(New?) RG353V has issues with ArkOS

[Aida-Enna]

Describe the Issue (If applicable)

ArkOS fails to boot from the image most of the time. I've used a few different MicroSD cards, including an official nintendo themed switch card. I've flashed it using the recommended tool a few times. Another unit I bought for someone else booted right away with the same image and tool on their SD card, so I think it might be a hardware revision or something. I saw something about a new screen?

Once it finally gets to the "the partition will now be expanded" part, it starts partitioning and stops at "File system created successfully." After a few more reboots, it gets back to this point and finishing copying/removing files. After that, reboot just has the ArkOS 2.0 (10162023) text and eventually after a few minutes just goes to a black screen. Reboots after that just sit at the ArkOS logo, usually showing a black screen after but loading into emulation station every few reboots. This is before I added any ROMS.

How can the issue be reproduced? (If applicable)

It happens 9/10 times.

What device are you using?

RG353V (Translucent Purple)

What version of ArkOS are you on?

• You can find this during the initial boot process right before the Emulationstation loading screen

I cannot get to this but I'm using the latest precompiled image (10/16).

Anything else you'd like to include that may help to review this issue or feature request?

I'm familiar with linux and programming etc so I'd be willing to try any patches/updates/etc to see if it fixes it. Maybe the new release could help? (I couldn't find a new image).

[christianhaitian]

If you're able to see an image on screen on one of the boots, then the issue is not the screen. The issue is that some units can reliably boot ArkOS at the spec speed of 1.8Ghz and some can not. Here's a dtb you can try here to see if it gives you reliable booting. It lowers the max speed to 1.4Ghz. Just unzip it and place the rk3566-OC.dtb file in the BOOT partition overwriting the existing one. The BOOT partition is fat32 so you should be able to access it from a Mac, Windows, or Linux computer to replace that file. Let me know your results.

https://github.com/christianhaitian/arkos/files/13262434/rk3566-OC.zip

[Aida-Enna]

That new DTB improved boot reliability significantly. Most times it loads into Emustation without issue. I only get black screens about every 1/5 boots. Is there a way to turn on debug mode or something and provide any information that would be useful to detect whether it should use the higher or lower clock speed based on that?

Also, will booting into ArkOS at 1.4Ghz cause all subsequent apps launched from it to run at that speed as well?

Thank you for you help and hard work!

[christianhaitian]

Unfortunately no debug without getting a serial cable and soldering the points on the board. Once the unit gets to a bad state, there's nothing you can do anymore but reboot or power down the device. That dtb locks the max speed of the entire OS to 1.4Ghz so higher end emulation may suffer. I suspect there's a power related issue in which some SOC bins need more voltage to run at higher speeds than others. The chips used on these handhelds are not going to have consistent QC so what works well for one, may not work well for another. There's been a whole discussion about this in the ArkOS firmware channel within the RetroHandhelds Discord. You're welcome to join there and review the chat history. The invite for RetroHandhelds Discord is available below. You have good proof of the situation in which you brought 2 units yet one runs ArkOS fine and the other doesn't.

https://discord.gg/retrohandhelds

[korikirg35xx]

I have the same issue with arkos on rg353vs . After 7-8 reboots finish first boot.Every time i turn on the device needs 3-4 reboots to load and when load arkos after a while freezes.Back to stock OS (this runs very well).

[korikirg35xx]

If you're able to see an image on screen on one of the boots, then the issue is not the screen. The issue is that some units can reliably boot ArkOS at the spec speed of 1.8Ghz and some can not. Here's a dtb you can try here to see if it gives you reliable booting. It lowers the max speed to 1.4Ghz. Just unzip it and place the rk3566-OC.dtb file in the BOOT partition overwriting the existing one. The BOOT partition is fat32 so you should be able to access it from a Mac, Windows, or Linux computer to replace that file. Let me know your results.

https://github.com/christianhaitian/arkos/files/13262434/rk3566-OC.zip

I replace the dtb file and arkos works without issues

[christianhaitian]

That'll have to do for now until a better solution is found. Perhaps I'll eventually get a unit that exhibits this issue so I can further investigate it. For now, none of my units have this issue.

[sammcj]

I just got a new RG353V that wouldn't boot with ArkOS - using this file fixed it for me, maybe it should be merged into the default build?

[gopgnz]

If you're able to see an image on screen on one of the boots, then the issue is not the screen. The issue is that some units can reliably boot ArkOS at the spec speed of 1.8Ghz and some can not. Here's a dtb you can try here to see if it gives you reliable booting. It lowers the max speed to 1.4Ghz. Just unzip it and place the rk3566-OC.dtb file in the BOOT partition overwriting the existing one. The BOOT partition is fat32 so you should be able to access it from a Mac, Windows, or Linux computer to replace that file. Let me know your results.

https://github.com/christianhaitian/arkos/files/13262434/rk3566-OC.zip

I would like to mention that after ripping my hair out for past 2 days this also fixed the boot up or instant freeze issues on my RG353V. Looks like I'm also one of the lucky owners of these (new) units. Many thanks. Although this is obviously less than ideal long term because running the device at 1.4ghz will def. impact performance.

[nunits]

I had this problem in one of my two units, luckily in the second everything worked fine. Jelos or stock I had no problem... don't they ever use 1.8ghz? As for what it could be, maybe it's just the mediocre dissipation, I'll try a mod to see if this solves it. Could you create a 1.6ghz one?

[lauren7ino]

I would make an effort to swap your device. It may be something that gets worst over time, as the summer heat arrives. You might argue that the console is unstable on warm days. Something like that, difficult for them to reproduce.

[sz-hunor]

I had the above issue on my rg353m, changed the rk3566-OC.dtb which solved the stability issues however now my right shoulder button doesn't register a long press :D, as in the button works but in a game like drill dozer for example, where you need to hold it down, it just triggers like a quick press.

Swapped the rk3566-OC.dtb file back, right shoulder button works again, crashes happen again.

Regarding the stability issues, it may well be that it's a poorly binned chip, however I don't get any stability issues in either Jelos or the default Anbernic linux the device came with (just as a point of data).

[czapa86]

It is software issue. I'm on the same boat. Other OSes work without an issue. Not sure if they are using different booting method or why arkos is having this problem. Maybe arkos booting method can be changed? Hope it will be resolved somehow as its quite annoying issue. Of course arkos is the best and i don't want to change to other os.

[christianhaitian]

I would agree if I could replicate the issue on any of my 7 RK3566 (RG353V v1, RG353V v2, RG353M v1, 2 RG503 units, RGB30 v1 and RGB30 v2) devices but I can not as of yet . ¯_(ツ)_/¯

[cwozny]

I know it's not a supported model, but I was having this intermittent crash/hang on my RG353PS and had swapped in the file you attached (which I believe lowers the clock rate) and haven't had the device hang on me since.

[christianhaitian]

I have a device coming to me soon that has the issue. Hopefully I will be able to resolve the issue once I can finally replicate it.

[pettenao83]

I know it's not a supported model, but I was having this intermittent crash/hang on my RG353PS and had swapped in the file you attached (which I believe lowers the clock rate) and haven't had the device hang on me since.

The same with my unit.... I also have a RG353PS and cannot run fine arkos most of the time with random crashes... with the dtb file provided it's rock stable.... I can't compare performances with previous configuration... but I think psp games needs tweaking with the new version of the file...

[supermodio64]

Have a relatively old RG353V that boots to a black screen frequently. If I tap the power button to sleep/wake a few times then the menu comes up and everything works fine. To my knowledge, the issue didn’t seem to happen on a fresh install. It started when I added a bunch games. Specifically Ports, N64, DC, PSP, and Saturn as I’m testing those first. It feels like a software issue but I’ll try the file that lowers clock speed. If performance suffers as a result then I’ll have to consider JELOS again. I don’t really like JELOS because of how it tries to integrate with RetroArch which conflicts with my preferred configuration. Stock doesn’t let you update RetroArch from what I can tell. ROCKNIX makes you delete Android, no thanks. ArkOS is the most normal option I’ve found besides this damn startup issue. Hope you find a solution that doesn’t sacrifice performance. Thanks for your time and effort.

[gopgnz]

I have a device coming to me soon that has the issue. Hopefully I will be able to resolve the issue once I can finally replicate it.

Hey, just wondering, were you able to replicate it with that unit? I've been on Jelos ever since but I would still switch over to Ark if that issue was fixed.

[dylmar85]

I bought an RG353V a couple weeks ago, and am having this boot issue as well. The modified DTB file allows me to boot, but with compromised performance. Hopefully you find a solution soon!

[Yobiwan29]

Same here. I bought a 353m and arkos get stuck at boot. Anbernic sent me a new motherboard, but same issue with this new one... I'm really disappointed because I've worked a lot on this build and I can't get a functional second unit... The downclock config file doesn't work here. Still stuck at the four dots.

[christianhaitian]

I did receive a unit that supposedly has the issue but it boots and functions consistently with my samsung and sandisk cards just fine so i still can’t replicate the issue yet.

[dylmar85]

I did receive a unit that supposedly has the issue but it boots and functions consistently with my samsung and sandisk cards just fine so i still can’t replicate the issue yet.

Does that point to an SD Card compatibility issue? I'm using this: "SanDisk 32GB Ultra microSDHC UHS-I Memory Card - 120MB/s, C10, U1, Full HD, A1, Micro SD Card "

[Yobiwan29]

I did receive a unit that supposedly has the issue but it boots and functions consistently with my samsung and sandisk cards just fine so i still can’t replicate the issue yet.

I managed to boot with a Sandisk Ultra Plus 32GB. Fresh install. But when I swap with the Sandisk Extreme 32GB present in my first unit, it can't boot correctly. Maybe some components aren't exactly the same on the two motherboards ? It takes 2s longer to boot with Utra Plus but it's not a big deal ;)

[czapa86]

So which sd card is recommend? Sandisk Ultra Plus ? I can buy one and test as my unit has problem with booting and currently i'm using Sandisk Ultra card.

[dylmar85]

Sandisk Ultra Plus 32GB

imma try this.. where'd you purchase yours from?

[dylmar85]

So which sd card is recommend? Sandisk Ultra Plus ? I can buy one and test as my unit has problem with booting and currently i'm using Sandisk Ultra card.

sounds like it. looks like Best Buy and Target both stock it..

[czapa86]

I'm Europe based, i will look for it in big retailers or buy online

[Yobiwan29]

So which sd card is recommend? Sandisk Ultra Plus ? I can buy one and test as my unit has problem with booting and currently i'm using Sandisk Ultra card.

Yes, I tried an ultra plus 32GB and an ultra 256GB. No problem. But ! The second sd card reader doesn't recognize any of my cards :-( I've got a RGB30 too, and it does not appreciate Sandisk Extreme serie either.

[dylmar85]

went a bought a "Plus" card, and still not able to boot, but got further along in the process than other cards I've tried.

to summarize, on my RG353V.. stock card Kioxia 16gb - hangs at ArkOS logo screen SanDisk Ultra 32Gb - hangs at ArkOS logo screen SanDisk Ultra PLUS 32Gb - ArkOS logo for ~10 sec, loading screen with progress bar for ~2 minutes, eventually gets to a black screen where it hangs indefinitely...

it seems like the speed and quality of the card have something to do with it, but for now the stock OS is working ok for me. I also looked into JelOS and apparently its no longer being supported.

[nunits]

It has nothing to do with SD memory. Yes, the modified DTB only reduces the CPU speed to 1.4ghz and this solves the problems in all cases. Then the problem may be related to some CPUs that are not capable of working at 1.8ghz. Although the question would be. Ambelec and Rocknix do the rk3566 work at 1.8ghz?

[Galaxy13]

For me original rk3566-OC.dtb doesn't work too. With 1.4 Ghz CPU frequency it works, but if you increase frequency in dtb my device stops booting. I've tried to modify dtb file and actually came with some results. If you violate cpu policy and avoid using tcsd4525 power policy to cpu (vdd_cpu), device actually boots, and the performance didn't suffer. From dmesg logs it seems like device can't find policy for all cpus. but booted succesfully without any problem. DMESG logs: `[ 182.222522] rockchip-dmc dmc: cpu0 policy NULL [ 182.282531] rockchip-dmc dmc: cpu0 policy NULL [ 182.335829] rockchip-dmc dmc: cpu0 policy NULL [ 182.532567] rockchip-dmc dmc: cpu1 policy NULL [ 182.635863] rockchip-dmc dmc: cpu2 policy NULL [ 182.689148] rockchip-dmc dmc: cpu2 policy NULL [ 182.752578] rockchip-dmc dmc: cpu3 policy NULL [ 183.022583] rockchip-dmc dmc: cpu0 policy NULL [ 183.075864] rockchip-dmc dmc: cpu0 policy NULL [ 183.129231] rockchip-dmc dmc: cpu0 policy NULL [ 183.182571] rockchip-dmc dmc: cpu0 policy NULL

[ 183.359161] rockchip-dmc dmc: cpu0 policy NULL ` I attached modified dts and dtb, maybe this is not a good way to fix that problem, but for me it works flawlessly. P.S Replaced with new fix, without policy errors rk3566-OC-fix-v2.zip

[czapa86]

This is working, thanks! However i have no sound. I copied and renamed dtb file, should i copy dts file also? How to fix the sound?

[Galaxy13]

This is working, thanks! However i have no sound. I copied and renamed dtb file, should i copy dts file also? How to fix the sound?

Sound might be a problem with Arkos itself. Find option in advanced "fix sound" or something like that

[czapa86]

Tried that without success. When i copied back orginal dtb file sound returns so it seems like problem with that new dtb unfortunately

[Galaxy13]

After some digging, I actually find problem with CPU voltage regulator, now DMESG didn't throw any error and lscpu actually shows that now my unit can capable of 1.9 GHz in ArkOS Old fix is now obsolete and not recommended to use. Use this version instead: rk3566-OC.FIXED-v2.zip

[nunits]

After some digging, I actually find problem with CPU voltage regulator, now DMESG didn't throw any error and lscpu actually shows that now my unit can capable of 1.9 GHz in ArkOS Old fix is now obsolete and not recommended to use. rk3566-OC.FIXED-v2.zip

Thank you very much friend.- 1.9 is the stable limit that rk3566 can work

[christianhaitian]

After some digging, I actually find problem with CPU voltage regulator, now DMESG didn't throw any error and lscpu actually shows that now my unit can capable of 1.9 GHz in ArkOS Old fix is now obsolete and not recommended to use. Use this version instead: rk3566-OC.FIXED-v2.zip

What changes did you make to get this stable for your unit?

[czapa86]

You are hero, sound problem which i described is caused probably because i'm using rg353m with stereo speakers. Hope your file will be adjusted for all devices

[JMarques90]

Finally I was able to boot with my Sandisk SD with this fix. Sound does not work in built in speakers, I tried with bluetooth speakers and it was ok.

[Galaxy13]

After some digging, I actually find problem with CPU voltage regulator, now DMESG didn't throw any error and lscpu actually shows that now my unit can capable of 1.9 GHz in ArkOS Old fix is now obsolete and not recommended to use. Use this version instead: [rk3566-OC.FIXED-v2.zip](https://github.com/user-attachments/files/16317347/ What changes did you make to get this stable for your unit?

I 've changed power regulator values. (vdd_cpu) First, I remove \<regulator-init-microvolt> value. I've found thr discussion of rockchip-linux kernel developers, where they make a guess, that this part can be obsolete and unstable, and now actually there is the dts file in Torvalds repo of linux kernel for RK3566, where this value isn't presented. Secondly, I've changed \<compatible> line to more generic type of regulator "fcs, fan53555”. And actually that's it. In my dtb, name of regulator changed from tcs4525@40 to regulator@40, but that change actually doesn't do anything. Made it, cause seems like rk3566 can have tcs4525 ot sti817 cpu power regulator.

[Galaxy13]

Finally I was able to boot with my Sandisk SD this fix. Sound does not work in built in speakers, I tried with bluetooth speakers and it was ok.

Well, my unit doesn't have that problem. I've got sound problem like yours once, but I've fix it with provided script in options -> advanced -> fix sound You can try that. If that is not worked for you, well if you can connect to your device by ssh and provide dmesg -k logs, I'd be able to know what exactly the problem is. And yeah, do you have 353V or 353VS unit?

[czapa86]

If i provide you with orginal rg353m file would you be able to do adjustment there ? Hope this can solve problems with sound on stereo devices

[ghbeta]

After some digging, I actually find problem with CPU voltage regulator, now DMESG didn't throw any error and lscpu actually shows that now my unit can capable of 1.9 GHz in ArkOS Old fix is now obsolete and not recommended to use. Use this version instead: rk3566-OC.FIXED-v2.zip

with this new dtb i can boot my rg353vs finally into arkos, thank you, no sound issue too

[JMarques90]

Finally I was able to boot with my Sandisk SD this fix. Sound does not work in built in speakers, I tried with bluetooth speakers and it was ok.

Well, my unit doesn't have that problem. I've got sound problem like yours once, but I've fix it with provided script in options -> advanced -> fix sound You can try that. If that is not worked for you, well if you can connect to your device by ssh and provide dmesg -k logs, I'd be able to know what exactly the problem is. And yeah, do you have 353V or 353VS unit?

My device is a RG353M, same as @czapa86 . Did not notice that is fix is only for RG353VS. Also works with 353M version but could not be for it. Find the attached log log.txt

[Galaxy13]

If i provide you with orginal rg353m file would you be able to do adjustment there ? Hope this can solve problems with sound on stereo devices

Sure thing! Give me your original dtb, I'll patch it

[czapa86]

If i provide you with orginal rg353m file would you be able to do adjustment there ? Hope this can solve problems with sound on stereo devices

Sure thing! Give me your original dtb, I'll patch it

Much appreciated! Attaching original RG353M file. rk3566-OC-RG353M.zip

[Galaxy13]

@czapa86 @JMarques90 Here you go! Tested on my RG353V, boots and works fine. And sound work too 😄 . The only difference I see in dtbs, is that RG353M have additional line out-l2spk-r2hp in audio codec section, which seems like enables stereo support on devices with RK817 audio chip. Now I think it should work just fine. rk3566-OC-353M-FIXED.zip

[czapa86]

YOU ARE LEGEND !!! Now indeed sound works. Thank you so much !!!

[lauren7ino]

Hi guys I've been following this thread with interest. Do I understand correctly that you now have a working 353M dtb with 1.9ghz? If you need an unofficial beta tester, please post the 353M dtb here. Thanks

[JMarques90]

Worked 😁😁😁😁😁 Finally I can use this mini console. Thank you @Galaxy13 Thanks to Arkos devs