Customize a retro handheld gaming console with Onion OS
Gaming Upgrade
© Lead Image © file404, 123RF.com
Adding custom firmware to a handheld gaming device enhances your gaming experience and lets you write custom apps. We show you how with Onion OS on a Miyoo Mini Plus.
The Miyoo Mini Plus [1] and Anbernic [2] family of handheld gaming consoles offer a wide range of retro gaming options. These consoles start around $50, and they have emulators for all the major old-school gaming platforms. The handheld hardware comes in several different form factors, but they all run Linux under the hood (Figure 1).
While the firmware that ships with these consoles locks you into a fairly limited interface, you can find custom firmware that offers some enhanced functions and usability features. For the RG35XX/RG40XX hardware, some of the custom firmware choices include Knulli [3] and muOS [4], with GarlicOS [5] being extremely popular on RG35XX units. For the Miyoo handhelds, Onion OS [6] is the most commonly used custom firmware.
In this article, I'll introduce Onion OS and show you how to access its Linux features. To showcase Onion OS's ability to handle custom apps, I'll finish up with two shell scripts that display internal and then remote Raspberry Pi data on the Miyoo Mini Plus screen.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
US / Canada
UK / Australia
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Linux Mint 22.2 Beta Available for Testing
Some interesting new additions and improvements are coming to Linux Mint. Check out the Linux Mint 22.2 Beta to give it a test run.
-
Debian 13.0 Officially Released
After two years of development, the latest iteration of Debian is now available with plenty of under-the-hood improvements.
-
Upcoming Changes for MXLinux
MXLinux 25 has plenty in store to please all types of users.
-
A New Linux AI Assistant in Town
Newelle, a Linux AI assistant, works with different LLMs and includes document parsing and profiles.
-
Linux Kernel 6.16 Released with Minor Fixes
The latest Linux kernel doesn't really include any big-ticket features, just a lot of lines of code.
-
EU Sovereign Tech Fund Gains Traction
OpenForum Europe recently released a report regarding a sovereign tech fund with backing from several significant entities.
-
FreeBSD Promises a Full Desktop Installer
FreeBSD has lacked an option to include a full desktop environment during installation.
-
Linux Hits an Important Milestone
If you pay attention to the news in the Linux-sphere, you've probably heard that the open source operating system recently crashed through a ceiling no one thought possible.
-
Plasma Bigscreen Returns
A developer discovered that the Plasma Bigscreen feature had been sitting untouched, so he decided to do something about it.
-
CachyOS Now Lets Users Choose Their Shell
Imagine getting the opportunity to select which shell you want during the installation of your favorite Linux distribution. That's now a thing.