Basic Knowledge about Android:--
For a new Galaxy user.....this informations are so much valuable.
*CWR aka ClockworkMod
Recovery -
A custom recovery for Android
phones and tablets that allows
you to perform several
advanced recovery, restoration,
installation and maintenance
operations on your Android
device that aren’t possible with
the stock recovery.
*Superuser -
A progam which gives unlimited
access privileges to perform any
or all operations on the
operating system.
*KIES mini-
Kies Mini is an official
application from Samsung that
is used to update the software
on your phone. It should not be
confused with the full Kies
application, which has a lot
more functionality and is not
officially supported in the USA.
Therefore, abbreviating "Kies
Mini" as just "Kies" can cause
confusion.
*ODIN -
Odin is the Samsung software
used to update Samsung
phones. It does not work with
any other devices other than
official Samsung phones.
*OTA or FOTA -
(F)OTA stands for (Firmware)
Over The Air and is the process
by which required updates and
enhancements to your phone's
basic operating system can be
sent to you through the cellular
network. The Galaxy S II
software update will be sent via
FOTA and is available through
Samsung Kies mini.0
*ODEX-
In Android file system,
applications come in packages
with the extension .apk. These
application packages, or APKs
contain certain .odex files whose
supposed function is to save
space. These ‘odex’ files are
actually collections of parts of an
application that are optimized
before booting. Doing so speeds
up the boot process, as it
preloads part of an application.
On the other hand, it also
makes hacking those
applications difficult because a
part of the coding has already
been extracted to another
location before execution.
*DEODEX -
Deodexing is basically
repackaging of these APKs in a
certain way, such that they are
reassembled into classes.dex
files. By doing that, all pieces of
an application package are put
together back in one place, thus
eliminating the worry of a
modified APK conflicting with
some separate odexed parts.
In summary, Deodexed ROMs
(or APKs) have all their
application packages put back
together in one place, allowing
for easy modification such as
theming. Since no pieces of
code are coming from any
external location, custom ROMs
or APKs are always deodexed to
ensure integrity.
*Busybox -
A set of Unix tools / commands
that has been compiled for use
on your phone. These are not
usually full-featured versions of
the Unix commands found on
the larger platforms
counterparts, but they are pretty
close and useful nonetheless.
*3G/4G -
3G/4G is the term generally
used to describe 3rd/4rth
Generation mobile
telecommunications, specifically
allowing for greater throughput
of data over cellular networks.
*Baseband/Modem -
Baseband refers to the original
frequency range of a
transmission signal before it is
converted, or modulated, to a
different frequency range.
*Bloatware -
Software or 'apps' that you
don't need, but come
preinstalled to a device's /
system partition, meaning that
you cannot remove them unless
the device has been rooted.
Usually, these are apps are
sponsored by a company and
included by a carrier for profit.
For example, the Photobucket
app included on the G2 by
TMobile.
*CDMA -
Code division multiple access
(CDMA) is a channel access
method used by various radio
communication technologies. It
should not be confused with the
mobile phone standards called
cdmaOne and CDMA2000
(which are often referred to as
simply CDMA), which use CDMA
as an underlying channel access
method.
*Firmware-
Programs stored in the ROM,
EPROM, or flash memory that
usually control various internal
electronic devices (Hard Drives,
Keyboards, Displays, etc).
Firmware is typically 'fixed'
software that is not updated in
consumer devices, however it is
often updated (or 'flashed') by
advanced users to fix bugs or
add features to the device.
Flashing firmware designed for
one device onto a different
device, or not following a
specific procedure while flashing
will often render the device
unusable.
*Flash -
Non-volatile computer storage
that can be electrically erased
and reprogrammed (similar to
EPROM). No power is needed to
maintain the information stored
in the chip. This technology is
primarily used in memory cards
and USB flash drives for general
storage and transfer of data
between computers and other
digital products. Because of its
ease of use, speed, ability to be
updated (see flashing), this
technology is often used in
mobile devices, PDAs, digital
media players.
*Kernel -
The central or core software
component of most operating
systems. Its responsibilities
include managing the system's
resources (the communication
between hardware and software
components) and can provide
the lowest-level abstraction layer
for resources (especially
memory, processors, and I/O
devices).
*IMEI -
The International Mobile
Equipment Identity is a number
unique to every GSM, WCDMA,
and iDEN mobile device, as well
as some satellite devices. The
IMEI number is used by the
GSM network to identify valid
devices and therefore can be
used to stop a stolen device
from accessing the network. For
example, if a mobile device is
stolen, the owner can call their
network provider and instruct
them to "ban" the device using
its IMEI number. This renders
the device useless, whether or
not the device's SIM is changed.
The IMEI can be displayed by
dialing *#06#.
*IRC -
Internet Relay Chat. Basically a
chatroom, or a cross between
Instant Messaging and a forum.
*Open-source -
Open-source is software that
anyone is allowed to see the
'source' code. In the context of
Android, Open-source refers to
the approach to the design,
development, and distribution of
software. This offers accessibility
to a software's source code for
modification, improvement,
bug-fixing, and security-
enhancement. CyanogenMod is
based on this principle.
*ASOP -
Android Open Source Project
*Radio-
The cellular radio on the device
which needs control software
called firmware to control it.
*ROM -
Read Only Memory. In the
context of an Android device,
ROM is the internal flash
memory where the core
operating system resides. It can
also refer to a specific version
firmware that can be applied to
a device through a process
usually referred to as flashing.
An improperly flashed ROM can
often brick the device, rendering
it unusable.
*SDK -
Software Development Kit. You
can find the Android SDK
at http://galaxyyoung.in
*Vanilla -
A clean, unmodified version of
something. In the context of
Android ROMs, vanilla refers to
the stock ROM that came pre-
installed on the device.
*Widget -
An application that lives (in
other words, is always running)
on the homescreen instead of
being 'run' like a regular app.
Common examples are
calenders and weather widgets.
Android Specific Definitions
*ADB -
Android Development Bridge.
Command line tool used to
communicate with & control the
device over a USB link from a
computer. The ADB command is
found in the Android SDK.
*Android -
Unveiled on 5 November 2007,
Android is a mobile operating
system running on the Linux
kernel developed by Google.
*Apps2SD -
Move applications from the
internal NAND memory on the
device to a removable SD Card.
*CyanogenMod Updater-
An updater written by Cyanogen
that allows you to receive OTA
(Over-The-Air) updates to
CyanogenMod.
*Dalvik-Cache -
The dalvik-cache directory holds
all of the pre-compiled .dex files
created from installed apps.
These files are static and do not
change unless the app is
updated.
*Fastboot -
Fastboot is protocol used to
directly update the flash
filesystem in Android devices
from a host over USB. It allows
flashing of unsigned partition
images. It is disabled almost all
production devices since USB
support is disabled in the
bootloader.
*GApps -
See Google Apps.
*Google Apps-
An add-on for Google's
applications (Market, GMail etc.),
packaged separately to avoid
copyright issues
*Logcat -
A debugging tool built into
Android devices that displays
system logs as they occur. See
Logcat.
*NANDroid -
A set of tools that will enable
anyone who has root on their
Android device to make FULL
system backups, in case
something goes wrong or you
want to try out that new
experimental ROM/theme.
NANDroid will backup (and
restore) /system, /data, /cache,
and /boot partitions.
*Recovery Mode-
A special environment that you
can boot into for
troubleshooting and upgrading
purposes.
*Tethering-
Using a wireless device (e.g. an
Android phone) to share it's
wireless data connection to
another device (e.g. laptop).
With an Android device, the
wireless data connection can
usually be shared via WiFi,
Bluetooth or USB connection.
*Wipe -
Usually refers to wiping data and
cache partitions of the device.
*Zipalign -
Reduces the amount of RAM
consumed when running the
application by allowing data to
be mmap'd in; which causes all
uncompressed data within
the .apk, such as images or raw
files, to be aligned on 4-byte
boundaries.
Hacking Definitions
*Aftermarket -
Aftermarket generally refers to
any product or service applied
or requisitioned by end-users to
add usability or functionality to
the original product. Many
aftermarket modifications can
void the manufacturer's
warranty. From a
manufacturer's perspective, the
after-market is any goods or
services offered by the
manufacturer directly to end-
users of a given product or
service. After-market services
include support for warranties,
contracts, and parts and
accessories sales
*Brick -
a device that no longer
functions, generally caused by a
failed firmware or SPL update.
Since the device no longer
works as intended, it is often
referred to as a "brick" or
"paper-weight", since that is all it
is good for.
*Flashing -
The process of applying a
firmware image (or ROM) to a
device. It generally entails a very
specific order of steps. Failing to
complete any one of these steps
properly may result in bricking
the device.
*Kang -
The process of creating a code
based of someone else's code
or reapplying code that
someone else created into your
own code (e.g. git cherry-pick)
*Rooting -
Obtaining root ("administrator",
or "full") access to the device.
This means you can mount its
internal memory partition as
read/write, which lets you do
various things: have USB or Wi-Fi
tethering, uninstall applications
you otherwise can't uninstall
(e.g. the Amazon MP3 store),
install applications that need
root access (such as AdFree),
disable the camera shutter
sound (simply by deleting the
shutter sound file), overclock or
underclock the CPU, install and
boot Debian, and so on.
Installing CyanogenMod roots
the device in the process. The
"Superuser" app controls what
applications may gain root
privileges.
*Unlock -
Most GSM devices are locked to
only work with the sim cards of
a particular carrier. Obtaining
root access (e.g. installing
CyanogenMod) on the device
usually does nothing to the sim-
lock. The usual way to unlock
the device to all SIM cards is to
obtain a subsidy unlock code
from a carrier.
