Break it down; bins, roms, kernels, etc.

[Guest komienski]

I've been doing a lot of reading as I contemplate rooting and putting froyo on my liquid e.

Rather than start before I've grasped it all and pestering you all with threads about my bricked phone- I want to make sure I understand this.

I DO understand the process of using Malez recovery to gain root access and install new roms.

what I DON'T get is the difference between roms, kernels, bins etc. To load one rom you need another kernel. Gah.

I hate forum threads where someone could have just searched, so trust me, I've been lurking and searching but I still can't get my head around all this.

help me with the following terms: rom, bin, kernel

the difference between them and the order in which I should flash them, and what they do.

Thanks! Much respect for this site and the work you all do.

[Guest sss_ddk]

I've been doing a lot of reading as I contemplate rooting and putting froyo on my liquid e.

Rather than start before I've grasped it all and pestering you all with threads about my bricked phone- I want to make sure I understand this.

I DO understand the process of using Malez recovery to gain root access and install new roms.

what I DON'T get is the difference between roms, kernels, bins etc. To load one rom you need another kernel. Gah.

I hate forum threads where someone could have just searched, so trust me, I've been lurking and searching but I still can't get my head around all this.

help me with the following terms: rom, bin, kernel

the difference between them and the order in which I should flash them, and what they do.

Thanks! Much respect for this site and the work you all do.

Android is an operating system built on top of linux.Meaning that under every android version, there is a Linux operating system. An operating system handles most of the dirty low level stuff for you so you can use a computer/smartphone/device.

When you install linux on a system, part of linux is the kernel, meaning the core of the operating system.You will ask what else is there to an OS? Well there are a lot of other stuff you add to a system, like a compiler and other libraries...but at the center of it all ..you find the kernel.

Recap: so far we have a device (hardware) with an operating system working on top (Linux with a kernel version for example 2.6.29) and on top of that an android system (2.1 or 2.2..with android and linux kernel versions not related)

ROM: the term refers to Read Only Memory.This is one kind of storage (others being RAM or HDD or SD card). It's a chip that stores information on the device that helps it boot. On a computer system, the ROM holds the BIOS which allows the operating system to boot. On a device such as the liquid, the ROM holds the operating system and a bunch of other files. Of course, ROMs have become erasable/rewritable a long time ago, but they remain harder to write to than normal storage.

On the liquid (for example), a ROM will contain the boot, system, data etc..partitions (so not just the BIOS). Imagine a partition just like the C or D drive on windows, so on this forum when someone usually says: "i have uploaded a ROM", he means i have uploaded a binary file that, when flashed (writing to the ROM chip) will overwrite your current partitions with whatever is in that file...of course the file needs to be properly formatted. When detailing a ROM, people will detail the Android version (1.6,2.1 or 2.2 so far), the linux kernel version (2.xxx), the baseband version (this is the driver/service that handles communication) and a lot of other stuff such as installed programs, etc.

The recovery is just a partition among other partitions, but one that the device knows how to boot separately from the main operating system, thus allowing to do manipulations to the operating system itself...and a bunch of other stuff.

BIN: The binary file that contains the ROM (the term used on the forum not the physical chip). Since the ROM can come in different versions (acer may provide an executable that handles the flashing from A to Z), or sme IMG file (a partial binary dump of one of the ROM partitions) or in this case a .bin file that can be loaded into the "acer download tool" and flashed to the device. A bin contains (as far as i know) all the ROM contents ..menaing it will overwrite recovery, system, boot ,data etc...partitions.

Hope it was clear and that i made no mistakes.

[Guest Rajit]

Ok lets not go into the details of what they really are; rather I'd just tell you what they mean to a normal user or flasher.

The bin is like the base of the operating system on your phone. It adds certain things that cannot be updated without flashing another bin (like baseband). Flash this first as it wipes EVERYTHING on the phone (not the sd). Note that malez recovery is also lost and has to be reflashed.

A rom is rather like a package that contains certains customizations and optimizations which is to be flashed over a bin. Flash this second.

The kernel is a small part of the OS reponsible for all the core interaction between the hardware and the OS. In case of a rom, it may add fixes (multitouch) or introduce new features like net-filter (for tethering). Flash this last.

You have to take care of the compatibilities. Not all roms can be flashed on top of all bins, although some are compatible with multiple bins (this is usually mentioned in the intro of the rom). The kernels are HIGHLY specific to the rom (and indirectly to the bin) that you flash. Flashing an incompatible kernel will give you bootloops or who-knows-what. Hope this helps.

[Guest komienski]

Ok lets not go into the details of what they really are; rather I'd just tell you what they mean to a normal user or flasher.

The bin is like the base of the operating system on your phone. It adds certain things that cannot be updated without flashing another bin (like baseband). Flash this first as it wipes EVERYTHING on the phone (not the sd). Note that malez recovery is also lost and has to be reflashed.

A rom is rather like a package that contains certains customizations and optimizations which is to be flashed over a bin. Flash this second.

The kernel is a small part of the OS reponsible for all the core interaction between the hardware and the OS. In case of a rom, it may add fixes (multitouch) or introduce new features like net-filter (for tethering). Flash this last.

You have to take care of the compatibilities. Not all roms can be flashed on top of all bins, although some are compatible with multiple bins (this is usually mentioned in the intro of the rom). The kernels are HIGHLY specific to the rom (and indirectly to the bin) that you flash. Flashing an incompatible kernel will give you bootloops or who-knows-what. Hope this helps.

Thanks that is exactly what I was looking for.

[Guest koudelka]

Thanks that is exactly what I was looking for.

I good place to look is the more user oriented android sites and forums, androidcentral has a good list of terms used without going into detail. http://www.androidcentral.com/dictionary

[Guest komienski]

you guys rock.

so let me make sure I get this.

I plug in my rogers liquid e and do the easy malez install, to avoid adb shell stuff that seems complex.

I boot into recovery with a button combo, with a zip file of a froyo BIN on my SD card, which is empty otherwise (?)

from there I choose install from zip or whatever it is. presto. that easy? no need for adb shell or acer download tool unless I want to go further?