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My set of GarlicOS tips #rg35xx

Garlic OS Tips (Windows-based)

GarlicOS Cookbook

Follow these instructions for an easy way to get up and going quickly! These are complete instructions, and will be the easiest way to get started on a new RG35XX.

Set up SD Card

Get a high quality SD (e.g. SanDisk Extreme) card, 128GB or larger, 256GB is recommended. Don't skimp here, they're cheap, and don't use the card that comes with the RG35XX as it's crap.

Install Helper Apps

Download and install Disk Genius

Download and install Rufus.

Download and install 7-zip.

Write GarlicOS to SD Card

Download "RG35XX-MicroSDCardImage.7z.001" and "RG35XX-MicroSDCardImage.7z.002" from GarlicOS.

Open "RG35XX-MicroSDCardImage.7z.001" in 7-zip and extract to a folder on your hard drive, e.g. Downloads. This will create "garlic.img" and "README.txt"

Start Rufus.

Ensure correct SD Card device is selected.

Click "SELECT" and open "garlic.img".

Click "START" to write the image.

Name and extend GarlicOS SD Card partitions

Note: This step is only required if you want to use a single SD card.

Start Disk Genius.

Extend the 3.2GB FAT32 partition of the SD Card to as large as it'll go, to fill the SD card:

  • Right click the FAT32 partition, choose "Set Volume Name (V)" and name it "ROMS". This will make it easier to find this partition in explorer.
  • Right click on the same partition, choose "Extend Partition (Ctrl_F12)", and click "Start" then "Yes" twice. Click "Complete" when done.
  • Note the drive letter of the "ROMS" partition. If there is no drive letter, then right click on the same partition, choose "Assign New Drive Letter (G)", and click "OK.

Rename the "CFW Partition:

  • Right click the 10.0MB FAT16 partition, choose "Set Volume Name (V)" and name it "CFW".

Close Disk Genius.

Option 1: "Tiny Best Set: GO!"

Extract "Tiny Best Set: GO!"

In all of the following steps, overwrite any existing files when extracting files.

Download Tiny Best Set: GO!, and extract the following files to the root of the "ROMS" partition:

  • tiny-best-set-go-games.zip
  • tiny-best-set-go-expansion-64-games.zip
  • tiny-best-set-go-expansion-128-games.zip
  • tiny-best-set-go-arcade-names-garlic.zip
  • alternate preview images (3 image mix)/tiny-best-set-go-imgs-garlic-3mix.zip
  • alternate preview images (3 image mix)/tiny-best-set-go-expansion-64-imgs-garlic-3mix.zip
  • alternate preview images (3 image mix)/tiny-best-set-go-expansion-128-imgs-garlic-3mix.zip

To include "Tomb Raider" for the PlayStation, also copy these files to the specified folder within the "ROMS" partition:

  • Tomb Raider/Tomb Raider (USA) (Rev 6).chd -> /Roms/PS
  • Tomb Raider/tomb-raider-img-garlic-3mix -> /Roms/PS/Imgs

Extract "Tiny Best Set: GO! Arcade Update"

Download Tiny Best Set: GO! Arcade Update, first delete all .zip files in the Roms/Arcade folder, and then extract the following files to the root of the "ROMS" partition:

  • tiny-best-set-go-arcade-update-garlic.zip
  • tiny-best-set-go-arcade-update-garlic-imgs-3mix.zip

Extract "TINY BEST SET GO! EXTRA" (optional)

Download TINY BEST SET GO! EXTRA (Unofficial add-ons for the 128GB set), first go into Roms/ARCADE on your SD card, sort by size, and delete any .zip files that are 1000 KB or larger, and then extract the following files to the root of the "ROMS" partition:

  • TINY BEST SET GO! EXTRA (unofficial) arcade games and folders.7z
  • TINY BEST SET GO! EXTRA (unofficial) arcade games and folders (3-image mix).7z
  • TINY BEST SET GO! EXTRA (unofficial) console games.7z
  • TINY BEST SET GO! EXTRA (unofficial) console games (3-image mix).7z

Extract "TINY BEST SET GO! EXTRA+" (256GB+ SD only, optional)

If you have a 256GB (or larger) SD: Download TINY BEST SET GO! EXTRA+ (unofficial) EVEN MORE PS1 and extract the following files to the root of the "ROMS" partition:

  • TINY BEST SET GO! EXTRA+ (unofficial) EVEN MORE PS1.7z
  • TINY BEST SET GO! EXTRA+ (unofficial) EVEN MORE PS1 (3-image mix).7z

Option 2: "128GB Rom Pack" (128GB+ SD Card Required)

Download the torrent "128gb_archive.torrent" from 128GB Rom Pack and extract the following files:

  • Garlic.zip (extract to root of SD)
  • Roms.zip (extract to ROMS folder in SD)
  • Update.zip (extract to root of SD)

Systems in 128 Rom Pack:

  • Arcade - Mame 2003+ (375)
  • Atari - 2600 (50)
  • Atari - Lynx (16)
  • Lexaloffle - Pico 8 (85)
  • NEC - TurboGrafx 16 (81)
  • NEC - TurboGrafx CD (25)
  • Nintendo - Game Boy (155)
  • Nintendo - Game Boy Advance (156)
  • Nintendo - Game Boy Color (108)
  • Nintendo - NES (275)
  • Nintendo - SNES (327)
  • Sega - 32X (18)
  • Sega - CD (48)
  • Sega - Game Gear (42)
  • Sega - Genesis (188)
  • Sega - Master System (55)
  • SNK - Neo Geo (138)
  • SNK - Neo Geo CD (36)
  • SNK - Neo Geo Pocket (21)
  • Sony - Playstation (212)

Extract "Retro System Icons" (optional)

Download Retro System Icons, and inside the ZIP copy "/retro_system_icons/system" folder to "/CFW/skin" on the "ROMS" partition.

Extract "Updated Retroarch Cores" (optional)

Download Updated Retroarch Cores and extract to "/CFW/retroarch" on the "ROMS" partition.

Use the SD

Now safely eject the SD card, and place it into TF1 on your RG35XX!

Updating GarlicOS

Download RG35XX-CopyPasteOnTopOfStock.7z.001 and RG35XX-CopyPasteOnTopOfStock.7z.002

Open the .7z.001 file in 7-zip and extract to root of SD card.

Eject SD card and boot.

RetroArch Video Settings

This makes GBx games look much better and improves perf. Not sure why this isn't a default.

Open RetroArch option in GarlicOS.

  • Settings > Video
    • Threaded Video
  • Settings > Video > Scaling
    • Keep Aspect Ratio

Quit RetroArch

Overlays

To enable an overlay for a system (FC, GB, GBA, GBC, SFC), while in a game:

Note: First hold MENU for a second and then while holding MENU, press X.

  • Menu + X to open Quick Menu
  • "B" to back out to RetroArch Main Menu
  • Settings > On-Screen Display > On-Screen Overlay > Overlay Preset
  • Choose the correct overlay preset for the system you're playing.
  • "B" 3x to back out to main menu.
  • Quick Menu > Overrides
  • Save Core Overrides

Enable GB style

Note: First hold MENU for a second and then while holding MENU, press X.

  • Start a GameBoy game
  • Menu + X to open Quick Menu
  • "Core Options"
    • GB Colorization: Auto
    • Internal Palette: GB - DMG
    • Interface Blending: Simple
  • "B" to go back.
  • "Resume" (setting will be automatically saved)

Start new game

By default, a game continues from a save state, which is super cool, but if you want to start a game from the beginning, start it by pressing the START button rather than pressing the "A" button.

Multi-disc Games

To switch discs in multi-disc games:

Note: First hold MENU for a second and then while holding MENU, press X.

  • Menu + X to open Quick Menu
  • Disc Control > Eject Disc
  • Change the Disc Index
  • Insert Disc

Shortcuts

In main menu:

Button Action
POWER Sleep
MENU + POWER Shutdown
A Enter
B Return
Select Change CPU speed
Start Change the clock time (in main menu)
MENU + Vol + brightness
MENU + Vol - brightness

In game menu:

Button Action
Y Save/Remove Favorite
A Start game
Start Start game without saved state

During the game:

Note: First hold MENU for a second and then while holding MENU, press the button.

Button Action
MENU Return to GarlicOS
L1 + L2 MAME Menu ("Arcade" only)
MENU + X Retroarch Menu
MENU + UP Screenshot
MENU + DOWN Audio Mute
MENU + LEFT/RIGHT Change the save state slot
MENU + L1 Fast forward toggle
MENU + R1 Slow motion toggle
MENU + START Pause
MENU + SELECT FPS display

HDMI Adapter

The HDMI port on the rg35xx is a Mini HDMI port. To use the HDMI, get a "Mini HDMI Male to HDMI Female Cable" and plug one end into the 35xx, and the other end into a standard HDMI cable.

Add Videos

GarlicOS can play video files! To convert videos to make them suitable for RG35XX:

Install ffmpeg.

In terminal, use the following command (ensure the output extension is mkv):

ffmpeg.exe -i [INPUT_FILENAME] -vf scale=640:-2  -vcodec libx264 -pix_fmt yuv420p -profile:v main -level 3.1 -preset medium -crf 23 -x264-params ref=4 -acodec libvorbis -movflags +faststart -hide_banner -loglevel error -stats [OUTPUT_FILENAME].mkv

Copy video file to /Roms/VIDEOS folder in "ROMS" partition.

-vf scale=640:-2 keeps the aspect ratio, width of 640 and ensures that the size of width and height is multiple of 2.

There is an updated video player, MPlayer that can be installed as well. follow the instructions in the "readme.txt" file in the zip for installation instructions.

Pungent Best Set

If you want to get up and running with a curated set of ROMS with only a 16GB SD card, try this.

Insert SD card.

Open "ROMS" drive in Explorer.

Download Pungent Best Set.

Extract to the root of the "ROMS" drive.

Eject SD card and boot.

Pungent Best Set Issue

From Gunseikan on Reddit:

Downloaded this set and added it to a Garlic OS 1.4.9 setup on the RG35XX. For some reason certain NES roms are running slow. Super Mario Bros. seems fine, but Castlevania and Mega Man are running slower, both gameplay and audio. I tested this for the FCEUmm core and Nestopia: same result. Triend overclocking in retroarch: same result. Tried increasing the clock speed on the rg35xx: same result. Using the stock OS and roms the thing came with the games run as intended. The USA roms ran at normal speed without any tinkering.

So if you use Pungent Best Set, note that you might want to replace the NES roms with USA versions.

ROM Folder Mapping

Folder Name System
AMIGA Amiga (Commodore, 1985)
AMIGACD Amiga CD 32 (Commodore, 1993)
APPS Various
ARCADE Arcade (Mame 2003)
ATARI Atari 2600 (Atari, 1977)
ATARIST Atari ST (Atari, 1985)
C128 Commodore 128
COLECO ColecoVision (Coleco, 1982)
COMMODORE Commodore 64
CPC Amstrad CPC (Amstrad, 1984)
CPS1 Capcom Play System 1 (Capcom, 1988)
CPS2 Capcom Play System 2 (Capcom, 1993)
CPS3 Capcom Play System 3 (Capcom, 1996)
DOOM Doom (id, 1993)
DOS MS-DOS (DOSBOX)
EIGHTHUNDRED Atari 8bit (Atari, 1980)
FAIRCHILD Fairchild Channel F (Fairchild, 1976)
FBA2012 Final Burn Alpha
FBNEO Final Burn Neo
FC Nintendo Entertainment System / NES (Nintendo, 1985)
FDS Famicom Disk System (Nintendo, 1986)
FIFTYTWOHUNDRED Atari 5200 (Atari, 1982)
GB Nintendo Game Boy (Nintendo, 1989)
GBA Nintendo Game Boy Advance (Nintendo, 2001)
GBC Nintendo Game Boy Color (Nintendo, 1998)
GG Sega Game Gear (Sega, 1991)
GW Game & Watch (Nintendo, 1980)
INTELLIVISION Mattel Intellivision (Mattel, 1979)
JAGUAR Atari Jaguar (Atari, 1993)
LYNX Atari Lynx (Atari, 1989)
MAME2000 MAME 2000
MD Sega Genesis / MegaDrive (Sega, 1988)
MEGADUCK Mega Duck (Welback, 1993)
MS Sega Master System (Sega, 1986)
MSX MSX - MSX2 (Microsoft, 1983)
NEOCD SNK NeoGeo CD (SNK, 1994)
NEOGEO SNK NeoGeo (SNK, 1990)
NGP SNK NeoGeo Pocket & Color (SNK, 1999)
ODYSSEY Magnavox Odyssey 2
PANASONIC 3DO (Panasonic, 1993)
PCE NEC TurboGrafx-16 / PC-Engine(NEC/Hudson, 1989)
PCECD NEC TurboGrafx CD / PC-Engine CDROM2 (NEC/Hudson, 1989)
PCFX PCFX (NEC/Hudson, 1994)
PCNINETYEIGHT NEC PC-98 (NEC, 1982)
PET Commodore PET (Commodore, 1977)
PICO PICO-8
POKE Nintendo Pokemon mini (Nintendo, 2001)
PORTS Ports collection
PS Sony Playstation (Somy, 1995)
QUAKE Quake (id, 1996)
SATELLAVIEW Super Famicom Satellaview (Nintendo, 1995)
SCUMMVM ScummVM
SEGACD Sega CD / Mega-CD (Sega, 1991)
SEGASGONE Sega SG-1000 (Sega, 1983)
SEVENTYEIGHTHUNDRED Atari 7800 (Atari, 1986)
SFC Super Nintendo / Super Famicom (Nintendo, 1991)
SGB Super Game Boy (Nintendo, 1994)
SGFX NEC SuperGrafx (NEC/Hudson, 1989)
SUFAMI Bandai Sufami Turbo (Bandai, 1996)
SUPERVISION Watara Supervision (Watara, 1992)
THIRTYTWOX Sega 32X (Sega, 1994)
TIC TIC-80 Tiny Computer (Various)
VB Nintendo Virtual Boy (Nintendo, 1995)
VECTREX GCE Vectrex (GCE, 1982)
VIC20 VIC-20 (Commodore, 1981)
VIDEOPAC Odyssey2 VideoPac (Magnavox, 1978)
VIDEOS Video Player
VMU Dreamcast VMU (Sega, 1998)
WS Bandai WonderSwan & Color (Bandai, 2000)
X68000 Sharp X68000 (Sharp, 1987)
ZXEIGHTYONE Sinclair ZX81 (Sinclair, 1981)
ZXS Sinclair ZX Spectrum (Sinclair, 1982)

Garlic supports these libretro cores as well:

Folder Name System
C128 Commodore 8-bit - vice_x128
GPSP Nintendo Game Boy Advance - gpsp
NESTOPIA NES/Famicom - nestopia
PCEIGHTYEIGHT NEC PC-8000 / PC-8800 - quasi88
PLUS4 Commodore Plus-4 vice_xplus4
UZEBOX Uzebox - uzem
XONE Sharp X1 - x1

The following cores don't appear to be supported in Garlic:

Folder Name System
C64 Commodore 64 (Commodore, 1982)
CANNONBALL Enhanced OutRun Engine
CAVESTORY Cave Story (Pixel, 2004)
DAPHNE LaserDisc Game Emulator
DUKE Duke Nukem 3D (3D Realms, 1996)
GX4000 GX4000 (Amstrad, 1990)
MGBA MGBA Emulator (Nintendo, 2001)
MSU1 Super Nintendo CD (Nintendo/Sony (1992)
OPENBOR OpenBOR (2006)
PDF PDF Reader
SM64 Super Mario 64 (Nintendo, 1996)
WOLF Wofenstein 3D (id, 1992)

/CFW/config/coremapping.json contains a JSON mapping of ROM folder to the core used, e.g.

"ARCADE": "km_mame2003_xtreme_libretro.so",

These cores are in /CFW/retroarch/.retroarch/cores.

Install new theme

Note that theme support is rather inconsistent between versions. For now, I suggest you don't install a custom theme.

Create Custom Images

Install Skraper

Click "Wizard", click "YES"

  • Enter Screenscraper Account info, click "Validate", click "NEXT"
  • Front-End Selection: GENERIC EMULATION, click "NEXT"
  • Choose root of ROM path (e.g. /Roms on SD card), click "NEXT"

Click "FINISH"

Add missing systems (due to folder naming differences)

  • Click "+"
  • Uncheck "Show Categories"
  • Under "Console" select:
    • ATARI 2600
    • ATARI 5200
    • ATARI 7800
    • GENESIS
    • MASTER SYSTEM
    • NES
    • PC-ENGINE CD-ROM
    • PLAYSTATION
    • SEGA 32X
    • SUPER NINTENDO
    • TURBOGRAFX-16
    • VIRTUAL BOY
    • WATARA SUPERVISION
    • WONDERSWAN
  • Click "OK"

Games & Front-End Tab:

Modify Games/Roms Folder for each of those systems (click on each one at a time in left panel):

e.g. "F:\Roms\NEC PC Engine CD-Rom" to "F:\Roms\PCECD"

  • ATARI 2600 : ATARI
  • ATARI 5200 : FIFTYTWOHUNDRED
  • ATARI 7800 : SEVENTYEIGHTHUNDRED
  • GENESIS : MD
  • MASTER SYSTEM : MS
  • NEC PC ENGINE : PCE
  • NEC PC-ENGINE CD-ROM : PCECD
  • NES : FC
  • PLAYSTATION : PS
  • SEGA 32X : THIRTYTWOX
  • SUPER NINTENDO : SFC
  • VIRTUAL BOY : VB
  • WATARA SUPERVISION : SUPERVISION
  • WONDERSWAN : WS

Click on "ALL SYSTEMS" (left panel)

Media Tab:

Note that 320x240 is used here, despite the native resolution being 640x480. This is done to create smaller image files which load faster.

  • Click on "MANUAL" and Click "-" (Remove)
  • Click on "IMAGES MIX"
    • Output folder: %ROMROOTFOLDER%\media\images -> %ROMROOTFOLDER%\Imgs
  • In right box, click ">" until "INTERNAL MIX" > "2 IMAGES MIX" shows.
  • Cleanup output folder before generating new medias
  • Resize width to: 320
  • Resize height to: 240
  • "Keep Image Ratio"

Click play button in button right corner, click "OK"

When complete, you can deelte the *.dat files that are in each ROM folder.

In addition, each ROM folder will have a *.Missing.Serial.txt file - this file contains ROMS that weren't known to skraper.

Tech Info

Boot Logo

On the "CFW" partition (not the "ROMS" partition) boot_logo.bmp.gz exists in the root. This is a 640x480 24-bit gzipped compressed BMP file. Replace it with a different BMP file that you've gzipped, e.g. gzip.exe --best .\boot_logo.bmp, to change the GarlicOS boot logo.

MAME mapping

/CFW/config/mame.csv is a comma-seperated list of mame rom name to friendly name, e.g.

aligator,Alligator Hunt (World, protected)

If you find that one of your MAME roms isn't showing a friendly name, it might not be in this list!

RetroArch Overlays

The images for the overlays (.png files) live in /CFW/retroarch/.retroarch/overlay.

RetroArch Directories

/CFW/retroarch/.retroarch/retroarch.cfg has paths to interesting files and folders, e.g.

content_favorites_path = ":/.retroarch/content_favorites.lpl"
content_history_directory = "/mnt/SDCARD/Saves/CurrentProfile/lists"
content_history_path = "/mnt/SDCARD/Saves/CurrentProfile/lists/content_history.lpl"
savefile_directory = "/mnt/SDCARD/Saves/CurrentProfile/saves"
savestate_directory = "/mnt/SDCARD/Saves/CurrentProfile/states"
screenshot_directory = "/mnt/SDCARD/Screenshots"

RetroArch Logs

If a game won't start, it's possible that the RetroArch logs will give you some indication why.

Logs are stored in /CFW/retroarch/.retroarch/logs/retroarch.log.

@skyzyx
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skyzyx commented Apr 1, 2023

@stijndp
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stijndp commented Aug 2, 2023

Maybe for in the RetroArch Video Settings section?

This option will give Game Boy games the colorization of the original dot matrix display.

* Start any GB game.
* Press MENU+X to open the RetroArch quick menu.
* Highlight CORE OPTIONS and press A to enter the submenu.
* Highlight GB COLORIZATION and press A to turn it on.
* Press MENU and go back into the game or back out in the RetroArch menu and select RESUME.

The standard palette will be GB - DMG. This will look much greener to our modern 32bit colour eyes than you remember it. It can be changed in the RetroArch CORE OPTIIONS submenu screen under the INTERNAL PALETTE option. Palette Special 1 is a recommendation to have the original palette with a less heavy tone of greenness.
The palettes can be cycled through from ingame with the shortcut keys L1 and R1. Similar to how a GBC playing GB games could be given different palettes.

@OrangeBull89
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theres a better video player on rg35xx.com

@pythoninthegrass
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@OrangeBull89 Haven't tested yet, but think you're referring to MPlayer right?

@simonkeng
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simonkeng commented Sep 28, 2023

Great resource thank you!

Anyone have settings.json tips? I've only seen people mention text-alignment changes to fix cover-art and titles overlapping, which I think is only a partial improvement because text-wrapping doesn't work for long game titles...right?

@Anapan8
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Anapan8 commented Feb 14, 2024

printable cheat sheet of controls
https://anapan.ca/Anapan/GarlicOS_WHITEbg.png
GarlicOS_WHITEbg

@robws
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robws commented Jun 5, 2024

rg35xx console quick reference GarlicOS Portrait drawio

Printable to save ink (B&W)

@Anapan8
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Anapan8 commented Jun 6, 2024

Printable to save ink (B&W)
Nice! Thanks!

@milnak
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Author

milnak commented Sep 19, 2024

Printable to save ink (B&W)
Nice! Thanks!

Thanks!

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