Restore RengeOS (Recovery Mode)

Essentially, the ros-reborn tool allows users to reset their system to its original state (as when it was first installed) without having to reinstall using a Live ISO with a USB drive as is the usual method.
So we will use ros-reborn (TUI) to automate the RengeOS restore process to its original state using the unsquashfs method and some other related techniques during the process.

Boot into Recovery Mode

After booting up your device, at the bottom of the GRUB menu you will see an option called Recovery Mode. Select it and boot into it before proceeding with ros-reborn.

Start the process

After booting into Recovery Mode from the GRUB menu option, we will log in as root using the password you set for root during the previous RengeOS installation.

Next, we will proceed with the factory reset process using ros-reborn.

ros-reborn

You will immediately see this TUI appear and that is the ros-reborn tool.

Boot mode

Now we have two options: UEFI and Legacy BIOS.
Make sure you know what your boot mode is. If not, check your BIOS. Also, ensure you don’t have Hybrid Mode enabled.
Here I will choose UEFI because my machine is currently using that boot mode.

Select partitions

EFI(boot) and Root paritions

After selecting the boot mode, the next step is to choose the partitions in the following order:
EFI partition (Legacy BIOS is similar) -> Root partition -> Recovery Partition

First, we need to select the EFI (boot) partition and the root partition.
Here, the EFI (boot) partition will be sda1 and the root partition will be sda3.

Recovery parition

After selecting the two partitions like above, you will be asked if you want to choose a partition for Recovery Mode.

Here I have Recovery Mode enabled and I will select the sda2 partition as the Recovery Mode partition.

Summary

After we’ve defined the partitions, we’ll review them to ensure everything is correct.

Timezone and System locale

Now we need to select the time region, here, I’ve chosen Asia/Ho_Chi_Minh because I live there

After selecting your region, the next step is to choose your system locale.
If you’re unsure what to choose, just select English (US) as it’s the default standard on most other distributions, and I chose it too.

System configuration

Now it will ask you for your computer’s hostname, so enter the name you want.

After completing that, the next step is to provide the user’s username.

Configure passwords for Root and User

After that, we will move on to configuring passwords for root and user accounts.

And now we’ll begin with setting up the root password.

Once we’ve set up the root password, we’ll move on to setting up passwords for the user accounts.

Kernel selection

The next step is to select the kernel that will be installed and used as the default.

linux-renge-bore is the latest kernel based on the Xanmod Kernel and BORE Schedule, with O3 optimization and other features that make laptops/desktops/gaming significantly smoother, reducing lag and stutter during heavy background tasks. However, it is not optimized for long-term workloads or servers.
linux-renge-lts is also the latest kernel (in terms of official Linux kernel versions for LTS) based on the Xanmod Kernel, built with O3 optimization. It excels in smoothness, low latency, and better laptops/desktop/gaming performance than the regular kernel, but maintains long-term stability and is less optimized than linux-renge-bore.

Filesystem

After selecting your desired kernel, you will see something like this (for the linux-renge-bore option).
If we selected linux-renge-lts, only the xfs filesystem option will be displayed because it doesn’t support bcachefs filesystem.
Anyway, that’s your decision, but I still recommend choosing bcachefs filesystem if possible because RengeOS currently has strong support for it.

Configure Zram (Virtual RAM)

After successfully completing filesystem selection configuration process, the next step is to choose whether or not to enable Zram.

Check before the installation process begins

Now we need to review and confirm whether it has met expectations.
If you’re okay with it, you can select Yes. Otherwise, select No, and you can start the process again.

The process will then continue according to the previously configured settings.

Wait for the installation process to complete

Now you can make yourself a hot cup of coffee and wait until everything is finished, and you will reach the completion menu.

Congratulations! You have successfully restored RengeOS to factory settings with ros-reborn without needing a USB or Live ISO, Yay!! 🎉 🎉