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).

 

[FanofFans]

You will get poor performance in Dock mode due to rescaling or monitor resizing. Something the same with what happens with L4T Ubuntu in Dock mode.

Is this true or just an assumption? Because I really don't see this being the case.

 

[sabin1981]

You will get poor performance in Dock mode due to rescaling or monitor resizing. Something the same with what happens with L4T Ubuntu in Dock mode.

Ouch... even more reason to stick with HOS/RetroArch then, I guess.

 

[Imancol]

Ouch... even more reason to stick with HOS/RetroArch then, I guess.

Is this true or just an assumption? Because I really don't see this being the case.

The only alternative to HOS is L4T Lineage OS, the performance in Dock mode remains the same and you can rescale the game as much as overclocking allows it (if it had better dissipation it would avoid turning off the CPU). The only problem with Android is and always will be the bottleneck that emulators suffer every time it loads content from the ROM, because it is using only the MicroSD to store the OS, the applications and the ROMs, making readings and writes, and in the end it wears down the MICROSD enormously. Unfortunately it happened to me with Ubuntu and I couldn't write to a 64GB MicroSd anymore.

You should try an FTP / DLNA server to store ROMs or if it would allow peripheral connections in DOCK mode to use USB storages, although most emulators don't allow loading ROMS from local servers (I suppose RetroArch if ...), try for yourself same..

Hopefully in the future HOS will allow loading ROMs from local servers or by the Xortroll fsp-usb module (currently only compatible with its Goldleaf dev version tool)

 

[Keylogger]

Always no bluetooth support? I want to play docked with my joycons connected in BT

 

[Rizzorules]

Good news https://twitter.com/natinusala/status/1299778479861510144?s=20

 

[2Dover3D]

I need help so i made some changes in the dolphin menu trying to get a rom to run faster doing so one of the changes froze it up so now everytime i try try to start dolphin up it goes to the black frozen screen so i cant even get back into settings to change it back. Anyone knows how to reset it back to default or have any solutions?

 

[ManuelKoegler]

Having recently hacked my switch, I downloaded the newest build I could find in this thread, to play Pokemon Colosseum.
Anyone else having issues with distorted audio?

 

[Basketto]

The only alternative to HOS is L4T Lineage OS, the performance in Dock mode remains the same and you can rescale the game as much as overclocking allows it (if it had better dissipation it would avoid turning off the CPU). The only problem with Android is and always will be the bottleneck that emulators suffer every time it loads content from the ROM, because it is using only the MicroSD to store the OS, the applications and the ROMs, making readings and writes, and in the end it wears down the MICROSD enormously. Unfortunately it happened to me with Ubuntu and I couldn't write to a 64GB MicroSd anymore.

You should try an FTP / DLNA server to store ROMs or if it would allow peripheral connections in DOCK mode to use USB storages, although most emulators don't allow loading ROMS from local servers (I suppose RetroArch if ...), try for yourself same..

Hopefully in the future HOS will allow loading ROMs from local servers or by the Xortroll fsp-usb module (currently only compatible with its Goldleaf dev version tool)

ive been using android to emulate since switchroot released, on the same sd card.
Never had a problem with the sd card deteriorating. Retropie uses the same method, and their arent large discussions of roms read/write destroying the sd card. Pretty sure you just had a bad card . Modern day cards that are half decent, are much more than capable of handling switchroot.
Should mention too, the same sd card also ran lakka and ubuntu previously without issues.

 

[Queen of SoS]

Can anybody help me with Lakka for switch? I’m playing Harvest Moon Tree of Tranquility but I need the safe texture option to be able to read all of the words. Has safe texture been added yet or no?

 

[popy]

Good news https://twitter.com/natinusala/status/1299778479861510144?s=20

Any link where this build can be downloaded?

 

[Snomannen_kalle]

Any link where this build can be downloaded?

It's not part of a publicly available build

 

[Queen of SoS]

2x

It's not part of a publicly available build

Hopefully they fix the cheats crashing. I don’t know why but it crashes with some of the codes I use.

 

[excalibur2000]

anyone have a way in lakka on switch with skies of arcadia legend a setup for avoid the crashes.

thanks

 

[nickskaven]

LAKKA is not yet possible on a V.2 Switch (MARIKO)?

 

[LeyendaV]

LAKKA is not yet possible on a V.2 Switch (MARIKO)?

Lakka on Switch is a dead project, it was abandoned more than one year ago. The "newest" versions you can find on this very forum are just fan-made updates to the existing distribution.
Sadly, I wouldn't expect to see Lakka running on Mariko at any time soon. Or at all.

 

[deejay87]

pity that the hekate reboot is not possible

 

[Kailow]

Is retroarch on atmosphere better now, or is Lakka still a go-to for some cores?

 

[cl4ssik]

For sure, retroarch is better now, i have the 1.9.0 version installed on my switch and it works like a charm

 

[Kailow]

Good to know, I also know thanks, it's sad, because I feel like Lakka had a lot of potential for being more optimized than retroarch on top of atmosphere or Switchroot. I also liked the convenience of just booting to Lakka and having the OC settings right there, and then leaving Atmosphere or Switchroot on a different SD card from stock.

 

[Budsixz]

Is there a dolphin core for retroarch cause I can't see any in mine but lakka did have that