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Terms

- Credit for these terms goes to the CyanogenMod team. They can be found in their wiki at "http://wiki.cyanogenmod.com/

  3G

  3G is the term generally used to describe 3rd Generation mobile telecommunications, specifically allowing for greater throughput of data over cellular networks. The official standard is known as "International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 (IMT-2000)"

  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 you root your phone. 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 t-mobile.

  BFS

  Brain Fuck Scheduler for Linux was created by veteran kernel programmer Con Kolivas and has been reported to improve responsiveness on light-NUMA (non-uniform memory access) Linux mobile devices and desktop computers with fewer than 16 cores.

  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.

  ext2

  Second extended filesystem for the Linux kernel. ext2 is still the filesystem of choice for flash-based storage media (such as SD cards, SSDs, and USB flash drives) since its lack of a journal minimizes the number of writes.

  ext3

  Third extended journaling filesystem is a journaled file system that is commonly used by the Linux kernel. It is the default file system for many popular Linux distributions. Note that due to limitations of SD Cards, you need to run "e2fsck -f" on any ext3 based SD Card filesystems after a crash to insure your data is still intact.

  ext4

  Fourth extended journaling filesystem is a journaling file system developed as the successor to ext3. Note that due to limitations of SD Cards, you need to run "e2fsck -f" on any ext4 based SD Card filesystems after a crash to insure your data is still intact.

  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.

  GNU

  A recursive acronym for “GNU's Not Unix!”; it is pronounced g-noo, as one syllable with no vowel sound between the g and the n. The GNU Project was launched in 1984 to develop a complete Unix-like operating system which is free software: the GNU system. “Free software” is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept, you should think of “free” as in “free speech”, not as in “free beer”.

  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 phone from accessing the network. For example, if a mobile phone is stolen, the owner can call his or her network provider and instruct them to "ban" the phone using its IMEI number. This renders the phone 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.

  Radio

  The cellular radio on the phone 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://developer.android.com/sdk

  Vanilla

  A clean, un-modified 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 your home screen instead of being 'run' like a regular app. Common examples are calenders and weather widgets.

  Android Specific Definitions

  32A

  PVT32A handsets have 288MB total RAM (192MB usable by OS - same as Hero handsets) and use the Qualcomm MSM7200A CPU.

  32B

  PVT32B handsets have 192MB total RAM (96MB usable by OS) and use the Qualcomm MSM7201A CPU.

  ADB

  Android Development Bridge. Command line tool used to communicate with and control your phone over a USB link from your computer. The adb command is found in the Android SDK.

  ADP

  Android Developer device. The first ADP was a 'development' version of the HTC Dream. The current ADP is the HTC Passion (Nexus One).

  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 your phone to your 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.

  flash_image

  A small utility to be used on your phone that allows you to re-write system partitions with image files. If you don't have it, it can be found here: http://cyanogen-files.carneeki.net/flash_image.zip

  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.

  SPL

  Second Program Loader, in conjunction with the IPL comprise a device's bootloader. Aside from bootstrapping Android, the bootloader also fulfills various diagnostic functions. One of these functions is the manipulation of data in the device's internal flash ram. Depending on the SPL installed, the user might be able to flash signed NBH files, flash nand images, and more. Note that the SPL is installed and operates independently of the Android build that runs atop it.

  Generally speaking, there are two variants of the SPL: Stock, which is 'locked' and is installed on most devices from the factory, and Engineering, which is 'unlocked' and has to be manually flashed - usually after 'rooting'.

  Tethering

  Using your phone to connect another device to use the device's wireless (ie 3G) connection. With a tethering application running, your phone can use Wifi, Bluetooh, or USB to provide internet access to another device such as a laptop or netbook.

  Wipe

  Usually refers to wiping data and cache partitions of your phone.

  Zipalign

  Reduces the amount of RAM consumed when running the application by allowing data to be mmap'd in. (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. While any modification to the device's software can potentially brick it, the only know reliable way is to downgrade the radio image after installing the DangerSPL on the HTC Dream.

  Exploid

  A proof of concept local root exploit utilizing hotplug. Allows installation of a "rootshell" program on many android 1.x and 2.x devices.

  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 (ie. git cherry-pick)

  Rooting

  Obtaining root ("administrator", or "full") access to your phone. 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 phone in the process.

  Unlock

  Most GSM devices are locked to only work with the sim cards of a particular carrier. Obtaning root access (i.e. installing CyanogenMod) on your phone does nothing to the sim-lock. The only way to unlock your phone to all SIM cards is to obtain a subsidy unlock code from your carrier.