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Why can't I flash the kernel?

S

StuartTheFish

Android Enthusiast
I recently rooted my phone as I'm trying to overclock it a bit, but no matter what I try, it won't let me flash the kernel! I've successfully S-off'd as per the sticky for the guide on xda, but it just doesn't want to work. I've also noticed that my adblocker recognises it's rooted and requested superuser access, but es file explorer and setCPU say it's not rooted?

Does anyone have any ideas why it's refusing to work?
 
Install a custom ROM and then you'll have more options. Just rooting alone isn't enough as you need things like Busybox
 
I don't want a custom rom though if I can help it, and don't you need to flash the kernel to even change to another rom in the first place anyway?

Why won't it let me flash the kernel, and why do only some apps see I'm rooted?
 
You don't need to flash a kernel to flash a rOM as the kernel is IN the ROM. And as I said above, you need more than just being rooted (e.g. Busybox). Custom ROM is a lot easier in the long run, especially if you don't know what you're doing.

I take it you're trying to flash the kernel through CWM using the 'install zip from sd card' option?
 
Since I got no more replies on here, I went over to XDA and asked in their forums. I think I spoke to you on there too Eddy. It turns out there's two versions of S-off, SHIP and ENG. Apparently you can only meddle with kernels once your HBOOT is ENG S-off, so I've just flashed my HBOOT via fastboot to see if it'll work. I have got an extra couple of options in the HBOOT menus now, though it still won't flash the kernel...

Would flashing a custom rom mean losing all my data like a factory reset?
 
StuartTheFish said:
Since I got no more replies on here, I went over to XDA and asked in their forums. I think I spoke to you on there too Eddy. It turns out there's two versions of S-off, SHIP and ENG. Apparently you can only meddle with kernels once your HBOOT is ENG S-off, so I've just flashed my HBOOT via fastboot to see if it'll work. I have got an extra couple of options in the HBOOT menus now, though it still won't flash the kernel...

Would flashing a custom rom mean losing all my data like a factory reset?
Click to expand...
Basically yes, think about it as like you're installing a fresh version of Windows/Mac/Linux etc, you're completely wiping the hard drive and installing a new operating system.

What you can do though is use an app like Titanium Backup or MyBackUp and back up all your apps and data to your SD Card, then reinstall the app when the custom ROM is installed and restore everything, do not restore system data though, like settings for the default mail app etc, it'll screw things up.
 
Yeah, I tried titanium backup, though for some reason it didn't back up all my settings. It did some, but not all. In the end, I flashed the InsertCoin 3.4.0 rom, then imported whatever I could via the titanium backup I made beforehand. Once I'd flashed the rom, it let me change the kernel with no issues, so I guess the method I used didn't root it properly for some reason, or that HTC made their 2.3.4 OTA update tricky to root.

Regardless, it's sorted now.
 
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