Fresh install

Step 1: Preparing the SD card (only necessary first time)

Beware

The SD card included with the Miyoo Mini is known to be slow, and will likely ruin your experience and/or data. Stick to using SD cards from reputable brands (e.g. SanDisk or Samsung).

Format your SD card as FAT32 (not exFAT!)

Windows

If your SD card is larger than 32 GB, you need to use a third-party tool like Rufus:

1. In Rufus, select the device that corresponds with the SD card you want to format
2. Set Boot selection to Non bootable
3. Partition scheme should already be set to MBR
4. Set File system to Large FAT32
5. Cluster size at 32 kilobytes should be fine (16 kilobytes might extend the life of your SD card)
6. Click START to format the card, when it's done you can close the window

GUIFormat / fat32format

We do not recommend using GUIFormat / fat32format, since many users are reporting file system errors on cards above 128 GB

Mac

On Mac, you can format your SD card with the built-in Disk Utilities:

1. Open Application › Utilities › Disk Utilities
2. From the sidebar, select the USB drive that corresponds with the SD card you want to format (Choose to format the root element as on this picture)
3. Choose Erase from the toolbar
4. Set Format › MS-DOS (FAT)
5. Set Scheme (if it exists) › Master Boot Record
6. Click Erase and wait for the process to finish

Linux

There are lots of ways to format an SD card on Linux. 3 methods are presented in this blog post.

Make sure you choose: For use with all systems and devices (FAT)

Chrome OS

Chrome already has a tool to format an SD card. Insert the card into your Chromebook, right-click it and click Format Device, make sure FAT32 is selected under Format and click or tap Erase & Format.

Step 2: Copy the installation files and boot up your device to begin the installation

Windows

1. Right click the Onion-v4.x.x.zip file and select Extract all › Extract
2. Select and copy the 7 folders to the root of your SD card

Mac

1. Unzip (expand) the Onion-v4.x.x.zip file: Double-click the .zip file.
   The unzipped item will appear in the same folder as the .zip file.
   If you want to, you can delete the .zip file.
2. Select and copy the 7 folders to the root of your SD card
   Make sure hidden files are shown (press Command+Shift+. in Finder)

Linux

1. Unzip the Onion-v4.x.x.zip file using the following command (replace Onion-v4.2.0 with the filename of the zip you downloaded):

   unzip Onion-v4.2.0.zip -d Onion-v4.2.0

2. Copy the 7 folders to your SD card, using the following command (replace /run/media/mmcblk0p1 with the path to your SD card):

   cp -r Onion-v4.2.0/* /run/media/mmcblk0p1

Chrome OS

1. Double-click the Onion-v4.x.x.zip file and make sure hidden files are visible by clicking or tapping the top-right corner 3-dots icon and making sure Show Hidden Files is toggled on.
2. Copy the 7 folders to your SD card, dragging them into your SD card drive icon on the left panel.

Installation files

The Onion installation files consists of the following folders:

.tmp_update/  # Might be hidden
BIOS/
Media/
miyoo/
miyoo354/
RetroArch/
Themes/

3. Insert the SD card into the Miyoo device, and turn it on to begin the installation.
4. When the installation is done, you'll be prompted with the Quick Guide - a quick overview of Onion
5. Then you'll presented with the Package Manager, choose the systems and apps you want enabled, then press START twice
6. When the installation is done, press the A button and the device will turn off (MM) or reboot (MMP).

Step 3: Copy over your bios and rom files

1. Copy your bios files to the BIOS folder (stock bios files are available at RetroArch/.retroarch/system on the stock SD card).
2. Copy your roms into their respective subfolders in Roms (see the Emulators page for more information - here you'll find the Rom Folders table).

Part of the system

Despite its name, the .tmp_update folder must stay on your SD card.

3. Insert your SD card, boot up your Mini and press SELECT › Refresh all roms from the Games tab in the main menu to refresh roms (forcing a reindex of your games).