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Root Kernels/Radios/Roms... Please help???

JAJameson2010

JAJameson2010

Android Enthusiast
I apologize I know the info is in the above forums and I've read them but I'm still so very confused!

I finally learned that a Kernel adjust the voltage from the battery to the Operating system (That I understood from above)

I have a rooted HTC EVO 4G but have never done anything with ROMs. I always though they were just themes, but now I think they are more like operating systems?? Am I correct?

How do I know what Kernels go with a specific ROM?

How do I choose a ROM? I'm looking for speed while switching between apps the laggyness of the phone is making me twitch. I also would like to keep my 4G capability. I mainly use the phone to listen to slacker, heavy email user, surfing the web with 4 G coverage, I take tons of pictures, etc. So I'm a basic user without anything fancy.

Radios?? HUH? 100% Lost here... Do I need them to flash a ROM? assuming this does not produce music :)

I tried to flash a ROM last night by booting into recovery and installing a zip file from my sd card. Only 1 would flash successfully (I tried 10 different ones), but then I was stuck in a reboot loop, so I had to restore to my previous back up.

Can anyone speak in stupid terms for me so I know what to do? :eek:
 
A ROM is basically just a new operating system if you want to think of it that way. There are many new ones that are ported over from other phones that will have otherwise never made it to the EVO. These can be sense (what the stock rom is) or Android Open Source Project (ASOP) which is non sense based.

A kernel is basically in control of your phones power supply. New kernels will give your phone overclocking options to speed up your phone and new governers to give you longer battery life. ASOP kernels go with ASOP ROMs

Radios are updates put out by sprint that are supposed to help get a better phone signal. They are flashed differently and have the ability to brick your phone if done incorrectly.

If i was you, I would go with MikG2.56. It is sense based, fast and stable. There are ROMs out there with more bells and whistles but I always end up back on MikG.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1038967

And download the more freedom universal kernel by lithid.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1192529

Directions for flashing a rom:
Wipe Cache
Wipe Dalvik Cache
Wipe Data
Some Do each of the above 3x
Flash superwipe (optional and available from the stickies)
Flash ROM

Direction for flashing a kernel
Wipe Cache
Wipe Dalvik Cache
Once again some do 3x
Flash Kernel

If you are using clockwork recovery, dalvik cache is found in the advanced menu. I would suggest switching to Amon Ra recovery, directions can be found in the rooting for dummies gingerbread guide.
 
Rxpert83 said:
Wipe Cache
Wipe Dalvik Cache
Wipe Data
Click to expand...

I don't think I'm using clockwork recovery I just made a back up file from the recovery menu in the phone. The whole Volume down/ Power button thing.

Thank you Thank you Thank you! I'll go muddle around and report back :)
 
Once you have the ROM and Kernel successfully flashed and set up, I would suggest buying SetCPU from the market.

This app gives you full control over the kernel and allows you to easily overclock for more speed, underclock for more battery life, and change governos.

I would suggest using 245MHz min, 1113MHz Max, and the smartass scaling governor. Once you do that, play around with your phone for a bit, if everything seems stable, check the Set on Boot box in SetCPU and it will save those settings and use them when you phone starts.
 
JAJameson2010 said:
I don't think I'm using clockwork recovery I just made a back up file from the recovery menu in the phone. The whole Volume down/ Power button thing.

Thank you Thank you Thank you! I'll go muddle around and report back :)
Click to expand...


No problem. Sorry for all the edits in the first post I made, I posted and then kept thinking of new things to say and tried to make things clearer by cutting down on lingo and spelling things out.

And good thinking on the nandroid. I forgot to mention that.

If you have any application data that you can't live without, you might want to download titanium backup from the market. This allows you to backup application data and restore it to the new ROM.


When you switch ROMs its like installing a new operating system from scratch. If you dont have something backed up (contacts, messages, data) that you absolutely need, you will lose it. It will still be in the nandroid you just made though so you can go back to it and backup at a later date.
 
Rxpert83 said:
No problem. Sorry for all the edits in the first post I made, I posted and then kept thinking of new things to say and tried to make things clearer by cutting down on lingo and spelling things out.
Click to expand...

I'm at work trying to multitask and I thought I was loosing my mind for a bit there! Couldn't figure out how I was possibly skipping so many things when I read through it the first time. :D

I found out I need to sign up for the ROM forum thing in order to download it. :eek: Who knows what I actually just downloaded onto my work computer and moved to the phone SD card!

For the Kernel does it matter which one I downloaded? That link took me to a ton of options... I chose the first one in the aggressive folder

I'm fumbling through here one step at a time! Thanks for the idiot proof help
 
I'm not in a reboot loop! *Happy snoopy dance* Thanks everyone! Now to figure out SetCPU

ow the battery thing up top looks cool!

Wait.. I can only turn the screen light on and off... How to I unlock it? I can't even turn it back off and none of my soft keys at the bottom work. Maybe a battery pull will fix it?
 
ok giving up for the day. I've tried only doing the ROM and not the Kernel and I still get stuck in a reboot loop. I've tried at least 5 times. Back to my restore file again. I'm going away for the weekend and might try again Sunday night when I get back home.

If anyone knows what I'm doing wrong I will love you forever. :) I was able to do all tasks except for the superwipe. I was given some error message about android 1.5?
 
JAJameson2010 said:
ok giving up for the day. I've tried only doing the ROM and not the Kernel and I still get stuck in a reboot loop. I've tried at least 5 times. Back to my restore file again. I'm going away for the weekend and might try again Sunday night when I get back home.

If anyone knows what I'm doing wrong I will love you forever. :) I was able to do all tasks except for the superwipe. I was given some error message about android 1.5?
Click to expand...

what recovery do you have? what are you wiping? and which rom are you trying out?

and when you say reboot loop what do you mean? is it going from the splash screen (htc whote screen) to the boot animation, and the starts over again with the splash screen over and over again? or is it just on the boot animation? a lot of times the boot animation will loop over as it is booting up. and also how long are you waiting? some roms can take a few minutes to 30 mins or longer on some.
 
How do I know what recovery I have? I do have a clockwork mod file to wipe. It get stuck on the splash screen over and over with some road runner/lightening thing. I've been waiting 5-10 minutes. It could take 30 mins to boot up? hmm....

I'm using MikG2.56. So I should just let the splash screen run for 30 mins?
 
and I'm wiping all three of these

Wipe Cache
Wipe Dalvik Cache
Wipe Data

If I get past the splash screen I just get a multicolored screen with nothing else. I am unable to lock/unlock, use any soft keys, etc
 
JAJameson2010 said:
How do I know what recovery I have? I do have a clockwork mod file to wipe. It get stuck on the splash screen over and over with some road runner/lightening thing. I've been waiting 5-10 minutes. It could take 30 mins to boot up? hmm....

I'm using MikG2.56. So I should just let the splash screen run for 30 mins?
Click to expand...
well it should start out with the splash screen and that should take only a few minutes or so. but, the boot animation could take considerably longer.

and as far as recovery goes if you have not changed it after rooting your phone then you have clockwork mod as your recovery. i really do not think that clockwork mod wipes well enough in my opinion. i always recommend that you switch recoveries. if you go here:http://androidforums.com/evo-4g-all...ooting-dummies-guide-gingerbread-edition.html and read about recoveries and how to switch recoveries. there are sections for it in the guide.
JAJameson2010 said:
Does it matter which Universal freedom kernel I use? The more I think I almost understand the more lost I realize I am
Click to expand...
i would start out with the more freedom and then work your way down the line. just make sure to give it a few days for it to settling before moving on.
JAJameson2010 said:
and I'm wiping all three of these

Wipe Cache
Wipe Dalvik Cache
Wipe Data
Click to expand...

those are fine, but if you are going to use clockwork mod i would wipe those 3 times just to be safe. or you can switch recoveries then try and flash mikg
 
It worked it worked! I switched to using the stock Freedom kernel and it actually started up into a working phone :) I'll play around with set cpu this weekend and change my back up from clockwork mod.

Thank you to everyone for your help! :)
 
JAJameson2010 said:
It worked it worked! I switched to using the stock Freedom kernel and it actually started up into a working phone :) I'll play around with set cpu this weekend and change my back up from clockwork mod.

Thank you to everyone for your help! :)
Click to expand...

NICE! glad you got it working. do not forget to make a nandroid backup as well. and i really do suggest that you switch recoveries. but that is up to you.

here is some reading for you if you like:
http://androidforums.com/evo-4g-all-things-root/389360-kernels-dummies.html
http://androidforums.com/evo-4g-all-things-root/210253-setcpu-guide.html

any questions you know what to do.
 
JAJameson2010 said:
wait... What exactly is a nandroid back up? Is that the Amon Ra recovery that I was told to switch to?
Click to expand...

ok a nandroid backup is a complete snapshot of your phone's current state. it basically saves all of your settings and data. it is good to have just in case something goes wrong or you do not like the setup of the rom and you want to go back to the previous settings or a previous rom. remember that nandroid backups are your friend.

the only thing is that nandroid backups are recovery specific. so if you make one with clockwork mod then switch to amon ra, your clockwork mod nandroid will not work with amon ra. but you should make one anyways right now as a safety net. i would also copy it or move it to somewhere safe like your computer.
 
JAJameson2010 said:
It worked it worked! I switched to using the stock Freedom kernel and it actually started up into a working phone :) I'll play around with set cpu this weekend and change my back up from clockwork mod.

Thank you to everyone for your help! :)
Click to expand...

No problem! Glad to see you got everything working.

Sorry I haven't responded for a while, was rooting my parents EVO's since I'm home for the weekend from school.:cool:
 
As far as SetCPU goes, I have tried (hopefully successfully) to attach an image of my current SetCPU setup to give you an idea of what you are shooting for. Different settings will work best for different people, but I had it suggested to me before and it is working well.


When you FIRST set it up, hit the autodetect recommended settings button. SetCPU will then ask for root and you can adjust things from there.


The big numbers is the level of your CPU currently (245 MHz pictured)

The min and max are the range in which the CPU can operate.


2011-10-14_21-18-54.jpg

Also, Just because you have it set to max at 1113 MHz, that doesnt mean it will go up to there all the time. The governor that you set (or scaling as setCPU calls it) allows it to go up to that point when needed, but keeps it low at other times. Below is a pie chart of my CPU usage to give you an idea of how much time the CPU spends in each state.'

2011-10-14_21-28-06.jpg
 
Thanks Rxpert83! That's very helpful and idiot proof for me! :) Right now I'm having a random reboot issue so I'm going to try a different Kernel (I think that's what I'm supposed to do...) Once I get that figured out I'll to the set CPU thing
 
I would try just wiping Dalvik cache and cache and then rebooting as well. Sometimes that helps fix any troubles that happen with ROMS.

If that doesnt fix it, give less freedom a try.
 
Rxpert83 said:
I would try just wiping Dalvik cache and cache and then rebooting as well. Sometimes that helps fix any troubles that happen with ROMS.

If that doesnt fix it, give less freedom a try.
Click to expand...

Ironic! Less freedom is the one I just flashed to. :D I'll give it a few days to see if that fixes me reboot issue.

When I wipe back to factory settings does that remove the ROM that I installed?
 
JAJameson2010 said:
Ironic! Less freedom is the one I just flashed to. :D I'll give it a few days to see if that fixes me reboot issue.

When I wipe back to factory settings does that remove the ROM that I installed?
Click to expand...

You wont be wiping back to factory settings. You should only wipe the Dalvik cache and the cache. This will not erase the ROM or kernel and the phone will rebuild the dalvik cache when you boot it up again.

Sometimes when it doesn't get completely wiped before (even if you wiped it some parts may get left behind, thats why some people recommend wiping 3x when flashing) wiping it again can help.
 
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