{"id":34085,"date":"2023-06-01T12:36:31","date_gmt":"2023-06-01T11:36:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/droix.net\/knowledge-base\/article\/how-to-install-onionos-for-retro-handhelds\/"},"modified":"2024-02-21T12:32:07","modified_gmt":"2024-02-21T12:32:07","slug":"install-onionos","status":"publish","type":"kb","link":"https:\/\/droix.net\/knowledge-base\/en-gb\/article\/install-onionos\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Install OnionOS for Retro Handhelds"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Installing a custom OS is one of the best things you can do for your retro device, especially the Miyoo Mini Plus+<\/a>. For Miyoo<\/a> retro handhelds, OnionOS is the cream of the crop of custom operating systems. Sporting additional features, a new UI and compatibility with tons of games and console emulators you\u2019d be silly not to install it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It can seem like a daunting thing, installing OnionOS<\/a> but I promise you it’s simpler than you think. In this guide, I\u2019m going to take you step-by-step to get OnionOS installed and running so that you can play all your favourite retro games in the style they deserve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Preparing your MicroSD Card<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Our journey into OnionOS<\/a> starts on your PC, to do so you need to remove the MicroSD card<\/a> from the bottom of your device.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once it’s removed you can plug it into your PC, this can be done in a few different ways. You can use an SD card converter, as we did in the photos, the included microSD to USB adapter that comes in the box or even just straight into the PC if your computer has a microSD card slot. Any method is perfect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Once it\u2019s in, make sure your computer can see it by going to This PC and confirming it\u2019s there. Once you\u2019re sure the computer can read it, we\u2019re going to format the card. This will delete everything currently saved on it. Optionally I recommend you make a backup. This is done by creating a new folder on your PC and dragging the contents over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Once you\u2019re ready to format we need to install a piece of software called Rufus<\/a> which will help us. You can download it from this link here<\/a>. Scroll down and download the latest version for your PC. If you\u2019re not sure what version is best go with the Standard Windows x64 platform as that is the most common. Run the .exe file when it downloads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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When you open the program you\u2019ll be greeted with the screen below. We\u2019ll need to ensure the format is set up first. Ensure your device is the microSD card you\u2019ve plugged in. Set boot selection to \u2018Non bootable\u2019. Set the partition scheme to \u2018MBR\u2019. The target system to \u2018BIOS or UEFI\u2019. Give the volume an appropriate label, such as \u2018OnionOS-Installer\u2019 and finally set the file system to \u2018FAT32\u2019. You\u2019re ready to click \u2018Start\u2019. When you do so a warning will pop up letting you know the device will be erased. Click \u2018OK\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Once it\u2019s completed the formatting you can double-check by going back to the PC and making sure the computer can see the volume.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Now that the MicroSD card is ready, we need to download OnionOS. You can do so from the GitHub page here<\/a> and click on the zip file of the latest version that’s compatible with your device to download.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Once it\u2019s downloaded, head to where the file is located. Right-click and click on \u2018Extract All\u2026\u2019 This will open a new popup, click on \u2018Extract\u2019 to extract the files.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Your newly extracted files will now pop up. Copy ALL<\/strong> of these folders to the formatted microSD card.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Once that is done, safely eject the card. You can now place the microSD card back into the Miyoo Mini Plus+ and we can get started with the installation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Installing OnionOS<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Press the power button on the top of the device to power it on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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You will be greeted with the OnionOS boot screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The device will automatically begin installing OnionOS and RetroArch<\/a>, let it complete this part of the installation unhindered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Once that’s done you will be taken to a short menu that you can scroll through, this would be good to read over if you\u2019re new to OnionOS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Now you can decide what you want installed on your device. The first page is a list of emulators. You can go through and select what you want to install, I\u2019d recommend selecting them all. Do this easily by pressing \u2018X\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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You can go to the next page by pressing R2 on the back of the device.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The next page is a list of apps you can install on the device. Again I would recommend selecting them all by pressing \u2018X\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Third, you have a list of more experimental emulators, these may require additional set-up. If you are new to OnionOS I recommend leaving these be, but if you\u2019re up for the challenge feel free to install any or all of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Finally press R2 again to go to the summary page to confirm your choices, and then press Start to install.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The device will then start to install all of your selected choices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Once it has completed the installation, you will be taken to the home page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Congratulations you have installed OnionOS! Here you can find your favourite games, your entire game and app libraries as well as settings to tweak the device to your specifications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When a new version is released and you want to upgrade OnionOS, check out our guide on how to do so here<\/a>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can also install customs ROMs and BIOS\u2019 by following our guide here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now go and play all your classic favourites!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For retro handhelds OnionOS is the cream of the crop of custom OS\u2019. Sporting additional features, a new UI and compatibility with tonnes of games and console emulators you\u2019d be silly not to install it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8387,"featured_media":34099,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"kbtopic":[450,394],"kbtag":[1150,1108,1010,996,772],"class_list":{"0":"post-34085","1":"kb","2":"type-kb","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"kbtopic-retro-gaming-handhelds","7":"kbtopic-windows-en-gb","8":"kbtag-custom-firmware-en-gb","9":"kbtag-how-to-2-en-gb","10":"kbtag-miyoo-en-gb","11":"kbtag-onionos-en-gb","12":"kbtag-retrogaming-en-gb"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/droix.net\/knowledge-base\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/kb\/34085","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/droix.net\/knowledge-base\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/kb"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/droix.net\/knowledge-base\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/kb"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/droix.net\/knowledge-base\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8387"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/droix.net\/knowledge-base\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34085"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/droix.net\/knowledge-base\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/kb\/34085\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/droix.net\/knowledge-base\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34099"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/droix.net\/knowledge-base\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"kbtopic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/droix.net\/knowledge-base\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/kbtopic?post=34085"},{"taxonomy":"kbtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/droix.net\/knowledge-base\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/kbtag?post=34085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}