Help Terms. A definitive list please!

[Hawker]

Stupid question I know, but for reference purposes on here, can someone please give a definitive list of what the following terms are, and what their function actually is. I have a vague idea on a few but it would be nice for the guru's on here to give this an official slant:

1. FIRMWARE
2. ROM
3. KERNEL
4. MODEM

and in Odin:
5. PIT
6. BOOTLOADER
7. PDA
8. PHONE
9. CSC

It may help me (and perhaps others) get their head around what needs to be downloaded during an upgrade process and why.

If anyone can think of any other terms that need clarifying, please add to the discussion.

Thanks

 

[steslatt]

Firmware - The Operating system. Containing system apps and Android OS
ROM - Same thing as Firmware really. (Custom firmware tends to be called ROM)
Kernel - Manages the hardware on the phone eg CPU, Memory etc
Modem - Manages radio signals eg Wifi, bluetooth, mobile network

IN ODIN
PIT - Partition information table. Used for repartitioning phones memory
Bootloader - I piece of code that runs before the operating system is started when the phone is turned on. It tells the phone what to boot eg normal boot, recovery mode, download mode.
PDA - Not sure what it stands for but it is used to flash firmware and kernel
Phone - Modem
CSC - Carrier specific customisation. Contains carrier customisations eg apps

This is my understanding of things anyway.

 

[Sydney99]

put a link to this in your signature stresy - comes up a lot. nice succinct summary

 

[Slug]

put a link to this in your signature stresy

I've also added it to the "Guide Sticky" - thanks.

 

[UniqueProblem]

I don't know if this is a dumb question but an understanding on KH3 KG5 KE7 I mean for newbies like myself they just mean letters and numbers representing versions. Or have I just answered my own question? lol.

But in particular people wanting to upgrade to custom ROM's it would be helpful or maybe someone has a link that can explain these differences like what to look out or if you install something you don't like how to get rid of the custom ROM.

Reading around all I can gather is you need to know the developer or he/she has a trusted following which usually would result in a good custom ROM but when your a newbie like me it will take me sometime before I understand who is good who is not.

 

[Sydney99]

sounds good in theory

but take litening rom as an instance. there have been frequent updates, at times almost weekly, each with tweaks/changes - some positive, some negative. the xda litening rom page alone has >1m views and currently 1141 pages of posts......
mutliply this by the numerous other roms, a rom guide would be out of date within a few days of writing and impossible to keep up to date

 

[Slug]

I don't know if this is a dumb question but an understanding on KH3 KG5 KE7

What do the first firmware letters mean?