Lakka Switch, L4T edition
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I am proud to finally release the L4T version of Lakka Switch!
New kernel, new logo, new drivers, audio... everything is fresh and clean.

Did I mention Rayman 3 was full speed on Dolphin? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

General system updates

• New Linux kernel and underlying operating system, based on Linux4Tegra and Jetson Nano drivers
  • mainline kernel has been deprecated
  • system features should now be on par with the L4T Ubuntu distribution, except for dock support
  • Bluetooth was lost in the battle and needs some rest to come back stronger
• aarch64 is now the default and mainly supported architecture
  • arm has been deprecated since L4T doesn't support it
• New logo made with the help of jaames and the R:S community

New features and improvements

• Audio now works through the internal speakers and headphones
• The new GPU driver supports both Vulkan and OpenGL
• RAM is now locked at full speed (1600Mhz), was 800MHz before
• The system is now way more stable and should boot for everyone with a decent SD card (no more black screen of death)
• RetroArch has been updated to add menu widgets (fancy onscreen notifications)
• Overclock profiles have been updated :
  • Renamed all profiles
  • Added more overclock profiles
  • Added underclock profiles

New cores

• mupen64plus-next (N64 emulator)
  • The core is full speed, even on aarch64 thanks to the new dynarec
  • Includes the updated version of the GlideN renderer
• picodrive (various Sega consoles)
  • The core replaces Genesis Plus GX (Game Gear support has been dropped)
• Beetle PSX HW (PSX emulator with OpenGL and Vulkan renderer)
  • The core performs worse than PCSX ReARMed for now, even with Vulkan
• reicast (Dreamcast emulator)
  • The core is full speed on all commercial games, no visual glitches
  • The OIT renderer works (better accuracy), speed is still good on 1x resolution
  • The core needs the Dreamcast BIOS files to be placed in /lakka/storage/system/DC
  • WinCE games are currently not supported - there is a WinCE version of the reicast core in the works but the aarch64 dynarec is too slow for the games to be playable (for now)
• Yaba Sanshiro (Saturn emulator)
  • The core is full speed on all commercial games
  • Yabause and Kronos were also added but both perform worse than Yaba Sanshiro
• theodore (Thomson MO/TO emulator)

Updated cores

• Dolphin : Vulkan support
  • With Vulkan, Dolphin runs decently - some games are playable, some are full speed... see for yourself, try it and experiment with different games and settings!
• PCSX ReARMed : Switch optimizations and CHD support
• PPSSPP : doesn't crash anymore when closing content

Removed cores

• mupen64plus
• parallel-n64
• Genesis Plus GX
• Ishiiruka
  • It might come back once the core is updated with the (beta) Vulkan renderer

Credits

• Kernel and drivers work: NVIDIA, switchroot team (especially ByLaws and langerhans)
• Lakka Switch work: natinusala and plaidman
• RetroArch, original Lakka distribution: libretro team
• mupen64plus-next: Gillou and m4xw
• PCSX ReARMed: Switch optimizations by m4xw, CHD support by aliaspider
• Dolphin core: aliaspider
• reicast core: flyinghead

Download link

The Lakka Switch website has been updated with the new version: https://lakka-switch.github.io/documentation/

Please note that you can't dual boot Ubuntu and Lakka Switch for now (it will always boot Ubuntu).

 

[ELY_M]

What do you do about making controls better in NSMBW? also when I was playing it. it was abit slower.
might I need to overclock more.

i tested new super mario bros wii in dolphin and it runs very well with 1.7ghz cpu and boost +1 gpu.

any plans to add sleep mode now that l4t ubuntu has it?

 

[Josshy0125]

Has there been any updates to this? I tried some GC games about a month ago, was decent... but unplayable even with Vulkan settings and max overclock. Does anyone know if it’s better now?

Many work well now. Wind Waker is roughly always full speed, (beat the game on Lakka Switch) Twilight Princess is full speed (with the exception of the overworld... - I'm at the Twilight Dungeon fully played on Lakka Switch), and most actually run perfectly, if not close to perfect, now.

 

[stick267]

Many work well now. Wind Waker is roughly always full speed, (beat the game on Lakka Switch) Twilight Princess is full speed (with the exception of the overworld... - I'm at the Twilight Dungeon fully played on Lakka Switch), and most actually run perfectly, if not close to perfect, now.

Which settings do you use for Twilight Princess? I beat Wind Waker on L4T a couple weeks ago, and am gonna play Twilight Princess next.

 

[Josshy0125]

Which settings do you use for Twilight Princess? I beat Wind Waker on L4T a couple weeks ago, and am gonna play Twilight Princess next.

I like to keep it on max overclock. Not sure if less will work just as well, but I keep it at max, and use Vulkan, of course. Everything else is standard

 

[stick267]

I like to keep it on max overclock. Not sure if less will work just as well, but I keep it at max, and use Vulkan, of course. Everything else is standard

Ok cool, pretty simple then. Fiddling around with the emulated clock speed might allow us to run a more mild overclock while still achieving full speed, but just using the max is fine with me.

 

[DiscostewSM]

Yoooo all we need are sleep mode and dock support and we're golden!

If it had that plus being able to reboot to payload/Horizon (and being able to reboot from Horizon to this), then I'd be sold.

 

[EmulateLife]

If it had that plus being able to reboot to payload/Horizon (and being able to reboot from Horizon to this), then I'd be sold.

You can boot to this from Horizon with Fusee Starter, works with any CFW.

https://gbatemp.net/threads/fusee-starter-launch-payloads-from-hbl.533211/

No boot back to Horizon but it saves you the trouble of having to send the payload.

 

[enderer]

What do you do about making controls better in NSMBW? also when I was playing it. it was abit slower.
might I need to overclock more.

so for main menu and char select, set controls to wii remote (sideways)
then in-game map and gameplay, switch controls to wii remote + classic controller

and i can't get it smooth throughout with OC. it's always slow when animating water or soda or lava.

 

[Shaneus]

Many work well now. Wind Waker is roughly always full speed, (beat the game on Lakka Switch) Twilight Princess is full speed (with the exception of the overworld... - I'm at the Twilight Dungeon fully played on Lakka Switch), and most actually run perfectly, if not close to perfect, now.

Can I ask how it's any different from how it was a month ago? I thought it was still using the same build.

 

[FightingPolygon]

If it had that plus being able to reboot to payload/Horizon (and being able to reboot from Horizon to this), then I'd be sold.

That too! We're this close to perfection.

 

[Josshy0125]

Can I ask how it's any different from how it was a month ago? I thought it was still using the same build.

Likely similar, or the same? Which games have you tried? What issues have you been having?

 

[Shaneus]

Likely similar, or the same? Which games have you tried? What issues have you been having?

None, I was just wondering why someone (wizra, I think it was) would ask if anything's performing better in the last month when there have been no build changes since the initial release. No biggie

 

[Josshy0125]

None, I was just wondering why someone (wizra, I think it was) would ask if anything's performing better in the last month when there have been no build changes since the initial release. No biggie

Oh! Haha! Yeah most things perform really well, even though some of them require overclocking. Melee is full speed, Sunshine and Luigis Mansion are full speed, among many others. I do play Sonic Adventure 2 using the dreamcast core, however, because it's 100% full speed on there, and only about 98/99% full speed on dolphin. It makes a difference though

 

[DiscostewSM]

That too! We're this close to perfection.

One last thing, but most likely too difficult and/or complicated. Being able to read the NAND at load for linked wireless controllers so you can keep using the same controllers linked to Horizon without having to resync them (thereby not having to resync them back to Horizon). Not a real problem if using attached joycons in handheld mode, but when wireless and using the Pro controller.

 

[FightingPolygon]

I'm wondering what are the optimal settings for use with Dolphin?

 

[NRamos]

I went and tried to load (Gamecube) Robotech Battle Cry and Call of Duty 2 Big Red One, I always get a black screen regardless of what region the games are (Vulkan as Drive and Max overclock)

Does anybody know how to get these specific games up and running?

 

[Dfroberts86]

One last thing, but most likely too difficult and/or complicated. Being able to read the NAND at load for linked wireless controllers so you can keep using the same controllers linked to Horizon without having to resync them (thereby not having to resync them back to Horizon). Not a real problem if using attached joycons in handheld mode, but when wireless and using the Pro controller.

You are able to use the pro controller with lakka?

 

[Basketto]

Can confirm, it works


I don't think you have to compile it all at the same time. Before this came out I compiled Retroarch for L4T and copied the Genesis Plus GX core file into this Lakka build, and it happened to work. Probably blind luck though, I was surprised it did.

Can you please explain how you compile and copy a single core if possible? There have been updates to certain cores I would love to be able copy to lakka. I never thought it possible. Would be amazing if I could do this with a couple of cores, as certain ones already have updates and have better compatibility . I have a feeling waiting for an update might be a while as lakka progress is fairly slow. But to be able to add some cores/updating myself would be awsome! Thanks muchly!

 

[EmulateLife]

You are able to use the pro controller with lakka?

I think he was just giving his wishlist. It's impossible right now AFAIK.

 

[Shaneus]

Can you please explain how you compile and copy a single core if possible? There have been updates to certain cores I would love to be able copy to lakka. I never thought it possible. Would be amazing if I could do this with a couple of cores, as certain ones already have updates and have better compatibility . I have a feeling waiting for an update might be a while as lakka progress is fairly slow. But to be able to add some cores/updating myself would be awsome! Thanks muchly!

If you find the main L4T thread, there's a link in the main post about compiling certain apps for it. One of those is for Retroarch, so create an SD card with L4T on it and compile Retroarch as per those instructions.

Backup whatever cores you want, then copy them to the empty cores folder on your Lakka SD card.

Note that I only did this with a core that has been omitted, so I don't know how it works with ones that are already in there.