I decided to try Batocera on the Coolbaby RS18 (same OS and UI as the Powkiddy A12/13/X2),
This will also work on the Powkiddy X2..but as I mention below,with some issues.
I flashed the latest dev build of the X12/13 version
The dev build is supposed to add a mem swap feature where you can use part of the storage space as a type of RAM or virtual memory so as to speed the system up a little.at least thats my take on it but I couldnt find anything in settings to test that out.What did I miss?
First,Batocera wont detect the joyticks,so only dpad works. Wont detect the L2 and R2 of the RS18 either .Obviously intended for the X13 so thats why Im sure.And when you power down the device it doesnt shutdown properly,the screen goes off but the little power light is on so you gotta put a pin in the reset hole.Its the same on the X2 cause theres a korean guy on yt that did a vid on this too.
Anyway,forget Dreamcast Atomiswave etc.to slow.. N64 some work but theres an issue with movement,only seems to work in one direction so for now cause of that forget N64.
Most PSP to slow but a few will actually run fine but in 1x but on a 7″ screen obviously 1x doesnt look great.
PS1 works fine as it does in the native OS.It gives you a choice of Libretro Swanstation,Mednafen and PCSX-Rearmed. Swan and Mednafen run slow only PCSX-Rearmed works well. Some games you can use the enhanced res option too,but you’d have to test and set that on a per game basis and if you use a shader it may impact performance too. But all the usual 8bit and 16bit consoles work fine. FBNeo the few I tested worked fine but some Mame titles didnt.,even MK1 arcade for eg..to slow.Changing the display res.no shaders or bezels didnt help for that either.
But the good thing is if you use Batocera on it at least you have the option to add more systems (simpler systems) that the default OS doesnt have.
But you do have the limit of the joystick not working,only dpad and the power off issue.
Anyway,just thought Id share my experimentation findings 😁