arkOS / JELOS on Retro Game Console Mega Blog

1. Fixed Bugs

1.1. Unable to write to SD Card or how to prepare SD card for restoring a backup file

Double check the physical lock on the SD card reader is not in lock position.

Error in Win32 Disk Imager: An error occurred when attempting to write data to handle. Error: 5 Access is denied.

 

Select the correct drive for the SD Card. VERY VERY IMPORTANT OTHERWISE YOU MIGHT END UP DELETING YOUR PERSONAL DATA.
Boot selection→ Non Bootable.
File System→ Whatever is default.
Uncheck "Create Extended label and icon files."
Click on start.
Shouldn't take more than a few seconds.

1.2. Unable to see the SD Card in Win32 Disk Imager and how to backup the original SD Card 

1.2.1 If you see unallocated space in Disk Management

You might not be able to see your SD card on Windows if all it's partition are hidden like it was for me with my R46S.

Open "Disk Management" with Start Menu.

  1. Find your SD card and you will be able to see a similar kind of setup where there will be some unallocated space either to the right or the left side.
    Tip: Take a screenshot of this one at this state.
  2. Precaution: We will use the Unallocated Partition a the very end(410MB in this case) and NOT THE 8 MB Unallocated Partition. If for some reason you have no space on the end and only the beginning, go ahead and follow the steps below but make sure to delete it at the end and revert it back to as it was.

    Right Click on it and select, "New Simple Volume". Keep all settings as default and just keep clicking next until finish and you should have a new drive letter on it as you can see below:  
    Keep a note of this newly created drive letter, in my case F:(pronounced F drive).
  3. Install and open Win32 Disk Imager. Select the Image File location where the file will be saved and give it a name(add a .img at the end in this place itself so you don't have to do it later).
    1. Select the Drive you created before.
    2. Select Read Only Allocated Partitions (Will save space if there are extra unnecessary partitions).
    3. Click on Read. It will take at a minimum 15mins/16GB of data. So hours really.
  4. Delete the volume for the one you created in step 1. ONLY THIS ONE, DOUBLE CHECK IT.
  5. Once done, it should be exactly like it was in 1.
  6. Take out the SD card and now you should have both the backup and the card as it was before.

1.2.2 If you don't see unallocated space in Disk Management

The SD card reader is not working properly. It won't show as one big blob in Disk Management, it has to show up as shown below:

1.3 Lines on the LCD Panel

Try reseating the LCD Cable. If that doesn't help the LCD is now damaged. I dropped it a day after getting the device from the table to concrete. (￣y▽￣)╭ Ohohoho.....

1.4 How to open backed up multi-partition images on Windows?

Update: Found it and it works: OSFMount. This is a very important software, will make a video on it. However you should know that if the partition is Linux Based it will still not be acessable on Windows. This is important if you have done a complete backup of the ROMS SD Card (Maybe because that's faster, I am not sure).
Make sure to unmount it after use.

Don't know. Since these are multiple partitions I don't know if you can do it unless you write it to a new complete physical disk first and that WILL CREATE BOOT PROBLEMS on whichever system you do it. As much as I wanted to just unzip these files, I just can't, at least I can't think of a way now. Maybe later. A quick google search says it might be possible on Linux: How to mount a multi-partition disk image in Linux?

2. Important Tips and Know-Hows for Beginners

2.1 Backup Original SD-Card before booting for the first time

Always backup the SD card that came with your retro console WITHOUT BOOTING THEM. Yes, without booting them. Once you have booted them you can make another backup at this point also and you should.
Follow the steps in 1.2 to make a backup.

Use Win32 Disk Imager on Windows for backing up the images.

 Make sure to tick: Read Only Allocated Partitions as this will not unnecessary create huge file size like with the R46S where the OS comes in a 32GB card even though the real OS is hardly 11GB. Once I did this the size was under 16GB and I could use a 16GB Card whereas earlier I couldn't.

Rename the created image file to .img. You can't just open these images like an iso file to read since they are of multiple partitions so for this reason you can backup your ROMS Secondary SD card just by copy pasting.
These process takes hours since the SD card read/write is very slow so make sure you are using a solid USB port and a decent enough USB hub that doesn't disconnect all the time. It takes about 15mins per 16GB of data so for a 32GB Card that would be 30 mins, a 64GB an hour. Expect the same or more.

2.2. Write the backup image files to the SD Card

Use the saved image file and Win32 Disk Imager to write the backed up image to the SD Card. If you don't see the drive remember this.

For writing the ROMS, first format the SD card with Large FAT32 (if under 64GB) or exFAT if over that. And then copy and paste the original contents copied to your PC:

1) If in a folder, just basic copy paste.

2) If ROMS are in .img file created with Win32 Disk Imager then use OSFMount and mount the drive and then copy paste. This might be quicker as creating the image file is much quicker.

3. Ongoing Bugs/Issues/Questions unresolved

Here are some issues I have run into that I am unable to fully understand still why is it happening. If it happens more than a few times maybe I will be able to figure them out.

3.1. R36s' SD Card simply became write protected and R36S wasn't booting when I tried to put it in the computer after a full arkOS update

First Time

Note: I am not using the recommended Sandisk Ultra SD Card because I wanted to experiment that might last a lot longer so I am using WD-Purple SD Card. I just thought you should know if this turns out to be the reason for all the complications later.

How it happened:

Temporary Fix: I tried removing the write attribute access from SD card with diskpart and CMD but it was of no use. I had to format the SD card completely and rewrite the original files to work.

Hypotheses:

  1. Update: This seems to be a solid contender as I have seen it failing a few more times while writing something on many SD Cards. Will order a new SD Card Reader.
    Maybe it was really nothing and something just bugged out while moving data from here to there. I am suspecting the USB hub or the micro-to-big size USB adapter for the same. They have bugged out on me earlier before. Will order a new one just to confirm this. For now, since I already reinstalled this variable is probably out of the way, unless I start seeing the same problem with my other R46S Console. (On second thought I did have issues with my R46S also but it was just in portmaster and no where else so I am unsure).
  2. Maybe the first setup of the SD card didn't go properly and something was messed up inside. Have already installed it again on the SD card so we will know for sure soon.
  3. Maybe the fact that  I am using a different class of SD card that has a lot of write cycles on it causing some issues as people on the internet keep shouting only to use the Sandisk Ultra SD Card. Maybe they are right, however, in my head it makes no sense. It makes sense to stick with good brands SD card but to only stick to Sandisk Ultra SD Card? Naah. It makes no sense to me. However, will keep it here until I can confirm this theory with many different types of SD Card.
Second Time

It happened again and this time there wasn't any weird update or anything. What I did change was SD Card setting so I tried using a secondary SD Card for games instead of the first one and later removed it and then later it became like that.
What's weird is that I created an image backup of the same card in this non-writing state and flashed that again and it was still writable so I strongly suspect whatever it is can be fixed with windows settings for the SD Card.

This is really bothering me so for the time being I am using another card not the normal Sandisk card but a High Endurance Sandisk Card now and we will know soon enough.

Hypotheses:

  1. There is something in Windows Setting that can probably fix it. I will know for sure when the next time this locking happens, I will boot into another Linux system and see if it's still in that state there or not.
  2. There is something wrong with the WD-Purple SD Card or a way high endurance cards work in general. We will know soon enough since I changed the card.
  3. The change to SD Card setting is causing something to happen. This I suspect has a very low chance otherwise other people would have also reported the same.

To look into later: https://hetmanrecovery.com/recovery_news/how-to-unlock-protected-from-a-usb-flash-drive-recording-memory-card-or-hard-drive-in-windows-10-8-7.htm

Probable Cause: The WD-Purple SD Card isn't compatible with the R36S or The WD Purple I have is somehow broken. I moved everything from it to the High Endurance Sandisk Card and it has not yet locked in a few weeks of usage. I will still continue using the device for the next many weeks and report on this. To test the Purple SD Card, I am putting it into the CCTV where it will be continuously written and read from so we will know soon enough.

3.2. R46S won't connect to wifi reliably

This happened right after I had to clean boot my R46s because portmaster installation had corrupted likely due to an actual change in device. What I didn't realize back then that I was using an older backup of the SD Card and might have corrupted the install while it was happening so I have prepared two clean SD Cards with the exact data that came with the newer replacement device. I just assumed the backup SD cards would be the same between devices but I am not so sure anymore.

Probable Cause: The new replacement R46S I have is broken from the beginning as the battery is also dead with the device, or the battery isn't strong enough to provide charge for connecting to devices. This can't be tested further because I don't have a working R46S now, only a broken one and this is very picky about which network shows up inside it, so this has to be closed for now.

3.3. R36S Plus Keeps Crashing after a few seconds with vertical lines on the devices (Not a display issue)

I believe the issue is due to wrong dtb file which says: rk3326-gameconsole-r33s.dtb and is not he one for R36S. I have notified the seller for the correct file but in the meantime I am going to try some other images to see if something works on it or not.

I tried a lot of images from Arkos to PlumOS and the original one that came with the card and one that the supplier provided, all show the same issues. It all runs fine for a few minutes on first boot and then crashes horribly and then even on restart it keeps crashing. I am now thinking of checking the CPU temps when using the device once.

I was only using the WD-Purple and the included SD Card with the device for it, since we know that it can cause issues before I proceed any further I am going to try the known Sandisk SD Card once. I tried with both the images, the first copied from the included SD Card and a fresh one provided by the seller on Alibaba.

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