Kensur Kernel

NOTE: r6 beta with random reboot fix is available on the Telegram channel.

r5 Release Notes

  • Based on latest R CAF tag with ACK (4.14.239) merged in
  • Cleaned up debugging cruft added by Motorola
  • Most features from previous releases have been included
  • Unlocked lower brightness levels (read the brightness section below)
  • Scheduler optimizations based on Pixel patches (PELT) and further improvements
  • Efficient boosting setup for smoother UX
  • Massively improved RAM management (SLMK + zRAM + a bunch of backports)
  • Undervolted GPU
  • Removed inefficient CPU frequencies
  • Optimized Unity-based games (eg: Genshin)
  • Implemented Rapid GC for F2FS
  • Lots of misc. improvements for better performance and battery

Companion Module

There are some changes that must be done in userspace to facilitate the kernel side changes that have been done in this custom kernel. I’ve packaged these tweaks into a Magisk module. While this is not mandatory, I strongly recommend that you install the module to take full advantage of several features and improvements such as zRAM, efficient boosts, and much more.

Compatibility

This release is based on R tag, so this won’t work on Q ROMs. PE+ 11 is what I personally use and recommend. When Moto releases official R update for our device, r5 should be compatible with it.

Brightness

Moto had raised the minimum backlight level due to flickering issues, I’ve reverted this. Do note that the minimum brightness level will cause noticable flickering on light backgrounds, and this is nothing to worry about, it won’t damage anything. You can just raise the brightness a little bit if it flickers.

Installation

  1. Back up your boot and dtbo partitions. You can do this in two ways:

  • Use TWRP

  • Connect your phone to your PC and run these ADB commands:

    adb pull /dev/block/by-name/boot_a boot.img
adb pull /dev/block/by-name/dtbo_a dtbo.img

    Replace _a with your current boot slot, which can be found by running this command in fastboot mode:

    fastboot getvar current-slot
  1. Flash the kernel ZIP from TWRP or using adb sideload on other recoveries.
  2. Flash the companion ZIP from Magisk Manager.

Reverting to stock kernel

Restore your boot and dtbo backups. Depending on which method you chose, you can:

  • Use TWRP
  • Flash the images from fastboot via these commands:
fastboot flash boot boot.img
fastboot flash dtbo dtbo.img

If you didn’t take a backup, you can dirty flash your ROM zip without wiping anything.

Download

NOTE: r6 beta with random reboot fix is available on the Telegram channel.

Kernel: Kensur-liber-4.14.239-af3280372e21.zip

Companion Module: Kensur-Companion-28b6acc08a60.zip