Update your handheld and keep your Pokémon saves

Establish a working checkpoint before touching the card

1. Record the device, installed Onion release, game build, selected emulator/core and active profile.
2. Open the intended Pokémon adventure and note trainer, location and a distinctive party member.
3. Save through the game’s own menu and wait for it to finish.
4. Close normally, then check that a clean Continue restores that checkpoint.
5. Shut down before removing the card for copying.

If Continue already fails, preserve what you have and resolve the save-loading problem first. An update is a poor first experiment when you have not established which file currently holds your progress.

Use the documented launch without the last state for the comparison. A GameSwitcher scene and a normal Continue can represent different checkpoints.

Keep progress and setup in a separate backup

Copy the readable card contents to a clearly named folder on another storage device, with hidden files visible. Keep that copy untouched during the update. A backup folder on the same card would remain exposed to a mistaken format or card failure.

The FAQ identifies ordinary saves under Saves/CurrentProfile/saves/[CORENAME] and states under Saves/CurrentProfile/states/[CORENAME]. Inventory the profile and running core instead of treating every file under Saves as one interchangeable category.

Check that the backup copy completed without read errors and that the expected directories and progress file are present. The local save-copy comparison can compare two selected individual files before launch; it does not audit an entire card or establish game compatibility.

Choose the update path that fits the current card

Use the creator’s package and instructions for the release you chose. This page covers Onion on the SD card; it does not provide a Miyoo firmware-flashing procedure or identify a newest release. Keep game updates separate from this system update so a later failure has fewer possible causes.

Copy the extracted package to the actual card root

The manual upgrade copies the package’s seven folders to the SD root. The installation reference lists .tmp_update, BIOS, Media, miyoo, miyoo354, RetroArch and Themes. The ZIP file itself, or an extra outer folder containing them, is not that root layout.

• Windows: extract the archive first and copy its folders; accept the documented overwrite prompt.
• macOS: reveal hidden files with Command+Shift+period. Merge existing folders and replace files when prompted, as the upgrade guide specifies.
• Linux: ensure the hidden package folder is included along with the visible folders. Identify the mounted card before copying; use the creator’s instructions for your environment.

Compare the card root with the package layout before ejecting. Boot the handheld to run installation and follow its completion prompt. The documented Mini Plus flow reboots after confirmation. The installed .tmp_update folder remains part of Onion; its name is not an instruction to remove it after installation.

The creator documents a special cleanup step for upgrades from v3.9 or older. If that is your source version, read that exception in the upgrade instructions before copying. Do not apply an old-version exception to every ordinary update.

Chrome OS: preserve the source before a fresh-card restore

The upgrade guide recommends backup, clean installation and restoration for Chrome OS. It names personal directories such as Roms, BIOS, Saves and Themes. Its warning about numbered duplicate filenames matters: a restored file whose name changes may no longer match what Onion expects.

1. Keep the original card and independent backup until you have verified the replacement.
2. For a fresh card, follow the current clean-install guide, including its FAT32 requirement and exact target-device selection.
3. Complete the fresh setup, then restore the personal files you inventoried.
4. Check the resulting names rather than assuming a successful drag-and-drop preserved them.
5. Verify the game and ordinary Continue before retiring the source.

Formatting erases the selected target. Check which card you are preparing and keep the readable source separate. A fresh install plus restored personal files is a different procedure from merging an upgrade package into an existing card.

Verify system, game and progress separately

1. System: confirm Onion opens and record the release it displays.
2. Library: open the intended system and game. If necessary, refresh the Games list using SELECT.
3. Progress: launch without the previous state, choose Continue and compare trainer, location and party with your original checkpoint.
4. Persistence: once the expected progress is confirmed on the working setup, save in-game, close normally and check Continue again.
5. Controls: test the actions you actually use before restoring additional custom settings.

A visible game proves discovery, not preserved progress. A matching Continue establishes a narrower result than state compatibility. Record those outcomes independently and keep the pre-update backup while checking subsequent sessions.

Use the first failure to choose the next check

Onion’s FAQ specifically discusses incompatible states and changed speed after updates. Preserve the affected state files before following its state-cleanup advice; do not erase unrelated cartridge saves. Use library diagnosis or save diagnosis when that is the first failed stage.

Example: Continue works but the old state fails

Keep those observations separate. The ordinary progress was readable in the tested setup; the old emulator session was not. Preserve the old files, continue the state-specific investigation and avoid replacing the known checkpoint with an unrelated save. A whole new game patch would change another variable without answering the state question.

A browser download can protect one save without being a whole-card backup

Onion’s HTTP browser can retrieve a selected file from a phone or computer. Use that for a targeted ordinary-save copy when the file is readable and the progress owner is established. Keep it outside the working card, with its game/profile/core context recorded.

Example: a save downloaded to your phone can be a useful safety copy for that adventure. It does not replace the complete card inventory above before a system update. Check the other required categories explicitly rather than treating the browser’s successful download as a bootable clone.

The Samba reference allows individual shares to be toggled. A missing share or underlying directory is a visibility question; do not assume it means that file category does not exist. Choose another supported access route if needed, and retain the verified copies.

Sources and scope

• Onion 4.3: upgrading, OTA, manual copying and Chrome OS
• Onion 4.3: fresh installation, package layout and FAT32
• Onion 4.3 FAQ: saves, states and post-update symptoms

Software documentation checked 8 Oct 2026. Backup inventory, checkpoint comparison and worked example are editorial guidance. No physical card, update process, game or handheld was independently tested. This page supplies no ROMs, BIOS files or preloaded bundles.

Mini Plus setup overview · GBA paths · GBC paths

Record a working checkpoint

1. Write down the exact device model, KNULLI version, active storage, selected emulator/core and game filename.
2. Save inside Pokémon at a recognizable location and wait for completion.
3. Exit normally and reopen through Continue. Note trainer, party and location.
4. Preserve any state containing newer progress separately, with the runtime that created it.
5. Only then prepare the system update and backup.

Example: the game resumes at a newer scene than Continue shows. That is a progress difference to resolve before updating. Preserve both files and determine which contains the adventure you intend to keep. Do not assume the update will reconcile them.

A screenshot of the game is useful context, but it is not a recoverable save. The save-transfer planner can record file identity and observations; it does not inspect KNULLI, convert a state or confirm compatibility.

Back up the active userdata

KNULLI stores user data under /userdata, exposed as SHARE. In a two-card setup, the active data lives on the selected external card. Identify the destination actually in use before copying.

Keep a copy on another storage device. A second card left in the same handheld separates system and data, but it is still the working data card. Our recommendation to make an independent copy applies to either card arrangement.

Inspect the backup contents before proceeding. For an important ordinary save, the planner’s optional byte comparison can show whether two selected copies match. Matching bytes establishes copying, not compatibility with a changed emulator or game version.

If you are also moving from one card to two, finish the storage migration and its checks as a separate task. Combining migration with an update leaves two possible causes for a missing file.

Retrieve the backup before replacing system files

Choose a method that can read the current active userdata. Use SMB SHARE access when networking is available, or the documented ADB pull route for supported USB access. Pull retrieves data from the handheld; push sends it back. Keep that direction explicit when handling the only working save.

If you already use SCP/SFTP, KNULLI’s transfer instructions require SSH to be enabled for that method. For Gladiator II and later, check System Settings → Services → SSH. The connection uses the device’s current address, port 22, username root and the configured root password. Successful SAMBA access does not establish that SSH is enabled too.

1. Open the active userdata destination using the selected method.
2. Copy to a separately named backup folder on another storage device.
3. Inspect the expected game, save/state and configuration records in that copy.
4. For an important ordinary save, optionally compare source and copied bytes using the existing planner.
5. Keep the backup outside the update destination and preserve it through the first Continue check.

A readable copy is a checkpoint in the update plan. Byte equality verifies the copy at that moment. Check ordinary Continue in the target runtime after updating. If a transfer stopped halfway, record the copy as unfinished rather than treating an existing backup directory as completion. For folder roles, use the userdata inventory.

Choose minor update or major reflash

The developer distinguishes minor updates from major releases requiring a clean reflash. Do not infer the method solely from a changed release name, a similarly shaped handheld or a filename remembered from another model.

This page does not identify a latest version or establish which future transition belongs to which class. Use the target release’s instructions. If they require a reflash, a boot-only package is not the substitute.

OTA availability is not established by the menu

The update page describes Updates & Downloads → Stable → Start Update, but its Minor Updates section also says OTA servers are not set up and requests manual updating. Those statements conflict in the documentation checked here.

Read the target release’s instructions and the device’s actual response. Do not select Alpha or Development as a workaround for an absent stable offering.

If no supported update is offered, retain the working installation and use the documented manual route when the release supports it. No OTA availability or successful download was tested on a physical device for this guide.

The documented minor-update file route

The maker’s manual route uses the device’s boot package. Extract it, locate boot/batocera.update and place it in the system card’s BATOCERA boot directory as batocera, replacing the old boot file only after backup. Reboot to apply it; keep power stable and do not interrupt the update.

1. Confirm exact device and supported update path against the package instructions.
2. Retain the old working boot file and independent userdata backup.
3. Compare the extracted file and destination directory before replacing anything.
4. Follow the current maker procedure; do not copy an archive into the games folder and expect it to update KNULLI.
5. When the update finishes, perform the staged checks below.

These checks keep package selection, system-file replacement and game discovery distinct. The guide supplies no update package or flash command, and it does not validate a package you downloaded elsewhere.

Major updates need a clean settings boundary

The major-update guide requires a clean reflash. Reflashing wipes the chosen system card. Restore the appropriate game and save data from your preserved copy, while keeping the old system folder out of the new working installation.

For two-card setups, the old data card still holds its previous settings. The maker describes removing or renaming its system folder so fresh defaults can be created. Preserve that folder independently first; do not confuse resetting settings with deleting the entire userdata.

Example: your games and saves survive on SD2, but a major update has changed configuration defaults. Copying the old system folder back would also reintroduce the settings the clean install was meant to replace. Recreate the needed choices through the new frontend, then test one game.

Follow the complete major-update procedure for storage activation, folder reset and any PortMaster handling. A backup configuration is a reference and recovery artifact; it is not an instruction to restore every old setting wholesale.

Verify the updated setup in stages

1. System: reach the frontend and inspect the installed version.
2. Storage: confirm the intended data card/destination is active.
3. Library: confirm the same playable game file is present and visible.
4. Ordinary progress: launch the same build and inspect Continue against the recorded trainer, party and location.
5. Controls: check ordinary game inputs, then a relevant emulator shortcut.
6. Resume: only after ordinary progress is verified, inspect supported Quick Resume behavior separately.

A visible game entry is not proof of progress, and a restored picture is not proof of an ordinary save. Do not make a new blank adventure the test save when expected Continue progress is missing.

Keep the game build fixed while testing the system update. If an emulator selection changed, record that difference before investigating states. The resume guide owns that check; old states are not assumed portable.

Diagnose the first failing stage

Retain the backup and current installation while narrowing the symptom. A broad reset or another reflash would change more than the failing stage and make the comparison harder. Choose the next action from the observation you actually have.

Update questions

Sources and scope

KNULLI update documentation · Major-update procedure · Storage reference. Checked 8 Oct 2026. Backup/checkpoint examples and verification order are editorial guidance; no device update, battery result or save conversion was measured.

TrimUI Brick with KNULLI · RG35XX SP with KNULLI · RG35XX Plus with KNULLI. Use each exact model’s supported image and instructions.