When it launched, the TrimUI Smart Pro was an intriguing device, offering a bit of competition to Retroid’s Pocket 3. However, the biggest difference is that the Smart Pro runs on a custom Linux interface as opposed to Android.
Unfortunately, the “stock” interface leaves much to be desired, while also not being quite as optimized as one would hope. Thankfully, as the price started to drop, it landed in the hands of more developers. Now, you can install Knulli on the TrimUI Smart Pro, which introduces quite a few improvements to go along with a familiar interface.
Set Up Knulli on TrimUI Smart Pro
- Download the Knulli build from the GitHub page.
- Plug your microSD card into your PC.
- Extract the Knulli Build.
- Open your USB formatting utility of choice. Here are a few recommendations:
- Flash your microSD card by selecting the Knulli Disc Image that just extracted.
- After the card is finished being flashed, remove it from your PC.
- Insert the card into your TrimUI Smart Pro.
- Wait for it to finish booting.
You might have noticed when the card is finished being flashed that you can’t actually add any of your ROMs or other files. It’s just a bug that will be squashed eventually, but you aren’t out of luck.
- From your TrimUI Smart Pro, press the Start button.
- Scroll down and select System Settings.
- Locate and select Frontend Developer Options under the Advanced section.
- Scroll down and select Format a Disk under the Tools section.
- Change File System to EXFAT.
- Select Format Now.
- Reboot your TrimUI Smart Pro.
If you reboot but you are stuck on the Knulli boot screen for more than a few minutes, just press and hold the Power button until the screen turns off. Then, press and hold the Power button to turn it back on.
After the Smart Pro is done booting, go ahead and turn it back off again. Then, remove the microSD card, plug it into your PC, and transfer all of your ROMs and corresponding BIOS files. Plug it back into your Smart Pro, and voila! You’ll have Knulli up and running on the TrimUI Smart Pro!
Pico-8 on TrimUI Smart Pro via Knulli
- Purchase Pico-8 from the Lexaloffle website.
- Download the Raspberry Pi file.
- Unzip the downloaded file.
- Delete the pico8 file.
- Rename pico8_64 to pico8.
- Create a new folder and name it pico-8.
- Place the new folder in the following directory: userdata/bios/
- Upload the pico8, pico8_dyn, pico8_gpio, and pico8.dat files to the newly created folder.
- Create a new text file on your computer.
- Copy and paste the following into the file:
- <?xml version=“1.0” encoding=“UTF-8”?> <systemList> <system> <name>pico8</name> <emulators> <emulator name=“lexaloffle”> <cores> <core default=“true”>pico8_official</core> </cores> </emulator> <emulator name=“libretro”> <cores> <core>retro8</core> </cores> </emulator> </emulators> </system> </systemList>
- Name the file es_systems_pico8.cfg
- Move the .cfg file to the following location:
- /userdata/system/configs/emulationstation/
- Place the microSD card into your TrimUI Smart Pro, and turn it on.
As it turns out, Windows likes to do things and change files when it shouldn’t. As pointed out by the Knulli devs, this means that the Pico-8 file permissions might have been changed.
- From your computer, make sure you have an SSH client installed, such as PuTTY.
- On your Smart Pro, connect it to Wi-Fi.
- Make note of the Hostname under Network Settings.
- Go back to the main Settings screen and select System Settings.
- Scroll down and select Security.
- Make note of the Root Password.
- Open your SSH client on your computer.
- SSH into your TrimUI Smart Pro using the Hostname and Root Password.
- Enter the following command:
- chmod +x /userdata/bios/pico-8/pico8
- Restart EmulationStation.
- From the main screen, navigate to, and open, the Pico-8 category.
- Press the Select button.
- Select Advanced System Options.
- Make sure that Emulator is highlighted.
- Use the D-Pad to cycle through the options until LEXALOFFLE: PICO8 OFFICIAL is selected.
- Scroll down until Back is highlighted and press A.
Knulli Quick Tips
There’s a lot to like about Knulli, as it’s becoming available for a wide variety of devices. Needless to say, seeing Knulli on the TrimUI Smart Pro is quite a welcome surprise. Below, we’ve rounded up a few other tips and tricks to help you get Knulli on the TrimUI Smart Pro setup to your liking.
Connect to Wi-Fi
- From the Main Screen, press the Start button.
- Scroll down and select Network Settings.
- Toggle Enable WiFi.
- Enter your Wi-Fi Network (SSID) and Password (Key).
- Highlight and select the Back button.
Set Up RetroAchievements
- Make sure that you’ve already created a RetroAchievements account.
- From the Main Screen, press the Start button.
- Highlight and select Game Settings.
- Scroll down and select RetroAchievement Settings.
- Toggle the RetroAchievements switch.
- Enter your username and password.
Install PortMaster
- Navigate to the Ports category.
- Select the Install.PortMaster script and let it run.
- After it’s finished running, open PortMaster.
- Download and Ports that you want to play.
- If installing a title that is not “Ready to Run,” follow the PortMaster instructions to locate and gather the appropriate files.
- Place the necessary files in roms/ports on your microSD card.
Add Artwork for Games via Scraper
- Press the Start button.
- Scroll down and select Scraper.
- Use the D-Pad and select either TheGamesDB or ArcadeDB.
- Open Scraper Settings and make any necessary changes.
- Make any changes to the Filters section.
- Highlight and select Scrape Now.
Change Emulator or Core for Specific Games
- Navigate to the game listing.
- Press and hold the A button.
- Scroll down and select Advanced Game Options.
- Make sure that Emulator is highlighted.
- Use the D-Pad to cycle through the options.
Remove Console Bezels
- Navigate to the console.
- Press the Select button.
- Scroll down and choose Advanced System Options.
- Highlight and select Decorations.
- Make sure that Decoration Set is highlighted.
- Use the D-Pad to cycle through the options until you see None.
- Make any other preferred changes.
- Scroll down until Back is highlighted and press A.
Up the Performance
- Navigate to the console or game.
- Press and hold the A button.
- Scroll down and select Advanced Game Options.
- Make sure that Power Mode is highlighted.
- Use the D-Pad to cycle through the options until you see High Performance.
Install Knulli Updates
- Make sure the TrimUI Smart Pro is connected to the internet.
- From the main screen, press the Start button.
- Highlight and select Updates & Downloads.
- Select Start Update.
In the event that you are running into issues and want to manually install updates, here’s how:
- From your computer, download the latest release from the Knulli Downloads page.
- Make sure you download the TrimUI Smart Pro image.
- Extract the downloaded ZIP file.
- Insert your microSD card into your computer.
- Navigate to the BATOCERA partition on your microSD card.
- Open the boot folder.
- Replace the boot/batocera file with the boot/batocera.update file from the extracted ZIP file.
- Put your microSD card back into your TrimUI Smart Pro and turn it on.
- The update will automatically begin installing.
What Did We Miss?
When you dive into the Settings of Knulli on the TrimUI Smart Pro, it won’t take long to see that there’s a lot to customize. That’s part of what makes Knulli so great, and why we immediately installed it as soon as the first alpha version became available.
Drop us a comment if there’s something that you’re stuck on, or need help with!
Purchase the TrimUI Smart Pro from AliExpress.
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