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Kernel Space: Anbernic RG DS Gets a New Linux Firmware and Leveraging zram to Save Money
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Anbernic RG DS Gets a New Linux Firmware That Finally Embraces Dual Screens
It’s been almost six months since the Anbernic RG DS was released, aiming to offer a budget alternative to the AYN Thor and AYANEO Pocket DS. However, Anbernic’s decision to ship this with Android resulted in quite a few frustrating quirks that soured the experience. Today, Anbernic is finally looking to right the ship, as it announced an “All-New Linux System” designed for the RG DS and its dual-screen design.
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Make Use Of ☛ I turned on zram and my 8GB Linux laptop stopped choking on browser tabs
Having 8GB of RAM has always felt adequate for me when running Linux. It's enough for fast boot times, and even on older hardware, it feels fluid. However, my browser needs have increased over the years. Running YouTube on one tab, searching in others, and keeping a Reddit thread open at the same time makes my laptop feel fragile.
It hasn't made my Linux PC constantly slow. However, there is a level of unpredictability. Music stutters when I open new tabs, and typing may lag on certain websites. There was also the frustration of inactive tabs constantly reloading. It felt like my browser was overwhelming my system, even though Linux seemed lightweight beneath it. After enabling zram, it was surprising to see my laptop work without choking for the first time in months.
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ANBERNIC Brings Linux To The RG DS
ANBERNIC's RG DS was one of the first "affordable" dual-screen Android devices released into the wild, competing with the bigger opponents, such as the AYN Thor and AYANEO Pocket DS, which had much, much larger price tags, and power for that matter.
Yet, many fell in love with it, due to the slim form factor and the fact that it could emulate Nintendo DS games on an Android OS. I personally never got around to reviewing it, even though I have one, simply because of how busy Seb and I were at the time doing other things. Alongside my pledge to prioritise "great" products instead of "just okay" products to review.