Atari Lynx¶
Overview¶
The Atari Lynx launched in 1989 at $179.99 USD and was the first handheld with a color LCD. Its WDC 65SC02 CPU and custom hardware allowed both landscape and portrait gameplay, and Atari eventually adopted the project after Epyx encountered financial trouble. REG-Linux treats the platform as the atarilynx system group so metadata scraping and themes stay aligned with the console’s legacy.
Technical specifications¶
- Manufacturer: Atari
- Release year: 1989
- Hardware type: portable
- CPU: WDC 65SC02-based custom chip at 16 MHz
- Memory: 64 KB RAM, 64 KB cartridge ROM (banked)
- Display: 160×102 color LCD with 4,096 colors plus hardware scaling/rotation
- Sound: 4-channel DAC with stereo sample playback
Supported ROM extensions¶
.bll, .lnx, .lyx, .o, .zip, .7z
Quick reference¶
- Emulator: RetroArch
- Cores: libretro: Mednafen_Lynx, libretro: handy
- ROM folder:
/userdata/roms/lynx - Accepted ROM formats:
.bll,.lnx,.lyx,.o,.zip,.7z - System group:
atarilynx
BIOS¶
If you want the original Lynx boot animation, place bios/lynxboot.img in /userdata/bios/ without renaming it.
| MD5 checksum | Share file path | Description |
|---|---|---|
fcd403db69f54290b51035d82f835e7b |
bios/lynxboot.img |
Lynx Boot Image |
ROMs¶
Store your Atari Lynx ROMs inside /userdata/roms/lynx using any of the accepted extensions. Compressed .zip / .7z archives and .bll dumps are all supported.
Emulators¶
RetroArch¶
RetroArch runs Lynx games via the Mednafen_Lynx and Handy cores, letting you share shaders, overlays, hotkeys, rewind and latency options.
RetroArch configuration¶
Open the Quick Menu with [HOTKEY] + the south face button (see controller configuration) to adjust core-specific values and mappings. REG-Linux also exposes many of those settings directly in EmulationStation.
Standardized options available to every Lynx session include lynx.videomode, lynx.ratio, lynx.smooth, lynx.shaders, lynx.pixel_perfect, lynx.decoration, lynx.game_translation, lynx.audio_latency, lynx.video_threaded.
| ES setting name | REG-Linux.conf_key | Description & values |
|---|---|---|
| GRAPHICS BACKEND | lynx.gfxbackend |
Choose OpenGL (opengl) or Vulkan (vulkan). |
| AUDIO LATENCY | lynx.audio_latency |
Buffer size in milliseconds: 256, 192, 128, 64, 32, 16, 8. Raise if you hear crackles. |
| THREADED VIDEO | lynx.video_threaded |
Use a second thread for rendering (true On, false Off). |
libretro: Mednafen_Lynx¶
Beetle Lynx (Mednafen_Lynx) is the Mednafen-based port of Handy and offers a polished, accurate Lynx experience.
libretro: handy¶
Handy is the original open-source Lynx emulator. Its libretro version shares the RetroArch interface so you can operate both cores identically.
Controls¶
Here’s the default Atari Lynx controller mapped to the REG-Linux Retropad:
Portrait titles can be played by rotating the overlay or remapping inputs through the Quick Menu as needed.