Quark v1.5.0 "Fermium"

Ok I think this is the definitive stock mod for the Smart now...

A FULL version is also available for this release, containing every non-port Gluon made as of the making of this release, installable within the Quark Burner, available for Windows and Linux, or manually.

Features

• Added a basic guest profile, with separate save files and states, screenshots, recents and favourites in both RetroArch and MainUI
• Implemented volume control for USB-C headphones
• Added the Snes9x core as a third option for SNES emulation. This should broaden netplay compatibility with other devices
  • NOTE: It is recommended to set the CPU mode to Overclock for best performance. Games that utilise Mode 7 or any enhancement chips such as SuperFX or SA-1 will not run at full speed.

Changes

• Updated RetroArch cores (mostly compiled with LTO)
• Updated Syncthing and Dropbear
• Boot logo updater now checks for valid image resolution and colour depth before proceeding
• Minor internal refactorings across the board

Fixes

• Fixed SSH root password not always being set when first enabling SSH
• Corrected Pokemon Mini game list filename for the scraper

v1.4.0 "Effusion"

Not much in the way of features for this release, but I've been mulling a little something along the way:

This release is available as an OTA update via the Quark Store, see here for instructions. Alternatively, use the Quark-v1.4.0-Updater.7z package and extract it to the root of your Quark microSD card and launch the Updater app.

A FULL version is also available, containing every non-port Gluon made as of the making of this release, installable within the Quark Burner for Windows or manually.

Features

• New Quark Light theme included, think of it as like a light mode!
  • Note: There are some visual bugs in the WiFi and Bluetooth menus as well as Device Info due to how MainUI is coded.
• Added KMFDManic's MAME 2003 Xtreme core as an alternative for MAME arcade emulation favouring performance over accuracy and with custom OST support!
• Added the Nestopia core as an alternative for NES and FDS emulation, should improve ROM hack compatibility.
• Additional global hotkeys
  • Hold SELECT+START for 10 seconds to reboot your device
  • Press SELECT + MENU + R to take a screenshot! Note that this will not work within RetroArch, please use the RetroArch screenshot hotkey instead for that case.

Changes

• Removed red title shadow from default Quark theme
• Updater packages now use Zstandard compression instead of zip, for smaller update file sizes at the same or slightly faster decompression speed
• Updater now sets CPU mode to overclock to boost processing speed
• Store cache is now removed on boot
• The RetroArch launch script will now force-disable netplay if WiFi is disabled system-wide
• TIC-80 no longer stretches to 4:3
• Updated RetroArch cores
• Some more MainUI string changes

For any support enquiries, feel free to open an issue on this GitHub repository or join our Discord server here

v1.3.1 "Absolute Dipole"

Quick fix, can be downloaded as a patch gluon, update package or release via here or the OTA store.

Fixes

• Archive unpacker not detecting any archives due to quote marks in ls command

v1.3.0 "Dipole"

New ways to update, read to the bottom for more info!

Changelog

Features

• Scrape boxarts directly to your device over WiFi using libretro's thumbnail database, no account required! See the SDCARD:/Apps/BoxartScraper/db folder for compatible systems. Press SELECT+START to exit the scraper at any time.
• Added an updater app, detecting for the presence of an update package in the root of your SD card and allowing you to update on device while keeping your saves and configs! This paves the way for OTA update distribution, which is available now for this update on Quark versions 1.1.0 and newer
• Core switching now available for Sega systems, the SNES and GBA!
  • mGBA added as an alternative GBA core, runs slower than gpSP but more accurate and compatible with games that would break under gpSP here
  • Snes9x 2005 Plus added as an alternative SNES core, has more accurate sound and support for save states across different architectures (i.e. netplay and save state sync between your Smart and a Windows PC or other ARM64 handheld)
  • Genesis Plus GX added as an option for Sega systems except for the 32X, providing higher accuracy overall

Changes

• Dingux Commander reskinned to match Quark's colour scheme
• Set CPU mode to Smart on boot, overriding preload.sh#s ondemand setting
• Changing themes will now automatically reboot your device, allowing the theme to fully load.
• Changed icon for EmuClean
• Some additional tweaks to the default theme, again huge credit to @Marcoosio101!
• Picodrive now uses 6 button pad by default for controls
• Updated RetroArch cores

Fixes

• Fixed a regression in Virtual Boy emulation performance

How to Update

Before updating, always make sure to create save files in-game (not save states) for your games - core updates may cause save state incompatibilities!

Method 1 - OTA Update

This method requires Quark v1.1.0 or newer.

1. With your Smart connected to WiFi, head to the Store. You may need to refresh, in this case press MENU and select Refresh.
2. Select the Updates category and then Quark v1.3.0 Update
3. Hit Install. The update package should download
4. Reboot your device or perform any action that restarts MainUI (i.e. launch and exit a game or app)
5. Head to Apps, then select the Quark Updater
6. Wait for your Smart to update - if any errors occur, check the logs located at SDCARD:/Updater/updater.log
7. Your device will automatically reboot. The update has completed

Method 2 - Manual Update Package

This method works with all versions of Quark

1. Download the update package Quark-v1.3.0-Updater.7z from this release
2. Extract it into the root of an existing Quark installation, insert your microSD card into your Smart and then boot.
3. Head to Apps, then select the Quark Updater
4. Wait for your Smart to update - if any errors occur, check the logs located at SDCARD:/Updater/updater.log
5. Your device will automatically reboot. The update has completed

Method 3 - Fresh Install

Make sure you have everything you need backed up from your previous install. Delete everything on your SD card (except BIOS, ROMs, saves and other user-made changes) and extract the release into the root as if you're installing fresh.

For any support inquiries, feel free to open an issue on this repo or join us on Discord here

v1.2.0 "Coulomb"

A new look for Quark has arrived!

Features

• A new look for Quark! Huge thanks to @Marcoosio101 for helping design the new default theme, with inspiration from MinUI!
• MP3 player support! Drop your 16-bit 44100Hz MP3 files into SDCARD:/Roms/MP3 and play!
  • Controls:
    • A: Pause
    • MENU: Exit
    • D-Pad Left/Right: Seek +/- 10 seconds
    • D-Pad Up/Down: Seek +/- 20 seconds
  • Different sample rates will affect the speed and pitch of playback.
• Added a new program that displays infoscreens, used for most actions (i.e. X-menu scripts, toggling network services, reboot app)

Changes

• Disabled USB storage app by default to avoid potential storage corruption
• Using separate FB Alpha 2012 cores for Capcom CPS and Neo Geo games to reduce memory usage
• Changed Mednafen Supergrafx (PCE, PCE CD-ROM, Supergrafx) core config to not crop 3 scanlines from the top, should improve scaling like it did with NES
• Lowered process priority of network services, shouldn't get as much in the way of game performance
• Refactored network services launch script to not spawn subshells for if-statements
• Updated RetroArch cores

Fixes

• Reimplemented $NET_PARAM envar for MainUI's netplay toggle in the unified launcher script. Netplay will be force-disabled for unsupported cores.
• Change GBC script names to match the rest of the systems
• Create missing SDCARD:/Roms/PORTS folder

Please make sure to back up any configuration overrides you have made yourself before updating, and most of all, we hope you enjoy this release! Also feel free to join us on Discord here
-Cobalt

v1.1.1 "Amphoteric Baryon"

A very minor fix, only changing the M3U generator script in each emu config to use the correct path.

Also available as a patch gluon for users who have already installed v1.1.0, download Quark_Patch_v1.1.1.zip and place into System/archives on your SD card and reboot.

Alternatively, to apply the fix yourself from a fresh install of v1.1.0 Baryon, enable SSH, log in to your Smart user: root, pass: quark and run the following shell command:

find /mnt/SDCARD/Emus -type f -name "config.json" | while read file; do sed -i "s|Emu/.emu_setup/m3u_generator|Emus/.emu_setup/generate_m3u|" "$file"; done

v1.1.0 "Baryon"

Meet Quark v1.1.0 Baryon - featuring some new additions that haven't been done before for this handheld!

Additions

• Patched the MainUI binary to redirect TrimUI's app store to a replacement for Quark! Now you can download gluons directly onto your device over WiFi, just go to the Store tab from MainUI! Many thanks to @ryanmsartor for setting up a subdomain and redirect that matches the character count of TrimUI's store domain
• A first for this handheld - Syncthing support, for syncing your saves with other devices! Default username/password combination is quark/quark
• Support for SSH access - username is root, password is quark
• Support for transferring files over SFTP (same user/pass as SSH) or over HTTP using dufs! User/pass combination is the same as Syncthing, quark/quark
• New game systems: TIC-80 and Nintendo Virtual Boy
• Updated RetroArch cores

Changes

• NES games now look and perform better! Disabled vertical overscan (@ryanmsartor) and using Upscale_256x-320x240 filter
• Some RetroArch notifications have been disabled by default (@ryanmsartor)
• Fast-forward and slow motion hotkeys have been changed to UP and DOWN on the D-pad respectively, so as not to conflict with the global volume control hotkeys
• Adjusted some per-system minimum CPU frequencies.
• Smart CPU up_threshold reduced from 80% usage to 75% usage
• Removed unused zoneinfo archive
• WonderSwan Color overlay used for WonderSwan (for now)
• Additional debloating of RetroArch: removed vestigial non-4:3 rgui backgrounds, as well as video filters that are just too intensive even in Overclock mode (@ryanmsartor) and audio DSP plugins that fail to load.
• Changed MAME 2003 Plus icon to libretro systematic icon
• System icons in carousel mode made slightly larger
• Made some more RetroArch menu options available, including achievements!
• Auto save/load disabled for Sega CD in Picodrive due to audio stretching

Fixes

• Missing icon for Sharp X68000 system

Please make sure to back up any configuration overrides you have made yourself before updating, and most of all, we hope you enjoy this release!
-Cobalt

v1.0.1 "Acidic Angstrom"

Quark v1.0.1 "Acidic Angstrom"

This release is little more than a very minor patch, only two things are changed:

• Fixes uae4arm audio sync for PAL games
• Fixes overlay for Pokemon Mini system

To install this patch, there are two methods:

1. (For new users) Install it as you would a fresh install of Quark
2. (For users already on v1.0.0) Drag and drop the patch gluon (Quark_Patch_v1.0.1.zip) into System/archives on your microSD card and reboot your Smart. It should extract itself and apply the changes

NOTE: retroarch.cfg will be reverted when installing the patch gluon

v1.0.0 "Angstrom" - Initial Release

Quark v1.0.0 "Angstrom"

This is the first release of Quark, a modified SD card package for the TrimUI Smart's stock operating system (not to be confused with the TrimUI Smart Pro)

Compared to TrimUI's official base package, it has...

• Smaller install size when decompressed (~130MB vs. 325MB)
• Many more systems to choose from (i.e. home computers, handhelds and ports)
• CPU profiles and emulators better optimised to balance between battery life and performance
• Updated RetroArch cores with the latest features (i.e. gpSP wireless adapter emulation, allowing for Pokemon trades and battles over WiFi)
• RetroArch hotkeys configured out of the box

Additional systems (i.e. ScummVM, Nintendo DS) and ports will become available over at the Gluons repository in the days to come. These can be installed by following the instructions in the repository's README.

Known Issues

• FPS does not show on-screen when an overlay is applied
• Auto save state disabled for RACE core due to audio glitching

I hope you enjoy this release as I have tinkering with this amazing micro device!
-Cobalt