Database Users

Standardised ROM benchmarking

Okie dokie, simple plan to directly compare clean ROMs from the cooks without opinions or bias.
I believe the general idea was to either add a new table to the Wiki or modify the existing tables in the ROMs section, to display standardised benchmark result, ie all from the same version following a set of instructions
those might be, flash ROM, hard reset, install bench mark programs, softrest, softrest run benches with radio on/off
Could be expanded to include basic battery life i dont think having call time / sms count would be helpful as its too unpredictable. but perhaps standby time and or wifi/bluetooth turned on but not connected.
I dont think its about real world tests since we cant have opinions, its a simple OS comparison.
course, for all i know there will be almost nothing between any of them making it redundant so this is why im making this thread, to talk it out and see if its worth while.

and you are starting this "new" thread as a result of my ideea and proposal
wouldn't have been nice to mention?

Benchmarking will give you a very incomplete picture of how a rom is actually going to perform, and therefore will be a virtually worthless use of your time. The real performance of a rom is gonna very significantly based on what software you use, which versions of the software you use, and sometimes even the order in which you install it. There is no consistent reliable benchmarking tool that i have seen as any useful indicator of actual speed of a rom.
The best way to find out about what rom will suit your needs is to read the frist couple posts, then kinda browse through the thread to see which bugs people are posting most regularly. When i was testing the WM6.5 roms, I had no issues with the fact that some people had exchange issues, because I was not having them, but eventually the fact that the notifications weren't working correctly caused me to change to something else. I tried another rom with some TP2 features, and generally liked it, but MyPhone didn't work correctly on that roms for whatever reason.
The point I'm trying to make is that there is no such thing as an unbiased benchmarking, because if we only test them all with no software installed, running clean then you're gonna find that almost all roms score similarly. Even more to the point, I simply have never seen a benchmarking program which had results which were indicative of any real world performance, and as such, I have disregarded the use of them entirely.
If you're happy with the rom you're on, then keep it. If not then read a few threads, see what is out there and then based on a little bit of research try one. If you don't like it, then try another one or even go back to the old one.

noris08 said:
and you are starting this "new" thread as a result of my ideea and proposal
wouldn't have been nice to mention?
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Click to collapse
Sorry, looking after my 3 year old today, pulling my hair out, damn cheeky monkey!but yes totally based on your idea, just wanted to make the link in the old post before it got the chop ill edit the original post in a min

scotchua said:
Benchmarking will give you a very incomplete picture of how a rom is actually going to perform, and therefore will be a virtually worthless use of your time. The real performance of a rom is gonna very significantly based on what software you use, which versions of the software you use, and sometimes even the order in which you install it. There is no consistent reliable benchmarking tool that i have seen as any useful indicator of actual speed of a rom.
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amen to that!
just making a little bit of reading and got scared by the possibility of threads about "witch ROM is better" beeing aloud
this is going to end badly as i already know that from the trinity forum and from the diamond forum. the forum is going to be cluttered only because a few lazy sobs are not ready to spend a few moments reading the ROM's threads and drawing their own conclusions. it is enough to read the first page, one of every 3 pages and the last one in a ROM thread to understand what is all about.
not only that but when the thread is going to be too long some smart ass is going to open another (he has no time to read a l l those pages)...and than another. please, stop the madness

scotchua said:
The real performance of a rom is gonna very significantly based on what software you use, which versions of the software you use, and sometimes even the order in which you install it. There is no consistent reliable benchmarking tool that i have seen as any useful indicator of actual speed of a rom.
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I agree, to compare ROMs completely requires opinions and subjectional review but since ive not tried this idea on different ROMs i couldnt say for sure what the results would hold.

Once upon a time, before the internet age, there were "Informatics" and "personal computers"
We had a problem: every shop sell HIS PC, assembling HW and assessing "My PC is the faster one". Also many TWEAKS were proposed for DOS and applications (This was before Egyptians I believe...)
The solution?
We built a SUITE, using a scripting tecnique, EMULATING REAL LIFE USER and measuring time, memory usage, battery load, CPU load...
Instead of using commercial benchmarks, because we don't care really about the file system speed, scrolling a large DIR matters, or rotating the screen speed.
We emulated a PRO user and a FUN user, opening a standard office file, starting and closing TT7 or video player speed with standard app (es. TCPMP) , opening an IE page, internet speed, scrolling a LOOOONG contact list, anything you consider as normal life usage.
A script could be used to start every single task and measuring the time.
AND IMHO THIS will be the killer application, comparing different ROM, devices, Diamond is faster than HD? and Kaiser? WVGA how slower is in REAL LIFE?

i belive you miss the point
this is supposed to be a tool helping people with less time or experience to choose the rom that is more appropiate to them
and maybe even help the developers to improve their work
as in the original thread is mentioned it isn't ment to say which rom "rules"
but, as i already said, if people will find this useless, or discussion will degenerate, a mod can close the thread anytime

noris08 said:
i belive you miss the point
this is supposed to be a tool helping people with less time or experience to choose the rom that is more appropiate to them
and maybe even help the developers to improve their work
as in the original thread is mentioned it isn't ment to say which rom "rules"
but, as i already said, if people will find this useless, or discussion will degenerate, a mod can close the thread anytime
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Click to collapse
I don't think we missed the point, just trying to share from experience why benchmarking isn't a particularly useful gauge to users trying to pick a rom. If you don't have the time to look around then i'd actually suggest just picking a rom based on what you read in the first couple posts describing it. Also that type of users should just pick a rom that is fuller with more programs installed by default.

Great idea, but will it ever be real?
While it's possible to devise a set of benchmarks and some kind of subjective scoring algorithm, the measurement accuracy will depend on too many factors and the result is likely to be unreliable and inconsistent. Seeing how many various ROMs based on the same OS builds are getting very different ratings in ROM benchmarking threads, real life performance seems to depend on every modification implemented in a ROM. E.g. even if the difference between ROMs is merely in a few files or a few registry keys, you'll probably end up comparing apples to oranges so this won't be very useful.

stepw said:
Great idea, but will it ever be real?
While it's possible to devise a set of benchmarks and some kind of subjective scoring algorithm, the measurement accuracy will depend on too many factors and the result is likely to be unreliable and inconsistent. Seeing how many various ROMs based on the same OS builds are getting very different ratings in ROM benchmarking threads, real life performance seems to depend on every modification implemented in a ROM. E.g. even if the difference between ROMs is merely in a few files or a few registry keys, you'll probably end up comparing apples to oranges so this won't be very useful.
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I must agree to that! At the end of the day, it all comes down to what started this thread: the personal feeling a user gets when using a ROM in his own particular way of using it, which is totally different and uncomparable with other's.

it seems that i can not make you see my point
i will say it for the last time
my original ideea was NOT to compare one rom to another rom.
that will only lead us to square one - which rom is best
AND THIS IS NOT THE POINT!
whatever!
i'll give up
cheers!

tnyynt said:
I must agree to that! At the end of the day, it all comes down to what started this thread: the personal feeling a user gets when using a ROM in his own particular way of using it, which is totally different and uncomparable with other's.
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Benchmarking suite....
1) Free memory, storage mem at first start
2) Boot up time (measured with a simple program started at the end of the boot)
3) Search a string (time)
4) Open a complex word document (time)
5) open a complex excel document (time)
5) Active sync connected, open a simple web page, time, open a a Complex web page (success, time) (IE)
6) Open a LOCAL complex web page, scrolling, (time)
7) Restoring 4000 contacts (pimbackup, success, time)
8) Restoring 2000 SMS (pimbackup, success, time)
9) TT7 startup and close (or other BIG software, time)
10) TCPMP standard video player performance (direct draw, accelerated)
3 times each test, % of battery resulting startin with a full charge (these are only examples, just to explain better the point)

noris08 said:
it seems that i can not make you see my point
i will say it for the last time
my original ideea was NOT to compare one rom to another rom.
that will only lead us to square one - which rom is best
AND THIS IS NOT THE POINT!
whatever!
i'll give up
cheers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i agree to noris08!
this thread is not what was the original intention
i doen't want to know if some rom is about 10ms faster than other rom as i have readed in other threads where one published his benchmark score 2635. and a user posted the question if his device fails because he comes "only" to score 2450 e.g.
no, for example i testet 5 ROMs from 4 chefs.
i would be able to tell the reason for choosing the actual ROM on my HD. There where many facts hardly subjective opinions for choosen that! I think if a user would describe his decision respectfully to the hard work of the cockers this will help all of us.
if the guy is wrong other users can reply with their opposite experiences he knows it is worth to look for the reason on his device(configuration).
We all know speed, good feeling depends on many factors. so only a respectful discussion will help users and chefs.
even when user are telling a specific ROM is slower than other specific rom, other users can agree or disagree. if one is telling it is slow and many others reply the opposite this is a useful information for the user and the chef. chef get the response his rom seems to work fine. otherwise the chief get the information his rom leaks in speed and there are further tuning possibilities because other rom look to be faster.
I would find a thread e.g.
"Your experences with different ROMS" or
"what rom do you use and which property or feature do you like extra"
maybe useful.
If someone is posting: "ROM X ist the best" useres are old enough to know that this is not a meaningful post.
I would like to read postings like:
I am using ROM XY - has great looking german keyboard with äöüÄÖÜß - very stable (softreset max. 1 in 2 Weeks ) Battery: without Backligth and no running program and no dataconnection only 60mA i experienced a "normal" value, in suspendmode over night max. 1% Power loss although G-Alarm and phone active ) overall good responses.

are you guys so scared of whos rom will be the fastest??
end of the line the fastest rom will be the one better built. (the one more tweaked)
its like talking to ppl :
"wow its stupid comparing a dell pc to a alienware pc with the same hardware"
why??
its like if someone is a fanboy of ati and never admits a nvidia car will perform better & vice-versa
and of course as like the nvidia & ati cards, not only hardware will make a difference.

do you want to know how it really should look a ROM review?! did you ever imagine how complex a ROM is to build a ROM? do you know what is the difference between a good and a bad ROM? here u have an example from one expert i'll trust with an opinion!
the-equinoxe said:
Cooking a ROM isn't just trowing a few packages, and some registry fixes in a kitchen and press build..
It's knowing why a ROM behaves in a certain way, and fixing unwanted behaviour.
It's knowing what happens when you cook a ROM, what the scripts in your kitchen are supposed to do, and what the are actually doing(!!).
It's knowing this and so much more..
I have seen ROMs released lately where the XIP wasn't rebased, where the rgu's were contradicting the hv files and worse: where RGU from package a was contradicting the RGU from package B. (and even worse: A contradicting B but both contradicting HV..).
Why not simply import the RGU's into the HV files first? and check the rgu files, or for fraks sake, merge them!
Some had added certificates, but the cook didn't knew that the base he was using was already patched to ignore all certificates.
Why on earth clutter the ROM with unnecessary certificates? Really WHY?
I have seen cooks adding XIP of a higher build but using the OS of a lower build, just to get a high build number. (some just plain hexedit the build number :s )
This simply makes me puke, why on earth would you add an UNMATCHING XIP in another OS? You would think that that unmatched part was the cause of some unexpected bugs, wouldn't you..
Or massive amounts of files that are moved from root (=\\windows) to some kind of subdirectory, it seems that the chefs who are doing this are unaware that they aren't MOVING but COPYING the files (jups, that was bad design from microsoft)
Why concentrate on the build number?
A higher build number doesn't make a better ROM.
Focus on making a ROM BETTER, fix those contradicting registry entries, there are plenty of tools out there to ease your work nowadays, it can be done in hours instead of weeks.
Rebase those files that are supposed to be XIP, don't leave it unaltered and most certainly don't make it a PE-file (like dll or EXE), you will have unpredictable occurrences of drivers unloading from memory when doing this, and other crazy bugs that are hard to pinpoint.
And if another chef removes those dsm files and replaces all RGU's with one (or just simply stay with the HV) ,it's mostly not to piss off other chefs so it can't be shared, but to make the ROM better and faster.
Etc etc etc etc.. (I could go on and on.. really ! The curse of the kitchens I called it)
This is not a Flame to a certain Chef, or even directed at this particular Forum, I have many devices, and I have flashed them a lot, sometimes I take the time to analyze a ROM, and I have been amazed what junk has been produced by some..
The main idea of a cooked ROM is to have a better device with fewer bugs, not a fancy picture, nor to have the highest number..
So in some cases the cure is worse than the problem..
I am not going to single out a bad cook, nor a good cook, there are plenty of both..
Some will see this as a personal attack, personally: I don't care, if you claim to be a Top-chef, but don't know the basics of cooking, call yourself what you want, but don't expect me (or others) to be fooled.
I am just saying: instead of focusing on a high build number, or a (bug ridden) beta, focus on what you are actually doing.
Take a stable ROM, and make that one better, most AKUs are intended to support newer devices, and newer hardware, a higher AKU doesn't mean the ROM is better (it could have new bugs to deal with).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the whole post is here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=3387292&postcount=76

KukurikU said:
did you ever imagine how complex a ROM is to build a ROM?
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sorry, but this does not subject this thread and nobody doubts about ROM cooking is not a simple job! thanks to all chefs!!!!
KukurikU said:
do you know what is the difference between a good and a bad ROM?
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from the user's viewpoint i think its clear and software is made for users. user do not mandatory want to know whats behind the scenery in deepth. user want a device with software with basic properties and naturally many cool features - lets say:
a stable ROM with all features he needs for daily use, cool features for fun and suitable speed. if the userinterface have a appealing design also it's nearly perfect!
and here we are back again:
"what features or properties do you like most"
would help users to find out, what is the best for him!
this is naturaly only my opinion
P.S: Sorry for my suggestion to open a thread, i just found a thread with such a Subject!!!!!

autdev said:
sorry, but this does not subject this thread and nobody doubts about ROM cooking is not a simple job! thanks to all chefs!!!!
from the user's viewpoint i think its clear and software is made for users. user do not mandatory want to know whats behind the scenery in deepth. user want a device with software with basic properties and naturally many cool features - lets say:
a stable ROM with all features he needs for daily use, cool features for fun and suitable speed. if the userinterface have a appealing design also it's nearly perfect!
and here we are back again:
"what features or properties do you like most"
would help users to find out, what is the best for him!
this is naturaly only my opinion
P.S: Sorry for my suggestion to open a thread, i just found a thread with such a Subject!!!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
cool features and appealing design in a rotten ROM means high battey consumption, frequent freezes and soft resets and so on...
i think i wasn't clear enough in my previous post. what i meant (in a nut shell) was that because of it's complexity deciding that a ROM is good, less good or bad is a professional's job. only an expert can give you a trustworthy opinion.
the moment somebody starts a "what is the best ROM for me" everybody will jump in and push the ROM he is using. after a while the thread will be cluttered with hundreds of honest but unprofessional opinions and you'll have on one page 8-9 different opinions. does this make yr decision of choosing a ROM easier?? i don't think so! so, back to square one
in my wet dreams i see a thread filled with posts of "ROM critics" that are analyzing each new ROM. reading such reviews could be very useful indeed.
in short: if u are a chef and own a kitchen than beware of the "food" critics that are visiting yr restaurant. they can kill yr business in tomorrows front page ROM review or make you a very, very rich and famous chef

ok So to conclude,
we cant use benchmarks since the difference between them would be next to nothing
we cant judge a ROM based on its funtionality since its purely opinionated
we could potential use a script to run a series of real world tests that become useless after a few resets and number of programs installed
That pretty much knocks the idea on the head then?

dazza9075 said:
ok So to conclude,
we cant use benchmarks since the difference between them would be next to nothing
we cant judge a ROM based on its funtionality since its purely opinionated
we could potential use a script to run a series of real world tests that become useless after a few resets and number of programs installed
That pretty much knocks the idea on the head then?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sure looks that way.
I would all come down to every user deciding on his own. Would you believe that after trying lots of ROMs I've reverted to a certain Stock ROM because I find that it offers close to perfection for my needs? I could praise the speed and stability and I'd advise you to use it, but you 'd most probably find that it would not suit your needs.
Anyways, I've offered to support a thread that is civilized and based on factual opinions, I will keep my word in doing so, if there's be such thread.
Here's another idea for you all: a good factor to take into consideration when judging a ROM is the number of users using it. It's a good indicator of the ROM's value, since X no. of users are hangin' on to that. Why not post and maintain a simple poll with the most common ROMs (stock and cooked) and see where it gets you?

KingX v Ziggy v Lou Kernel?

I'm lucky enough to have multiple Inc's I can compare side-by-side. This week, I took the time to test-drive a few Kernels.
My goal is to find the (1) most stable, (2) best performing w/good battery life. Basically undervolt kernel testing.
Unfortunately, I really can't find much difference between these popular variants.
The battery life seems to be roughly equal on all of them, as does the stability (barring IcrediKernel, which had some issues in my testing with SkyRaider).
I tested (all current versions as of 1/10/2011):
* Redemptive with Lou's included kernel
* SkyRaider Sense with Ziggy's kernel
* SkyRaider Sense with KingX kernel
* SkyRaider Sense with Incredi kernel
KingX #6 scores almost 100 better than the next best in Quadrant. However, outside of that, I cannot really discern a major difference.
KingX seems to have the most significant changes in his changelog. Ziggy also seems to be brilliant, and yet, I really don't see any real differences between the kernels once implemented on my phone.
Can anyone help me isolate the differences -- perhaps I'm looking in the wrong place? I've basically tried to use everything I can think of, on the phone -- using each kernel, and tested all of them in power-save mode, tethered, etc.
Thanks in advance for any additional points to review..

quadrant is useless.
lou's kernels are great for me.
each phone is different so you'll have to test whichever one works best for you

Sure, of course. I'm familiar with the stock answer to the "which kernel is better" post.
That being said, I was asking something a bit different. I've *been* testing the kernels. The point of my post was to suggest that I cannot discern the difference after spending several hours with them.
With that in mind, I was asking if there is something specific I should be looking for, since I haven't found it (not with battery life, performance, or stability -- not with what I'm testing presently anyway).
Although, in addition to my original question -- of where to look to seek differences ... you do bring up another good point -- why is it that different phones (assuming they are the *same* model/android/radio version -- eg OLED 2.2's), would perform differently with identical kernels?

A few hours is not enough testing time for kernels. You need atleast a full charge down to 0 with a kernel to see how good the battery life is. Also, to judge the performance, you'll need a little more time for that too. Each phone is different. Some processors can take lesser voltages, high clocks than others. I'm not sure why this is, but it is. Honestly, I'm sure all the kernels are very good because the devs are excellent. But, some just work well for others while the same one doesn't for someone else. As I said before, just test out a kernel for a day or two, see how you like each one, and stay with it. If you battery life is being affected greatly, or your phone runs too hot or something, then switch to a different one.

At this point, I have more than 3 days or more on the following kernels:
* Redemptive with Lou's included kernel (3 days)
* SkyRaider Sense with KingX kernel (3 days)
* SkyRaider Sense with Ziggy's kernel (14 days)
* SkyRaider Sense with Stock kernel (22 days)
(Incredi -- I only had about 4 hours over two tests/loads and re-flashed, due to problems)
I've never run my batteries down to zero as you've mentioned. I've run them down to 10-20% on rare occasion.
In essence, what you are saying is that there really is nothing specific to keep an eye out for? If I don't see an obvious difference somewhere, there is no significant difference between the 4 kernels I have listed above? And Quadrant is of no help ... so in short, if they all get the same battery life, I just just pick one randomly?
I just want to believe there must be a more scientific/objective way of evaluating these kernels relative of each other.

if they are all pretty much the same to you, pick the one that makes you happy and that feels like it has the best performance and battery life. Maybe ask one of the devs about some scientific way of how each kernel is different from each other.

The problem is that I've built an app that our company uses over 18 phones that get run 9 hours a day, and the DInc's were overheating.
I went to Skyraider w/stock kernel, and that seemed to address the problem, at least it appears to reboot much less than the stock DInc's.
However, since I've made the commitment/risk of rooting/flashing these phones, I'd like to find some systematic method to determine which is the most efficient kernel to use, considering I have 18 phones in-the-field.
As a software engineer/empiricist, I'm not good at accepting the logic of "if it works, it's good enough". And so my objective is to find someone that may have some additional perspectives beyond that.
If there is a developer who sees this, I'd very much appreciate any information you can provide on how your kernel differs from others. Or someone who has some additional information.
Thank you in advance,
RKM

rkmFL said:
I'm lucky enough to have multiple Inc's I can compare side-by-side. This week, I took the time to test-drive a few Kernels. My goal is to find the (1) most stable, (2) best performing w/good battery life. Basically undervolt kernel testing.
Unfortunately, I really can't find much difference between these popular variants. The battery life seems to be roughly equal on all of them, as does the stability (barring IcrediKernel, which had some issues in my testing with SkyRaider) KingX #6 scores almost 100 better than the next best in Quadrant.
However, outside of that, I cannot really discern a major difference Can anyone help me isolate the differences -- perhaps I'm looking in the wrong place? Thanks in advance for any additional points to review..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi! One thing that affects performance is SD Card Read Speeds. Ziggy and Incredi have an improved read speed, I just tested both and got 12mb/sec read with a class 4 card. Since HTC released FroYo Android 2.2 for our phone, they implemented a read speed limit of four MB/sec for the SD card. I just tested Lou and King and got read speeds of 4mb/sec from the SD card. All Fourkernels I got a write speed of 4 mb/sec.
Other major differences I think worth mentioning are that Ziggy includes a hosts file to block connections to advertising servers. But of course installing a different kernel leaves the new host file in place. Multi touch, I love the piano and playing games so this matters to me. Ziggy has had a 5 point multi touch enabled for some time. Lou & incredi have implemented in a different way. I am not the one to explain the differences. Lou turned it on for up to five multi touch points(but disabled it in his last build). Incredi had enabled all ten multi touch points but is now also at 5. Debugging. Lou disabled debugging so apps that rely on it will not work. Ex.... PDAnet. Lou did have wireless N disabled, he said he felt due to the minor network speed increase it was not worth the extra battery usage. But reading his change log I see it has since been re enabled.
Which one is best for you? It really does depend on too many factors to say outright. Depending on the apps you have installed, and apps you use the most. I listen to music a lot. Using one that lowers clock speed a bunchwhen the screen is off makes themusic skip. In theory you will get better battery life, but imo, its not worth sacrificing that usability.
Please correct me if I am wrong, mis informed, or steering peoples wrong. I hope this helps to understand some differences.
Overheating. It seems that the consensus is that the 9.01 radio works best for most people. Not me. The 9.01 version makes my phone get very hot. I use the 7.28 radio and it makes a big difference in my phone not getting hot.
What issues did you have with the incredi that made you have to abandon it so quickly?
~TheHoovie
Sent from my HTC Droid Incrediblel.
P.s. did you forget to include Chad/incredi in this threadstitle?

I've been wondering pretty much the same thing, and I have been reading the different changelogs from the respective kernels to find the differences between them. Thanks to you thehoovie for a good explaination, you put to light some things I have been wondering. Very good explaination!
With that said, what has worked best for me, is RR 2.1.3 with Ziggy's new kernel (BFS Jan 2 2011). I get great battery, I can control the freqs the proccessor is at all the way down to 128mhz, the system is very stable, and have had no problems what so ever. I get roughly 2 days out of a full charge with moderate use on a 1350 battery!

@TheHoovie -
Excellent, excellent information, thank you!
I did not include Incredi in the title, because I had problems with it (mentioned in first post). To answer your question, there were two things. One more subtle, that I don't remember off-hand -- and the other, was with downloading from the Internet. I had installed twice, on a SkyRaider ROM, and in both events, Incredi would hang when downloading.
I distribute all of our private, in-house software releases through our website. So not being able to download from the web in my testing .. was a deal killer!
Our users take roughly 900 photos a day, on average. Therefore, SD speed is extremely important, and I never would have tested the differences between kernels. This is exactly the type of feedback I was hoping to find -- in other words, I was not asking "which is best for me", but instead "can someone help me know where to look for differences in performance". Your comment on SD, is a perfect example of such a factor, thank you!
...Does anyone else have any suggestions, beyond SD performance and battery life, as to other factors for comparison/testing?
@m411b -
I cannot imagine getting two days on a 1350mah, this would be amazing! I'm running off to test your suggestion (RR + Ziggy's) now. Just one question: where do you set the CPU frequencies using that RR+Ziggy configuration?
EDIT: I just tested SkyRaider + Ziggy's #15, and it seems to be running very good. Ziggy's #15 also uses a low-power Bluetooth driver, which will be a huge help for us (we use BT to communicate between DInc's and gTablets in our app).
Thank you again for the great info!

One more related question...
Have people been moving away from these Sense ROM's to CM7/Gingerbread, and if so, any feedback on stability?
I keep reading about CM7 adoptions and it's starting to make me wonder if I should give the new Gingerbread version a try.
I have not tested CM since v6 about 45 days ago, but at that point, there were some issues on the DInc.

Suggestion:
1. turn off wifi.
2. turn on gps
Launch Last.fm or pandora - stream your favorite music station.
Launch navigation, Navigate somewhere.. (I actually do this.. I just use gps when I am out running errands for an hour or so)
See how long the following lasts:
1. Battery
2. Time without crashing
That's been my simple testing of kernels. This is not scientific.. its just real world testing IMO
I am currently playing with Lou's #4 vs #8 on the same rom.. I think testing on multiple roms would bring in more factors you cant control.
#4 crashes way too often when running navigation (its fine for day to day use though)

been using Lous #8 on SR3.5 and it blew me away with battery life as well as performance. I flashed #9 yesterday and am gonna give it a day or two before i judge it. I had previously used Chad's and Hydra. Chad's wasnt the best and hyrda was great for OC performance but not for battery life.

Kernel comparisons

I was wondering if anyone has done any actual testing between the different popular kernels available for the N4, or even a spread speed with a feature comparison.
With so man different options it hard to tell how they stack up, which have what fixes or what additions applied. I feel like someone should make a sticky that compares the kernels side by side so that newbies/people who are just not technical or great on following what has recently updated, can tell what each option offers.
I know that on the Nexus 7 forum there is a thread where a person applies the same device, ROM and settings to multiple kernels and test battery life in a few separate situations. I'd love to see someone do that for the Nexus 4 as well. I know there are many variables in play, but it can give people an idea of what each kernel provides.
That way people can more easily narrow down what kernels fit their needs/feature desires.

the problem is that different devices react differently to each kernel. one devices great, can be another devices horrible. i do understand your idea though, im not saying its bad, because it is a good idea. its just the results would be accurate(maybe, depends on how tested, for the tester. but could be very inaccurate for another device.

I know that, but at least a tracking spread sheet would be handy for comparisons, and the testing would let people know somewhat what what to expect.

knitler said:
I know that, but at least a tracking spread sheet would be handy for comparisons, and the testing would let people know somewhat what what to expect.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What do you want the most out of a kernel? Battery life, speed, or oc?
I know im repeating another fellow member but not all chips are created equal. It all depends what kinda of use. You could try a kernel and run your tests on it. Then save pictures of the graphs if you can. Then flash a different kernel and make comparisons on them. A good place to start is Faux123 or Franco kernel. Both kernels are developed very well.

I don't think you are following me.
If you want to know what Kernels allow:
Color calibration
Ennhanced audio
built-in wifi fix
underclock to 192mhz
Would you rather read 12-15 threads or just look at a spreadsheet in a sticky on top of the forum, and know what 2-3 to choose from instead of reading all the descriptions and notes?

knitler said:
I don't think you are following me.
If you want to know what Kernels allow:
Color calibration
Ennhanced audio
built-in wifi fix
underclock to 192mhz
Would you rather read 12-15 threads or just look at a spreadsheet in a sticky on top of the forum, and know what 2-3 to choose from instead of reading all the descriptions and notes?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just try some kernel`s out and keep the one you like most, is this again one of those disguised `best of` threads? Each user has a different setup (apps, widgets, syncing, roms, mods) so this would not be a test under similar conditions.

knitler said:
I don't think you are following me.
If you want to know what Kernels allow:
Color calibration
Ennhanced audio
built-in wifi fix
underclock to 192mhz
Would you rather read 12-15 threads or just look at a spreadsheet in a sticky on top of the forum, and know what 2-3 to choose from instead of reading all the descriptions and notes?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If it bugs you so much why don't you make the spreadsheet? It's not like you'd have to learn code or something. Just saying..

knitler said:
Would you rather read 12-15 threads or just look at a spreadsheet in a sticky on top of the forum, and know what 2-3 to choose from instead of reading all the descriptions and notes?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When I chose a kernel, I used to manually look through each kernel thread and then just try the kernel myself. Didn't need any fancy spreadsheet or comparison charts.
Plus I have a feeling it would... deter newer kernel developers and misguide newer users. A user sees "X" kernel not having a feature, when 5 other kernels have every feature, and they'll skip right over that kernel, regardless of what benefits it may offer.

espionage724 said:
When I chose a kernel, I used to manually look through each kernel thread and then just try the kernel myself. Didn't need any fancy spreadsheet or comparison charts.
Plus I have a feeling it would... deter newer kernel developers and misguide newer users. A user sees "X" kernel not having a feature, when 5 other kernels have every feature, and they'll skip right over that kernel, regardless of what benefits it may offer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If the kernel has benefits then they would just be listed. You're example doesn't make much sense to me, if a person wants a feature, they yes, they will use a kernel that has that feature. If a person wants to tune the color on their screen why would they NOT get a kernel with that control feature?

knitler said:
If the kernel has benefits then they would just be listed. You're example doesn't make much sense to me, if a person wants a feature, they yes, they will use a kernel that has that feature. If a person wants to tune the color on their screen why would they NOT get a kernel with that control feature?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
a few good kernels dont list "features". and some kernels make up names for features to make them sound more then they are, and make it a point to list "features" that really arent. really, its best to try a kernel, as these "feature" lists can be very misleading.

Comparison of CM10.2 based ROMs

I find rom flashing sufficiently annoying that I don't do it often. In fact I've only done it once (over a year ago) with Paranoid Android. But the advances are starting to look significant and I'm contemplating my next rom. I looked casually at the bug list for CM10.2 and it seems that most bugs are minor glitches or things with easy work arounds, and that this base is stable enough to use as a daily driver. If anyone would like to confirm or deny that conjecture I would like to hear your opinion on that.
Assuming one is willing to take the CM10.2 leap, the ROM listing thread shows 7 based on CM10.2:
BeanStalk, crDroid, DARKNESS, Illusion, Krueger, rom-xperia, SGT7, and SuperNexus 3.0
I'm not naive enough to ask which one is best, but to those of you who have compared these seriously, could you offer some comparisons based on some of the important characteristics. Perhaps
- best stability
- best battery life
- best UI smoothness
- largest feature set
- smallest footprint (i.e. reduced bloat)
- best built-in apps
- best built-in kernel
- most popular
- best support
Or if you don't think these are the most important characteristics, feel free to suggest more relevant ones.
I have read large portions of the thread discussing each of these roms, but I still find it difficult to decide which one I would like most..
I'm sure many readers of this forum will be as interested in your responses as I am since at this point there is little of this kind of information out there in a reasonably accessible way.
Thanks in advance for any contributions you can make to this thread.
~Paul

Unfortunately this type of thread isn't allowed... Even though it looks like you put a lot of thought into it...
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2

No. Non. Njet. Sorry - No best ROM threads
Thread Closed

Best OOS Kernel ?

Hello, I know the choice is personal and regarding my own needs in terms of performance, battery etc. , but i'd like to know which kernel you are using, why etc.
I am not very good at seeing performance difference between 2 kernels and your feedback is often great to hear
Which one for you is the most user friendly with features like color calibration, vibration strength (things with GUI you know i don't care about scheduler or whatever)
I think imma settle down on No Limits OOS Rom, which offers a large choice of kernels...
Thank you in advance :')

You will never ever get a proper answer for this question Every kernel has its own characteristics and features, so try yourself and determine which one fits best for you

Going to have to go with the fact that this thread has been made countless times and you never get a definite answer. If you want a truthful opinion, stick with stock. It was designed for your device specifically. Especially in the case of OnePlus devices, they devise the kernel to fit with Oxygen OS. I stick with stock kernel and stock rom because the roms out there are bogus. Theres usually something the dev has done to their rom to disrupt continuity and stabilization especially with google apps and services. Always trying to "debloat" the phone is not a good idea. Letting the phone run its course is a much better way to go because it will adjust to what you actually use. Changing your kernel doesn't do very much for you. In my experience it is always worse. I havent changed the way i use a smartphone since the day i bought one and every kernel ive ever been on has never POSITIVELY affected: 1. Performance 2. Stability 3. Battery life 4. Speed of service 5. internet speed 6. Screen on time 7. Longevity
The claims that they do something for those things is typically a red flag for me. Every time i used franco kernel for example, my internet would cut out a lot and on some occasions YouTube would work for a few videos then not at all until i restarted my phone. On stock kernel, my phone never has these malfunctions but no matter which release on the 3t and the 5 now with his kernel my google stuff would constantly break down or my internet would die until i restarted or i would be permanently stuck on H+ until reboot. Just something annoying like that. And no i did not install this wrong or anything. Its not like you really can with how TWRP works. If the phone turns on then whatever goes wrong is on that rom and that kernel and theyre very unstable beasts.
TL;DR
Always stick with stock. It is built for YOUR device specifically. Don't debloat, disable. Stock kernel is always superior and in the case of OnePlus you have additional doze options in its built in settings. Don't run doze apps either btw. Let your system manage itself you'll find it does a damn fine job.

This question takes a little research to answer, some reading specifically. By seeing the features and commits present in each kernel offered, you'll be able to see where the focus of the dev is. All devs have different things in mind, some will lean towards extending battery longevity, whereas others will prefer a smooth UI and gaming performance, because after all, the processor in this phone can deliver good stuff for all these different leanings.
Anyway, go read a little, see through the devs lens and take your best pick.
My final and subjective opinion? Lightning kernel, blu spark, flash, elementalX, Franco...in no respective order.
I also have a lot of respect for the guys in RenderZenith. Building EAS from nothing is no short of a benchmark, and that kernel is really good as well.
Or as the gentleman above, stay in stock, it was built from scratch by the manufacturer for this device only and no other.