! Long time no see!

Upon further investigation, I found that I've still got Lakka version 2.1rc6. As far as I can tell the repo that once held it is gone. This has nice gamepad drivers, although some cores needed tweaked. There is no manual playlist creation with that version, but it's pretty stable compared to 3.7. If this garners enough attention, I have a "flash and expand with Gparted" clean/tweaked cores image that only weighs about 613MB. Saves a lot of steps and confusion. I also have one for Lakka 3.7, but it's a bit larger at 2.2GB.
After vigorously comparing the two, I tend to like 2.1rc6.
Chime in, folks, would the community like to have this?

 

[Gyron_Oldvic]

Upon further investigation, I found that I've still got Lakka version 2.1rc6. As far as I can tell the repo that once held it is gone. This has nice gamepad drivers, although some cores needed tweaked. There is no manual playlist creation with that version, but it's pretty stable compared to 3.7. If this garners enough attention, I have a "flash and expand with Gparted" clean/tweaked cores image that only weighs about 613MB. Saves a lot of steps and confusion. I also have one for Lakka 3.7, but it's a bit larger at 2.2GB.
After vigorously comparing the two, I tend to like 2.1rc6.
Chime in, folks, would the community like to have this?

That would be brilliant if you could upload those. I used to have 2.1rc6 on an SD but formatted it for something a few years back. Only to find out later the there'd been some Lakka server error and they couldn't get those images back. The newer images tend to fall over more, likely due to memory issues. I was using v2.3 for a while but decided to try out the v3 releases (I noticed you need to add 'video=HDMI-A-1:1280x720@60' to the conf for the pre-v3.5 releases otherwise it black screens). But ultimately went back to 2.3 as I found it more stable. I did try the Retrorangepi image for the OrangePi Zero, as that has a 256mb version, but I could only get it to partially boot. Cheers.

 

[PSX_Specter]

That would be brilliant if you could upload those. I used to have 2.1rc6 on an SD but formatted it for something a few years back. Only to find out later the there'd been some Lakka server error and they couldn't get those images back. The newer images tend to fall over more, likely due to memory issues. I was using v2.3 for a while but decided to try out the v3 releases (I noticed you need to add 'video=HDMI-A-1:1280x720@60' to the conf for the pre-v3.5 releases otherwise it black screens). But ultimately went back to 2.3 as I found it more stable. I did try the Retrorangepi image for the OrangePi Zero, as that has a 256mb version, but I could only get it to partially boot. Cheers.

I wonder how many cumulative hours we curious device hackers have spent trying to run RetrorangePi only to give up in despair? That's one vote for an upload of the 2.1rc6 (most stable) flash and expand image, anyone else interested?

 

[Gyron_Oldvic]

I wonder how many cumulative hours we curious device hackers have spent trying to run RetrorangePi only to give up in despair? That's one vote for an upload of the 2.1rc6 (most stable) flash and expand image, anyone else interested?

Haha, why oh why couldn't they have just stuck 512mb in this thing.

 

[PSX_Specter]

Haha, why oh why couldn't they have just stuck 512mb in this thing.

My version of 2.1rc6 has been linked at the bottom of the main post.

 

[Gyron_Oldvic]

My version of 2.1rc6 has been linked at the bottom of the main post.

Thanks a lot PSX_Specter, much appreciated. I'll blow the dust off the Retrocade later and and give this a blast. Don't know whether you ever tried them, but the v2.3 releases were pretty good:

https://le-builds.lakka.tv/legacy-2.3/Allwinner.orangepi_pc.arm/
https://le-builds.lakka.tv/legacy-2.3/Allwinner.orangepi_lite.arm/

 

[PSX_Specter]

Thanks a lot PSX_Specter, much appreciated. I'll blow the dust off the Retrocade later and and give this a blast. Don't know whether you ever tried them, but the v2.3 releases were pretty good:

https://le-builds.lakka.tv/legacy-2.3/Allwinner.orangepi_pc.arm/
https://le-builds.lakka.tv/legacy-2.3/Allwinner.orangepi_lite.arm/

Yes I have. I have 2.1.1 ,2.3, and 2.3.1 along with 2.1rc6. Oh, and the monstrosity that is 3.7.
You should be able to either add roms to your card via Linux pc or via USB to ethernet adapter and windows share or filezilla , etc....but you already knew that. I tried to make the user partition FAT32, but Lakka would have none of it.

 

[Gyron_Oldvic]

Yeah I use Linux. Ah, I never tried 2.1.1 release. Only 2.1rc6 at the time which I remember was decent apart from a few quirks (I remember swapping out one of the cores). By the the time I came back to it a few years later, there were only 2.3 and 2.3.1 left after their server disaster, and the newer resource heavy 3.x versions. Nice to get 2.1rc6 back again after all this time, and tweaked up too. Can't believe someone still had it, thought it had forever disappeared into the silicon ether. It's probably worth sticking 2.1.1 up as well, as that was lost some years back too. Cheers.

 

[PSX_Specter]

Yeah I use Linux. Ah, I never tried 2.1.1 release. Only 2.1rc6 at the time which I remember was decent apart from a few quirks (I remember swapping out one of the cores). By the the time I came back to it a few years later, there were only 2.3 and 2.3.1 left after their server disaster, and the newer resource heavy 3.x versions. Nice to get 2.1rc6 back again after all this time, and tweaked up too. Can't believe someone still had it, thought it had forever disappeared into the silicon ether. It's probably worth sticking 2.1.1 up as well, as that was lost some years back too. Cheers.

2.1.1 and 2.1rc6 original lakka orangepi lite images linked in main post.

 

[N1c2k3]

Hey there. This is neat! The one thing that kept me back from trying it was the wired controlleres originally. For controllers you mentioned: are the ones compatible so far because of X-input (does Logitech even use X-input), or is it something else? What's needed to expand to other types?

 

[PSX_Specter]

Logitech F710 has a switch for DirectInput mode or XInput, both work in 2.1rc6. If you have a Playstation to USB adapter, those work as well to the best of my recollection. Bluetooth is most likely a big NOPE. If someone was to somehow cook more drivers into the image, It would (in my relatively small scope of how these things work) use more RAM and be less stable. What controllers have you tried?

 

[Gyron_Oldvic]

2.1.1 and 2.1rc6 original lakka orangepi lite images linked in main post.

Cheers. Been messing around with a bunch of images the last few days, and 2.1rc6 is absolutely the most stable and least resource demanding image on this unit. Thanks for re-upping this and 2.1.1 after all these years.

 

[PSX_Specter]

Cheers. Been messing around with a bunch of images the last few days, and 2.1rc6 is absolutely the most stable and least resource demanding image on this unit. Thanks for re-upping this and 2.1.1 after all these years.

Excellent. You're very welcome. I wish manual playlist creation was possible on 2.1rc6, but it's certainly not bad. I've read that some versions of the Super Retrocade don't natively support MAME, so it's got to be of some use to somebody. Do you (or anyone else reading this) have the Linux skills to make my version of 2.1rc6 self expanding via boot arguments? I think that would be a great improvement.

 

[Gyron_Oldvic]

I wish manual playlist creation was possible on 2.1rc6, but it's certainly not bad.

Yeah, there's a few conveniences missing from this old version (being able to change the core association for roms in history being one), but it does a respectable job on this unit.

I've read that some versions of the Super Retrocade don't natively support MAME, so it's got to be of some use to somebody.

Yep, the UK version of this unit won't let you run additional arcade and Neo Geo roms when using the native firmware.

Do you (or anyone else reading this) have the Linux skills to make my version of 2.1rc6 self expanding via boot arguments? I think that would be a great improvement.

I can make the user partition auto-resize, but RetroArch will reset to default, so we get the 'XMB UI' (although some people will likely prefer this UI). But for those that want to use the simple 'RGUI' and save some mb, they can just edit 'retroarch.cfg' in '.config\retroarch\' to 'menu_driver = "rgui"' after the partition auto-resizing is done in the unit. The reason you can't keep an existing cfg when initialising Lakka's partition auto-resizing function, is because if it detects a system folder i.e. '.config' (where RetroArch's configs and folders reside), the FW will assume the initialisation and resizing process has already been performed, thus not permitting any adjustment of the 2nd partition. Resizing will be skipped and the unit will reboot to RetroArch's main menu.
I've redone your image to auto-resize the storage partition, RetroArch will use the 'XMB UI' (change after initialisation/partition auto-resizing to preferred UI), the additional cores (FB Alpha 2012, MAME 2003, gpSP and PCSX ReARMed) you added will be kept, as will the folders in the 'roms' directory you created. Cheers.

Lakka-2.1rc6_core_fix_plus_folders_autoresize_720p

 

[PSX_Specter]

Yeah, there's a few conveniences missing from this old version (being able to change the core association for roms in history being one), but it does a respectable job on this unit.

Yep, the UK version of this unit won't let you run additional arcade and Neo Geo roms when using the native firmware.

I can make the user partition auto-resize, but RetroArch will reset to default, so we get the 'XMB UI' (although some people will likely prefer this UI). But for those that want to use the simple 'RGUI' and save some mb, they can just edit 'retroarch.cfg' in '.config\retroarch\' to 'menu_driver = "rgui"' after the partition auto-resizing is done in the unit. The reason you can't keep an existing cfg when initialising Lakka's partition auto-resizing function, is because if it detects a system folder i.e. '.config' (where RetroArch's configs and folders reside), the FW will assume the initialisation and resizing process has already been performed, thus not permitting any adjustment of the 2nd partition. Resizing will be skipped and the unit will reboot to RetroArch's main menu.
I've redone your image to auto-resize the storage partition, RetroArch will use the 'XMB UI' (change after initialisation/partition auto-resizing to preferred UI), the additional cores (FB Alpha 2012, MAME 2003, gpSP and PCSX ReARMed) you added will be kept, as will the folders in the 'roms' directory you created. Cheers.

Lakka-2.1rc6_core_fix_plus_folders_autoresize_720p

This is...exemplary work. My Linux skills are sparse, not just in knowledge of command implementation but in knowing how the OS reacts to being told what to do. Thank you so much for this ! . Adding to main post.

 

[Gyron_Oldvic]

This is...exemplary work. My Linux skills are sparse, not just in knowledge of command implementation but in knowing how the OS reacts to being told what to do. Thank you so much for this ! . Adding to main post.

You're welcome. Thanks a lot for the original long lost image upload. Cheers.