• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

Root Can't overclock...

TheAmazingDave

TheAmazingDave

Android Expert
I've tried several ROMs and several kernels, and nothing works except CM7's stock 925 MHz overclock. I don't get it, it runs perfect at 925 MHz. But damned if I try even 1 GHz, it locks up cold instantly every time.

Am I screwed?
 
Mine does the same. I think I got to run at 1100 once, but 1200 or 1300, no go. I bought a factory referb ftom B&N on ebay.
 
Some people would return an item for reasons like that. I know they used to return cpu's that wouldn't OC well. :D

I'd try an older kernel, one that does lower speeds, like 1100.

Here's all of Dalingrin's kernels: http://coachz.inetpro.org/~dalingrin/nook/kernels/

Files with 32 in the name (5/13 and newer) only work with nightly builds of the same kernel version. (See settings... about tablet.) A manual edit of the files to substitute ext4 for ext3 would be required (easy with a text editor after extracting). Sd files are for roms installed on the sd card (dual boot). I'm guessing PM uses the 4/24 kernel. Here's info on every kernel: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=925451

You'd want to make a recovery backup and have a bootable CWR sdcard first. :D The wrong kernel will throw you in a boot loop, but reflashing the rom will restore your original kernel.
 
Modding NC is surprisingly similar to modding my Optimus. They both use a very similar recovery menu. It made it easy to start tinkering with the NC; I'm familiar with the standard back-up, wipe, flash steps. I've been doing all mods from my CWR SD, I haven't installed any recovery to the device itself.

Looks like I have more reading to do to make sure I'm using the right kernel, but I'm pretty sure I even used the 1,000 MHz kernel, and my NC won't even attempt to boot with it. I get the Cyanogenmod boot splash, and then a black screen, I never get the Cyanogenmod guy on the skateboard. If I use Phiremod, the instant I select 1,200 MHz (the lowest possible overclock) it locks hard, and I have to hold power to force it off.

edit: That looks like a much newer list of kernels than I had found. Time to tinker...
 
OK, so I wiped everything from the Nook. I downloaded last night's nightly, and the latest Darlingrin OC kernel; I believe the kernel notes mentioned that it provides an adaptive overvolt at 1,200.

It booted up right quick, just fine (I was definitely using the wrong kernel last night... :( ) and without hesitation, I went right to the menu and cranked it up to 1,200 MHz with performance governor. It's been several minutes now without a lock.

*wants to do happy dance but doesn't want to jinx it*

Maybe my proc is just power-hungry and it needed the overvolt for stability? I was pretty tired last night, but don't recall anything about an overvolt with the kernels I tried

edit: quick update before I get ready for work, running perfectly so far. Hope it keeps up.
 
Dave, did you get the OC app that goes with the new kernel? https://market.android.com/details?id=com.dalingrin.nookcolortweaks

BTW, I was going to recommend Nightly #95, when I saw the new kernel, which is much easier to dial in whatever speed you want. I'm installing it right now. Nightly #93 and #95 were rated 5 stars, too soon to get many reviews of today's rom tho.

BTW#2, you might be interested in QuickClock for testing your OC settings. You can't use it to OC your NC, since it was designed for the DroidX, but it's great for testing your OC to see if you get lagging. (Advanced menu... Stress Test) An occasional lag is to be expected, but not one out of every 5. :D

BTW, 1200 with the new kernel is equivalent to 1300 with the old and 1400 isn't unheard of. FWIW, there's also the risk of SOD (sleep of death) with the nightly's, tho I've never seen it. This kernel also has better sleep battery life, but it isn't fool-proof yet. Turning off wireless before sleeping does seem to help tho.
 
Thank you for all of the information! Maybe you'll have insight on this, too; my NC has been relatively stable, but after my shift ended last night, I came right home and started playing around. It wasn't long before it started locking up.

Marketplace freezes my Nook constantly, it's been very problematic. I'm also having trouble with music playback.

I installed Dalingrin's NC Tweaks and it tells me I have the wrong kernel for CPU settings, so I've been managing the CPU through Cyanogenmod's settings.
 
Reflashing your rom will always restore your original kernel and is recommended if you're going from one custom kernel to a different one.

Maybe you need a lower setting to make it stable? Even tho I could go to 1325 on mine it didn't take long to have issues and I found 1275 gave me higher results with Quandrant than 1300 or higher.

Dalingrin's NC Tweak is for Nightly builds only. If you go to settings... about tablet, the kernel number has to be 2.6.32 to work with that and the latest kernels. I believe you have 2.6.29 on your tablet. 32-based kernels were derived from B&N 1.2 update.

EDIT: Dave, just reread your original posts and see you were on nightly builds. Check market and see if there's an update for your NC Tweak.
 
Thanks again, will do. :)

On the bright side, I was extremely surprised to see a mouse pointer pop up on the screen when I paired a BT mouse earlier today. Not sure if that's a CM7 feature or native to 2.3, but it sure rocks my socks.

edit: and I'm not sure it's the OC crashing it. It has crashed several times at stock clock speeds with the Dalingrin kernels.
 
Open Rom Manager and make sure you have the latest recovery. Flash that if you don't. Clearing dalvik cache will hang if you don't have the latest. :D

Boot into recovery and format cache (under mounts) and format dalvik cache (under advanced). See if that helps. It'll take longer to boot (from dalvik) and be a little lethargic after doing that (from cache), but should pic up after a bit.

If you think it's the kernel, you could simply reflash your rom (format system, cache and dalvik cache first) and see if that makes it stable. The kernel could be flashed later if you want.

Are you running a nightly rom? Maybe that's your problem. :D #93 and #95 are still the most stable according to reviews in Rom Manager (paid version).
 
Yea, still toiling with nightlies. I don't think it's the kernel itself, I'm sticking with it for now. Rather, I'm fairly certain that something I'm putting on the device is causing it.

So far, I've had the best success with build 96, which I just flashed back on about an hour ago, no crashes yet.

I think it's something I'm putting on, though, because it always runs great after a fresh install, then starts crashing often after a few hours, just about when I'm done installing everything.
 
Are you updating your current rom or formatting data, installing the rom and restoring a backup? Restoring the wrong stuff with Titanium can cause issues. (I just restore apps + data, nothing system)
 
Not even backing up your apps/data? I'd be lost without my Angry Birds and Stupid Zombies high scores. :D

The free version of Titanium Backup will get you one backup of each app. The paid version will allow you to restore all your apps at once, but you could get by with the free version.
 
Yea, I'm very fond of Ti. It's been great while I've been tinkering with the beta stuff for my Optimus. But I stopped using it on the Nook until I can track down this gremlin. It runs fine when clocked to 1.2 with Dalingrin's kernel. The crash is totally random and happens even on stock clocks. (still can't run at 1.2 in Phiremod, which is that ROM's lowest overclock. Still locks instantly)

What's funny is that while experimenting with overclocking my Optimus, I'm experiencing the same thing. That is, my Optimus runs great at 787 MHz, which seems to be the butter zone for our phones, yet I am experiencing a totally random-lock up at any clock speed with the OC kernel and whatever program I'm running.

I believe it may be either Fancy Widget Pro, or ADW Launcher EX, I think I've narrowed it down to those two.

I'm also going to start doing all my tweaking on a SD-based install of CM7, and I think I'll put rooted 1.2 back on the internal memory, or maybe the last stable CM7. 7.0.3 has a strange ugly gap in the notification pull-down (or is it pull-up?) bar; unattractive when I'm trying to show it off.
 
To fix that appearance problem try this (after creating a recovery backup) :D

Try changing your lcd density to 187. That appears to be best from an appearance standpoint.

Open a program like Astro or Root Explorer or a similar program. For this example I'll use Root Explorer.

Open Root Explorer and find the system folder and tap it to open it.

At the top, tap the r/o button to change the folder contents to r/w (read/write). Find the build.prop file and long press it to bring up a menu. Choose "open in text editor". (Now you have to be careful or you'll end up with an unbootable NC.) :D

Scroll down under "ADDITIONAL BUILD_PROPERTIES" and find this line:

ro.sf.lcd_density=161

Position your cursor at the end of the line and change the 161 to 187

Tap the menu button and save and exit the text editor.

Change the system folder back to r/o (read only) and reboot your Nook.

I've read that anything over 240 will make it boot loop.

Larger number mean larger text, but 161 to 187 isn't that big of a change.
 
Running great again with not much installed, clocks set @ 1.2 GHz / 600 MHz conservative. I'm going to try streaming Pandora, that's been a Tad troublesome.
 
Running absolutely fabulous right now, it has to be one of my programs.

I hope it's not ADW, Fancy Widget is more easily replaced.

edit: I turned lockscreen back on in tablet tweaks, and added a lock screen toggle to my power control bar widget, then turned the lock screen off with the widget. If it crashes and reboots overnight, I should wake up to an enabled lock screen. :O
 
Put ADW EX back on this morning. Things were smooth 'till I tried to open ROM Manager to install recovery. It instantly crashed. Reboted, started Pandora, crashed.

Rebooted recovery with my SD, wiped all cache, and rebooted normally. Instantly crashed after boot trying to open settings.

Rebooted again, and so far it's all normal. If I get another crash this morning, ADW's coming off and I'll see how it behaves.
 
Aaaaannnndddddd...... Just crashed playing music using Pandora and DLing from Market. It's been doing this fine since last night.

ADW's coming off...
 
Sounds like you might have something corrupted on your sdcard that only shows up when certain apps are installed.

Try "fix permissions" in rom manager.
 
Thank you for all of your advice. Since removing ADW EX from the Nook and installing simi clock instead of fancy widget I haven't had any issues since that last crash. I also removed ADW EX from my overclocked Optimus and it also hasn't crashed yet, although I'm admittedly paying less attention to that.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom