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Installation

Installation Instructions🔗

Formatting will erase all data from the SD card

Back up anything important before formatting or repartitioning the card.

Do not unzip MinUI.zip

The release archive must be extracted on your computer, but the MinUI.zip file inside that archive must be copied to the SD-card root as a zip file. Do not extract MinUI.zip.

What you need🔗

  • A supported device: TrimUI Brick, TrimUI Smart Pro, or TrimUI Smart Pro S.
  • A microSD card formatted as FAT32 or exFAT.
  • A Master Boot Record partition table.
  • The latest NextUI release archive ending in -base.zip or -all.zip.
  • Your own ROM and BIOS files. NextUI does not include games or copyrighted BIOS files.

Fresh install🔗

  1. Insert the microSD card into your computer.
  2. Format the card as FAT32 or exFAT.
  3. Make sure the card uses the Master Boot Record (MBR) partition scheme.
  4. Download the latest NextUI release archive from GitHub.
    • Use the archive ending in -base.zip for a normal installation.
    • Use the archive ending in -all.zip if you also want the extra emulator/tool folders included.
  5. Extract the release archive on your computer.
  6. Open the extracted folder.
  7. Copy the contents of the extracted folder to the root of your SD card.
  8. Confirm that MinUI.zip is on the SD-card root and is still zipped.
  9. Safely eject the SD card.
  10. Insert the SD card into your device.
  11. Power on the device.
  12. Wait while the NextUI installation screen runs. Do not power off the device during installation.
  13. When installation is complete, the device can shut down. Power it on again.

What the SD-card root should look like🔗

The important part is that the release contents are copied directly to the card root, not inside another folder.

For NextUI-20260407-0-base.zip, the card root should include:

SDCARD_ROOT/
├── Bios/
├── Cheats/
├── MinUI.zip
├── Overlays/
├── README.txt
├── Roms/
├── Saves/
├── Shaders/
├── nextui.pak_store.pakz
├── nextui.updater.pakz
├── nextui.upgrade_bluez.tg5040.pakz
└── trimui/

The -all.zip release includes the same root files plus:

SDCARD_ROOT/
├── Emus/
└── Tools/

The -extras.zip archive contains extra content folders only. It does not replace the base archive for a fresh install.

Wrong:

SDCARD_ROOT/
└── NextUI-v6.10.0-base/
    ├── MinUI.zip
    └── trimui/

If your card looks like the wrong example, move the files out of the extracted release folder and onto the SD-card root.

Linux formatting example🔗

Most users should use a graphical formatter. Advanced Linux users can create a compatible single-partition FAT32 card like this:

sudo parted -s /dev/sdX mklabel msdos mkpart primary fat32 1MiB 100%
sudo mkfs.vfat -F 32 -n NEXTUI /dev/sdX1

Replace /dev/sdX with the actual SD-card device. Be careful: using the wrong disk name can erase another drive.

This creates an MBR partition table, starts the first partition at 1 MiB, uses the rest of the card, and formats the partition as FAT32.

If the device boots stock OS instead of NextUI🔗

Check these first:

  • The card is MBR, not GPT.
  • MinUI.zip is on the SD-card root and is still zipped.
  • The trimui/ folder from the release is on the SD-card root.
  • The release files are not nested inside an extra folder.
  • You safely ejected the card after copying files.
  • Try a different SD card if settings are not saving or files keep corrupting.

See Troubleshooting for a full decision tree.