ROM's?

[Jimmykimchi]

I'm pretty new to the Vibrant. I'm hearing all these talks about ROM's and being able to make your own ROM's. What is a rom ? Sorry for the nooby question

 

[kejlyCZ]

ROM is abbreviation for Read Only Memory. In this case, it's the part of the phone software, which is provided by manufacturer (operating system, basic built-in programs) and it's protected from deleting by user. It's the same like when you install Windows, the clean installation with no user data and user installed programs.
In Android, ROM means the Android operating system. It can be the official ROM (updated by manufacturer) or unofficial ROM ('brewed' by community, mainly to fix errors or to be able to run new operating system version on devices, which are not supported by manufacturer anymore).
Example: latest official ROM for my G1 is Android 1.6 (build DRC92), unofficial ROM is Android 2.2

 

[Jimmykimchi]

Oh thanks sirr . I really do appreciate the reply

 

[yatimameiji]

I guess it depends on who you ask, as some ROMs include it and others dont as it depends on the device, but as part of a ROM is the kernel and the baseband(or radio). Some ROMs do not include a kernel or baseband and thus only update the software running on top of the currently installed kernel/baseband. An example is some hackers have gotten Froyo on the Vibrant but it doesn't completely work because it doesn't have a matching kernel/baseband to support all the new features.

The kernel is what runs the hardware of the phone. The baseband is the software that runs the radio/modem, the stuff that handles your voice calls and data connection.

I think I got that right, if not you can spank me

 

[Jimmykimchi]

I guess it depends on who you ask, as some ROMs include it and others dont as it depends on the device, but as part of a ROM is the kernel and the baseband(or radio). Some ROMs do not include a kernel or baseband and thus only update the software running on top of the currently installed kernel/baseband. An example is some hackers have gotten Froyo on the Vibrant but it doesn't completely work because it doesn't have a matching kernel/baseband to support all the new features.

The kernel is what runs the hardware of the phone. The baseband is the software that runs the radio/modem, the stuff that handles your voice calls and data connection.

I think I got that right, if not you can spank me

Spank you later ! LOL

 

[snapper.fishes]

Definitions of firmware, ROM, and kernel are rather mixed when it comes to android, mainly because they overlap each other quite a bit. Technically the firmware is meant to be an interface that allows the ROM to communicate with the hardware, but since a lot of the ROMs out there actually contains part of the firmware, there's no clear cut definitions.

Someone on XDA once wrote half a page on the definitions, so let's not think too deeply into this.