⚠️ CRITICAL WARNING There are many clone devices sold under the "R36S" name but using different hardware. These devices don't work with standard ArkOS/AmberELEC and require special firmware. Some clones have NO CFW support at all!

🔍 R36S CLONE DETECTION & ANALYSIS

💾 DTB Quick Check

Grab the DTB file from your SD card's BOOT partition (e.g. rk3326-r35s-linux.dtb) and run it through the DTB analyzer to instantly confirm if the device is original or a clone.

OPEN DTB ANALYZER

🎯 QUICK DETECTION CHECKLIST

  • 🔴 Boot Without SD: If you get "We can't find any systems!" error when booting without card → CLONE (Original R36S won't boot at all)
  • 🔴 Boot Logo: "God of War" logo or EmuELEC text at startup → CLONE
  • 🔴 RAM Chip: Single RAM chip visible in transparent case → CLONE (Note: New G80D clones may have 2 chips!)
  • 🔴 512MB RAM: If you see 497MB in RetroArch > Information > System → CLONE
  • 🔴 DTB Files: If these files exist in SD card BOOT partition → CLONE:
rk3326-evb-lp3-v12-linux.dtb
rf3536k4ka.dtb
rf3536k3ka.dtb
  • 🔴 Partition Name: If EASYROMS instead of EMUELEC or EEROMS → Probably original
  • 🔴 FN Button: If FN button is detected as Y → CLONE
  • 🔴 WiFi Support: If WiFi dongle doesn't work at all → Might be CLONE

📸 CLONE VISUAL GALLERY

RAM Comparison
Original vs Clone - RAM Chips
G80D vs Original
G80D Clone vs Original Mainboard
EmuELEC Boot
EmuELEC Clone BOOT Partition
K36 Board
RF35XE-MB K36 Mainboard

📋 KNOWN CLONE VARIANTS

G80D Board
G80D-MB V1.0 (2 RAM Chip Clone)
CFW: ArkOS4Clone Panel 10/5

Has 2 RAM chips like original, hard to detect. Mainboard says "G80D-MB V1.0". Buttons are louder and looser than original.

G80C Board
G80C-MB V1.1/V1.2 (EmuELEC Clone)
CFW: ArkOS4Clone Panel 8

Single RAM chip. Usually no eMMC storage. Can be recovered with ArkOS4Clone firmware.

R36S V2.5
R36S V2.5 / V2.6 (GB350 Clone)
⛔ NO CFW SUPPORT

Worst variant! Embedded RAM chip. Uses RK3128 or weaker processor. TF2 slot doesn't work. Stay away from this model!

K36 Clone
K36 / EmuELEC Standard
CFW: ArkOS4Clone / ArkOS K36

Most common clone. Comes with EmuELEC 4.7. RF35XE-MB mainboard. May have God of War image at boot.

V12 Board
R36S-V12 2023-08-18
CFW: Standard ArkOS Panel 6

Despite single RAM chip, usually works with standard ArkOS. Also known as "Soy Sauce" board.

512MB RAM Clone
⚠️ LOW PERFORMANCE

Shows 497MB in RetroArch. Serious performance issues in PSP and Dreamcast games.

❌ CLONE PROBLEMS

  • Frequent issues with dual SD card setup
  • Audio output issues and reversed controls
  • 512MB RAM = Poor PSP/Dreamcast performance
  • RK3128 chip variants are much weaker
  • May need 10+ attempts to find correct Panel DTB
  • NO support for AmberELEC, LineageOS (Android), Multiboot
  • Lower quality screen and louder button sounds
OPEN DTB ANALYZER HARDWARE COMPARISON FIRMWARE & SETUP