The Linux ecosystem houses quite a few Linux distros that can turn your PC into a retro gaming console, and Lakka is one such option that will remind you of Kodi, the popular media player.
Lakka uses LibreELEC and RetroArch as its foundation to provide you with a lightweight and powerful system for your retro gaming needs. It has support for things such as multiplayer gaming (local/internet), wireless gamepads, and various small-board computers (SBCs).
In a recent announcement, its developers brought out a new release, “Lakka 5.0”, that has some useful upgrades to offer. So, let's take a look at it.
🆕 Lakka 5.0: What's New?
Starting off with the build system, Lakka 5.0 is now based on LibreELEC 11.0's and offers three different Linux kernel versions across architectures. For Mainline, it uses Linux kernel 6.1.84; for Raspberry, it uses Linux kernel 6.1.77; and for Amlogic, it uses Linux kernel 6.1.38.
On the gaming experience side of things, this release features Mesa 24.0.4, which brings about various bug fixes, with the existing cores of Lakka being updated to their latest versions.
There are many new cores too, which add support for more games and gaming systems. Some notable ones include DirkSimple for playing Dragon's Lair, DOSBox-core for playing classic DOS games, the VICE xpet Commodore emulator, and vitaquake2, the Quake II port.
Finally, we have new Lakka images for the following devices:
- Raspberry Pi 5
- OrangePi Zero2
- BananaPi M2 Pro
- Firefly ROC-PC Plus
To learn more about this release and the newly supported platforms, you can refer to the official announcement blog.
📥 Download Lakka 5.0
This release is available on the official website for various kinds of platforms, starting from Generic PC, all the way to Raspberry Pi, Nintendo Switch, Odroid devices, and more.
If you run into any issues or want to learn more about Lakka, then you can head over to the official forums.
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Ankush Das
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