optirius/guide-for-r36x-rclone

This repository is not software, it is a step by step written guide. It explains how to set up automatic backups of game save files to Google Drive on a handheld gaming device running ArkOS, a Linux based operating system used on small retro gaming handhelds like the R36x and RG351MP. The tool doing the actual syncing is rclone, a free command line program for moving files to and from cloud storage services. The guide walks through the whole process from a bare device. It starts by connecting to the handheld over SSH, a way to control a device remotely from a computer, then checks whether the version of rclone already installed is too old to work with Google's current login system. It then shows how to download and install a newer version built for the device's ARM64 processor, since the built in one usually fails to log into Google properly. After that, it covers configuring rclone to connect to Google Drive, including the login step, which is done differently than usual because the handheld has no web browser: instead, a code is generated on the device and the actual Google login happens on a separate Windows computer, with the resulting authorization token copied back over. Once connected, the guide shows how to create two small backup and restore scripts, placed into ArkOS's built in Tools menu, so that backing up or restoring saved games becomes a single menu option instead of a manual command each time. The example throughout uses Game Boy Advance save files as a sample folder, but the guide notes the same steps and scripts can be copied and adjusted for any other game system's save folder, or for backing up other settings like the RetroArch configuration. No cloud sync process runs constantly in the background afterward, it only runs when a backup or restore is chosen from the menu.