Database Users

Custom kernel queries

Hi there, just want to begin by saying how amazing this community is. I'm new to whole Android scene (just came over from iOS) but what a welcome it has been! I'm blown away by the amount of ways you can customize your Nexus 7, really puts the iPad to shame
So I've rooted my Nexus 7 and am now hoping to install a custom kernel...however I have quite a few questions pertaining to this procedure.
1) How do I install a custom kernel (ie Trinity)?
2) I'm looking to improve battery life without compromising performance, what kernel would you recommend for this?
3) Can I still get OTA if I have a custom kernel?
4) Can I revert back to stock kernel and if so, how do I do this?
Sorry to come across as a newb, I saw a lot of helpful threads on custom ROMs however I found the stuff on kernels a bit daunting...Hopefully this thread will be helpful for others as well
Thanks again everyone.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app

1. just flash it in recovery, dont wipe a thing.
2. trinity
3. kernels dont have anything to do with ota. if its still enabled in your rom then yes.
4. either fastboot flash a stock boot.img or just reflash your rom without wiping anything.
5.

Worth noting that when a new rom is installed it installs its own kernel so you'll have to reflash your kernel.
I also recommend faux for good battery life. Both that and Trinity are good.
Sent from my LG-P999 using xda app-developers app

Should i modify it?

Hi, i'm a little bit scared about modifying it. Is there a real big difference in performance between the stock rom and a custom with a kernel at stock frequencies? And i've seen a lot of methods about unlocking/rooting it, but i am scared if i brick it... Is there a 100% safe method to unlock and root it? And i've heard about a problem with the buggy stock recovery, will i have this problem if i flash cwm?
Sorry for the huge number of questions and for my bad english
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app

Personally I found that there is not a great deal of difference between stock ROM and many of the custom ROMs out there. For me it is more to do with having the freedom to get tore into the tablet.
There is never a 100% guarantee that yo won't mess up when rooting and installing custom software, however the vast majority of users on here have managed to do it safely with the tools available.
If you are going down the path of rooting and customs, may I suggest you give the team EOS ROM a try coupled with Franco kernel. They work together like a dream. Also paranoid android ROM for something different . Though I found it to be a little slow for my liking.
Finally clemsyns elite kernel if you want crazy performance, but it does eat the battery
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

Rooting is quite painless and reasonably safe if you follow the directions closely. The one click rooting methods, elsewhere in this forum...work well.
Myself, I prefer the stock rom. The custom roms might offer better performance, but can be buggy at times. although. I do switch back and forth to try them out. Remember, these roms
are all works in progress, so do not be surprised if something does not work the way you think
it should.

Thanks for the answers. I'm thinking about only rooting it. Will i receive the ota for a new update?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app

As long as you keep the stock recovery you can keep doing ota updates
Sent from my HTC One X using xda app-developers app

In my experience, OTA never worked to well.. but there are ways around it, for example... backing up your apps, then load a fresh updated factory image. then just restore your apps..
Titanium backup is one such app, but there are others .

So far no matter what I try I cant brick it oh I can get it stuck but theres always a way to fix it. And like some others here I have tried I believe every ROM out there. Not one really stands out "different" for ME then any other. Nexus root toolkit is by far the easiest to use for me. If your into battery life so far Stock wins hands down.

Unlocking and rooting the Nexus is really simple and pretty much foolproof. I'll admit there isn't that much of a difference between stock and custom ROMs because the N7 with JB is already a beast. I just like custom ROMs because you have the ability to make it faster if you want to (I have my CPU over clocked by 500 MHz and my GPU over clocked by 300 MHz thanks to clemsyn's elite kernel) the only reasons why I wanted to put a custom ROM on this was because I missed the 3 in 1 shutdown menu and the ability to remove the notification shae toggles, other than that I don't mess with much because JB is already buttery smooth. Gone are the days when you have to root, OC and install custom ROMs just to get good performance out of your device like I had to do with the OG droid.

I would definitely at least root the device for the time being. Aside from some customization options in a few custom ROMs I actually really enjoy stock on my N7... I would also take a look at ... http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1905961 once you have it all ready to go... I found it made an improvement to my Wifi and GPS by a fair bit, no custom rom needed.

Former Nexus S owner. Used the N4 for about 2 weeks... should I root?

I'm coming from using a Nexus S for two years where I did a lot of ROM and kernel flashing. So far, the N4 has been solid and I haven't found a reason to root it or flash a new ROM yet. For those who have rooted and flashed a custom rom, what are your thoughts? Any notable improvements over the stock rom/kernel?

I asked this question here as well.
Pro's of rooting; adaway, better toggles, aosp browser. (watch paranoid android for buttonless navigation)
Cons of rooting; less social life due to flashing things constantly.

mokflurry said:
I'm coming from using a Nexus S for two years where I did a lot of ROM and kernel flashing. So far, the N4 has been solid and I haven't found a reason to root it or flash a new ROM yet. For those who have rooted and flashed a custom rom, what are your thoughts? Any notable improvements over the stock rom/kernel?
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I have had also used nexus s for 2 yrs,its a small phone compared to this I remember friends telling me nexus s is a big phone. I am also proud owner of nexus 4 for 2 weeks
My nexus 4 is rooted, before arrived I had all setup on my PC all the drivers, adb, clockwork, it was rooted before I opened the box
Its rooted mainly because of ads, i hate ads, and firewall, and titanium backup, few network tools...
I had flux kernel to try changing colors.
I have stock kernel and rom now and planing to flash AOKP JB4.2 v2 when it comes out.

I would root install a kernel of your choice to get better battery life. I'm on PA with Franco r31 and get over 4 hour of screen time. O. Stock , my screen time was under 3 hours
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

Go for it. If you like stock ROM then just flash kernel since franco and others have patch the wake lock bug that was killing battery life. I wouldn't go for a few custom ROM out there since it is unstable and could be unpleasant to use. Those ROMs are usually the ones with Linaro optimizations. If you want stock experience with customization, then try AOKP. I'm very impressed with AOKP so far.

Best Kernel for Stock (Non-Rooted)

I used to be an avid ROM flasher, changing ROMs daily on my old Moto X. Now that I'm using Android Pay religiously I need to keep my phone non-rooted, but would still like to run a custom kernel. I have been looking at FrancoKernel and ElementalX (sp?), but not sure what is best for the stock ROM without any tweaking (as most kernel tweaking apps need root). What's the community think?

grimez said:
I used to be an avid ROM flasher, changing ROMs daily on my old Moto X. Now that I'm using Android Pay religiously I need to keep my phone non-rooted, but would still like to run a custom kernel. I have been looking at FrancoKernel and ElementalX (sp?), but not sure what is best for the stock ROM without any tweaking (as most kernel tweaking apps need root). What's the community think?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Franco kernel
Flash it forget it
Cheers

I would also say Franco...

Never used Franco so I cannot comment on it. I use ElementalX, stock, rooted and it works awesome.
Sent from my Nexus 6P using XDA-Developers mobile app

Got Franco's kernel flashed with TWRP as recovery and everything else stock. Can already see battery life improvement, can't wait to see how it compares in the long run.

I hate using Franco Kernel.
For some reason everytime I use it I get more battery life then I should, and everything works faster than stock. I don't plug in my phone more than I have to. It's just the worst kernel out there if you want low OST and crashes.

Didn't think that you can replace boot.img on an uprooted phone.

grimez said:
I used to be an avid ROM flasher, changing ROMs daily on my old Moto X. Now that I'm using Android Pay religiously I need to keep my phone non-rooted, but would still like to run a custom kernel. I have been looking at FrancoKernel and ElementalX (sp?), but not sure what is best for the stock ROM without any tweaking (as most kernel tweaking apps need root). What's the community think?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm rooted with custom ROM and systemless root and Android Pay works 100%. Can add cards and pay at terminals without issue.
Just a little FYI.
Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

Can we change the kernel if not rooted? If yes, can you share the procedure?

GroovyGeek said:
Didn't think that you can replace boot.img on an uprooted phone.
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dharish said:
Can we change the kernel if not rooted? If yes, can you share the procedure?
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Click to collapse
Root has nothing to do with the ability to install a kernel. All that's required is TWRP recovery, which in turn requires an unlocked bootloader.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/nexus-6p/general/guides-how-to-guides-beginners-t3206928

To root or to not root?

Hi everyone,
I've been using my OP5 for the past year and now I've exhausted my full 64Gb of storage. Was planning to backup my data onto my laptop and start afresh but I thought it is time to root. I've rooted pretty much every phone I've had in the past for some or the other reason like increasing battery life, overclocking, debloated roms for more storage etc. etc.
I have been technologically dead for the past 2 years so I'm kind of lost right now and in confusion on as to whether to root or not? What would be the main advantages I'd be getting if I root. My phone is still blazing fast, has amazing battery life and OOS is really smooth.
Just in a lot of confusion and want to find more reasons to root.

If you have to ask, you don't need it.

If you root your phone you'll be able to actually use your phone. The only disadvantage to rooting your phone that I see would be that whenever I see a new rom, I want to flash it. I've never understood why somebody would not want to root their phone. Maybe warranty? But then again, I think there are ways around that?

Rickyloc said:
The only disadvantage to rooting your phone that I see would be that whenever I see a new rom, I want to flash it.
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Click to collapse
This! +1

Dirk said:
If you have to ask, you don't need it.
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Click to collapse
Should have seen a reply like this coming my way. Buddy, I've rooted every other phone I've had in the past. Either for updates, better battery life, smoother ram management and so on.. The only thing I couldn't understand is this phone isn't lacking in any of the above mentioned points including updates **touch wood** so wanted to understand others thought process on the advantages cause I am unaware of all the cool mods you can do at the moment, if there are any.

Rickyloc said:
If you root your phone you'll be able to actually use your phone. The only disadvantage to rooting your phone that I see would be that whenever I see a new rom, I want to flash it. I've never understood why somebody would not want to root their phone. Maybe warranty? But then again, I think there are ways around that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you, this was helpful.. I don't see why i shouldn't root it too. I'll probably be rooting too. Which Rom would you suggest for stability and everyday usage with some good extra additional functionality?

Kunal5894 said:
Thank you, this was helpful.. I don't see why i shouldn't root it too. I'll probably be rooting too. Which Rom would you suggest for stability and everyday usage with some good extra additional functionality?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My favorite rom is Codename Phoenix. It's fast and it's not on XDA, which is probably why I like it. It's got a lot of features. If there is a feature a rom doesn't have you can always get Xposed or something to enable.
But the main reason for rooting my phone is so that I can use gcam properly. I love Photoshop and gcam offers the best photos. In my opinion, far better than stock or any other.

There's an option just to flash a custom ROM and leave it unrooted ?
I can recommend Resurrection Remix unofficial. Simply followed the steps with unlocking the bootloader and gaining root on stock ROM, then flashed a custom ROM without rooting it.
If you thought battery life was great with stock OOS you're going to be pretty surprised with battery at Resurrection Remix and Flash Kernel ?

Kunal5894 said:
Thank you, this was helpful.. I don't see why i shouldn't root it too. I'll probably be rooting too. Which Rom would you suggest for stability and everyday usage with some good extra additional functionality?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The best combination of stability and improved battery life is between the stock stable OxygenOS paired with the latest Franco kernel. I have tried pretty much all of the custom ROMs but every time the battery life of my phone was getting worse (compared to fully stock) until I tried stock OOS with Franco Kernel. But I have to say that I only have rooted my phone to use the Franco Kernel Manager and I do not have any add-ons into Magisk. Root + Franco and everything else is stock. I am not flashing new roms/kernels like crazy and really often, because the stable OOS is getting released once in two or even three months. Franco's kernel is being updated, hm, let's say once in a month or two months. So 99% of the time you are going to use your phone without flashing anything new.