One picture is better than a thousand words

There are still some bugs here and there, but the kernel now supports all the hardware of the RS-90: mth got the LCD screen working, I worked on getting the sound output, USB networking, and NAND support in the bootloader, and zear worked on a ADC driver for the SELECT (and apparently, L) button, and a driver for the battery.

The focus now is to bring a GUI for this little handheld. We could use GMenu2X, but we need a new theme for the 240x160 screen. Also, we need to create an installer to automatize installation of the custom firmware from USB, just like in the good old Dingoo A320 days.

But now I can play Pokémon again, and under ReGBA this time 😀

  1. #1 eminer, 02 Feb 2019

    amazing work! I would love to help design a theme. cant wait to try ReGBA

    Reply

  2. #2 Demi, 02 Feb 2019

    YES!!! You did it! :D

    Reply

  3. #3 Sigma, 03 Feb 2019

    What about RTC for pokemon games? How to handle it?

    Reply

    1. #3.1 pcercuei, 03 Feb 2019 (Reply to Sigma)

      So I think I found a trick. If you power off in software, without using the mechanical switch, then the RTC is not reset. Pressing LEFT powers it ON again, and the RTC time will be correct.

      However right now the RTC drifts quite a lot, about 10 minutes every hour or so. I didn’t look into it yet.

      Reply

  4. #4 Georgy, 03 Feb 2019

    Hello. Do you know about usb boot tool for ingenic which seems to work with RS-90? If you turn it on with usb connection and A button held it will show as JZ4750 USB Boot Device. You can get some test config for the tool, the tool manual and a the driver. I wonder if this means that it’s possible to flash and run kernel without using UART and soldering. Also it seems that the tool allows to upload and run code on the go (see manual ‘load’ and ‘go’ commands). PS If you have any problems downloading the files just ask me and I’ll reupload them on any service. PPS Also starting it with Start button will show internal flash and allow you to change internal games.

    Reply

    1. #4.1 pcercuei, 03 Feb 2019 (Reply to Georgy)

      You didn’t read my blog, did you? ;)

      Reply

    2. #4.2 jutleys, 26 Feb 2019 (Reply to Georgy)

      Can you reupload the driver ?

      Reply

  5. #5 Georgy, 03 Feb 2019

    Hello once more. Some urgent info. My previous post contained an ftp link for pdf but it appears there’s a full/partial SDK for ingenic devices including linux stuff/drivers/boot/etc. Googling a while shown another mirror: ftp://grids.be/mirror/ftp.ingenic.cn/2soc/4725B ftp://94.23.144.183/mirror/ftp.ingenic.cn/ There are a lot of sources, tools and manuals, also check 3sw/01/linux/nandboot and u-boot folders, probably some kernel stuff. Check all the folders. :)

    Reply

    1. #5.1 pcercuei, 03 Feb 2019 (Reply to Georgy)

      Thanks, but I know about all of that already. I just don’t want to use any of that outdated crap.

      Reply

  6. #6 Gameblabla, 05 Feb 2019

    Congratulations guys on porting Linux 4.20+ to it ! As someone who constantly dealt with kernel issues on the RS-97 (Linux 2.6.31…), it’s really nice to see this little handled running something more recent. It is just a shame however, that the JZ4725B is utter crap. I’ve looked at the datasheet and it’s quite a simple SoC. I know that software rendering on the RS-97 was expensive so i would be pretty horrified to see how it performs here hehe. I’m not even sure if the IPU in the JZ4725B supports RGB input ? It doesn’t apparently, only YUV. Good luck

    Reply

    1. #6.1 pcercuei, 05 Feb 2019 (Reply to Gameblabla)

      Thanks! But I wouldn’t call it “utter crap”. Just like any piece of hardware, it has a performance limit, and the real game is to cope with it. Besides, I think its CPU is more than enough for what it was designed to be, a small handheld for GBA emulation, GameBoy, and maybe NES/SMS/PC Engine.

      Oh, and the Dingoo A320’s CPU wasn’t a beast either, yet there were a lot of games and apps that were made for it, and they were also all software-rendered :)

      The IPU supports RGB input starting from the JZ4760 I think, so it’s not available here.

      Reply

  7. #7 ChampionLeake, 05 Feb 2019

    Nice job! I actually just got this in my mailbox today and I saw this! Progress was definitely made! It would be cool to see the pymenu get ported as a GUI ;)

    Reply

  8. #8 thirty6, 05 Feb 2019

    Amazing work, well done to all of you!

    Reply

  9. #9 VanZan, 05 Feb 2019

    Absolute heroes all of you!! May I ask if the hack also works on the RS-12 machine? I hope so since it’s basically the same device in a different form factor AFAIK.

    Reply

    1. #9.1 pcercuei, 05 Feb 2019 (Reply to VanZan)

      None of us have a RS-12. Most of the drivers will work, but the parts that are RS-90 specific will need to be modified to fit the RS-12. Mainly GPIO and pin configuration, but also LCD panel configuration. Unless the RS-12 is really just an exact clone of the RS-90 in a different form factor.

      Reply

    2. #9.2 R, 19 Feb 2019 (Reply to VanZan)

      What about something that force you to set date and time on every boot?

      Reply

  10. #10 Donizete, 06 Feb 2019

    Congratulations to all of you who do this incredible work. From Brazil, rooting for more success!

    Reply

  11. #11 Nootboot64, 09 Feb 2019

    I know it’s kind of rude to ask devs when their work is coming out, but how has it been going so far? I am a little bit saddened by the (in my opinion) long gaps between posts here. My Retromini has been sitting in my bag practically since I got it, and a CFW would be a huge breath of fresh air. No matter what happens, thank you for your help in this community.

    Reply

    1. #11.1 ChampionLeake, 11 Feb 2019 (Reply to Nootboot64)

      2 weeks is not really a long gap of posts so things are relatively early. Things are still being worked worked on of course. We just have to wait, I rather have a working product than a rushed out sloppy software.

      There’s nothing to be sad yet. At least we know it’s coming and the excitement is real. We’ll hopefully hear from the devs as they progress throughout the project.

      Reply

  12. #12 nitro2k01, 11 Feb 2019

    Waiting for mine in the mail. Is there any communication channel for discussing development for it? IRC, Slack, Discord…

    Reply

    1. #12.1 pcercuei, 11 Feb 2019 (Reply to nitro2k01)

      Discussion happens on IRC: #opendingux on Freenode.

      Reply

  13. #13 Jutleys, 25 Feb 2019

    Hi pcerceui its jutleys i would like you zear to come to my discord channel i have a rs90 channel maybe we can help each other to get cfw for rs90 we have a few devs on board. you can join on the link below be nice to see you guys again from the good old GCW days :) your find me as bittboy on the channel i am the owner :) we have a GCW channel too whatever you want.

    https://discord.gg/5qbZKsm

    Reply

    1. #13.1 pcercuei, 25 Feb 2019 (Reply to Jutleys)

      Sorry I don’t use Discord, I prefer the forums and IRC.

      Reply

  14. #14 jutleys, 25 Feb 2019

    an i sugest gmenu2x and use my dekui theme i can readjust it for the screen size.

    Reply

  15. #15 Gmenu2x theme Dekui, 26 Feb 2019

    Hi i have made a theme for the RS90 for toy most of it is from the good old days of the Dingoo A320 the Dekui i have resized the wallpapers to fit the RS90 screen theme i have kept it alive all this time i hope you can consider using it on your firmware thanks.

    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1N8A-FnKMkPo6KSSie9ZOAWXEkc82uASK/view?usp=sharing

    Reply

  16. #16 Redz, 18 Apr 2019

    Hi sorry for asking. Any updates on This? My device is just sitting around. Too slow and won’t even run gba games properly and lagging too much. Hoping any cfw that would made it feel better

    Reply

    1. #16.1 ChampionLeake, 20 Apr 2019 (Reply to Redz)

      They’re really keeping things quiet for this CFW. They just need to work out some likes still like the GUI and a proper installer.

      Could be for other versions/revisions of the RetroMini. But they’re literally making a whole new kernel for this tiny device and it’s just really impressive what they’re doing :D

      Reply

  17. #17 mauricio, 29 Apr 2019

    Is the ldk any better?

    Reply

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