Question: What do I need to know about Radio and Kernel when flashing new Roms?
I've been reading about rooting and flashing Roms on my Nexus one for a little while now. But i'm still not sure what role radio and Kernel playing in the whole process. I'm one of those better safe than sorry people, so I wanted to know as much as I can about flashing roms When do I flash a new radio? do I need to have a different Kernel for different roms? If anyone can give a simple definition of each and a little explanation it would mean a lot.
Posted Dec 28, 2010, 6:07 PM UTC
1211
The kernel is the link between the software running on your phone and the phone's hardware. Different kernel devs (such as Peter, slayher, chevyno1, etc) add different tweaks to improve the performance of the Linux kernel on Android devices. Some of the additional tweaks they add are support for overclocking and tethering and improving WiFi. BEFORE flashing a new kernel, BACKUP your current system. It is very safe to try out new kernels (albeit some ROM only support specific kernels, see the release notes for that ROM); the worst that can happen is your phone will get stuck in a boot-loop. If that happens, just reboot into your recovery and flash back to your backup. Different kernels work differently on each phone; flash new one to see which works best for your. I am currently running Slayher's 1.0 GHZ, Low Voltage kernel on Cyanogenmod 6.1.2
As for the radio, also called the baseband: this module controls how your phone communicates with your carrier's towers. Some devs have released their own baseband such as Peter. I am currently using that baseband on my Droid 1 on Verizon, but that was only because I was having terrible crackling on incoming calls. I would not flash a new baseband unless you are having radio related problems.
That perfect! Thank you a million. I'm going to wait for C7.0 RC1 to flash a ROM
OP: Ignore this guy, and go read as much as you can from the link thrik provided here.
The OP identified himself as a nexus one owner. I am, by no means, an expert on the N1. However, I have owned a G1, a vibrant, and a droid, and a nexus one; and I know the rules for each android device vary. Please provide an account of relevant experience or stop giving advice without really knowing what you're doing.
Why are you suggesting to ignore him? he gave really good starting information. Apart from the device discrepancy, it was a really good description to the things the OP was wondering about.
There's some decent information in the post, but this sentence makes it sound like flashing a new kernel is always safe:
Depending on the device type or other software considerations, this may not always be true.
In my experience with Android, you really can't fuck up a kernel flash. A bad kernel flash can't stop you from getting into the bootloader/recovery on any HTC Android phone I've ever owned. (HTC Dream, Magic, Hero, N1, Supersonic and Vision) If you can get into the bootloader, it's not bricked.
Same goes with recovery. I accidently flashed a N1 recovery on my supersonic. As long as you can fastboot flash, you are fine.
The baseband on the other hand can screw your phone up, so be careful with that one. Some people in the XDA Supersonic forums have lost their ability to connect to WiMAX forever due to bad radio flashes.