| phase | active |
|---|---|
| priority | high |
| category | hardware |
| progress | 85 |
| focus | Freeze fixes — xpad auto_poweroff, screensaver, labwc idle, USB autosuspend (v0.5.6) |
| next_milestone | Audio confirmed working + RetroAchievements |
| milestone_distance | weeks |
| community_pressure | high |
| excitement | very high |
| strategic | true |
| momentum | accelerating |
| audience | diy-retro-gaming-builders |
| uniqueness | first-mover |
| viral_potential | high |
| mvp_distance | weeks |
A $150 weekend build that anyone can make, own completely, and runs every retro game — open source from silicon to firmware.
OctaneOS is the foundation everything else in GameOctane sits on. GPU hardware acceleration just shipped. EmulationStation is running smooth. First ROM (Doom) confirmed playing with a controller. The platform is real. Next: RetroAchievements out of the box, three mode system, and OTA updates.
- Audio — verify aplay -l shows allwinner-edp card on v0.5.5
- RetroAchievements configured out of the box
- Three mode system (handheld / docked / wireless streaming)
- OTA update system from GameOctane.com
- GameOctane companion app integration
- 8BitDo controller disconnect fix (intermittent, ~130s interval — likely controller sleep timer)
- Suppress spurious DP-1 hotplug events from sunxi-drm BSP
- Audio — aplay -l returns no soundcards; machine driver failing (simple_dai_link_of errors)
- Chiaki — PS4/PS5 Remote Play — Chiaki is an open-source Remote Play client for Linux with ARM support. Would let Octane stream PS4/PS5 games directly from a console on the local network. Touch screen on the Octane could map to PS4/PS5 touchpad input. Batocera has a chiaki package worth evaluating for aarch64 compatibility.
- Steam Link — Valve's official ARM Linux Steam Link client streams any Steam game from a PC on the local network. Batocera ships a steamlink package; needs evaluation for aarch64. Zero PC-side setup beyond enabling Remote Play in Steam.
- Second-screen achievement companion — pair OctaneOS over local WiFi with a running Achievement Scavenger instance on the player's PC/console setup. Scavenger already knows what game just launched on Steam/PSN/Xbox and holds valid platform sessions; OctaneOS acts as a lightweight display client showing live missable-item warnings, hints, and progress while you play on another platform. RetroAchievements is already covered natively on-device — this extends the same idea to non-emulated platforms. Idea credit + concept borrowed with permission from Batu Ozdogan (@batureren), author of Achievement Scavenger. Needs: pairing/discovery protocol, a small local API on Scavenger's side (author receptive to adding one), and an OctaneOS-side display client.
Freeze fix (20-min hard freeze): Four root causes identified and fixed — xpad auto_poweroff, ES screensaver, labwc idle DPMS, AIC8800 USB autosuspend.
Audio fix + UI freeze fix: Root cause of audio -22 error identified via live dmesg. PipeWire probes ALSA with unconstrained rate (INT_MAX = 2,147,483,647). Without hw_constraint_list, asoc_simple_hw_params hits default → -EINVAL → PipeWire sink fails → ES blocks on audio init → UI freeze. Fix: snd_pcm_hw_constraint_list() in asoc_simple_startup() (0004 patch). Also: A76 OPP table extended to 2000MHz @ 1050mV (requires next linux-rebuild to take effect in image — DTS committed, image not yet rebuilt).
v0.5.7-alpha released. Next: flash v0.5.7, test audio. A76 2000MHz OPP needs linux-rebuild + image build for v0.5.8.
2026-07-10: v0.5.7-alpha released. Audio -22 root cause: PipeWire INT_MAX rate, fixed with hw_constraint_list in asoc_simple_startup. A76 2000MHz OPP added to DTS but needs rebuild. Controller disconnect was symptom of audio freeze, not separate cause.