Dave's Retro Shaders (R36S)

A RetroArch shader management tool for the R36S, designed for ArkOS and dArkOS, providing an easy, controller-friendly way to apply and manage curated shader presets per system.

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Overview

This script simplifies shader management on the R36S by eliminating manual configuration and providing a clean menu interface to apply or remove shaders across supported systems.

It includes curated presets designed to enhance visuals while maintaining performance on RK3326 hardware.

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Features

• Sets necessary RetroArch settings
• B button now functions as back button
• Apply or remove shaders per system or globally
• Two CRT styles:
  • 80’s Television (warm, curved)
  • 90’s Monitor (sharp, bright)
  • setting is now persistent
• Handheld LCD simulation shaders:
  • Motion blur
  • Subpixel layout
  • DMG palette (Game Boy)
• Game Boy bezel overlays
• Sets RetroArch Aspect Ratio to Core Provided
• Multi-language support (EN, FR, ES, PT, IT, DE, PL)
• Automatic installation of required shader files
• Legacy shader cleanup from older versions
• Fully controller-driven interface (X / Y toggles)
• delete flag file at /home/ark/.retro_shaders to reinstall files

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Supported Systems

Handhelds

• Nintendo Game Boy
  DMG palette + LCD grid + motion blur

• Nintendo Game Boy Color
  LCD grid + subpixel color + motion blur

• Nintendo Game Boy Advance
  LCD grid + color correction + motion blur

• SEGA Game Gear
  LCD grid + color correction + motion blur

• NeoGeo Pocket
  LCD grid + motion blur

• NeoGeo Pocket Color
  LCD grid + subpixel color + motion blur

• WonderSwan Color
  LCD grid + color correction

• Atari Lynx
  LCD grid + color correction + motion blur

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Consoles (CRT Styles)

• Arcade / MAME
• Atari 2600 / 5200 / 7800
• CAPCOM CPS I / II / III
• Nintendo Entertainment System
• Super Nintendo
• SEGA SG-1000
• SEGA Master System
• SEGA Mega Drive
• SEGA CD
• SEGA 32X
• PC Engine
• PC Engine CD
• NeoGeo
• NeoGeo CD

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CRT Styles

80’s Television

Shader: crt-retro.glslp

Features:

• Warm tone
• Scanlines
• Bloom / glow
• Color bleed
• Screen curvature

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90’s Monitor

Shader: monitor-retro.glslp

Features:

• Sharper image
• Brighter output
• Arcade-style presentation

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• Active CRT style is shown in the main menu
• Reapplying shaders will overwrite existing presets with the selected style

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How It Works

First Run

On first launch, the script will:

• Check for required shader files
• Install shaders if missing:

  • Copy presets to:

    ~/.config/retroarch/shaders/

  • Build full CRT pipeline:

    • convergence
    • linearize
    • glow (X/Y)
    • CRT-consumer

  • Create Game Boy overlay:

    • Config file + PNG bezel

  • Remove legacy shader files

  • Set correct file ownership

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Applying Shaders

• Writes .glslp files to:

  ~/.config/retroarch/config//

• RetroArch automatically loads shaders per core

• Writes overlay config when applicable

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Removing Shaders

• Deletes .glslp and overlay .cfg files
• Restores default RetroArch behavior

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CRT Style Handling

• Style is selected before applying console shaders
• Reapplying updates all configs to match selected style

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Installation

1. Copy the script to your R36S Tools Folder

2. Run it

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Requirements

• R36S running ArkOS or dArkOS
• RetroArch (standard install paths)

Required tools:

• dialog
• gptokeyb
• setfont

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File Locations

Shader presets:

~/.config/retroarch/shaders/

Core shader configs:

~/.config/retroarch/config//

32-bit core configs:

~/.config/retroarch32/config//

Game Boy overlay:

~/.config/retroarch/overlay/

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Notes

• Optimized specifically for R36S hardware
• Designed for performance-balanced visuals on RK3326
• Safe to re-run without breaking existing configs

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Credits

• Created by djparent

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