Updating ArchR

There are two ways to update. archr-update updates the installed system in place with pacman. Reflashing writes a whole new image and is needed when a release changes the bootloader or the partition layout.

Reflashing replaces the card's partition layout and filesystems, /storage included. Back up everything you need to another device before flashing, then restore it. An in-place package update is a different operation and keeps your data.

In-Place Update

archr-update is a wrapper around pacman. It points /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist at the ArchR package repository published on GitHub Releases and then runs the usual sync and upgrade:

archr-update check    # sync metadata and list what is pending
archr-update update   # pacman -Syu
archr-update info     # current version, channel, and mirror

The channel comes from updates.branch in /storage/.config/system/configs/system.cfg and can be stable, next, or dev. Anything else falls back to stable. Each channel maps to a release tag on github.com/archr-linux/archr-repo: repo-stable, repo-next, repo-dev.

On the first run, the local pacman database is initialized from the matching archive embedded in the image. This seed is not downloaded. Without it, pacman would have nothing to compare against and every check would report that there is nothing to do.

An update needs a working network connection; archr-update checks that first and stops with a message if there is none.

Updating from the launcher

archr-launcher has an Updates page at Settings › System › Update system. The Start menu also has an Updates shortcut; when updates are waiting, it shows a dot and the count (Updates · 4 packages).

• The card at the top shows the installed version and channel (Arch R 2.1.1 · Stable channel), how many updates are available and how much there is to download. The right column lists the packages (old → new version and size) and the release's What's new notes; Y opens the full Packages list.
• Download and install runs archr-update update --progress as a separate unit, so it keeps going even if the launcher restarts. The page shows the steps (sync, download, install, finish); the download can be cancelled, the install cannot. Its subtitle says whether a restart will be needed at the end (kernel or launcher).
• Check now runs archr-update check --json again.
• Options: Channel (Stable, Next, Dev, saved in updates.branch), Check at startup and Show in the START menu.

Before downloading, archr-update checks the network, the battery (at least 30% or charging) and the free space. The full log, pacman's output included, is in /storage/.config/archr-update.log.

Updating without network

With no Wi-Fi on the console, the update goes through the card:

1. On a phone or computer, download archr-update.tar (about 250 MB). It is always the newest Stable update, complete: it works for any console flashed with the 3.0 image or newer.
2. Copy the file, without unpacking it, to the roms/update/ folder on the card (the same partition as roms/relatorios/; the console creates the folder the first time Updates opens).
3. On the console, open Settings › System › Updates and choose Update from the card. The page shows the file's What's new and asks before it starts.

The console installs the file only when Arch R's signature checks out; a damaged or altered file is refused and nothing changes. The battery and space rules of the network update apply (the card needs free space for the file plus as much again to unpack it). The file is deleted at the end. A file that is not newer than the system shows greyed out. A console older than the 3.0 image needs a reflash.

The option arrived in update 20261113.5: a console that never updated needs that update once (over the network or from a new image) before it can update from the card.

Reflash Flow

# from your PC
scp -r root@archr.local:/storage/roms     ~/r36s-backup/roms/
scp -r root@archr.local:/storage/.config  ~/r36s-backup/config/

What a Reflash Replaces

Only what you copied off the card comes back. Changes made directly in /etc/ or /usr/ (over SSH, as root) live on ROOT and are lost on a reflash. Persistent customizations belong in /storage/.config/ or /etc/profile.d/ (which 045-userconfig regenerates from /storage/.config/profile.d/ if present).

Going Back

Reflash an older image, then restore your external copy. Data created on a newer ArchR may not be compatible with the older release: settings it does not recognise can fall back to defaults, and some options may need to be set again.

Manual Update (Without the Flasher)

Verify the downloaded .img.gz against its checksum before decompressing and writing. This verifies the download, not the written card. Use the exact filename of the image you picked in if=, not a wildcard, and check the destination disk with lsblk before running dd: it overwrites the whole device.

# 1. verify the download (replace <date> with the real file name)
sha256sum -c ArchR-R36S.aarch64-<date>.img.gz.sha256

# 2. decompress (gunzip removes the .img.gz)
gunzip ArchR-R36S.aarch64-<date>.img.gz

# 3. write (replace <date> and /dev/sdX)
sudo dd if=ArchR-R36S.aarch64-<date>.img of=/dev/sdX bs=4M conv=fsync status=progress

Which One to Use

Use archr-update for the ordinary case: new emulator versions, launcher updates, fixes, and new packages.

Reflash when the release notes say the bootloader or the partition layout changed, since those live outside what pacman replaces. The kernel and the device trees do not need a reflash: the linux package carries them and archr-flash-sync copies the changed files to /flash after the update (your overlays/ folder is never touched), and the launcher says a restart is needed at the end. Reflashing also gives you a clean system if you have been editing system files by hand, and it erases the card, so copy your data off first.