Best ROM and kernel at the moment? - Nexus S Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I'm looking for something that's stable and to have as little bugs as possible. Also if possible can you tell me how much battery time you manage on the combination you suggest?

Right now I'm on nuhetri's v3.0.1 ROM using AirKernel 3.4 with voodoo colors. My battery would last about 18 - 20 Hours with medium usage (music, games, email...some browsing).
Haven't seen any issue with the ROM as of yet. Only thing that bugs me a bit is Airkernel green flashing screen when unlocking the phone...which I can live with
You can check bedalus work on all ICS ROMs:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=22200092#post22200092

Codename Android 1.4.0 with matr1x 17.5, stable as hell! about 15 hours with medium/heavy usage works for me!
Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk

CM9 Nightly 20120310 with standard kernel is stable and best battery life.

Euroskank CM9 Kang with Trinity T132 kernel, like 20 hours of battery life with awesome performance.

Im running a CyberGR MOD 9 Tornado, pretty amazing, very smooth, very fast, decent battery life. Only problem is some apps randomly stop responding and force close. Mainly Demon Hunter for me, but one or 2 more also had this happen at least once. Demon Hunter its so frequent the game becomes a hassle to play. So does anyone have any suggestions for a stable MOD that can alleviate this? Also I'm running Air Kernel 3.5

Codename Android 1.4.0 + Matr1x cfs 17.5

Oogway13 said:
Right now I'm on nuhetri's v3.0.1 ROM using AirKernel 3.4 with voodoo colors. My battery would last about 18 - 20 Hours with medium usage (music, games, email...some browsing).
Haven't seen any issue with the ROM as of yet. Only thing that bugs me a bit is Airkernel green flashing screen when unlocking the phone...which I can live with
You can check bedalus work on all ICS ROMs:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=22200092#post22200092
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i had to adjust the voodoo sounds "screen v1 gamma hack" and raise the values until the green flash stopped?

Codename android or AOKP M4 with Matr1x 17.5. I get about 24 hours of decent usage with either.

danb79 said:
i had to adjust the voodoo sounds "screen v1 gamma hack" and raise the values until the green flash stopped?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I actually removed 'automatic brightness' to get this resolved. Once I unchecked, no more green flashing for me.

I am running Pixel Rom 1.6 lite touch with Air Kernel 3.6 (OC 110% 1100-100, Deep Idle on, MF w/screen off On)and Apex Launcher (flashed in CWM) and this may be the first combo to take me away from Oxygen 2.3.2 (1,000 hour uptime test in progress on another thread). Super stable, best battery life of an ICS ROM and fast.

I'm running Pixel Rom too, but without Air Kernel 3.6. How can i change the kernel ? I would like to use air kernel since everyone says it's the best..
Btw, is there a way I can get rid of the "google search bar" and use that space ? I mean, is there a ROM that can do that ? Or a fix ?

Thanks guys, flashed Codename Android 1.5.5 along with Matrix v18 and it's working pretty good so far, much better than stock, at least feature wise.
However, it may be just me, but I think it stutters slightly more often when doing stuff around the OS than before when I was stock... Do I have to do anything to the kernel settings or something like that?
I left the settings at default, except for deep idle which probably was a good idea to enable.

dsorinn said:
I'm running Pixel Rom too, but without Air Kernel 3.6. How can i change the kernel ? I would like to use air kernel since everyone says it's the best..
Btw, is there a way I can get rid of the "google search bar" and use that space ? I mean, is there a ROM that can do that ? Or a fix ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1.) Download Air Kernel to the root of the SD card.
2.) Reboot to Recovery.
3.) Nandroid Backup
4.) Wipe Cashe & Dalvik Cashe ONLY!!!!! DO NOT WIPE DATA.
5.) Install zip and Flash the new Kernel.
6.) Reboot
You can use NStools from the market to change the settings.

Related

CM7 vs stock android - benefits?

I've had my NS for over 2 months now - love it. Since I bought it, I've been running completely stock android 2.3.3
Like most on this forum, I like to tweak settings and make improvements.
I just want to know if that if I were to root and load CM7 rom on the NS would it improve the speed/battery? (they are the most important factors to me)
Yes it would improve your battery life. Especially when you flash a custom kernel. With this combination, I currently get 24 hours+ with maybe ~30% remaining.
http://www.cyanogenmod.com/about/features are some of the highlights of the features.
Some benefits on top of my head:
Flashing custom kernel (I suggest you do, its easy)
- Voodoo Sound (Better sound quality, you'd be amazed)
- Voodoo Color (Don't like 2.3.3 colors? Change it back to <2.3.3)
- Overclock (If you're into that) or Underclock
- CFS or BFS
Kernel.. i'd go with Netarchy's 1.2.8 CFS
CM7 Benefits
- Widget Folders (When you add a widget, no more 5 widgets showing Beautiful Widgets.. instead its in a folder; better organization)
- Power Widgets (Notification Pulldown)
- If you use your NS as a music player, it adds a lot of features such as lock screen controls. Using volume rocker to adjust volume while phone screen not on.
- Custom Boot Screens
- Sync with Facebook
Rest are here: http://wiki.cyanogenmod.com/index.php?title=CyanogenMod_Settings
Thanks for your tips. Before I had my NS I had modded my Hero beyond belief!
Would it be easy to send the phone back to a stock ROM and stock kernel? Lets say I had to send the phone back to Samsung to get warranty repaired.
Following on to that question, which is the best way to root?
How's the stability of CM7 on the NS. I just upgraded from my G1 to the NS yesterday, and I was thinking of just running stock until CM7 goes final.
JTopaz said:
Thanks for your tips. Before I had my NS I had modded my Hero beyond belief!
Would it be easy to send the phone back to a stock ROM and stock kernel? Lets say I had to send the phone back to Samsung to get warranty repaired.
Following on to that question, which is the best way to root?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes all you have to do is download a nandroid backup of 2.3.3 or whatever that is stock unrooted. And thats it.
Root: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=895545
@Apre: It's stable. The latest nightly (#19) is more stable than RC2 itself. And dang G1 lol, I upgraded from a G1 last year in Juneish. Looking back on that phone now, the screens so small.
I have CM7 RC2 and i find that my battery drains faster. How do I flash Netarchy kernel?
Put it in SD and update it? or do I do it the ADB way by putting the kernel in the tools folder and with command prompt?
I ran stock for quite awhile after buying this phone because I didn't see any need for custom ROMs with vanilla Android. But I finally decided to give it a shot, and I'd never go back. Vanilla is great, but CM7 and all the other Custom Roms for the Nexus S (Axura, Modaco, etc) all bring more great features and customizations. If nothing else, however, I'd at least root and flash a custom kernel with stock - so you can have some overclock goodness
Edit: In specific reference to your post's questions, I run Axura, and I get both better battery life AND what seems to be a snappier phone (Axura has Netarchy 1.2.5 kernel baked right in). On CM7 I didn't notice much of a speed boost, and I think my battery life might have actually been a little worse, but CM7 packs in a lot of extra features. So it all comes down to preference.
apreichner said:
How's the stability of CM7 on the NS. I just upgraded from my G1 to the NS yesterday, and I was thinking of just running stock until CM7 goes final.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
CM7 will never go final, until its time for CM8. its always being inproved.
cyberdentist said:
I have CM7 RC2 and i find that my battery drains faster. How do I flash Netarchy kernel?
Put it in SD and update it? or do I do it the ADB way by putting the kernel in the tools folder and with command prompt?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes. put it in SD, boot into CWR
flash .zip
and you're done.. its the same as flashing a ROM
and as far as battery life.. make sure you disabled latitude (automatic and that other feature) in CM7.. not sure if its still working even though if latitude is disabled, id disable it anyway
apreichner said:
How's the stability of CM7 on the NS. I just upgraded from my G1 to the NS yesterday, and I was thinking of just running stock until CM7 goes final.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was so happy with my stock NS that I'd not bothered with CM (my ROM of choice on Nexus 1) until just two days ago. In the first 24 hours I had two issues that I've not had, or at least not seen in a very long time.
First issue - I was at 84% battery after about 4 hours. Put the phone to the side of my desk and 3 hours later it was 100% drained to 0 battery juice. Status graph showed nothing unusual, not long wakelocks, no time without cell signal, screen on only 1.5 hours.
Second issue - 24 hours after install, while listening to a podcast with my long time app for those that's not given crash issues, the playback goes into a constant stutter loop for about 30 seconds, then the phone rebooted.
EDIT: a third issue, happening right as I type this. I'm happily tethered away on my laptop via the NS with CM7, but I just went to check something on the screen and the phone is locked up...won't respond to power button. Screen is black, menu buttons are lit. Still tethering me, though.
Seems there are still some slight issues. I did full wipe/format before installing and am on the stock CM7 kernel still.
cyberdentist said:
I have CM7 RC2 and i find that my battery drains faster. How do I flash Netarchy kernel?
Put it in SD and update it? or do I do it the ADB way by putting the kernel in the tools folder and with command prompt?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's an update.zip file you flash from CW recovery. I agree CM7 appears to be harder on the battery.
simms22 said:
CM7 will never go final, until its time for CM8. its always being inproved.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I suppose that you're technically correct that CM mods never go final because they're always improved, but all prior iterations of CM at least got out of BETA/ReleaseCandidate status at some point.
I fully expect that CM7 will eventually see a version that doesn't have a beta, nightly or RC tacked on to the end of it. Then we'll see all the .x releases with their betas/rc, etc.
I was going to hold off on CM7 until it was past RC stage because I feared it would have some issues, despite all the glowing reports, and it does, but not enough for me to go back to stock. Probably time to flash netarchy on top of this.
zephiK said:
yes. put it in SD, boot into CWR
flash .zip
and you're done.. its the same as flashing a ROM
and as far as battery life.. make sure you disabled latitude (automatic and that other feature) in CM7.. not sure if its still working even though if latitude is disabled, id disable it anyway
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't even activated latitude . I don't have background data enabled either. Not sure what is killing the battery life in CM7 ..
Also, if you're interested. Check out frank707's "NS Collab" ROM. It's basically CM7 without ADW launcher, which is good if you like using CM7 but miss the stock launcher or just frankly don't like ADW.
cyberdentist said:
I haven't even activated latitude . I don't have background data enabled either. Not sure what is killing the battery life in CM7 ..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hence why i said.. not sure if its still working even though if latitude is disabled, id disable it anyway
I have tried CM7 and felt that its bugs and constant state of upgrading and updating to fix things caused me too many issues for daily use.
I do think that CM7 does perform a bit better than the other ROMS due to it being AOSP based but i feel thats why there are also some of these bugs.
I have been using AXURA by Master and its been flawless for me, the one issue I had with a reboot was due to testing a new overclock, but now I keep it at 1200 max ondemand and it hasn't gave me any issues, The lack of full easy theme support like CM7 is a con but the performance is up there with CM7 and the stability is sooo much better for me, I feel this is because its the Stock 2.3.3 ROM that has been decomplied and tweaked and then compiled again.
Its worth looking at some of the other options as well.

[Q] most stable rom atm

Hey guys, I know this question never gets old but I'm looking for opinions on which ROM to flash.
I just have 3 requirements:
1) I don't want to miss my alarm in the morning due to a reboot loop.
2) At least a decent battery life. I'm on Cyanogen 7.03 and the battery life is really killing me.
3) Theme Changer app would be nice.
Any advice would be great!
brrip said:
Hey guys, I know this question never gets old but I'm looking for opinions on which ROM to flash.
I just have 3 requirements:
1) I don't want to miss my alarm in the morning due to a reboot loop.
2) At least a decent battery life. I'm on Cyanogen 7.03 and the battery life is really killing me.
3) Theme Changer app would be nice.
Any advice would be great!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
for battery life cm nightly #40 and a UV kernel like trinity and for stability another kernel like trinity ( like that kernel )
and the thememanager is alread in cm!
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA Premium App
brrip said:
Hey guys, I know this question never gets old but I'm looking for opinions on which ROM to flash.
I just have 3 requirements:
1) I don't want to miss my alarm in the morning due to a reboot loop.
2) At least a decent battery life. I'm on Cyanogen 7.03 and the battery life is really killing me.
3) Theme Changer app would be nice.
Any advice would be great!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
7.0.3 at this point is really obsolete. You'd want to use CM7.1.0-Nightly #110 (latest) and it's relatively stable. Use that with Netarchy's 1.3.4 kernel (he just released 1.3.5 in experimental) with Proton Voltage Control and use the suggested undervoltages.
Aside from that, you should do your own research on ROMs. Each ROM has it's own features.
Any ROM + Netarchy's Kernel 1.3.4 (or 1.3.5 if you want to experiment, but all of his experimental kernels have been relatively stable in the past) + Voltage Control (Undervolt) = Can't go wrong
Thanks for the replies! I've been following the progress of CM7.1 but it seems rather hit and miss. Will try flashing the kernels you guys suggested.
Well not for me... I used the netarchy + proton with sugested voltages and my phone stopped working after 2 hours got a battery drainage and now I'm testing ice and fire rom. I really wish that when somebody asks for advice the answer wouldn't be "test it yourself" maybe I don't want to go testing all of the roms or just don't have the time for it.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
Oxygen for sure. Liquid Nexusbread if you're looking for theming options.

ICS 4.0.3 Stock, Any suggestions for Kernel?

Hey,
I just upgraded my i9023 to 4.0.3 (all Stock, no root).
I think that the UI is a little sluggish and could be a little more responsive.
Is there any good Kernel to flash which will get rid of this issue without increasing Battery consumption too much? I saw the Glados Kernel but it looked like it was all about saving battery. Any good alternatives?
Does it even make sens what I'm saying or did I misunderstand something completely?
Thank you!
Maybe I'm biased.. but definitely GLaDOS
bobdowl said:
Hey,
I just upgraded my i9023 to 4.0.3 (all Stock, no root).
I think that the UI is a little sluggish and could be a little more responsive.
Is there any good Kernel to flash which will get rid of this issue without increasing Battery consumption too much? I saw the Glados Kernel but it looked like it was all about saving battery. Any good alternatives?
Does it even make sens what I'm saying or did I misunderstand something completely?
Thank you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm same as you, stock ICS full ROM install, only thing I want is voodoo sound & BLN. Other then that, full ROM stability + I have no need/time flashing kernels every 2 days.
I tried GlaDOS, eugene's and Matrix kernel back in end of december. Matrix v13 stuck, because there were absolutely no issues with it on stock settings (had reboots with GlaDOS). Only thing I use is the BLN pro app for missed calls. No NSTools or anything. Regarding the battery life, battery calibration helped alot (after ROM + kernel flash). You'll need root for that though.
That's my 0.2€.
I tried almost all kernels - use Eugen's ICUP - the most stable, quick and power saving
Try Eugen's ICUP ...
1D 7H 44M .... And 46%
Try ICUP or Matrix v14 cfs. Both are very good regarding performance and battery life.

[Q] Feedback and Question on best ROM?

Hi guys I have gone from one ROM to another all professing to be the smoothest or most stable but all have left some what of a bitter taste in my mouth. My current ROM seems to be the most stable and have all the basic modcons working AndroidHD v1.0 | ICS
So I’m on a UK I9020 and I’m like preferably ICS over GB and main important points to consider for me would be
Battery Life, Stable, and Fast,
I am a bit of a power user but the ROM don’t have to have to many mods or sparkles just need something that doesn’t reboot at least twice a day and gives me battery life for 12 hours plus with fair use of apps and internet.
Please help at the end of my tether
yeah i'm in the same spot...i have been trying some ics roms and many claim "fast & stable & rock solid & butter smooth" etc
But they dont feel that way to me...i really like ics but i think its still slowish. GB is way faster.
Currently on codenameandroid 1.2.0 with matr1x 15.5 cfs
Come on guys don't all hide now lol, need your applied knowledge. Some one must have some thing they can recommend
try AndroidMe 1.1.0 not a single issue for me ,when on others ics roms i had fcs and reboots.
battery life around 16h with 3h of 3g and 3h screen on with brightness set at 68%.
CM 9 1.1 has been stable and brutally fast, better than stock IMHO. Only thing missing is FB sync.
mr_raider said:
CM 9 1.1 has been stable and brutally fast, better than stock IMHO. Only thing missing is FB sync.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Only thing thats kept me from CM roms is the worry that apps wont work with them, what sort of uptime do you get?
kangy v10 or AOKP milestone 3, damn good , with Matr1x kernel.
smooth , stable , battery friendly
im using the last cm9 kang with a bare boned(no mods added) trinity kernel, not a single stutter or speed bumbs. fast, stable, and everything works.
Now I'm using CyberGR-MOD|NS.NGN ICS v.5 HYBRID+Matr1x 14.5CFS, well, as far as I can tell, it is quite stable and battery is not draining so fast.
Try some roms with AOSP tags, these roms have less modifications and mods, and maybe have a better better performance.
simms22 said:
im using the last cm9 kang with a bare boned(no mods added) trinity kernel, not a single stutter or speed bumbs. fast, stable, and everything works.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
can u give d link to download cm9 kang.... and d kernel u said...
So far brain master's AOSP and cyberGR hybrid ICS have been the best for me... nice and stable and great battery life
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
just tried a few roms. sorry to say that the stock rom is the best, so far.
Stock is stable, but a bit slow. but the slow problem is same in other custom roms.
I don't have the problem of battery drain.
Downloading 4.0.4 rom ported from NS4G. Hope it fix the speed problem.
Don't want to use 2.3 anymore, though 2.3 is fast and stable
I tried these custom roms -
Mv 2.1.27, 2.1.28(cm9) lots of added features, but less stable than stock
Miui - although I am a Chinese, don't like this Chinese rom.
Slow. Don't know the cause. Rom still in alpha? Or wasting CPU power on beautiful ui?
Unfamiliar ui Is another problem. Not my cup of coffee
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
bigmem said:
Only thing thats kept me from CM roms is the worry that apps wont work with them, what sort of uptime do you get?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No reboots on stock kernel and CPU speed. Overall, I've found all ICS ROMs to be moe robust than gimgerbread, with very little issues.

stable ICS rom?

Hey guys, I bought myself a Nexus S one month ago and I've flashed about 15 different ICS ROMs. Is it just me or are there almost no stable ICS ROMs? All of them had random reboot issues apart from AOKP and CM9. I had no reboots on AOKP but the clock got stuck every 2nd day, so my phone wouldn't wake me in the morning which is even worse. CM9 I liked a lot, but I couldn't phone in the hands free mode (don't know the propper name of it in english) because the mic wasn't loud enough. Currently I'm on ras cream sandwich and it reboots while i'm listening to music which is really frustrating. Oh and before i forget, I always flashed matr1x kernel and used smartass governor, no OC.
Is there any stable ICS ROM apart from CM9 and AOKP? Or can i fix the other bugs?
Thanks in advance!
Your problem is the kernel, not the rom. My phone also reboots while listening to music in the undervolted matrix kernel. Stay with rascream and flash the _thalamus kernel and see how stable it is. That kernel is really stockish and stable. If you don't want to flash you could try to raise your voltages to stock values in nstools. Some phones like undervolting, some not. ;-)
Verstuurd van mijn Nexus S met Tapatalk
hm I didn't know matrix kernel was undervolted, I thought that's only the case with trinity TEUV kernel by default well I'll try another kernel for the time being and see how that goes.
Yeah. Some of our phones can't handle the voltages mathkids kernel supplies outta the box unfortunately. Either adjust them back to the stock ones or search for another kernel. I prefer either thalamus or Simple Kernel. I just recently flashed the latest version of the former and its great. You can try Air kernel if you want a few more governors and whatnot.
Sent by pocket technology.
Like.. that's what STOCK is all about.
The people that made the phone are the most interested in making a stable ROM, no compromises.
Most stable and fast rom
Try APEX ROM 1.1.2 (latest release), that's what i'm using until aokp milestone 6 comes out. there is no lag, no reboots (just if u OC too much),...
Slim rom with no tweaks is smooth. Try it and u will not regret it.
Good luck
Vs Nexus S 4G
MIUI roms are very stable these days.
Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk 2
Well it differs from phone to phone. My phone is good with Matrix kernel. Might be one of the best custom kernels to run for my phone if not the best. Matrix isn't a compromise for my phone.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G
For several days I'm with Slim ICS and Matr1x and I have no problems with random restarts. No OC and no tweaks!
Try CyberGR ROM
I have installed CyberGR ROM and I have not suffered any reboot. I followed one by one all the steps of the development part and I'm quite happy with it.
Good luck.
Well, if you really want stable, get Stock 4.0.4. I'm on 1100+ hours on uptime without a single reboot... The only thing I've done to the stock 4.0.4 is getting root.
I would also like to know. from my own experience, stock 4.0.4 is best, but can CM9 very be made that stable? I'm running it now with ink kernel and no tweaks and it seems slightly laggy :/ should I flash brainmasters tweak pack?
Sent from my Nexus S using xda premium
Bugless Beast hasn't given me any issues. I've rebooted to flash other kernels but the only two kernels that have given consistent performance are Simple(stock with bln) and thalamus. Once I get my new battery, I may see how long I can go without rebooting. But if you want rock solid, go with stock ROM. Hell, my cousin has an EVO 4G and has almost 1200 hours up time. Lol.
Sent by pocket technology.
AOSP+ definitely belongs to this category. Stock with a few useful modifications.
You should try AOKP again
I know you've already used AOKP but you should try/flash it again. I'm sure that the clocking was freezing because of some flashing issue.
Go to this link and download the milestone-5 version (m5) of AOKP. Also, you should use this rom with matr1x v19.5 cfs.
Milestone means that it's stable, so you shouldn't have problems with it. I use this rom and matr1x 19.5 on my daily device and haven't had any problems nor reboots. Great performance and great battery life too. Besides that, the rom is highly customizable.
Apart from stock, Have you tried BuglessBeast? Very stable. No need to flash any custom kernels.
if ur using ra scream use one of the trinity kernels. its super stable, super smooth, and long battery life
im using this black ice rom, in love with it .. shud try
alexfiorani said:
I know you've already used AOKP but you should try/flash it again. I'm sure that the clocking was freezing because of some flashing issue.
Go to this link and download the milestone-5 version (m5) of AOKP. Also, you should use this rom with matr1x v19.5 cfs.
Milestone means that it's stable, so you shouldn't have problems with it. I use this rom and matr1x 19.5 on my daily device and haven't had any problems nor reboots. Great performance and great battery life too. Besides that, the rom is highly customizable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I searched the internet and apparently I'm not the only one with that problem. I tried AOKP twice (i think build 32 or something and m5), always with matr1x kernel. Could this also be a kernel Issue?
I don't know that much about Android, but what I found out in the past days is that my Nexus S can't handle UV. I also get very high Android OS battery usage sometimes but I don't know why. High meaning Android OS once used more battery than display even though i had 2h screen on time. I suspect it's got something to do with titanium backup not restoring apps correctly, but that's just a stab in the dark.
Currently I'm on Apex v1.1.2 with stock kernel. No random reboots so far. I didn't restore apps via titanium backup (which was a pain in the ass). So far Android OS seems to use way less battery than before. But yesterday I had something like SOD when received a call while using TuneIn, so I had to pull the battery and call back. Not what I call stable.
I know that's a lot of text and probably also a bit OT sometimes but I hope some of you will read it , I'm not really a flashoholic and I'm getting sick and tired of switching roms, but I need my phone to be reliable. I'm really tempted to just switch back to stock ROM with stock kernel at the moment...
the things I'd really like to have is bln, notification toggles and stability.

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