Lakka Switch, L4T edition
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I am proud to finally release the L4T version of Lakka Switch!
New kernel, new logo, new drivers, audio... everything is fresh and clean.

Did I mention Rayman 3 was full speed on Dolphin? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

General system updates

• New Linux kernel and underlying operating system, based on Linux4Tegra and Jetson Nano drivers
  • mainline kernel has been deprecated
  • system features should now be on par with the L4T Ubuntu distribution, except for dock support
  • Bluetooth was lost in the battle and needs some rest to come back stronger
• aarch64 is now the default and mainly supported architecture
  • arm has been deprecated since L4T doesn't support it
• New logo made with the help of jaames and the R:S community

New features and improvements

• Audio now works through the internal speakers and headphones
• The new GPU driver supports both Vulkan and OpenGL
• RAM is now locked at full speed (1600Mhz), was 800MHz before
• The system is now way more stable and should boot for everyone with a decent SD card (no more black screen of death)
• RetroArch has been updated to add menu widgets (fancy onscreen notifications)
• Overclock profiles have been updated :
  • Renamed all profiles
  • Added more overclock profiles
  • Added underclock profiles

New cores

• mupen64plus-next (N64 emulator)
  • The core is full speed, even on aarch64 thanks to the new dynarec
  • Includes the updated version of the GlideN renderer
• picodrive (various Sega consoles)
  • The core replaces Genesis Plus GX (Game Gear support has been dropped)
• Beetle PSX HW (PSX emulator with OpenGL and Vulkan renderer)
  • The core performs worse than PCSX ReARMed for now, even with Vulkan
• reicast (Dreamcast emulator)
  • The core is full speed on all commercial games, no visual glitches
  • The OIT renderer works (better accuracy), speed is still good on 1x resolution
  • The core needs the Dreamcast BIOS files to be placed in /lakka/storage/system/DC
  • WinCE games are currently not supported - there is a WinCE version of the reicast core in the works but the aarch64 dynarec is too slow for the games to be playable (for now)
• Yaba Sanshiro (Saturn emulator)
  • The core is full speed on all commercial games
  • Yabause and Kronos were also added but both perform worse than Yaba Sanshiro
• theodore (Thomson MO/TO emulator)

Updated cores

• Dolphin : Vulkan support
  • With Vulkan, Dolphin runs decently - some games are playable, some are full speed... see for yourself, try it and experiment with different games and settings!
• PCSX ReARMed : Switch optimizations and CHD support
• PPSSPP : doesn't crash anymore when closing content

Removed cores

• mupen64plus
• parallel-n64
• Genesis Plus GX
• Ishiiruka
  • It might come back once the core is updated with the (beta) Vulkan renderer

Credits

• Kernel and drivers work: NVIDIA, switchroot team (especially ByLaws and langerhans)
• Lakka Switch work: natinusala and plaidman
• RetroArch, original Lakka distribution: libretro team
• mupen64plus-next: Gillou and m4xw
• PCSX ReARMed: Switch optimizations by m4xw, CHD support by aliaspider
• Dolphin core: aliaspider
• reicast core: flyinghead

Download link

The Lakka Switch website has been updated with the new version: https://lakka-switch.github.io/documentation/

Please note that you can't dual boot Ubuntu and Lakka Switch for now (it will always boot Ubuntu).

 

[Prd_T]

Sorry newbie here, May I know is there any chance to include a citra core for lakka in further update?

 

[bad361]

Yeah, swanstation works great, def the best way to emulate ps1... Except for that it uses metadata from a rom for managing save names instead of just plain title name in the playlist as all other cores do. And i have quite a lot of personal saves for my ps1 games and they all need to be renamed to work with swan core.

btw, i'm dumb, there's a core option in swanstation that lets you choose how to name saves (title/code name)...but anyway you have to rename them from .srm to .mcd (also adding "_1" at the end of each title name) to work with swan. But this ps1 core is amazing.. I'm slowly switching to lakka as my primary emulation station since it now has dock support...

 

[sj33]

Since this hasn't been properly communicated here yet - Lakka for Switch is now upstream with mainline Lakka. This means that the latest build of lakka for Switch will now always be available on the Lakka website.

Download - https://nightly.builds.lakka.tv/latest/Switch.aarch64/

Recently Added Features

-Vulkan renderer working (remember to switch to this in the Drivers menu, then restart)
-Yaba Sanshiro (Sega Saturn) now works without crashing
-Swanstation (PS1) added
-Dolphin working (requires Vulkan renderer)
-Reboot to payload working (can now reboot into hekate)
-Sleep working
-Support for Hori joycons including the Split Pad Pro

Yaba Sanshiro note
If experiencing black screen when loading Saturn games, try loading with interpreter selected in Core Options instead of dynarec, creating a save state on the title screen, switching back to dynarec and restarting, then loading save state. This is known to fix at least Fighters Megamix.

 

[tabnk]

Enabled Vulkan but Lakka 3.0 stuck in a loop

 

[bad361]

Enabled Vulkan but Lakka 3.0 stuck in a loop

everything is working, make sure to do a clean install

 

[spotanjo3]

Enabled Vulkan but Lakka 3.0 stuck in a loop

If you installed it before. Remove it and make a clean install as it said before. Only a clean install.

 

[tabnk]

Clean installed but same loop issue.

 

[tabzer]

Clean installed but same loop issue.

Are you using the latest version of Hekate?

 

[bad361]

Are you using the latest version of Hekate?

hekate has nothing to do with it, he just probably got the wrong build or something

 

[tabnk]

Hekate 5.5.6.

Load fine in GL but issue appeared when change to Vulkan and restart retroarch.

 

[tabzer]

Sorry. I don't know. I can try it to see if it works for me.

Hekate 5.5.6.

Load fine in GL but issue appeared when change to Vulkan and restart retroarch.

I think I'm getting the same issue. After turning the video driver to Vulkan and restarting, it hangs on a black screen with an x (cursor). Can't do anything but put it in sleep/wake it up.

 

[bad361]

Sorry. I don't know. I can try it to see if it works for me.



I think I'm getting the same issue. After turning the video driver to Vulkan and restarting, it hangs on a black screen with an x (cursor). Can't do anything but put it in sleep/wake it up.

yeah, sj33 just linked the latest build with problems, you have to realize that the dev makes changes on the go and sometimes things break in nightlies, there's no stable release yet.

THIS is the working build without the restarting issue. Though this one seems to have broken sound in handheld mode (but it works in dock). The newest lakka is still in testing. If you want to follow closely, join the RetroNX discord. Dev posts stuff there and explains what works, what doesn't.

 

[tabzer]

yeah, sj33 just linked the latest build with problems, you have to realize that the dev makes changes on the go and sometimes things break in nightlies, there's no stable release yet.

THIS is the working build without the restarting issue. Though this one seems to have broken sound in handheld mode (but it works in dock). The newest lakka is still in testing. If you want to follow closely, join the RetroNX discord. Dev posts stuff there and explains what works, what doesn't.

Sorry, I thought we were all talking about the same build, since @tabnk reported his issue within 45 minutes of the post.

 

[ploggy]

Is it possbile to access the rest of the Sd card from within lakka, for example I have my roms in SD/Retroarch/downloads
Is it possible to navigate here?

 

[bad361]

Is it possbile to access the rest of the Sd card from within lakka, for example I have my roms in SD/Retroarch/downloads
Is it possible to navigate here?

Yes, use the "flash" folder from lakka to get access to hos files.

 

[ploggy]

Yes, use the "flash" folder from lakka to get access to hos files.

Where's that?

 

[bad361]

Where's that?

in the root of lakka files.. its accessible when you are in lakka

 

[ploggy]

in the root of lakka files..

oof I'm blind, I see it now.. thanks mate

 

[Rahkeesh]

Is there anything special you have to do to activate docked mode? I stuck mine into an official dock and the Switch screen remains on and my TV gets no signal.

Analog-to-digital doesn't seem to do anything with the joycons? Would be nice to use the left stick for d-pad instead of tiny buttons...

 

[bad361]

Is there anything special you have to do to activate docked mode? I stuck mine into an official dock and the Switch screen remains on and my TV gets no signal.

Analog-to-digital doesn't seem to do anything with the joycons? Would be nice to use the left stick for d-pad instead of tiny buttons...

What buid did you get? the one i linked above? if so, i mistakenly linked the wrong one at first (without dock support) but then edited the link after 15 mins. Now it should be the right build with a working dock but borked sound in handheld. Other than that, dock should just work.. The only thing now is that RA restarts each time you dock-undock so make sure not to touch it when its saving something cause it might corrupt your lakka install.

Analog to digital works for me, idk, just mess with the input settings, try rebinding or something.