A question about Kernels

[Timberwolf]

I reciently rooted my Droid. I'm reading about different things I'm able to do. I'm looking at kernels now. I understand that kenerls can do different things with the voltage and over/underclocking. Right now I'm running UD Froyo eXtreme 5.0.0 on my droid but the file on my pc says 5.0.1. I see the chevy has several kernels. My question is what benifit if any would updating my kernel to one of chevys do me? I use the overclock wiget and it seems to work good. I haven't looked very hard into the different kernels but I see many people running all sorts of his kernels and would also just like some opinions on the kernels. Thanks!

[aggiechase37]

Kernels are good, run them! Phone runs faster, with lower voltage, if you phone can stand it. Play around and see which one works for you. I'm running a Chevy ulv 1ghz kernel and the phone runs like a dream.

[Timberwolf]

Yeah. I planned on trying different kernels once I better understood them. I'm not 100% here but when they say ULV and LV that just means Ultra Low Voltage and Low Voltage correct? Also I'm not very sure like when one's labeled 1.25Ghz and another 1Ghz what the difference between them is. Could someone explain the different kernels? Ide imagine their just like ROMs where you have to try different ones and find one that fits you, but I would like some insight before I jump right into messing with them. Thanks!

[jackpfree]

yeah im kind of confused why there are low voltage and ultra low voltage kernels, i mean if an ultra low voltage kernel works on one droid why wont it work on all of them? and how can an ultra low voltage kernel produce more heat than a low voltage one?

[warrior21]

yeah im kind of confused why there are low voltage and ultra low voltage kernels, i mean if an ultra low voltage kernel works on one droid why wont it work on all of them? and how can an ultra low voltage kernel produce more heat than a low voltage one?

No phone will run exactly alike so while some droids will be able to run a 1.2 lv kernel another droid will not be able to and might have to go to a mv kernel. In that case it's a trade off with speed and heat/battery consumption if you want to run the phone that fast.

[Timberwolf]

So its the lower the voltage the slower but cooler it will run or other way around?

[warrior21]

Lower voltage runs cooler and uses less battery life so that is the way to go if it runs correctly on your phone. Give it a shot and if you get some force closes you can always flash another kernel. Start with a 1gig low voltage kernel and go from there. If you want to go faster then you can try a 1.2 later on

[Bear in NM]

But PLEASE remember to make a nandroid or CW backup before experimenting. The downside to SPrecovery is that in order to flash, you have to move the kernel to the sd card root, and rename to update.zip. Therefore, if you try a kernel that sends you to moto bootloop central, and only use SPrecovery, you will need your nandroid. Conversely, if you use CW you can reboot to recovery from moto bootloop central, and reflash from any location on the sd card, but CW can be a little flakey at times.

Craig

[Timberwolf]

Okay thanks guys! So if I get stuck at the Motorola M screen I will always be able to get back to SPRecovery if something goes wrong correct? I would just restore my phone to the most recient or any other nandroid backup right?

[Bear in NM]

Well, I hate to say yes always, but I and countless others here have done so, but there is always the possibility, however small that you could have a problem. I am going to flash a faster kernel in a few minutes with sprecovery, and I am not worried.

make sure your phone is fully charged, I also like to not be connected to usb, and I do have a functioning adb on my widows pc in case I get a glitch. And note that most phones seem to run ok at 1 gig and lower. The higher the oc, the higher the chance of a m bootloop. If you start lower and work your way up, generally you will see force closes on the phone before you get the bootloop. Jump from 550 to 1250, and you are "livin' large".

Craig