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Best kernel to keep things simple, stable

I'm really very happy with my Nexus S 4G. It's unlocked and rooted, but otherwise pure stock and I really like it that way.
Coming from the Hero it's a pleasure to have a phone that doesn't require heavy modification to make it perform properly. Still, I miss the thrill of flashing ROM's and kernels.
I would like to try a kernel...mainly to simply o/c a bit, but I don't want it to suffer stable and reliable operation. I recall with the Hero, some of the kernels would adversely affect things like the GPS, making it something I couldn't rely on.
So my question: what kernel can I use that is uncapped, but will otherwise be as close to stock as possible?
Thanks for your thoughts!

Kernels are pretty different over here. I don't even know what's closest to stock. They pretty much all have mods in them. Matr1x kernel is pretty popular. You may have to up the voltage for it if you oc to 14xx. 1200 seemed pretty stable to me with default voltages. Currently franco kernel is pretty popular. You can't oc it, but it seems pretty snappy without oc. GLaDOS is also being used a bit but i've read some mixed reviews and for me at least it did seem a little lagging at times for the short period I ran it. I tried Trinity kernel when I first moved over from the hero and it seemed kind of flaky though it's possible that could have been due to the kang I was running. There are a few others out there. Cm7 kernel has a lot of the same mods cooked in though it's likely not the latest updates. You will see a lot of mention of BLN and Voodoo. There are apps on the market for those features and there's an app nstools that has some kernel config settings you can adjust depending on kernel. Mainly just try to read a lot. Most of the roms and kernels haven't given me any major issues beyond the random reboot, which coming from the hero, just means "normal" lol.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G running CM7/franco.Kernel

Once you flash you can't stop O_O that my experience i'll direct you to Peteralfonso's kernel on his website here

Searching the forums would help you more than anything. You will get more info by searching, rather waiting people to reply here. These questions are asked on daily basis. And get the same replies everyday. I don't sound to be mean but seriously there is more info than you can get by starting another thread, only thing is you need to dig the info.

I have tried a few different roms and kernels and for once cm7 runs perfect for me w the supplied kernel. No reboots. Has been stable at 1440 performance for testing but I usually leave it at 1000 on demand.

Yeah they all have this blinking light crap in it now by default which I hate, and the lights turn off and I don't like that either. I want the light on when I'm using the phone and off when I'm not, not the other way around!
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

I like the bln mod, but I do not like the one that turns off the backlights when using the phone. It's just easier to use the buttons imo and gives a quicker visual reference for everything. Otherwise I mostly am left wondering what is up with all the black space.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G running CM7/franco.Kernel

suhas_sm said:
Searching the forums would help you more than anything. You will get more info by searching, rather waiting people to reply here. These questions are asked on daily basis. And get the same replies everyday. I don't sound to be mean but seriously there is more info than you can get by starting another thread, only thing is you need to dig the info.
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I hear you on that, and spent a lot of time reading comments and concerns and problems about the various kernels available. They all seem to pretty much be experimental, with various idiosyncratic problems and lots of bells and whistles such as aforementioned BLN, Voodoo, deep idle, etc.
I thought maybe I was missing something in my search for a kernel that would allow o/c, but not have the stability concerns of a the feature-rich, highly customizable kernels.

I think the Matr1x kernel will be your best option, u can OC it till 1400mhz, what I don't recommend to do, but at 1200/1300mhz its pretty stable.
It also got many options like BLN, BLX, Live OC, touch wake, etc.
But if you don't want them, why you just don't use 'em?
Like just flash the kernel and keep it like it is, and maybe do some overclocking.

wanna stable ? stock kernel
basically , there is no kernel more stable then stock ...

qtwrk said:
wanna stable ? stock kernel
basically , there is no kernel more stable then stock ...
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True, but he prefers to OC it a bit.
Sent from my Nexus S

franciscofranco's kernel (link) works best for me. It's fast (no lags even without OC, I'm running at stock 1000 MHz), reliable (I've been using it for at least month and I haven't got any random reboots or application hangs) and battery efficient (thanks to deep idle and other tweaks).

irizwan said:
Once you flash you can't stop O_O that my experience i'll direct you to Peteralfonso's kernel on his website here
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+1
Never found a more stable kernel than Pete's. However, I've been on Glados for the last week or so and am seeing excellent battery life with Deep Idle.

Icecoldmeat said:
True, but he prefers to OC it a bit.
Sent from my Nexus S
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personally i think overclock is totally unnecessary , why ? 1 GHz is sufficient to handle all job you require to the phone...

Best thing to do would be compile your own stock kernel with oc.

qtwrk said:
personally i think overclock is totally unnecessary , why ? 1 GHz is sufficient to handle all job you require to the phone...
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True again. I love 1100mhz because it gives you a bit more speed with no lagg, and you batterylife is still awesome.
Sent from my Nexus S

deville~> said:
franciscofranco's kernel (link) works best for me. It's fast (no lags even without OC, I'm running at stock 1000 MHz), reliable (I've been using it for at least month and I haven't got any random reboots or application hangs) and battery efficient (thanks to deep idle and other tweaks).
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with deep idle OFF, the difference between the two is minimal, idle stats displayed deep idle has been 0

Downloaded and testing peter alfonso's kernel now. Its very minimalistic, no options like deep idle etc, and u can OC it up to 1400mhz. Running 400-1100mhz for a day now and the battery life is just awesome.
U can find it on:
http://www.peteralfonso.com
Sent from my Nexus S

albundy2010 said:
Best thing to do would be compile your own stock kernel with oc.
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Or one with LiveOC which is kinda better cause it also OC the GPU =D
+1
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the akward moment when someone said they +1'd you but actually didn't -_-

there're too many to choose.i don't like the ones that update so often indeed.

I still have random reboots....

Will these ever go away on my nexus s? I have gotten them in everything from stock 2.3, cyanogenmod 7, stock ICS, oxygen, and every single ICS rom I have used. I understand some software bugs take a while to find but I have had this bug for over a year, will it every get a fixed? (Or is this not a software bug but an actual issue with my phone?)

Could be cause from UV settings if you touched them
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA

ThisNight said:
Could be cause from UV settings if you touched them
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA
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Nope. I usually run 200 mhz minimum and 1200 max for my cpu. On stock I also ran stock volts.

tominater12 said:
Nope. I usually run 200 mhz minimum and 1200 max for my cpu. On stock I also ran stock volts.
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Well, you're running an overclock... Try running without.
CM7 has a sleep of death/reboot bug, so try another ROM not based on CM7 too.
Highly recommend Oxygen 2.3.2 coupled with Franco 08.12.2011 GB kernel.

If you're interested in ICS ROM, give AOKP ROM and Matr1x kernel a try. It's rock stable for me. I just rebooted to flash the new build, but before that it lasted for couple weeks for me without rebooting. Link to AOKP ROM is in my sig.

tominater12 said:
Nope. I usually run 200 mhz minimum and 1200 max for my cpu. On stock I also ran stock volts.
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There's your problem. Perhaps increase the voltage? Your phone may not be able to handle the frequency without extra voltage.
There should be no random reboots if you never touched anything kernel related. If so, then bear the consequences.
I've been using CM9 v2.2 for about 3 months now haven't overclocked or undervolted and haven't had any "random" reboots ever.

I'd highly recommend the Androxide ROM along with Air Kernel. I've been running this combo overclocked to 1200 without any voltage setting changes for a decent amount of time.
random reboot frequency - about once a week ..

AeroEchelon said:
There's your problem. Perhaps increase the voltage? Your phone may not be able to handle the frequency without extra voltage.
There should be no random reboots if you never touched anything kernel related. If so, then bear the consequences.
I've been using CM9 v2.2 for about 3 months now haven't overclocked or undervolted and haven't had any "random" reboots ever.
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I second that. Usually OCing requires raising voltages across the board. I use +25mV (arm and int). If you're suing a matr1x kernel that's even more reason to raise voltages, because afaik that kernel is undervolted by default.
Best of luck.

zgomot said:
I second that. Usually OCing requires raising voltages across the board. I use +25mV (arm and int). If you're suing a matr1x kernel that's even more reason to raise voltages, because afaik that kernel is undervolted by default.
Best of luck.
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Thirding it.
If you are having problems then roll everything back to stock... its not good enough to say you have run every rom , yet fail to mention you OC. What other tweaks do you run? Deep Idle?
I'd bet if you flash CM9 with no tweaking it, it will be fine.

bringonblink said:
I'd bet if you flash CM9 with no tweaking it, it will be fine.
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Or just about *ANY* rom for that matter. First ensure you can run it stable without OC, UV, didle, mods, themes etc then, by all means, go ahead and tweak to your hearts's content.

Overclocking to 1200mhz CPU only does NOT require extra voltage across the board, but possibly a boost at the 1200mhz voltage. Each frequency runs at a different, changeable voltage which has nothing to do with all the others. LiveOC, however, raises the frequency of each step and as such generally requires a boost in voltage across the board or thereabouts.
As for the problem the OP is having, who knows. Could you describe any specific things you've done, though? Full wipes (detail what you wipe), titanium backup restores, etc.
First thing i would be trying now is to do a full wipe (factory/data reset, format /boot, format /system), flashing either stock 2.3.6 or 4.0.3 and installing only necesseties and try for a week or so. If there are still reboot problems, describe them and hopefully i can give you some useful things to try. If you had this problem before the 1 year mark you could have probably gotten the phone fixed/replaced under warranty, though. If it is now over a year i'm afraid that's too late though.

Just for info:
ALWAYS on stock, unrooted, right now 4.0.3 OTA. Since 4.0.3 random reboots, w/o any culprit cause I can find..
So, I guess, has nothing to do with ROM, voltage, solar storms, etc..

Well this is all bullcrap. . . i installed CM7.0.1 and CM7 RC1 and the latest ICS from CM team and her phone either randomly reboots or switches off totally while charging in the night.
Its got bugger all to do with the kernel because i used the standard kernel with all the CM7 & CM9 roms and the same things happen over and over.
Also the OC'ing idea is BS, i don't OC my nexus S or hers and even mine suffers random reboots.
there has to be some code somewhere thats not behaving a sit should and google never sorted it and CM team never found it, or the hardware is just ****ty in this hand set.

Have you tried other ROM besides CM7? I remember when I flashed CM7 for the first time. My phone never liked it, it was all bugs for me. I even noticed that OC'ing would generate problems on any ROM.
I just ran away from CM7 and OC'ing.
Try Oxygen ROM (or stock as they stated before) with all set up to defaults and test for a while.

hutzdani said:
Well this is all bullcrap. . . i installed CM7.0.1 and CM7 RC1 and the latest ICS from CM team and her phone either randomly reboots or switches off totally while charging in the night.
Its got bugger all to do with the kernel because i used the standard kernel with all the CM7 & CM9 roms and the same things happen over and over.
Also the OC'ing idea is BS, i don't OC my nexus S or hers and even mine suffers random reboots.
there has to be some code somewhere thats not behaving a sit should and google never sorted it and CM team never found it, or the hardware is just ****ty in this hand set.
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I admit I had reboots with cm7' but with latest cm9 nightly I have none. Stock kernel stock oc and stock voltage with deep idle off
Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk 2 Beta-2

bmszabo said:
Just for info:
ALWAYS on stock, unrooted, right now 4.0.3 OTA. Since 4.0.3 random reboots, w/o any culprit cause I can find..
So, I guess, has nothing to do with ROM, voltage, solar storms, etc..
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The update was pulled for many reasons. Try stock GB or Oxygen ROM and enjoy life without freeze, sleep of death or reboot...

[Q] Is Anyone Working On An AOSP 4.3 Kernel?

There hasn't been a custom kernel for a recent AOSP rom in ages. Is it a lost cause or something?
Before anyone says it this isn't an ETA request, I just want to know of anyone's working on something at all...

Really interested to know as well.
Sent from my One X using Tapatalk 4

I haven't seen anyone working on one, of course that doesn't mean it isn't happening. The stock aosp kernels built into the ROM are very good though, what do you require from a custom kernel?
Sent from my Evita

timmaaa said:
I haven't seen anyone working on one, of course that doesn't mean it isn't happening. The stock aosp kernels built into the ROM are very good though, what do you require from a custom kernel?
Sent from my Evita
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They aren't a necessity obviously but S2W would be nice + some more governors. Overclocking would be cool too along with some of the optimizations that the Sense kernels have. Rohan had a good one & he said he'd make another, no sign of it though

Ah ok. I don't use s2w so I never miss it. As far as overclocking goes you really shouldn't need to on an aosp ROM, I actually underclock to 1242 and it's still snappy as hell. I have always preferred using intellidemand as a governor but I've recently been told that the latest versions of ondemand are actually better so I'm happy with that (plus the row scheduler). I think Rohan has been pretty busy with development for his other devices (and he's a moderator now too) which is a real shame because the kernels be made were pretty sweet.
Sent from my Evita

[Q] Franco kernel for N5 + ART = ?

Does the Franco kernel play nice with ART? I've read some ominous things about this combination, so I wanted some clarification.

i exclusively use ART and Franco Kernel and I haven't had any issues

Enddo said:
i exclusively use ART and Franco Kernel and I haven't had any issues
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Good to know!
And sorry mod for posting this in general...

Contrary to what most reviews say I find ART a bit faster than dalvik, specially when switching apps. Ive been on franco with ART enabled for a couple of weeks and got no issues.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

andrei.voinea93 said:
Contrary to what most reviews say I find ART a bit faster than dalvik
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What reviews say ART is slower than dalvik?

Franco kernel and ART play very well together, I've been running his kernel exclusively (along with Cataclysm ROM) since I got the N5. Id make sure to follow settings that are tested to work, along with personal adjustments to suit your needs.

I run Franco + ART on Cataclysm and am really impressed with the performance. No issues running on my phone at all. However, my N5 has a tendency to go into a bootloop after flashing an updated version of Franco, and this has also been the case with a few others. Not a huge deal, but something I've noticed.

useinpl Hos.
b.spec said:
I run Franco + ART on Cataclysm and am really impressed with the performance. No issues running on my phone at all. However, my N5 has a tendency to go into a bootloop after flashing an updated version of Franco, and this has also been the case with a few others. Not a huge deal, but something I've noticed.
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Are you using a CM-based ROM? They recently merged some patches from CAF that cause most custom kernels to bootloop. If you stick to AOSP-based ROMs you should be able to boot with custom kernels. Or go back to CM builds before Jan 18th.
Edit: Just to be on-topic. Also running Franco w/ ART for over a month now. Have had no issues beyond the occasional app that isn't yet compatible. Even most of those seem to be working nowadays though.

[Q] Running really slow when hot

Hi,
been running CM since CM7 and loving it! I never had a problem until now.
Now running CM11 7/14 nightly on my i535, and the phone runs really slow when hot, like when I use the browser a lot or when using navigation. By slow I mean unusable slow. This has been happening for a couple of months now. For the latest nightly, I did system reset and cleared the cache but it's still happening.
Does anybody know what to do?

Try a different kernal. Are you overclocking your phone? There really isn't one thing that can cause that issue.

sjpritch25 said:
Try a different kernal. Are you overclocking your phone? There really isn't one thing that can cause that issue.
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I'm running the default kernel with the default settings. What kernel do you suggest?

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1853816
This is my personal favorite kernel. Comes with an easy app Ktweaker to play with voltages and overclocking.

sjpritch25 said:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1853816
This is my personal favorite kernel. Comes with an easy app Ktweaker to play with voltages and overclocking.
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I installed the kernel and my problem is solved! I just tested a navigation and it did not slow to a crawl. The phone HOT indeed (brightness on full).
I think the default cm11 thermal stuff on our device may be not right.
Thanks!