Khadas VIM1S — Console OS & Rescue Downloads

Khadas VIM1S — Console OS & Rescue Downloads

Downloads

Download the ready-to-flash Khadas VIM1S (Amlogic S905Y4, quad-core Cortex-A35, 2 GB LPDDR4) couch-console OS image and optional 32 MB SPI NOR Flash rescue image below:

Image & TargetDirect Download
VIM1S Console OS (18.9 MiB compressed / 47 MiB raw — USB Stick, microSD Card, or 16 GB eMMC)Download OS (.img.gz)
VIM1S SPI NOR + OOWOW Rescue (19.4 MiB compressed / 32 MiB raw — 32 MB SPI NOR Flash mtd0)Download SPI (.bin.gz)
SHA-256 Checksums (vim1s-sha256sums.txt)Download SHA-256 (.txt)

SHA-256 Checksums

  • vim1s-console-os.img.gz: 1ad5645fc9026e7fd7cff01f8322fd62d70a1eaad41f16d2afea77249ff48b7d
  • vim1s-console-os.img (uncompressed): 37f5b5394342ba9da8474440586d4609e3a1772cfd8544d214ff155e58e30c90
  • vim1s-spi-rescue.bin.gz: e1721fd6286235f6b4835b38325441fb9f61549db6f56cc20f8477c4d4d2cbba

Easy 3-Step Setup Guide

You do not need a serial cable, terminal commands, or Linux experience. Everything works straight from the couch with an HDMI TV/monitor and a USB/Bluetooth controller or the Khadas IR remote.

Step 1 — Flash the Image to a USB Stick (or Directly to eMMC via OOWOW)

  • Option A — Graphical Flash to a USB Stick (Recommended for Beginners):
  1. Download vim1s-console-os.img.gz (18.9 MiB).
  2. Open Balena Etcher (or Rufus on Windows / Raspberry Pi Imager on macOS & Linux), select vim1s-console-os.img.gz, select any USB flash drive, and click Flash.
  3. Plug the flashed USB stick into one of the VIM1S USB-A ports and connect HDMI + USB-C power.
  • Option B — Flash Directly to Internal 16 GB eMMC:
  1. Boot your VIM1S into OOWOW (hold the middle Function button while pressing Reset once, then release after 3 seconds).
  2. Open the OOWOW Shell (or boot from the USB stick from Option A) and write the image to /dev/mmcblk0:
     gzip -dc vim1s-console-os.img.gz | dd of=/dev/mmcblk0 bs=4M conv=fsync

Step 2 — Optional: Restore Factory SPI NOR Flash (mtd0)

Only needed if your board's 32 MB SPI NOR bootloader or OOWOW recovery system was erased or corrupted:

gzip -dc vim1s-spi-rescue.bin.gz | dd of=/dev/mtdblock0 bs=64k conv=fsync

Step 3 — Insert Any microSD Card and Play

  1. Insert any microSD card of any size (8 GB up to 1 TB+) into the VIM1S microSD slot.
  2. The console OS automatically detects unformatted or foreign storage cards and prepares two clean partitions while keeping your factory bootloader untouched:
  • games (p1): Dedicated storage for native ARM64 game ports (/mnt/games/games/).
  • saves (p2): Persistent storage for savegames, custom browser shortcuts, and your Linux terminal home directory.
  1. Connect to your Wi-Fi network under [3] Wi-Fi, adjust 1080p@60Hz or 720p@60Hz under [6] Settings/HDMI, and add your own custom web tiles under [2] Browser → [+] Add Shortcut.
  2. Whenever a microSD card is inserted, the [7] Terminal tile appears automatically on the home screen — opening VIM1S // Terminal (root@vim1s:~#) with persistent package support (apk, apt, npm, pip, python3, claude CLI) and the built-in large-letter controller On-Screen Keyboard (SELECT / MENU).

Screenshots — VIM1S Couch Console UI

VIM1S // Home KMS/DRM LauncherVIM1S // Terminal (Fullscreen Shell + Large-Letter OSK)
VIM1S Home KMS DRM LauncherVIM1S Fullscreen Linux Terminal
Zero-X11 KMS/DRM couch-console home screen with Native Ports, Browser, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Screencast, Settings/HDMI, and Terminal.Clean fullscreen VIM1S // Terminal (root@vim1s:~#) with apk, apt, npm, pip, claude CLI, and unified large-letter controller keyboard.
VIM1S // Browser Custom User ShortcutsVIM1S // Settings / HDMI (1080p / 720p)
VIM1S Browser Add ShortcutVIM1S HDMI Display and Audio Settings
Clean browser view with zero premade bloat — create your own custom web tiles via [+] Add Shortcut.Live HDMI mode switching (Auto, 1920x1080 @ 60Hz, 1280x720 @ 60Hz) and HDMI audio toggle.
VIM1S // Wi-Fi Access Point ManagerBuilt-In 4-Row Controller On-Screen Keyboard (Large Letters)
VIM1S Wi-Fi ManagerVIM1S Controller On-Screen Keyboard
Scan and connect to 2.4/5 GHz Wi-Fi networks directly from your gamepad or IR remote.Full 4-row high-visibility QWERTY & symbol on-screen keyboard (Menu / SELECT / KEYBOARD) across both Launcher and Terminal.

Under the Hood — Hardware and Partition Architecture

Partition / DeviceOffset & SizeContent & Purpose
Amlogic Bootloader (FIP)sector 0 (0–1 MiB)Signed BL2 / BL31 / U-Boot 2015 for Amlogic S905Y4 (kvim1s)
Boot Partition (p1)1 MiB (32 MiB FAT16, BOOT)Linux 5.4.180 aarch64 kernel (Image), kvim1s.dtb, and U-Boot script
Immutable System Rootfs (p2)33 MiB (14 MiB SquashFS)Read-only SquashFS system image with RAM tmpfs runtime overlay for instant power-off safety
Expandable Storage (mmcblk1)Any Capacity (p1: games, p2: saves)Auto-initialized games (ext4) + saves (ext4 for savegames, browser tiles, and persistent terminal packages)
SPI NOR Rescue (mtd0)32 MB (vim1s-spi-rescue.bin.gz)Factory U-Boot FIP (0x000000), env (0x180000), and Khadas OOWOW rescue system (0x200000)