Let's get this out of the way, I'm not responsible for anything more than a kernel panic.
Now that we've got that over with, I introduce to you - Zest Kernel. This ain't your average kernel on XDA. Zest Kernel is tuned down to every last
github.com
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If you enjoyed Zest Kernel, please donate to help keep up maintenance at https://paypal.me/paydiab. I'm strict on quality, and give each release it's quality time and care (possibly even more so than your OEM). Having a small income from these kernels gives me a better incentive to keep pushing them out for y'all.
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Now that we've got that over with, I introduce to you - Zest Kernel. This ain't your average kernel on XDA. Zest Kernel is tuned down to every last
mmap() to ensure that your device runs as fast and smooth as your hardware permits. No longer are the days of your battery dying on the bus, slow network speeds at home, or lags when swiping on those hot, new Android 11 gestures. Zest Kernel will revamp the experience of your device.Boot Time
By shrinking the kernel's size with Dead Code Elimination (DCE) and removing a bloat of debug and unused drivers, we decrease boot times [1].
LLVM Tools
Zest Kernel is built exclusively with the LLVM toolchain and tools, which allows us to utilise a wide range of security and performance features as well as satisfying my LLVM fanboy needs.
Networking Performance
Due to the addition of the
Performance
Through backporting mainline improvements to
Security
Zest Kernel utilises Clang's Control Flow Integrity (CFI) to protect against undefined behaviour that tries to subvert the kernel's control flow. Clang's ShadowCallStack, which protects programs against return address overwrites such as stack overflows, is also switched on and enabled with virtually mapped call stacks. All locals that are automatically initialised with zeros instead of patterns, which is safer for strings, pointers, indexes, and sizes. WireGuard is also included to provide a secure, performant VPN tunnel for those who wish to use it.
zRAM Improvements
Backports from mainline and changes from Sony allow us to utilise a more efficient zRAM backend,
[1] - The first boot may take longer as F2FS (the filesystem we use) needs to check for corruption every time the kernel is changed for safety measures. Subsequent boots should be much faster.
By shrinking the kernel's size with Dead Code Elimination (DCE) and removing a bloat of debug and unused drivers, we decrease boot times [1].
LLVM Tools
Zest Kernel is built exclusively with the LLVM toolchain and tools, which allows us to utilise a wide range of security and performance features as well as satisfying my LLVM fanboy needs.
Networking Performance
Due to the addition of the
rmnet_perf and rmnet_shs drivers from Qualcomm, cellular networking performance can see improvements due to network aggregation.Performance
Through backporting mainline improvements to
mmap() and locking, the kernel's core code receives improvements in performance and works to reduce jitter and improve system responsiveness. The return of BPF JIT allows us to improve performance with eBPF programs that Android utilises. As well as these changes, Danny (kdrag0n)'s efficient frequencies and Sultan's latency reduction patchsets are included which improve system fluidity and performance. LTO is also enabled, improving overall kernel performance. Tuning for ext4Security
Zest Kernel utilises Clang's Control Flow Integrity (CFI) to protect against undefined behaviour that tries to subvert the kernel's control flow. Clang's ShadowCallStack, which protects programs against return address overwrites such as stack overflows, is also switched on and enabled with virtually mapped call stacks. All locals that are automatically initialised with zeros instead of patterns, which is safer for strings, pointers, indexes, and sizes. WireGuard is also included to provide a secure, performant VPN tunnel for those who wish to use it.
zRAM Improvements
Backports from mainline and changes from Sony allow us to utilise a more efficient zRAM backend,
z3fold. While zRAM is only used on bramble, since 8GB is more than enough memory on redfin, this should provide a nice improvement for zRAM on bramble.[1] - The first boot may take longer as F2FS (the filesystem we use) needs to check for corruption every time the kernel is changed for safety measures. Subsequent boots should be much faster.
1) Make sure you're on the December or January SP.
2) Download Zest Kernel from the link below.
3) Enter fastboot (not fastbootd) with
4)
5) Yes, I said
6) Read my beautiful installation header and wait for your device to boot up.
2) Download Zest Kernel from the link below.
3) Enter fastboot (not fastbootd) with
adb reboot bootloader or another method.4)
fastboot boot ZestKernel-Installer-P4A5G<DATE>.img where <DATE> refers to the release date of the specific kernel.5) Yes, I said
boot not flash. I hope you read that correctly.6) Read my beautiful installation header and wait for your device to boot up.
Visit https://www.thezest.dev, click on "builds", then get the latest build from the relevant folder (
Releases are named in the form of
Zest Kernel/bramble, in this case).Releases are named in the form of
ZestKernel-Installer-<Device Name><ISO 8601 Date>.img.lazerl0rd/tryme_redbull
A kernel for the Google Pixel 5 tuned to enhance system responsiveness, efficiency, and security. - lazerl0rd/tryme_redbull
github.com
Sultan Alsawaf (
Danny Lin (@kdrag0n) for kramflash (the kernel installer) as well as a load of useful patches.
Jason Donenfeld (@zx2c4) for WireGuard.
Artem Labazov for his suggestion to use z3fold as a backend for zRAM.
kerneltoast/@Sultanxda) for his patchsets which help to improve the fluidity of graphics and more.Danny Lin (@kdrag0n) for kramflash (the kernel installer) as well as a load of useful patches.
Jason Donenfeld (@zx2c4) for WireGuard.
Artem Labazov for his suggestion to use z3fold as a backend for zRAM.
***
If you enjoyed Zest Kernel, please donate to help keep up maintenance at https://paypal.me/paydiab. I'm strict on quality, and give each release it's quality time and care (possibly even more so than your OEM). Having a small income from these kernels gives me a better incentive to keep pushing them out for y'all.
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