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).

 

[Chaseman10001]

Make sure you set video driver to Vulkan, then restart retroarch. I can't get decent framerate for dolphin on gl.

I’ve set it to Vulkan, still barely playable. Got to the first dungeon and it’s extremely difficult to play. Anyone else had any success?

 

[loon111]

hi did anyone successfully get mario kart arcade 1 & 2 working at all?

 

[stompysan]

By any chance, will we see an update for this anytime in the near future? I love RetroPie, but having something that would be easier to set up would be nice. Plus, having the online updater feature for thumbnails would be nice too. I know you teased an update on Twitter, but that was several months back.

 

[blaww]

I'd love to see work on this continue. I tried L4T Ubuntu and I couldn't get the joycons working properly, don't like command line, etc. Meanwhile, Android's Dolphin performance isn't as good as L4T and the joystick issue in Oreo is a deal breaker. Lakka with reboot to payload, dock support and Dolphin improvements (if there are any to be had) would be absolutely perfect

 

[Chrisssj2]

Whcih is superiour for dolphin? Lakka or switchroot?

 

[urherenow]

I'm wondering the same thing now. Lakka hasn't had an update in ages. Haven't tried the other disros (except for Android, which... meh...). So which distro is the best right now? Speed issues aside, is there any distro capable of setting up a dev environment by using devkitpro's buildscripts?

Why? Just because. In my head, there's something deliciously diabolical about building switch homebrew... on a switch!

I'm so bored right now, I just updated my ntrboot card with the latest flasher/b9s... just because. (I think the last time I messed with it, b9s 1.2 wasn't even out yet)

 

[pcwizard7]

i ve asked one of lakka devs and they confirm no one working on the switch lakka atm

 

[Imancol]

i ve asked one of lakka devs and they confirm no one working on the switch lakka atm

So, Lakka is Dead.

 

[pcwizard7]

So, Lakka is Dead.

atm and most likely YES

 

[Rahkeesh]

The public images of Switchroot are also fairly un-maintained. You can compile Pie version but I hear it has a few major outstanding issues.

 

[Silent_Gunner]

i ve asked one of lakka devs and they confirm no one working on the switch lakka atm

Or the Flycast core on HorizonArch, I take it?

Let me guess, everyone in the hacking scene's moved on from the Switch at this point, I take it?

 

[hippy dave]

Or the Flycast core on HorizonArch, I take it?

Let me guess, everyone in the hacking scene's moved on from the Switch at this point, I take it?

No? Horizon Retroarch and its cores are still actively worked on.

 

[Imancol]

I see that Lakka (official) is still updating, but the port for Switch is very outdated (at least the last compilation).

https://github.com/libretro/Lakka-LibreELEC

https://github.com/lakka-switch

Maybe someone could take over? (I could not, I am not an experienced user)

 

[Imancol]

I have seen someone is updating the repo. I will not say who not to disturb them, but I hope they get to publish their progress improving Lakka

 

[Silent_Gunner]

I have seen someone is updating the repo. I will not say who not to disturb them, but I hope they get to publish their progress improving Lakka

https://giphy.com/gifs/excited-ron-paul-its-happening-rl0FOxdz7CcxO

 

[stompysan]

I don't know about the rest of the people here, but I would be willing to donate to whoever maintains this Switch port. If natinusala is still working on this, I will happily support them on Patreon, if we can get a confirmation it isn't dead.

 

[Imancol]

Several users are contributing to the Lakka-Switch update. But I don't know what information I could provide about it. If there is a user who knows how to build the repository, he could share the source.

 

[TheCasualties]

Hopefully these updates will help performance. I tried all 3 options for GC emulation (Android, Lakka, and Ubuntu L4T). Ubuntu with the Ishiiruka fork seems to run the best on my switch, but you need at least a basic understanding of terminal to get it all set up.

The main game I wanted to play was TimeSplitters 2, and it runs at full 60fps on Ishiiruka. While the other 2 options ran it ~40fps. If MGS Twin Snakes can eventually run at full speed on any of these options I'd gladly set up a 3rd SD card.

 

[Imancol]

Apparently in the updates they did some official master merge to the fork of the Switch, as well as this.

 

[Silent_Gunner]

Apparently in the updates they did some official master merge to the fork of the Switch, as well as this.

Gonna assume that master merge refers to updates to Lakka's desktop OS also downstream to the Switch?

That still wouldn't fix the lack of support for the dock, the lack of wireless controller support, and no sleep mode last I checked out L4T-Lakka!