Howto: Install Kernels

Cyanogen occasionally releases testing kernels between versions, either to test a new performance tweak or fix a bug in the current version. If you're here, you've probably either been told to try one or stumbled upon it yourself.

It is best to know what you're flashing and why, so don't just do this because you have found one of the test kernels.

Installing a boot.img from the device

Note: flash_image may have memory related issues on CyanogenMod 5 that cause this to fail with various errors. Re-running the flash_image command until it doesn't give any errors may work, but the fastboot method is preferred. Running this from recovery console/adb shell in recovery shouldn't have the same issues as in terminal emulator on a booted OS.

1. Download the boot(-new).img to the root directory of your sdcard
2. If using terminal emulator enter 'su' or if using recovery console enter 'mount /sdcard', then:

flash_image boot /sdcard/boot.img
reboot

Installing a boot.img from fastboot

1. Have the Android SDK installed and working, with the fastboot binary in sdk/tools
2. Download the boot.img to the /tools directory of the SDK
3. Plug in the device and boot to fastboot mode (back+power or camera+power)
4. Once the screen with skating 'droids appears, press the back button (the center bar should say "Fastboot" or "Fastboot USB")
5. On the computer, from within the /tools directory:

fastboot flash boot boot.img
fastboot reboot