Where are custom kernels being flashed to in internal memory?

Question

I've unzipped zip files for custom kernels and noticed that the majority of the files that are being applied are in a /kernel folder. However that folder is unlisted when listing the root directories using both Root Explorer and ES File Explorer. Where is this /kernel folder?

Answer 1

The kernel is part of the "boot image", which is stored in a separate partition in the flash memory, not in a normal file. See http://android-dls.com/wiki/index.php?title=HOWTO:_Unpack,_Edit,_and_Re-Pack_Boot_Images

Answer 2

May be you can explain a little bit more on what you are trying to do.. Also, if you can list those custom kernel files, we can help better.

If I need to flash a custom kernel, I follow below process:

1. Get the source from the git repository
2. Make my changes to the kernel source. Change could vary from adding a simple debug printk statement to adding a new driver.
3. Build the kernel source using cross-compiler toolchain
4. Change the phone to Fastboot mode (I'm talking bout G1 phone)
5. Use 'fastboot' to flash the custom kernel (zImage) using command: 'fastboot flash:raw boot zImage ramdisk.img'
6. Use 'fastboot reboot' command to reboot the phone using the new kernel

Hope there is some clarity now.