M8 Headless on the R36S with download links

Download link:

For version 1.3 and up there is no need to uncompress it first.

You can find and change gamepad and other settings related to m8c or i3 in the /boot partition in a folder called "m8c-settings"

❗❗❗If you experience latency after starting your device. Put it in standby mode by pressing the power button and wake it up again. Your device will appear unresponsive for a couple of seconds, but after a short wait it should work fine.❗❗❗

Controls:
D-pad = Navigation
B = Edit
A = Options
Y or L2 = Shift
X or R2 = Play
R3 + Up or Down = Brightness Up or Down
FN + Select = Shutdown

Headphone problems with the R36S? This adapter might solve it;

Changelog:

v1.6 - updated m8c to version 1.7.8
- added support for analog sticks in m8c

v1.5 - updated m8c to version 1.7.6
- removed support for analog sticks in m8c

v1.4 - updated m8c to version 1.7.1

v1.3 - lowered latency even further
- cleaned up the status bar & added battery status (FN button)
- shrunk the image to 4GB (908MB compressed)
- doesn't expand filesystem anymore after first boot.
- pavucontrol doesn't start at boot as default
- added settings folder with symlinks to m8c and i3 configs in /boot partition

v1.2 - we don't talk about version 1.2

v1.1 - lowered buffer size from 1024 to 256

older versions:

A very special thanks to:

and to the creators of:
and the entire foss linux community.

[wildrogue]

Really cool! Amazing how many super affordable hand held devices there are now.

[bt]

You're a legend! This is awesome, thanks so much for sharing your work. 👍

[HightechLowlife-rx]

holy crap ! ver nice work, i may finaly try the M8

[titaniumshell]

This is awesome, just waiting for my r36s to arrive from Aliexpress (£32 delivered). I'm currently running M8 on an rg351v but I have the bad mono audio headphone out version so it's no good for click syncing.

[hectorllanquin]

Hey thanks for this, just tried the setup and works flawlessly but im not quite sure how to bring the audio setup window, can you explain this? im trying to do what i see you doing in the screen but im not getting there

[mrgsfc]

the current download source for your arkm8c img has quota exceeded, is it possible to host it elsewhere?

[DavideBertola]

do you think it works on the rg35xx plus as well ? it does not have the analog sticks

[amunro]

I've just tried this on my r36s. Installed really seemlessly, but when connecting to the teensy I get significant delay when playing sound, like 500-1000ms. Any ideas what could cause this? Im just using the stock card that came with the device so might try a faster memory card...

[jasonb_]

Hi thanks A LOT. I’m using this image and having a lot of fun. One question, how can I get a WiFi driver added to it? I’m not sure if the image has enough stuff installed to build one from source

[UnafraidCookie]

Thank you so much! Would it be possible that you create a guide on how to update the m8c version on arkm8c?

[Vospi]

I wonder: can you run version 4 of the headless on that? Cause I have on complaints on my device (another Anbernic) apart from that.

[gregoryhutto]

Any chance you could do a tutorial on how you made the image/custom fw? I have a RG353v, and I can’t get it to work. I finally have up to date M8C on ArkOS, but I’m not getting audio. There’s no way I can see to manage audio I/O. The image you shared doesn’t seem to be compatible with my device, either.

[msdisappoint]

do you happen to have a list of the controls? like which buttons emulate which

[chrisswanonline]

Great video! I've recently done this and am loving m8 so far. My only real issue is that i have pretty severe hissing when plugging in (decent) headphones. Did you find the same, or is that issue unique to me?

[willywerner]

Woo, great work man ! and thanks for sharing. Everything is smooth with this setup ?

[redbirdsaraceno]

i follow the steps listed and flash the file to my sd but after i install in my rg351v it doesn’t show that particular sd card at all anywhere but with my to other operating system sd cards and my memory sd card they all show up fine . The sd card appears to be flashed correctly as it shows the files are on it when it’s plugged in my mac . i couldn’t get m8 headless to work on my ark os sd card either so maybe im just doing the steps wrong but my m8 headless tinsie works fine on my mac and pc laptops . im just never able to get it to work on my anbernic rg351v ever for some reason.

[x]

Is it possible to have the Teensy inside the unit so that you don't have to use a cable and expose the Teensy?

[jasonb_]

HI Again, thanks for your image - I was almost able to get it running on a K36 device (kind of r36 clone which is locked to a specific kernel) it was a pain in the arse and have spent way too many days on it :D I got it running but the sound wasn't working unfortunately - I was wondering how you configured the audio, I found the jack script in home folder, but I couldn't get it to connect to jack server - not sure if it's using pulseaudio or just alsa - any tips? thanks!

[qebo_a.retsis]

Hey everyone! I just got a R36S, installed everything with success and M8 tracker is now running. Excellent guide!

However, after M8 tracker runs, no button from the gamepad is working and I don't know how to edit the config file exactly; how to edit the key bindings? How do the numbers work exactly?

Thank you in advance!

[surrealchemist]

I had a bit of a trouble getting the image, and then after I finally got it I got a black screen when it booted. Turns out there are different versions of the hardware in these things. I had to copy the rk3326 file from the stock sd card and swap it out with the one in the image before booting. It seems to be working ok. The brightness seems kind of low is all. Not sure how to fix that. I wonder if this runs any better on any other OS.