GammaOS Nano v1.4.4 fixes the Anbernic RG DS screens and microphone

GammaOS Nano v1.4.4 is out for both the Anbernic RG DS and the RG DS Plus. For the Plus, this follows up on the v1.4.3 patch from last week. The original RG DS gets a much bigger jump. It's the first release since v1.4.1, meaning it bundles everything from the last three updates onto a kernel built from source. Anbernic's hardware is solid, but their stock Android firmware usually needs help. Custom firmware is basically mandatory, and this update knocks out several lingering hardware quirks.

Your top and bottom screens might actually match now

The biggest addition for both handhelds is hardware-level screen calibration. You can set brightness, contrast, saturation, hue, and RGB levels for each screen separately with a live preview. Because the display controller applies these settings instead of Android, the calibration holds from the boot logo onwards and works perfectly inside DraStic-nano. If your two panels never quite looked the same, this fixes it.

System updates are also safer. The installer now reads back and checks every partition it writes. It retries bad writes, and it stops with an error instead of rebooting a half-written device. Inside DraStic-nano, the microphone no longer chops or distorts. It respects the gain requested by the game, so titles like Brain Age will actually hear you. A new system settings page handles your nickname, birthday, favorite color, and clock settings. You used to have to open the standalone DraStic app to change those. Heavy 3D scenes in Hotel Dusk no longer crash, and Pokemon Ranger keeps its top screen where it belongs.

The ES-DE theme engine now renders theme sets properly, so Slate and Art Book Next look right. SD cards that previously failed to read will step down to a slower, stable mode. If you ever booted ROCKNIX and found your device going dark on every power-off, that leftover power chip setting is now ignored and cleared.

The original RG DS catches up

If you're on the base RG DS, this update brings you up to parity with the Plus. The two screens used to run at 59.85 Hz, which dropped a frame every few seconds and left the panels slightly out of sync. They now run at exactly 60.000 Hz and start each frame together. Games spanning both screens won't tear at the hinge anymore.

Audio latency is lower across both the speakers and headphones. Plug headphones in mid-game and the sound moves over instantly. The speakers also don't pop when audio starts. Charging is significantly faster, pulling up to 3 amps from a compatible supply instead of the 1.5 amps Anbernic shipped. The current steps down automatically if the power chip gets too hot.

You also get all the features from when GammaOS Nano 1.4.2 hit the Plus. That includes hi-res 3D output on the GPU, per-game settings, quick save undo, 38 RetroArch shaders, and built-in Syncthing.

Three builds and a few lingering bugs

Developer TheGammaSqueeze offers three builds this time. Core is the recommended option. It strips out all Google apps to save memory for games. Lite keeps the standard Android interface without Google, while Full includes the Play Store. The Full build is heavy, and its first boot spends a good half hour updating Play Services while the device gets hot and slow. There isn't a separate undervolted variant anymore, as the overclocked kernel now reads the chip's factory grading to pick the right voltage automatically.

The RG DS Plus gets a few specific fixes, including proper text scaling in Android menus and a touch panel configuration that finally reaches the right edge of the screen.

A few issues remain. On the original RG DS, a cold boot can occasionally bring the bottom screen up with wrong colors. Turning the screen off and on again fixes it. RetroAchievements support is currently limited to Softcore mode. Hardcore mode requires approval from the RetroAchievements team, which could take six months if they agree to it at all.

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