[Kernel][ICS] Kappa Kernel - Stock & Boost

[kingozzo]

R: [Kernel][ICS] Kappa Kernel 1.3 - Stock and Boost - 07/03/2013

Hi!

First of all, thank you very much!

I'm indeed tacking that Ext4 issue, trying to find the patch that caused the issue.
CIFS, NTFS and FUSE are compiled and included with this kernel as modules.
Basically...

• CIFS is used to access "Windows" shares. Like connecting to your PC and read a file from a shared directory
• NTFS is used to read (and write) Windows volumes. Like a USB disk you can connect to your phone via USB-OTG (Your phone is able to use mass storage devices)
• FUSE is a "special" driver to be able to use "special" filesystems. Once FUSE is enabled, applications can load the specific driver for a specific file system.

The smallness of the Kernel is due to the compression more than to the optmisation.
And more than to the compression, the fact it only packs one ramdisk. The initial virtual disk loaded by the kernel before loading the whole Android system. Most kernels use 1-2-3 packed ramdisks, especially when they are hybrid ICS/JB or they sport dual recoveries. By using only CWM and a trick also used by others, I load one ramdisk and fire CWM if needed, otherwise keep on booting.
The result is a LZMA compressed kernel, smaller than a stock GZIpped one. Takes maybe 1sec more to decompress but fits better in the pocket

Take care,
Ka.

In fact the boot is very fast!

 

[kast]

In fact the boot is very fast!

There are ways to make it even faster... But I prefer not to

Jokes a part, let me explain. I investigated a little why other kernels were originally much faster to boot than mine.
I guess you know, but just in case, our CPUs have a max speed of 1Ghz. The speed at boot in stock kernels (as SE dictates) is set to be at around 400Khz. Much less than our max speed.
By checking the boot logs of some other famous kernels in here I noticed that they had changed the boot clock speed. The one probably being the fastest to boot in the forum runs at 1.9Ghz at boot. Yes, this is nearly the double stock max speed. I guess it may be safe because boot doesn't last too long. I took what I consider to be a safer approach and do the boot at 1.6Ghz. It's still quite higher than the normal max speed, not nearly the double though. As soon as the initial boot is over, the CPU is set to run at maximum the official max speed of 1Ghz. The default CPU Governor is Intellidemand, it'll safely scale from 249Khz to 1Ghz according to load.

Thanks for your input!

Ka.

 

[kast]

Hi there,

Ext4 is finally fixed!
Took me a while to see what was wrong but now finally seems ok. Tested it myself on Mango with Link2SD. Your reports are always extremely welcome.

Added a little thing more, maybe not of extreme use for most but this kernel can now mount (optionally, by enabling it via kamenu) HFS Plus and EFI partition table partition/drives. In case there are any Mac Os addicts out there, like me, that want to mount on the phone a USB Mac formatted volume.

Take care and thank you all!

Ka.

 

[yamin8000]

very low total memory
its only 348

 

[kast]

very low total memory
its only 348

Hi,
thanks for your report!

What would you consider a reasonable amount?

Ka.

 

[Gustavo RD78]

Kast
I'm using the new version 1.3a, now ext4 works fine
Thank you so

I have some questions
Vsync is disabled in your kernel? I notice a scrolling a bit (virtualized)
What are your conclusions about KSM? Maybe you could add in the next version

About hybrid kernel, I also think this would make a big difference over others
provided that there are some problems such as panoramic camera not working
so yes, this is one of the reasons that I'm using your kernel now

keep up the good work

Att Gustavo RD78

 

[kast]

Kast
...
Vsync is disabled in your kernel? I notice a scrolling a bit (virtualized)
What are your conclusions about KSM? Maybe you could add in the next version
...
Att Gustavo RD78

Hi there!
Glad Ext4 is now working fine for you too.
I had to climb up and down at least 5-6 times my whole "tree" before I understood that what was messed up was my build config... and not the sources.

KSM is already enabled in this kernel. As others were suggesting it to be an improvement, I added it to the build config since V1.0
I'll have a look into VSYNC to see what's about it.

When you talk about hybrid... You mean CWM/TWRP or ICS/JB?

Thanks a lot!!!

Ka.

 

[kingozzo]

R: [Kernel][ICS] Kappa Kernel 1.3a - Stock and Boost - 12/03/2013

Keep up man, this kernel has a super battery life in standby (1percent in 8 hours with wifi on)

 

[himasura]

What about option to support phone line call recording?

 

[kast]

Keep up man, this kernel has a super battery life in standby (1percent in 8 hours with wifi on)

That's all the news I want to hear

Jokes a part, thank you very much for your report! I'll keep trying to optimise it as much as possible, still a long way to go


In the future version (1.4) there will surely be:

• Two-Way call recording (seems a must for some poeple... Although I don't care much about it)
• Further build optimisations (I'll try to compile with -03 instead of -o2, as others do too)
• There will probably be two versions. A CWM only version (like for me who only use CWM) and another which has both CWM and TWRP, selectable inside OS via my own menu (kamenu). I managed to have CWM boot correctly, TWRP still hangs at boot, but I think I'm closer to have selectable recovery working.
• There are at least a couple of other CPU Governors that look interesting in terms of battery life. I'm looking into them. I'm also trying to get LulzActive to work as the version currently in my hands make the kernel to explode. Already committed a new version, today I'll test it.
• I'm also working on XZ compression instead of LZMA. But... if I get the kernel to be small enough, might not need extra compression and this saves some time at boot.
• Other think I'm looking into is the ability to have somekind of auto-update without the need to reflash the kernel. Of course, once the kernel is stable and "final" enough. Extra features could be enabled via init.d scripts or modules downloaded on "need basis" directly via a menu. Provided, as I already said, the kernel is "final" enough and already knows about the possibility to download this or the other module for use.

Would love to setup a kind of "poll" with the possibility to choose the next step. After all, this kernel, as I already said, is being built with bits and pieces taken everywhere... So why not choose together the ingredients

Take care,
Ka.

 

[himasura]

In the future version (1.4) there will surely be:

• Two-Way call recording (seems a must for some poeple... Although I don't care much about it)

Great news! I will be waiting for a new version.

 

[kast]

Great news! I will be waiting for a new version.

Hi,
if you tell me what device you have, might send you during the course of the day one version for you to test...

Ka.

 

[himasura]

Hi,
if you tell me what device you have, might send you during the course of the day one version for you to test...

Ka.

Satsuma (ST17i)

 

[kast]

Satsuma (ST17i)

Here is a test build for Satsuma / Active which should include, compared to previous versions, the following:

• [PATCH] SEMC specific patch for voice call recording support (Guess this is what you were looking for / two-way call recording)
• [PATCH] make the partition si mounted as noatime as default
• [PATCH] msm: platsmp: Remove extraneous boot_secondary delay

Please note that this build has not been tested yet.

http://www.mediafire.com/?6jg40nje1k2thlz


Thanks!

Ka.

 

[himasura]

Please note that this build has not been tested yet.

Now it is tested.
Booting even faster than previous!
Two-way call recording is working!

Thank you so much for fast response! You a the great!

 

[kast]

Now it is tested.
Booting even faster than previous!
Two-way call recording is working!

Thank you so much for fast response! You a the great!

Glad you like it and it's of use to you!



Next official version will include this and more... Stay tuned, if you want

Thanks!

Ka.

 

[andro-SYR]

Re: [Kernel][ICS] Kappa Kernel 1.3a - Stock and Boost - 12/03/2013

Thanks kast
Tested for couple of days now

Sent from my WT19i using xda

 

[kast]

Thanks kast
Tested for couple of days now

Sent from my WT19i using xda

Thank you!

Ka

 

[nori971]

Re: [Kernel][ICS] Kappa Kernel 1.3a - Stock and Boost - 12/03/2013

Had fc with shadowgun on others kernels i've tried radeon & lupus tried your kernel and now game's working!!
Kudos to you !
Btw: i love your kernel splash screen! Xd

 

[dark4m]

Thank you Kast,
the last update works just fine,
battry life is good for the last 2 days,
no laggs,
I think this kernel would be one of the best ones for the stock Ics roms,
thanks again.
Mango with stock ics 587...