Reflashing the sdcard

Sometimes the sdcard in the computer gets corrupted. The symptoms of this include:

• After plugging the unit in, monitor shows "No signal" and goes into power save
• Or there could be a bunch of jumbled code on the screen showing errors booting up
• Or you might notice a boot loop where it starts to come up, shows the EmuElec screen, and then goes black and back to No Signal.
  
  

These are all signs that either the sdcard has gotten corrupted, or that something is wrong with the computer. 9 out of 10 times, it is just the micro sdcard that needs to be re-flashed*.

To reflash, you can simply download our image file and use a free tool called "Rufus" to flash the image to your existing sdcard. Follow these steps to figure out which computer you have and which image you need.

1. Unplug your unit and lay it on its back. 
   
   
2. Access the computer (Watch THIS VIDEO to see how to remove the bottom panel and locate the computer for the first 2 options)
1. If you purchased the unit before 2022 you would have our RaspberryPi image and the computer would be accessed by removing the bottom panel. Be sure to use our Raspberry Pi img file for this one
2. If you purchased the unit between March 2022 through October 2024, your unit would have our Amlogic computer and be accessed by removing the bottom panel. Be sure to use our Amlogic img file for this one
3. If you purchased the unit between Oct 2024 and present, we moved the Amlogic computer up to the top marquee area and you can access that by removing the 4 screws holding that panel on. Be sure to use our Amlogic img file for this one
   
   
3. Once the computer has been located, find the micro sdcard slot.
1. On the Raspberry Pi, this is in middle edge of one of the sides of the computer and you can just slide it out
   
   
   
2. On the Amlogic computer, this will be along one of the edges and look like a small slit. To remove, push the card in like a ball point pen that clicks in and out. It should pop out.
   
   
4. Once you have the microsdcard, check to see what size it is.
   If it is 32GB then be sure to download the 32GB image file. If it is 64GB then be sure to download the 64GB image file
   
   
5. You will need a way to put that microsdcard into your computer. There are various sdcard adapters that you may already have 
   
   
   
6. Once you've got that plugged into your computer, it should show up as an external drive. It might even have the name EmuElec if that part is not corrupted. You won't be able to see anything other than some bootup files from this.
   
   
7. Now you can download the imaging program and sdcard image from our download area:
   

   Click HERE to see available files. Read the "Read-Me-First.txt" to be sure you download the correct file

   
   

8. If using Windows, download and run the Rufus app from the file location above and select the sdcard drive, choose the img file that you downloaded from our link, click start and let it burn the new image.
   
   
   
9. If you have Mac, download balena Etcher for MacOS here: https://etcher.balena.io/#download-etcher, install and follow the steps to flash
   
   
   
10. Once completed, simply put the sdcard back into the arcade computer and you should be back up and running

Please let us know if you have any issue or questions

*Note when you do reflash, you will go back to the original stock image as it was when you first received the unit, or even a newer version with additional games. But you will lose any saved states, high scores, etc