Radxa Zero

Some manual steps are required to install custom operating systems onto the Radxa Zero. You will need a computer with Python 3 (with PIP3) installed with a live environment running.

This involves editing the eMMC, however only the bootloader will be flashed onto it. Batocera will be flashed onto the micro-SD card.

1. Flash Batocera onto the micro-SD card using an external reader.
2. Connect the Radxa Zero to the computer via USB2/PWR OTG USB-C port (can use a USB-C-to-USB-C or USB-C-to-full-sized USB-A cable). This is the port closest to the corner.
3. Press the USB button underneath the board.
4. Open up a terminal window on your computer:
   • If on Arch Linux:
     1. Run the following:

        sudo pacman -S fastboot wget python3-pip
        sudo pip3 install pyamlboot
        
        wget https://dl.radxa.com/zero/images/loader/factory-loader.img
        sudo boot-g12.py factory-loader.img 
        sudo fastboot flashing unlock_critical
        sudo fastboot flashing unlock
        
        wget https://dl.radxa.com/zero/images/loader/rz-fastboot-loader.bin
        sudo boot-g12.py rz-fastboot-loader.bin
        sudo fastboot erase bootloader
        sudo fastboot erase 0
        sudo fastboot erase 1
        
        wget https://dl.radxa.com/zero/images/loader/rz-udisk-loader.bin
        sudo boot-g12.py rz-udisk-loader.bin
        
        wget https://dl.radxa.com/zero/images/loader/u-boot.bin
        sudo dd if=u-boot.bin of=/dev/sdx bs=512 seek=1

     2. (Optional) Remove the downloaded files if you never intend to flash again.
   • (these instructions are incomplete) If on Windows:
     1. Ensure Python 3 is installed with the PIP3 module (check with pip3 version while inside an interactive Python environment) and accessible in your command prompt from any directory.
        • You may have to install the driver using Zadig:
          1. Install and run Zadig.
          2. Confirm that the device is GX-CHIP and that its USB ID is 1B8E:C003.
          3. Choose libusb-win32 as the driver and install it.
          4. Download Google's Windows Android driver.
          5. Right-click android_winusb.inf and click Install.
     2. Download and extract Android's SDK Platform Tools for Windows to get the fastboot tool.
     3. Navigate to the platform tools folder.
     4. Download rz-udisk-loader.bin and save it to the platform tools folder.
     5. Open a command prompt with administrative privileges and navigate to the platform tools folder:

        cd "C:\path\to\platform tools\"

     6. Run the following (you should be in the same directory as where you saved the rz-udisk-loader.bin file to):

        pip3 install git+https://github.com/superna9999/pyamlboot
        boot-g12.py rz-udisk-loader.bin
        
        rest of the code is WIP

5. Reboot the Radxa to get into Batocera.

1. Remove any Micro-SD card that you might have in the Radxa Zero.
2. Connect the Radxa Zero to the computer via USB2/PWR OTG USB-C port (can use a USB-C to USB-C or USB-C to full-sized USB-A cable). This is the port closest to the corner.
3. Press the USB button underneath the board. The Radxa is now attempting to connect to your computer as a USB device.
   • If on Windows you may have to install the driver using Zadig:
     1. Install and run Zadig.
     2. Confirm that the device is GX-CHIP and that its USB ID is 1B8E:C003.
     3. Choose libusb-win32 as the driver and install it.
     4. Download Google's Windows Android driver.
     5. Right-click android_winusb.inf and click Install.
4. Open up a terminal window on your computer:
   • If on Windows:
     1. Ensure Python 3 is installed with the PIP3 module (check with pip3 version while inside an interactive Python environment) and accessible in your command prompt from any directory.
     2. Download rz-udisk-loader.bin and store it somewhere easy to access.
     3. Open a command prompt with administrative privileges and run the following in the same directory you saved the BIN file to:

        pip3 install pyamlboot
        boot-g12.py rz-udisk-loader.bin

   • If on a generic Linux distribution with coreutils and Python3:
     1. Install python3-pip for your distribution.
     2. Run the following:

        sudo pip3 install pyamlboot
        wget https://dl.radxa.com/zero/images/loader/rz-udisk-loader.bin
        sudo boot-g12.py rz-udisk-loader.bin

5. At some point the Radxa's internal eMMC should have appeared as a regular USB storage device on your computer. Flash Batocera onto it as you would any other micro-SD card.
6. Reboot your Radxa and enjoy.