ZyperOS vs plumOS on the GKD Pixel 2
plumOS Pixel2, by game-de-it, and ZyperOS are both young systems made for the GKD Pixel 2 alone. plumOS says it is in testing, and ZyperOS released its version 1.0.1 in November 2026. They took different roads: plumOS keeps the stock firmware's boot path and kernel and replaces everything above them, while ZyperOS brings its own Linux. This is the two side by side, from each project's own code, docs and releases as of 7 November 2026.
On this page
The short answer
- Pick plumOS if you want more systems today, DraStic and PortMaster built in, a list of tested dual-band Wi-Fi adapters, and A/B system updates you can install from a file. It has a release image you can download, though its project says that image has not had its final boot test.
- Pick ZyperOS if you want to send games over the USB cable or from a phone's browser, box art and video previews on the handheld, RetroAchievements, and battery care such as a charge limit. Version 1.0.1 is out, with a card image and ZyperOS Installer.
Side by side
| ZyperOS | plumOS Pixel2 | |
|---|---|---|
| License | GPL-3.0, free | MIT for its own code |
| Latest | v1.0.1 (November 2026) | v0.1.4 (August 2026), in testing |
| Kernel | Linux 7.1.2, with ROCKNIX's patches | The stock firmware's Linux 5.10.198 |
| Systems | 40, and Ports | 86 in its list |
| Card a Mac or PC reads | exFAT | FAT32 |
| Games over the network | Web page | SSH, SFTP, FTP, Samba |
| Games over the USB cable | Yes | No |
| Box art on the device | libretro, ScreenScraper, SteamGridDB | libretro |
| RetroAchievements | Yes | – |
| Nintendo DS | DSperate built in, DraStic if you add it | DraStic, built in |
| PortMaster | On the shelf | Included |
| Tested Wi-Fi adapters | TP-Link TL-WN725N (RTL8188EUS) | UGREEN AC650 and other RTL8811CU / RTL8821CU, and RTL8188EU |
| System updates | Over Wi-Fi or the USB cable, A/B with roll back | A signed file you copy over, A/B with roll back |
| Charging screen when off | Yes | Yes |
| Charge limit | Yes | – |
| Media | Music, audiobooks and video | Music, and game music files |
Two ways to build a Pixel 2 system
plumOS keeps the stock Pixel 2 boot path and its Linux 5.10.198 kernel, and replaces everything from the system file onward: its own frontend, emulators and apps. Its charging screen, for one, is the stock firmware's own.
ZyperOS brings its own Linux, plastron, with a current kernel, 7.1.2, carrying ROCKNIX's RK3326 patches and the Pixel 2's device tree. Its launcher keeps the emulator running, so a game starts the moment you press A.
Installing
plumOS asks for a separate card of at least 16 GB, and says not to write over the stock card. You extract its image from a .7z, write it with Raspberry Pi Imager or balenaEtcher, and on the first boot it makes its FAT32 games volume and may restart once; add games only after that. ZyperOS's release has a card image you write with any image writer, and ZyperOS Installer, which downloads and writes it for you. The install guide covers both.
Adding games
Both make a games space a Mac or PC reads: FAT32 on plumOS, exFAT on ZyperOS. Over a network, plumOS offers SSH and SFTP, on by default, and FTP and Samba, which you turn on. Its docs say release images ship no USB mode, so there is no transfer over the cable.
ZyperOS opens one web page in any browser, behind a PIN, over Wi-Fi or over the USB cable, and with no network around the handheld makes its own for your phone. The adding games guide shows it.
Wi-Fi
Neither can charge and use a Wi-Fi adapter at once without extra hardware, since the Pixel 2 has one USB-C port; plumOS's README says so too. plumOS lists the adapters it has validated: the UGREEN AC650 and other RTL8811CU and RTL8821CU adapters, with a driver it builds for them, and older RTL8188EU adapters on the stock driver, which its own test found too slow for big transfers. ZyperOS is tested with the TP-Link TL-WN725N, an RTL8188EUS, which can also be the handheld's own network; it has no driver for the RTL8811CU and RTL8821CU. The Wi-Fi guide has the details.
Box art, achievements and video
plumOS's Scraping app downloads box art, title screens or screenshots from libretro's thumbnails, with no account, though not for the Nintendo DS. ZyperOS asks libretro, ScreenScraper with an account, and SteamGridDB with your key, and can play a few seconds of a game in place of its cover. ZyperOS signs in to RetroAchievements on the handheld; we found no source on RetroAchievements in plumOS. ZyperOS's MP4 plays videos and audiobooks as well as music.
DS and PortMaster
plumOS runs the DS on standalone DraStic, which it includes, and includes PortMaster with a compatibility layer that checks each port before it starts. ZyperOS ships DSperate and runs DraStic if you add it. It installs PortMaster from its Ports shelf with one press, over Wi-Fi, and runs its ports there. See the DS guide and the PortMaster guide.
Updates
Both write a new system into a second slot and keep the one before, so a failed update can go back. On plumOS you copy a signed update file to the card and start it from System Settings. ZyperOS's System Update downloads it over Wi-Fi, only what changed, or the File Transfer page brings it over the USB cable.
Which one to pick
plumOS has more systems, DraStic and PortMaster ready, and a wider list of tested Wi-Fi adapters. ZyperOS has transfers over the USB cable and from a phone, more on the handheld itself, and battery care. Both are young, so expect changes in either. Each one is a card: try both.
Sources
- plumOS Pixel2 at dec872c: README, install, storage, network, connectivity, scraping, updates, operation, system list, and its Wi-Fi throughput note.
- plumOS Pixel2 release v0.1.4.
- ZyperOS: the README and the user guide; plastron's px2_defconfig (Linux 7.1.2).