I recently bought a Retroid Pocket Mini v2. One of the main reasons behind my purchase was the availability of a Linux custom firmware, and that the custom firmware in question, ROCKNIX, had the best Xbox emulation available outside x86 devices.
However, the path to emulating more modern systems never seems to run smoothly, and in this case, it turned out that, out of the box, the RP Mini v2 isn’t compatible with ROCKNIX. Trying to load ROCKNIX on the device leads to an unreadable menu screen. If somehow, through luck or judgment, the right option for the v2 is selected, ROCKNIX will load, but with the image upside down.
Image taken from the Rocknix Wiki
Luckily, the wonderful maintainers at the ROCKNIX Wiki were aware of the incompatibility and had already worked out the root cause: Retroid shipped the Mini v2 with an incompatible bootloader, to which they designed a fix. Unfortunately for me, following their steps as written on their website didn’t work.
After taking some time to think about Android bootloaders (I used to install CyanogenMod and LineageOS on my old Android phones), I realized the ROCKNIX developers likely had software on their PCs that I didn’t have. Eventually, I worked out exactly what was needed to get everything working.
The following instructions are a combination of those written on the ROCKNIX Wiki and my own work, and are designed to be as simple to follow as possible, so that anyone who may have this problem in the future can easily fix it.
What You’ll Need
In addition to your RP Mini v2, you will need the following items:
- A PC running Windows
- A good quality USB cable (A->C or C->C both work). If there’s any doubt about what counts as a good USB cable, the one included in the box with the RP Mini is a fine choice.
- A microSD Card with the ROCKNIX image installed
Step 1: Install .NET Framework 3.5
Step 1 is easy – install the .NET Framework 3.5 from the Microsoft website: link here
This is its own step purely because of how long the installation will take. No matter how long you expect this installation to take, it will take much, much longer than that. Maybe start the installation, then make a meal or get your daily exercise or whatever…but trust me, you will be surprised how horrifically long this takes.
Step 2: Preparing the image file for installation
If all Goes Well, the Platform-Tools folder should look like this
Reflashing the bootloader requires the use of the Android SDK Platform Tools. This is contained in a ZIP file, which can be downloaded here.
Within the zip file is a folder called “platform-tools”; this folder needs to be copied to the Downloads folder on the PC. It’s important to make sure the folder and the contents are all extracted from the zip and copied.
Once that is complete, the bootloader image, which will be flashed, needs to be downloaded. This file can be downloaded here. Once the file is downloaded, it needs to be copied into the “platform-tools” folder, which has just been moved to the PC’s Downloads folder
Step 3:Put the Retroid Pocket Mini V2 in Fastboot mode
When The Screen Show This, It Is In Fastboot Mode
In order to flash the Mini, we need to put it in what’s called “Fastboot Mode”. To do this, we need to fully switch off the RP Mini. From the standard Android home screen, we need to fully switch off the Mini. This involves holding down the power button until the power menu is displayed, then selecting “Power Off”; choosing the restart options won’t work in this instance.
When the device is fully powered off, it needs to be powered on, but with the Volume Down button held down. If this is done correctly, a menu screen should be displayed, rotated 90 degrees, and with “Recovery” written in red text at the top. When this menu is visible, the device is in Fastboot mode. The Mini should now be connected to the PC using the USB cable.
Step 4: Install The Required Fastboot Drivers
In an ideal world, the PC would recognise the Mini automatically; however, the required drivers aren’t installed and aren’t available through Windows Update.
While there may be other ways to find the correct drivers, I like to use a tool called “Latest ADB Fastboot and USB driver installer tool“. This is a tool that will scan the Android devices connected to your PC. This tool requires the installation of the .NET Framework from Step 1, so make sure that it has been completed before proceeding. As well as the installation of the .NET framework, the RP Mini needs to be put into fastboot mode and connected via USB cable, as per Step 3.
One thing to make everyone aware of is that the tool displays some inoffensive religious messages on screen during installation. They’re not to my taste, but they’re nothing significant. I just mentioned them in case anyone is particularly sensitive to them.
The tool can be downloaded from here, and once downloaded, it should be launched.
Step 5: Flashing the Bootloader Image
All that’s left to do is flash the image. This needs to be done from the command line.
To open a command line window, type “cmd” in the Windows search bar. Once it’s open, type the following 3 commands into the window. Remember to press Return after each line.
cd Downloadscd platform-toolsfastboot flash loader u-boot-sm8250-retroidpocket-rpminiv2.img
Step 6: SUCCESS
Once the flashing has finished, all that’s left is to boot into ROCKNIX. To get out of the fastboot menu, select the option to reboot: Use the Volume Up & Down buttons to navigate the menu and push the Power button to select.
The Mini should boot into Android. In order to get into ROCKNIX, hold down the power button to get into the power menu, then select reboot, then (while the device is rebooting) hold down the volume up button.
The first thing displayed by ROCKNIX will be a list of all the supported Snapdragon 865 devices, such as the RP5, Flip 2, etc. Again, using the volume up/down to select and power to select, the correct “Retroid Pocket Mini v2” option needs to be selected.
And that’s it. Enjoy ROCKNIX.
Bonus Tip: Automatically Booting to Rocknix
Click the power button when you see this screen to boot straight to Rocknix
As I mentioned, I bought my RP Mini v2 predominantly to be a Linux machine; I’ll use other devices when I want to use Android. Because of this, it suits me to set up the Mini to boot into ROCKNIX directly. If you’d like to do the same, these are the instructions:
First, put the Mini back into Fastboot mode: switch the device off fully, then switch it back on while holding down the Volume Up button. You may recognise the rotated screen showing “Recovery” in red text at the top of the menu from Step 3. When this is on screen, use the volume up and down buttons to move about the menu until “Boot Option” is highlighted in Orange. Once this is highlighted, use the power button to select it.
And that’s it, the Mini will now boot to ROCKNIX. Choosing this option is not without its disadvantages. You’ll find it’s now impossible to switch off the device using the power button; holding it down will just cause it to reboot. In order to actually switch it off, you’ll need to hit start on the EmulationStation menu and go to QUIT -> SHUTDOWN SYSTEM.
But other than that, it’s now primarily a ROCKNIX device to enjoy.
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