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Updating KNULLI

If you want to update KNULLI, you usually have three options:

  • Use the built-in OTA (over the air) feature to update your running KNULLI installation
  • Re-flash KNULLI to get a clean installation of the new version
  • Manually update KNULLI by replacing the boot package

OTA Updates

OTA requires a working internet connection

Devices without wi-fi capability will not be able to install OTA updates since they require KNULLI to retrieve the update from the internet!

Before you attempt to re-flash or update manually, you might want to verify whether the update you are looking for is available via OTA (over the air):

  • Press Start to bring up the main menu
  • Go to Updates & Downloads
  • Make sure Check For Updates is enabled to receive info about new KNULLI versions right after boot
  • Set Update Type to Stable (Alpha and Development are currently restricted to developers and alpha testers only!)
  • Press Start Update to check for updates
  • If an update is available, follow the instructions on screen
  • Updates may take a moment - if you are low on battery, we strongly suggest to connect to a power source before beginning to update
  • DO NOT interrupt the device while an update is running, DO NOT try to play a game or do anything else while an update is running - just wait!

Alpha updates

For regular users, only stable updates are available right now. Access to alpha updates is limited to KNULLI alpha testers. If you are interested in becoming an alpha tester, please have a look at the Contribute section.

Major Updates

Major KNULLI updates (e.g., the update from 20240721 to Firefly) require a full re-flash of the KNULLI CFW and a full reset of all your settings. Consequently, major KNULLI updates purposely do not come with a boot package. If you want to install a major KNULLI update, we strongly recommend to create a backup of your userdata folder before you re-flash. Furthermore, if you run a Dual-SD-Card setup, you must remove your system folder from your userdata folder so that KNULLI can create a new one with all the new default settings. Once the new KNULLI version is up and running, you will be able to restore the backup by putting all your files back.

If you need more help installing a major update, have a look at our Major Updates Guide.

The system folder

After a major update, please do not restore the system folder from your previous installation. If you know what you are doing, you can cherry-pick certain settings (e.g., remap files). However, you should be aware that major updates sometimes have options added, removed, or renamed. Relying on your old settings is extremely likely to cause problems.

Minor Updates

OTA Updates

Batocera supports OTA (over-the-air) updates which can be executed directly from the EmulationStation GUI. Consequently, KNULLI also shows the OTA update menu. However, currently, we do not have OTA servers set up, yet. Until we do, we kindly ask you to update your KNULLI installation manually.

KNULLI can be updated by downloading the boot package for your device and replacing the batocera file manually.

  1. Download the latest boot package for your device from our Releases page by following these steps:
    • Scroll to the bottom of the latest release to find it's Assets list.
    • Identify the boot package for your respective device by making sure
      • it contains the device name (e.g., rg35xx-h for the Anbernic RG35XX-H).
      • it ends with boot.gz, boot.xz,boot.tar.gz, or boot.tar.xz.
      • it has a size of approx. 1.5-2.0 GB.
    • If you have any questions you can check the Device Support section to confirm which image you should download for your specific device.
  2. Extract the data from the compressed file (e.g. with 7-Zip).
    • Be aware that a package that ends in tar.gz or tar.xz contains a compressed file within a compressed file, so you might need to first take the tar file out of the gz/xz file before you can extract the contents of the tar file.
  3. Insert your KNULLI SD card into the SD card reader of your computer.
  4. Replace the file boot/batocera on the BATOCERA partition of your SD card with the file boot/batocera.update from the file you downloaded by following these steps:
    • Delete the existing batocera file or rename the current batocera file (e.g. to batocera.bak) if you want to keep it, e.g., to be able to downgrade to the previous KNULLI version again. (If you still have a backup of a previous KNULLI version, you might want to delete this now to make some room.)
    • Copy batocera.update you extracted from the boot package to the boot folder on the batocera drive of your SD card.
    • Rename batocera.update to batocera.
  5. Reboot the device, and the update will begin automatically.

Re-creating default settings

Usually, minor KNULLI updates will NOT require you to re-create neither a single configuration file nor your entire system folder. However, in VERY rare cases it might be required to adapt your configuration to new KNULLI default settings. In those cases, the easiest way is to reset to factory settings, either by re-creating single files or sometimes the entire system folder. You can learn more about it in the Reset to factory settings section, however, do NOT do this, unless you are absolutely sure it is required!