Chat with us, powered by LiveChat

RG552 Firmware Update – How to update Android & Linux OS Firmware

RG552 Firmware Update Guide

In this article we cover both the Android and Linux RG552 firmware update. Where to download the latest RG552 firmware update and a step by step guide on how to install the Linux OS and Android OS firmware for the RG552 from Anbernic.

RG552 Linux OS Firmware Update

The Linux operating system is located on the 16GB Micro SD Card. Updating the RG552 Linux OS is simply a matter of writing an image file to the 16GB Micro SD Card.

Downloading the files

Balena Etcher – https://www.balena.io/etcher/
Latest Linux OS firmware for Anbernic RG552 – RG552-EN-20211209.zip (December 9th 2021)

Download the image writing software Balena Etcher (available for Windows, MAC and Linux) and install it. Next extract the firmware update .zip file. You will see a firmware image file named anbernic-29-rockpro64-English-8g.img or similar depending on the firmware version.

Writing the firmware image

Insert the 16GB Micro SD Card into your PC and load the Balena Etcher software. Click on Flash from file button and locate & choose the RG552 firmware update .img file you extracted from the .zip file. 

Choose the RG552 firmware update .img file.

Click on the Change USB devices in the middle.

Choose the USB device you want to write the image file to.

Confirm that you have chosen the 16GB Micro SD Card and not your hard drive or other storage devices.

Check that you have selected the correct drive to write the image to.

Click on Flash to start the image writing process to the Micro SD Card.

Click on Flash to proceed to write the firmware update

The process will take around 5 minutes depending on the speed of your Micro SD Card and PC. Do not close the software or remove the Micro SD Card during this process.

It will take around 5 minutes to write the RG552 firmware update.

Once the process has completed, you can safely eject the Micro SD Card from your PC. 

Firmware image flashing completed

Insert the Micro SD Card it into the first slot (TF1) of your RG552

Slot 1 / TF1 on the RG552
Slot 1 / TF1 on the RG552

Switch on the RG552 and after a few moments it will boot to the latest version of Linux for RG552

Booting into Linux on the RG552 from Anbernic
Booting into Linux on the RG552 from Anbernic

Enjoy!

RG552 Android OS Firmware Update

NOTE: Updating the Android OS firmware will erase any additional apps or files you have on the internal storage. Please back up any important files before updating the Android OS firmware.

Downloading the files

Latest Android OS firmware for ANBERNIC RG552 –  RG552-Android-v1.11e.zip (December 14th 2021)

OR

Android 11 for the ANBERNIC RG552 – https://go.droix.co.uk/RG552-ANDROID-11 (April 8th 2022)

Writing the firmware image

The Android OS is located on internal storage. You will need a 4GB to 32GB Micro SD Card in order to copy the update to the card. We had issues with the software formatting 128GB cards, so we recommend no larger than 32GB. Insert a blank Micro SD Card into your PC.

Extract the contents of the Android OS firmware update file to your PC. You will see a folder called SDDiskTool_v1.56, open this folder and load the SD_Firmware_Tool.exe program.

Run the SD_Firmware_Tool.exe program

First confirm that the removable disk is the Micro SD Card that you want to write the firmware to.

Choose the correct drive to write the firmware update to

Then click on the Firmware button and choose the Android OS .img file you extracted. It will be named update_en.img or similar depending on the firmware version.

Click on Firmware and then choose the .img file

Check everything is correct set up, especially the disk to want to write to.

Confirm everything is correctly set up

Click on the Create button to start the RG552 Android OS firmware image writing process.

Click on Create to start the process.

It will take around 5 minutes to complete the writing process. Do not remove the Micro SD Card or stop the program during this process.

Writing the Linux OS firmware update to RG552 Micro SD Card

Once the process has completed, you can remove the Micro SD Card from your PC and insert it into the 1st slot (TF1) on your RG552.

Slot 1 / TF1 on the RG552

Switch on the RG552 and it will begin the Android OS update process, this should take around 10-15 minutes. It will show a progress bar for the first part, then an Erasing message which takes a while. Do not switch off the device or remove the Micro SD Card during this process.

Installing firmware update on RG552 Android
Erasing the storage before installing.

Once the update is complete you will see some text prompting you to remove the Micro SD Card. The device will automatically reboot once the card is removed.

Remove the Micro SD Card when notified

The first boot of Android after an OS update will take longer than usual while it is finishing setting up. Do not switch off the device during this process.

The first boot after an update always takes a little longer than usual.

After a minute or two you should be back on the main screen and the latest RG552 Android OS firmware is now installed.

Latest Android firmware for RG552

Enjoy!

If you haven’t got your RG552 yet, then why not? You can learn more and buy the RG552 here, or browse or wide range of retro gaming handhelds here.

Bringer of videos, text and images! AKA the social media guy at DroiX. Massive retro gaming fan and collector, with a far too large collection of consoles and computers from 1970's to modern.