SwanKernel for the LG V20, G5 and G6 family of devices.

SwanKernel is an android kernel based on the latest Lineage OS 18.1 sources for the LG msm8996 phones, aiming to bring those features and updates and improve them with some extra tuning, fixing and external features tailored specifically for them.

This kernel is based on Linux 3.18.140 and has become EOL, as i don't think there's anything else that can be optimized on this source anymore. i might do some minor improvements here and there, but nothing major.

Which phone variants/models does this kernel support?

This kernel supports the following models:

• G5 -> H850, H830, RS988
• G6 -> H870, US997, H872
• V20 -> H910, H918, H990, LS997, US996, VS995

If you are looking for the precompiled zips, they can be found at XDA right here.(LG V20 only)

What does this kernel try to achieve?

The main goal here is to have a kernel that not only has extra features and improvements, but is also clean and concise, having only features that are truly needed from a kernel that will run alongside a Android 11-based ROM. One example of that is Kcal display control, a feature that is unnecessary here since most, if not all Android 11 ROMs have LiveDisplay for that exact same purpose, and without the need to root. This helps the kernel have a small overhead and file size, as well as promote better maintainability, because i'm still a complete newbie when it comes to kernel development and compilation.

This kernel does have a battery life bias, but will still scale up to maximum performance when needed. No Overclocking is done, for now at least.

NOTE: It can also be flashed on older android versions, just don't expect it to have the features A11 already brings to the table like KCAL and etc.

Does it have any features over a stock kernel?

Yes, here's a list of features that both kernel variants have over stock:

1. AdrenoBoost for improved GPU performance.
2. GPU and CPU/Cache Undervolt for better power efficiency on load.
3. CPU governors tuned for better battery life and thermal stability without impacting performance all that much.
4. Almost no unnecessary debug flags on the kernel, minimizing its size and overhead.
5. Westwood TCP Congestion Algorithm set as default in order to have better network performance and consistency.
6. AutoSMP CPU Hotplug to shutdown the big cores when their stronger performance isn't needed, slightly improving battery life on light loads and idle.
7. Disabled CPU Boost when a finger is detected on screen, preventing unnecessary frequency boosts when no meaningful action is done other than tapping on screen and slightly scrolling around. We have Schedutil to keep it smooth anyways.
8. USB Fast Charge.
9. Multiple cherry-picks from different msm8996 sources with fixes and improvements to the kernel.
10. Configurable wakelock blocker (boeffla) for roms that have some "unneeded" wakelocks enabled by default and/or users that know which wakelocks can be blocked for better battery life.
11. Anxiety IO Scheduler enabled by default, offering a read bias and lower latency in IO operations.
12. Updated to Linux 3.18.140 with security updates, fixes and a lot more. Some extra updates will follow.
13. Wireguard support.
14. Cryptographic functions optimizations, slightly improving the phone's performance when calculating hashes and so on.

As for the UVExtreme variant, it has the following features as well:

1. Stronger Undervolts (i'm talking about borderline unstable undervolts here).
2. CPU Voltage Control if you need to setup a custom undervolt to keep it more stable and have no need to compile the kernel from source just to change the values... and that's assuming your phone even boots with this variant of the kernel.
3. Disabled Battery BCL, eliminating power throttling caused by the battery, just be careful when running demanding tasks while having almost no battery left.

Great, but can i compile it from source if i need to?

Yes, you can, and it's really simple. One upon a time this kernel relied on lineage's tools to be compiled, but now you can use a much more simplified setup, akin to other kernels like mk2000. So basically, here's what you need to do after cloning this repository:

• Must be running linux (windows probably works, but i don't use it so i have no idea about the steps necessary to compile it there)

• If you're on a Debian-based distro, you need the build-essential package, and if on Arch-based, you need the base-devel package. Other distros might have a different package, or not even have one like those at all.

• You will need arm's aarch64 and aarch32 toolchains. They can be found here: https://developer.arm.com/tools-and-software/open-source-software/developer-tools/gnu-toolchain/gnu-a/downloads. To compile the kernel, both the aarch64-none-elf and arm-none-eabi toolchains are needed, so download both and extract them somewhere easy to find.

• Open the build.sh file and point the GCC_AARCH64 and GCC_ARM32 variables to the directory where you extracted each toolchain

• (Optional) You can also point the DTC variable to your custom DTC parser, but that's rarely needed, only do it if the kernel doesn't compile without it.

• With the toolchains in place in the script, open a terminal window on the kernel's root folder and execute ./build.sh. The rest should be pretty straightforward as the script is very user-friendly.

• After the kernel is compiled, you will have to get its Image.gz-dtb file (the script shows where it's usually placed), place it on the root of an AnyKernel template folder. (If you don't have one, you can clone it from here: https://github.com/osm0sis/AnyKernel3)

• After that, just alter its anykernel.sh to check for devices, android versions and maybe even give the kernel a custom banner, and lastly, zip it by running zip -r9 ../zipname.zip * -x *placeholder on the root of the AnyKernel folder and you should get a flashable zip.

• Flash it on the device of your choice and if everything's okay, it should boot.

Are there any major bugs?

Right now, there's the dreaded Infrared Blaster, and it... works? The IR is able to send the very first command i give to my LG TV without any problems after every reboot, but refuses to send anything else after that first command. The IR Blaster's light still works all the time though, despite having some big delays between on/off states.

Do you have anyone to thank for?

I do, a lot of people initially:

• My family for supporting me through my entire journey inside and outside of programming.
• My teachers at UFCAT's Computer Science course, since they are the ones who helped me achieved my current level of knowledge to be able to mess with kernels.
• My friends because of their really diverse interests that eventually helped me decide on what i actually want to do with computers in general.

And with that out of the way, i get to thank the people that helped me with this kernel, even if indirectly, so... a lot more people:

• lybxlpsv for his customized kernel and general knowledge about the phone's performance posted on XDA Developers.
• xxseva for his amazing Lighthouse V20 ROM, which is the main testbed for this kernel.
• The entire Lineage OS staff, as well as the guys keeping the LG 8996 kernel source alive and updated.
• Linus Torvalds, since he was and still is the foundation block of pretty much everything here.
• flar2, tbalden and acuicultor for the implementation and improvement of the AdrenoBoost feature on oneplus 8 radioactive kernel, from which i ported it.
• engstk and AnGglt88 for the usb fastcharge implementation.
• osm0sis for his AnyKernel3.
• andip71 and his generic implementation of a wakelock blocker.
• tytydraco for the Anxiety IO Scheduler.
• npjohnson for setting me in the right track in regards to the bluetooth problem (basically, it was a problem with the downloaded toolchains)
• And anyone else that i may have forgot, especially those i cherry-picked from.