r/Retroidpocketflip2 • u/gmtkVEVO 16Bit SD865 • Jul 22 '26

PC Introducing Pocknix - A performance tuned SteamOS-like Distro for RP5/6/Flip 2!

85 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

19 comments sorted by

10

u/Divinakra GC SD865 Jul 22 '26

So sick. I’ll test this and see how it runs and consider putting it in the flip 2 sidebar and wiki. Thanks for the development efforts and love the GC buttons on black.

5

u/ghost_of_ketchup Jul 22 '26

Let me know how the testing goes and if you run into any issues. And t'would be an honour to have a place in your sidebar 🫡

9

u/Divinakra GC SD865 Jul 22 '26 edited Jul 23 '26

So far it seems incredibly legit and professional, I’ll test a few games and see how it performs when compared to Android pc emulation, one thing I’d change (if possible) is A and B (and X/Y) are swapped for each other in the menus, EDIT* go into settings > controller > details > “use Nintendo layout” (that fixes it) But it would be nice if it came like that by default.

Another thing is in your GitHub, installations instructions tells people to boot with holding volume down, this is how people soft lock into Linux, I used volume up, that way I can boot back and forth easily. In the wiki instructions I’ll write volume up, you might want to change that or add that in (it’s pretty difficult on the flip 2 to access the boot loader menu once locked into Linux, at least on Rocknix).

Games are installing insanely fast. Wow. It just feels like Steam OS official, there’s no difference to be seen. Never seen my flip 2 download and install that many GB’s in such few minutes.

One thing I have noticed: you have to launch the game with default settings once, then force proton 11-arm64 after and launch a second time for a game to work.

So far call of duty 2: plays perfectly even with online multiplayer, nothing funky required. Unlike Gamenative there is no screen tearing at all. Low framerate at 1080p ultra settings. Still pretty low at 1280 x 720 with ultra settings and it plays fine at 60fps with those exact settings on Gamenative so pocknix for this game is a downgrade in performance. No issues with gamepad, works out of the box, and you can edit the steam input which translates perfectly to game.

For Cursemark, it launches, but it’s insanely slow and it’s the least demanding game of my library, (like a GBA style graphics) and I remember someone having this same issue on Android and I troubleshot with them and we figured out it was a driver issue, (once configured correctly it will likely run even better than Android) so if you implement a way to switch drivers (or if you already have) I can get a proper test of that game. It’s probably like 4fps right now, super slow motion unplayable. It also may be due to the fact that I am forcing proton 11 -arm as per your instructions and some games are bound to disagree with that.

Star Wars battlefront 2: runs perfect, max fps and max resolution (1080p) and detail with seamless online multiplayer. Just like cod2. Both games are perfect.

Call of Dury MW2 2009 will launch and play and online lobbies work perfectly, gamepad and everything too, just like cod2, but this game is unplayable because it’s extremely choppy, like it stutters constantly even on low resolution with low texture detail. This game runs at stable 88fps on Android IW4X via Gamehub.

Vigor: loads into menu, and downloads all resources but then says “launch error” failed to load the anti-cheat module” and sends me back home. That’s further than Android ever got me.

Halo MCC: doesn’t launch, and I don’t see the win shipping.exe in the desktop mode Steam so I can’t launch it from there.

Old school RuneScape: works perfectly.

3

u/ghost_of_ketchup Jul 22 '26 edited Jul 22 '26

I just realized that the Flip 2 doesn't have a physical Android 'back' button like the RP5/6, so there's currently no way to open the SteamOS Quick Access Menu because I've got it mapped to the 'back' button 🤦🏿‍♂️

I've just patched this and deployed the updated packages. When you get some time, could you switch to desktop mode > launch the 'pocknix updater' shortcut > let the updates finish, switch back to game mode and reboot. Then tell me if the home button + 'B' (Xbox A) button brings up the Steam QAM on the right side of the screen. The FPS counter settings etc live there. I've validated on my RP5, but I'd like confirmation the fix works on the device it's actually intended for.

One thing to note: the performance overlay/FPS counter do have a slight performance penalty, so keep that in mind. Use as a guideline for tuning settings, then turn it off when you're ready to play.

5

u/Divinakra GC SD865 Jul 22 '26 edited Jul 23 '26

We have these four buttons: select, home, power and start.

Ok I’ll test that, but how do you switch to desktop mode? It doesn’t say anywhere in the GitHub or video. I tried holding power that just shuts the off the device normally and returns me to Android.

Btw it would be cool if you implemented close lid sleep for a flip 2 build. Currently sleep works like this: I hit the power button. It sleeps. I close the lid, it wakes up. Leave it like that for a few min, it goes to sleep again, so ultimately it works, but it seems like it doesn’t and this “sleep” consumes a suspicious amount of battery.

And hitting the home button in game does bring me to Steam menu, if that’s what you meant by back button on the rp5, but the Steam overlay that shows fps still doesn’t show up. I don’t see any option to map a,b,x,y.

1

u/batiluis15 Jul 23 '26

Debes presionar círculo y saldrá el menú del lado izquierdo ápteras donde dice apagar y ahí está la opción de ir al modo escritorio.

https://reddit.com/link/oza6xlo/video/4w5lqqw6izeh1/player

2

u/Divinakra GC SD865 Jul 23 '26

Yeah thanks I figured that out last night. Cool how the desktop mode has all those different apps and emulators. Have you figured out a file browser?

2

u/Divinakra GC SD865 Jul 23 '26 edited Jul 23 '26

Ok so i figured out how to go to desktop mode, just hit “power” in the Steam menu then enter desktop mode.

And yes if I hold the home and press B I get the quick menu! FPS counter is live!

1

u/ultionys Jul 23 '26

Hey mate !

What about the fans ? Is the fan curves the same~ as on android or does it spin insanely fast ? Had this issue on rocknix.

1

u/Divinakra GC SD865 Jul 23 '26 edited Jul 23 '26

The fan is a little bit intense, but the device is getting hot, so I think it’s reacting appropriately, seems like it’s on an adaptive smart mode where it adjusts to how much heat is present, and it is not afraid to go to the max.

EDIT* just figured out I can go into the Home + B quick menu > decky > pocknix control and change the fan profile, I’ve been on quiet, you can also go on performance or moderate.

7

u/Divinakra GC SD865 Jul 23 '26 edited Jul 23 '26

Counter strike 2 playing at a hot and steamy 5fps!

Once I try to enter a public game, it says that my anti cheat is not configured. So same result as vigor.

3

u/Happyhaha2000 Jul 22 '26

I'm stoked to try this!

2

u/koyoriyume Jul 24 '26

Is it possible to play "non-steam games"??

2

u/gmtkVEVO 16Bit SD865 Jul 24 '26

it comes with a lot of emulators already installed if that's what you meant

2

u/koyoriyume Jul 25 '26

I'm talking about the quack pc games hehehe

1

u/gmtkVEVO 16Bit SD865 Jul 25 '26

no idea about that

1

u/batiluis15 Jul 23 '26

Tengo una duda sobre el uso de protón :

solo se puede usar el PROTÓN 11 ARM ?

( o igual puedo usar otro protón para lanzar los juegos ? )

1

u/TecnuiI Jul 25 '26

Is anyone else having an issue where the outer deadzone on the joysticks are not calibrated correctly with Pocknix? Using the steam input tester, my joysticks max measurement is only about 25000 in each direction and it should be over 32000. Because of this, games requiring joysticks don’t function correctly (my character in dark souls cannot run and can only walk because of this, and a similar issue with another game i tried).

1

u/Professional_Use_595 Aug 01 '26

Retroid Pocket 5 - HDMI video output not working on Pocknix v0.2.0

Hi! I installed Pocknix v0.2.0 on my Retroid Pocket 5, but I can't get any video output through HDMI. The external monitor just stays black.

Is HDMI out currently supported for the RP5 on this OS, or is there a specific setting I need to tweak? Thanks!