Powkiddy RGB30 Setup Guide

Recommended Accessories

  • Samsung 128GB – for the second slot for an SD card.
  • SanDisk 64GB – Regarding the initial SD card slot.
  • UGREEN SD Card Reader – Excellent choice for an SD card reader.
  • HDMI Out: UGREEN HDMI to Mini HDMI Cable (an HDMI cable is still required)

What is ArkOS?

In this tutorial, we'll install ArkOS, a customized firmware for the RGB30. ArkOS has a strong community and a far better operating system than the one with the device.

Before we begin, you must always have a high-quality, branded SD card and reader. The device's stock SD card should be thrown away rather than used. This also applies to the ROM SD card; if you are here after purchasing the device, discard it, and if you are here before, do not purchase it. In addition, these SD cards are low-quality and unbranded, which makes them more likely to malfunction. The ROMS have numerous problems and are of poor quality. One major issue that irritates Pokemon lovers is the inability to store progress. I'll also teach you how to locate ROMs in the most subtle way possible. Whether you want to use a single SD card or two will determine the quality of the SD card and reader. The 128GB SD card mentioned above is the ideal choice if you want one, but if you're using two cards, a 64GB card and the same card for ROMs make a fantastic combo. It's up to you whether you want one or two SD cards; if you're on a tight budget, use one.

A suitable, branded SD card reader is also required. These choices are all directly above.

ROMs & BIOS Library

Your BIOS library and ROM are the final things you need. You can download a ROM pack called the Tiny Best Set if all you want is an extensive list of games, which you can then choose which ones to play. A comprehensive, carefully selected list of BIOS files and ROMs is included with this bundle. For convenience, you should download the following filenames on a 128GB card: tiny-best-set-go-games.zip + tiny-best-set-go-expansion-64-games.zip + tiny-best-set-go-expansion-128-games.zip. Don't worry about that too much; we can obtain the artwork by scraping it in ArkOS. After extracting all those zip files to one location, you should have several BIOS and ROM folders. You will be responsible for finding other venues using Google, Reddit, or other resources if you desire more than what is offered in this package.

PICO-8

Pico-8 rooms, part of ROMS, are USD 14.99 if you want them. I'll demonstrate how to obtain these first, and then how to add them afterwards. Click the download button after visiting the Pico-8 page at lexaloffle.com/pico-8.php. Select "Get Pico-8." All you have to do now is check out, so enter your email, pay using PayPal, Amazon, or your credit card, and proceed. An email stating that your Pico-8 order is ready will be sent to you; click the link to access a page where you can download your products. The necessary zip file should be downloaded after selecting the Linux tab and pressing the Raspberry button.

These are the files required to get Pico-8 operating. We may obtain a Picowesome collection from Reddit for games like the Tiny Best Set. All we need to do now is click the download link.

All right, your ROMS, BIOS files, SD card, and SD card reader are ready to use. Let's proceed.

Software Needed

The two pieces of software that we require are Rufus and 7-Zip. Visit the Rufus.ie website to download the portable Rufus tool. This will assist us in formatting our SD card as FAT32, particularly if it is larger than 32GB. To prevent problems, use Rufus instead. Download the exe that corresponds to your Windows version—likely the 64-bit version—from the 7-Zip website.

We will also get the RGB30 image from the ArkOS Wiki. Get it via the Mega link or GDrive. After downloading it, extract the zip file using 7-Zip. Remember to extract it; we need the picture file within.

Imaging with Rufus

Use the SD card reader to connect your SD card to the computer. For the people doing two cards, this is for the operating system card.

Please verify that the device indicated in Rufus is the SD card you connected; it should be the same size as the disk. Click Select on the right, then pick the image file by navigating to the folder you extracted from the ArkOS package. Click Start and leave everything else as it is. Click yes to any popups.

Check on some loved ones; this will take some time.

From now on, when you place the image on the SD card, you will see Windows popups stating that the card is not formatted, that there are partition issues, or something similar. Ignore all that; if you format the card after all of this, you will have to start over. Windows doesn't know how to manage a FAT32 card.

Once Rufus is done, you can safely eject the card using the taskbar. Then, you want to put it into the TF-OS slot in your device while it's powered off. Next, turn the gadget on. Don't do anything and let it do its thing; it will reboot twice.

You will know you are ready when you see the EmulationStation menu. Push Start, go to quit, and shut down the system. 

We must now upload our BIOS and ROMS files. The following stage will determine whether you use the one-card or two-card methods. The one-card method can skip this next part, as I will show you how to get a second card working. 

Two-Card Method Only

Connect your second SD card to your computer using the SD card reader. Please verify that the device indicated in Rufus is the SD card you connected; it should be the same size as the disk. Now select Non-bootable under boot selection. Next, verify that the file system is FAT32 or Large FAT32 by looking toward the bottom. Click Start. To get started, click "yes" to all of the cautions that may appear about partitions, data, etc. Your second SD card will be formatted as FAT32 and should be speedy. After it's finished, safely eject the card and place it in slot TF-GAME. With the device turned off, ensure the OS card is also in TF-OS. After turning the device on, select the Options tab Advanced and SWITCH TO SD2 FOR ROMS. After that, the folder structures for the second SD card are set up, and we are ready to go. Press the start button, select Quit, and shut down the system.

Both Methods

If you have a single or dual card, plug your SD card back into your computer. If using the two-card technique, use the second SD card for ROMS. If you're using the single card technique, you should notice an EASYROMS partition in File Explorer. Navigate to there. Otherwise, if this is your second SD card labelled to whatever you previously configured in Rufus, all you'll see are ROM folders. If not, assign a letter to that partition by opening disk management. At this point, these are the platform folders where you can store your BIOS and ROMS. You should now take your BIOS and ROMS files from the Tiny Best Set collection that we previously obtained and place them in the appropriate location. The folder names don't match many, so move the ROM files from the Tiny Best Set folders to the appropriate spot on the EASYROMS partition. The emulator page on the ArkOS wiki will tell you which platform is which, along with the proper file types and BIOS required for each platform if you need help figuring it out.

In case you are interested in Pico-8, you should unpack the zip file we downloaded and transfer the Pico8, Pico8_dyn, and Pico8.dat files from the Lexaloffle website to the Pico-8 roms folder on your SD card. After that, extract the Picowesome zip file, take everything from the Picowesome Pico8 folder, and place it all in the carts folder in the SD card's Pico-8 ROMs folder. Go ahead and replace any files that are requested.

After transferring all that, safely detach your card and replace it with the device turned off. When using two cards, the operating system card must always be in slot TF1 for the computer to boot up correctly, and your game card should be in slot two.

All your games should be installed and operational when you turn the device on.

Artwork

However, let's post some artwork here. In the settings, advanced section, turn on your wifi. After it sends you back, return it here and select wifi. After configuring your wifi, press Start to return to the main emulationstation menu. Proceed to Scraper. You should now create an account on the screenscraper website, then return here and fill out the necessary information. The remaining choices are up to me; I'll turn off ratings and videos as I don't need or want them. Box 2D is used as the picture source for real box art. When you're prepared, click "Scrape now." You can choose which systems to scrape or the entire system. When you're ready, click "Start," and I'll take care of the rest.

Retro Achievements

Enabling Retro Achievements is another thing to demonstrate. For those who don't know, old games include achievements, which is fantastic. Thus, we want that functionality. We'll need your login and password, so if you still need one, go to the Retroachievements website and create one. When you select Retroarch from the device's main menu, two instances of Retroarch will appear. The steps are the same, and we must log in on both. Launch one, select Settings > Achievements > Enable Achievements, and then fill in each field with your account and password. Next, return to the main Retroarch menu, select Configuration, and then select Save Configuration. Then give up retroarch. For Retroarch32, repeat these instructions once more.

Button Mapping

About research, I should be aware of a few parameters that aren't enabled. First, for some reason, fast-forward isn't mapped. To fix this, let's go to settings, input, and hotkeys, choose the fast-forward toggle, and set it to R2. Additionally, let's set the display FPS to Y. Because SELECT is our hotkey button; we must press SELECT + these hotkeys to activate these actions. To avoid having to press start+select twice to end a game, back out one menu and disable confirm quit. Let's go back out and start saving now. Enable autosave state if you would like Arkos to do so, as it does not now do so when you quit.

Similarly, when you load a game, the save state is not loaded automatically; if you like that, you can enable it. I desire both. To return to the main Retroarch menu, back out twice. Then, select a setting and save the current setting. After quitting Retroarch, follow these identical instructions again for the other version of Retroarch.

Themes

Press Start from the Arkos main menu, then UI settings, and you'll see a list of themes. If you want to alter your theme, go to the Arkos Wiki for information on how to add more.


Remote Services

Go to settings and turn on remote services to load your games from a distance. Next, enter that IP address in any web browser connected to a local network. Lowercase "ark" is the default password and username for both. You can now do everything you want with the files on the ROM card, including uploading, downloading, and deleting them. This is incredibly helpful for adding games to your device from a distance.

Updating ArkOS

Finally, how is ArkOS updated? It's straightforward. After selecting Options, you scroll down to Update. When you click it, a warning about the script not terminating will appear; click okay, and then you must write okay. After that, put it down and let it update.

Now, start playing games and enjoy yourself. That's all you need to accomplish for everyday use, which was the guide's primary focus. Once you're up and going, everything is at your discretion.