It's not absolutely necessary. But,as I said, if you run into problems it might help.
BTW: the first boot after dalvik wipe takes very long....
a kernel is the one thing that it is necessary for. most kernels just include it in the update zip though so it gets done automatically when you flash
how to remove the "insert sim card" in the lock screen as this kernel is for a501 or sth. not fir a500 and also the cell idle is eating my battery although i dont have sim because it's a500 ...help !
# insmod /system/lib/devices/ntfs.ko
# mount -t ntfs /dev/block/sda1 /mnt/usb_storage
#umount /mnt/usb_storage
Failed