KERNEL ❯ PIXEL 3 ❯❯ Proton Kernel • v19 • September 8 - Google Pixel 3 ROMs, Kernels, Recoveries, & Other

Proton Kernel • Pixel 3/XL
by kdrag0n​
This kernel has been discontinued as I no longer own my Pixel 3 XL and have moved on. The original post has been retained below for transparency, but I would strongly recommend using another kernel.
I am not liable if your phone explodes, stops functioning, or turns into scrap metal. I have no obligation to publish this kernel. However, if you provide an accurate description of your issue accompanied with logs, it is likely that I will at least look into your issue. By flashing this kernel, you acknowledge the potential risks it brings.
Introduction
Proton Kernel strives to provide the perfect balance of performance and battery life in order to create the best possible experience for your phone. Features are welcome if they are useful, within reason. The kernel has been debloated to reduce size and improve performance.
Compatibility
Stock and custom Pie ROMs are supported. Both the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL are supported in the same package. Wiping cache isn't necessary. Magisk is retained, so there is no need to reflash it afterwards. The kernel may be flashed from TWRP or your app of choice.
Android Q is NOT supported, nor will it ever be.
Features
​ ​ ​ ​ • Latest upstream Linux 4.9.191
​ ​ ​ ​ • Latest Google August updates
​ ​ ​ ​ • Compiled with bare-metal GCC 9.1.0
​ ​ ​ ​ • Heavily tuned Spectrum and FKM performance profiles
​ ​ ​ ​ • Numerous configuration changes for performance, size, and battery
​ ​ ​ ​ • Heavily debloated for faster boot, enhanced security, and smaller download
​ ​ ​ ​ • Fast and versatile installer (modified version of @osm0sis' AnyKernel2)
​ ​ ​ ​ • Sound control (microphone and speakers only; @flar2)
​ ​ ​ ​ • Latest WireGuard VPN snapshot
​ ​ ​ ​ • KCAL advanced color control
​ ​ ​ ​ • A wide variety of battery and performance improvements from the Qualcomm, Pixel 3a, Snapdragon 855, and more kernels
​ ​ ​ ​ • CPU governors: performance, powersave, schedutil, userspace, ondemand, conservative
​ ​ ​ ​ • I/O schedulers: noop, deadline, cfq, anxiety, bfq
​ ​ ​ ​ • Various improvements from @Sultanxda, @arter97, @ab123321, @Freak07, etc
​ ​ ​ ​ • Vibration control (@flar2)
​ ​ ​ ​ • TCP congestion control algorithms: westwood, reno, bbr, bic, cdg, cubic, dctcp, highspeed, hybla, htcp, vegas, nv, veno, scalable, lp, yeah, illinois
​ ​ ​ ​ • Xbox and DualShock USB controller support
​ ​ ​ ​ • Simple LMK for improved memory management and reduced camera opening lag (@Sultanxda)
​ ​ ​ ​ • Assorted scheduler patches to improve battery and performance
​ ​ ​ ​ • Speculative page fault for faster app opening
​ ​ ​ ​ • Support for forcing fast charging (500 mA limit bumped to 900 mA for USB, 5V limit bumped to 9V for wireless)
​ ​ ​ ​ • Simple GPU Algorithm
​ ​ ​ ​ • AVB 2.0 and dm-verity fully disabled (allows custom boot animation on stock ROM)
​ ​ ​ ​ • Display tweaks
​ ​ ​ ​ • Speaker gain control and backlight dimmer
​ ​ ​ ​ • Efficient in-kernel CPU and memory boosting solution (modified version of @Sultanxda's work)
​ ​ ​ ​ • Improved overall performance and battery life compared to stock
​ ​ ​ ​ • Faster lock implementations backported from mainline
​ ​ ​ ​ • Lots of backports from the mainline kernel
​ ​ ​ ​ • Scheduler improvements and fixes from Qualcomm's Snapdragon 855 kernel
​ ​ ​ ​ • Support for common Realtek RTL815x USB Ethernet adapters
​ ​ ​ ​ • A few F2FS tweaks (namely Rapid GC) by @arter97
​ ​ ​ ​ • I/O prioritization by app groups (background, foreground, etc) when using CFQ (ported from Pixel 3a) for better UX during background app updates and other I/O-heavy scenarios
​ ​ ​ ​ • Countless other features and optimizations to enhance the overall experience
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Think twice before enabling fast wireless charging because cheap chargers can cause your phone to heat up significantly more than usual, which damages the battery permanently. They may also cause temporary issues with your phone (such as ticking sounds) or irreversible damage to internal circuits. However, if used properly with a high-quality charger, there should not be any issues. Enable at your own risk. I am not responsible for any damage to you or your phone caused by this feature.
Downloads
Downloads and changelogs can be found here on GitHub. The topmost release is the latest. Alternatively, you can simply download the latest version here.
Join the Telegram group for beta builds and support
Donate to support development
XDA:DevDB Information
Proton Kernel, Kernel for the Google Pixel 3
Contributors
kdrag0n
Source Code: https://github.com/kdrag0n/proton_bluecross
Kernel Special Features:
Version Information
Status: Stable
Current Stable Version: v19
Stable Release Date: 2019-09-08
Created 2018-11-24
Last Updated 2019-09-09

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FAQ
Q: Is my phone not secure anymore? You said you disabled security features for performance.
A: Not really. Kernel features such as CFI, stack protector, etc protect against potential attacks in a way where if an attack is detected, the phone will forcibly reboot. It doesn't prevent the attack in the first place. This kernel simply disables such features because they have a performance impact. Preventative security features such as SELinux are not disabled, nor will they ever be.
Some speculative execution mitigations such as SSBD have also been disabled. That's because these have quite an impact on performance. How many times have you heard of L1TF, Spectre, Meltdown, or anything of the like exploited in the wild?
Q: Why GCC instead of Clang? Isn't Clang better? Google switched to it.
A: No. I benchmarked Clang 8 with LTO, Clang 8, and GCC 8. Here are the full results.
Q: Do I need to flash Magisk after the kernel?
A: No. The kernel will keep Magisk if it's already installed.
Q: My phone randomly rebooted or locked up. / Apps are crashing.
A: Describe your issue accurately with detail and provide logs. It's easy to do with apps like Syslog or MatLog. If it's an unexpected reboot, grab all the files from /sys/fs/pstore for the log. For reboots the current logs (dmesg, logcat, etc) are useless - I need the logs from the previous boot, which are in pstore.
Q: How do I see what version I'm running?
A: Settings → System → About → Android version → Kernel version

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Proton Kernel v5 "The Cherry on Top" has been released to improve performance further. Get it here on GitHub.
Full changelog:
​ ​ ​ ​ • Upstreamed to Linux 4.9.140
​ ​ ​ ​ • Switched to Simple LMK (@Sultanxda)
​ ​ ​ ​ • Micro-optimized memory routines
​ ​ ​ ​ • Tuned SLUB page order
​ ​ ​ ​ • Switched to z3fold allocator for zRAM to reduce stuttering and lag when loading old apps (@ab123321)
​ ​ ​ ​ • Miscellaneous zRAM optimizations
​ ​ ​ ​ • Reduced logging
​ ​ ​ ​ • Removed fsync control (nobody should use this)
​ ​ ​ ​ • Disabled some useless drivers
​ ​ ​ ​ • Tuned PowerHAL foreground app boost
​ ​ ​ ​ • Added some memory leak fixes from CAF (@Freak07)
​ ​ ​ ​ • Disabled auditing for better performance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Direct download link
Enjoy!

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sorry
if I flash other kernel but I want try ur kernel now.
Can I direct flash your kernel?
or I have to flash original factory first?
and if I want back to Original factory kernel, just flash google os?

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Edemilorhea said:
sorry
if I flash other kernel but I want try ur kernel now.
Can I direct flash your kernel?
or I have to flash original factory first?
and if I want back to Original factory kernel, just flash google os?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I usually have no problems going from kernel to kernel
But to be on the safe side it is reccomended to go to stock first
Use ex kernel manager as you can make a backup of the original one in it and restore in between

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Proton Kernel v6 has been released to fix bugs and add a few touches. Get it here on GitHub.
Full changelog:
​ ​ ​ ​ • Upstreamed to Linux 4.9.141
​ ​ ​ ​ • Re-added fsync control (strongly recommended to keep enabled)
​ ​ ​ ​ • Fixed cellular data lockups
​ ​ ​ ​ • Removed Simple LMK (back to Android Kernel LMK)
​ ​ ​ ​ • Fixed performance regressions
​ ​ ​ ​ • Re-added blu_schedutil governor
​ ​ ​ ​ • Disabled VESA DSC 1.1 display compression for Pixel 3 XL (supposedly visually lossless, but it's still compression)
​ ​ ​ ​ • Disabled dm-verity and FEC
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Direct download link
Please vote on the poll if you haven't already. It lets me know what people want the most for this kernel.
Enjoy!

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kdrag0n said:
Proton Kernel v6 has been released to fix bugs and add a few touches. Get it here on GitHub.
Full changelog:
Direct download link
Please vote on the poll if you haven't already. It lets me know what people want the most for this kernel.
Enjoy!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi
I use ex kernel now, can I use ex kernel manager flash ur kernel now?
Or I flash stock boot.img first?

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Edemilorhea said:
Hi
I use ex kernel now, can I use ex kernel manager flash ur kernel now?
Or I flash stock boot.img first?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Simply flashing it is fine.

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Works great on Pixel 3 with Magisk.

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How about the battery life with this kernel ? is better than stock fabric kernel ??

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What are the differences between schedutil and blu_schedutil?
Great kernel BTW!

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tim.smart said:
What are the differences between schedutil and blu_schedutil?
Great kernel BTW!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Blu seems less power hungry to me but some say it stutters on default launcher
I hear it is a resource heavy monster but I never used it ?*
I did notice some gentle slow down doing other recourse intense stuff on Blu though

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Help, I can't Install the december update, I just got TWRP and this kernel instaled on the phone. and I'm not root
I think I must to unistall the kernel, so I can install the update.
I don't know what to do, help please..

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Raul Fresh said:
How about the battery life with this kernel ? is better than stock fabric kernel ??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In theory it should definitely be better, but I haven't actually done a direct comparison between my kernel and stock so I'm not sure. Why not try it yourself?

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Proton Kernel v7 has been released. Get it here on GitHub.
Full changelog:
​ ​ ​ ​ • Upstreamed to Linux 4.9.142
​ ​ ​ ​ • Merged Google December updates
​ ​ ​ ​ • Reduced touch latency on Pixel 3 XL
​ ​ ​ ​ • Increased touch sensitivity for Pixel 3 XL
​ ​ ​ ​ • Reduced logging
​ ​ ​ ​ • Removed LZO zRAM compressor (makes no sense with lz4 and zstd)
​ ​ ​ ​ • Reduced logging
​ ​ ​ ​ • Glove mode for Pixel 3 XL touchscreen
​ ​ ​ ​ • Miscellaneous internal fixes (@kerneltoast, @nathanchance)
​ ​ ​ ​ • Removed LZO zRAM compressor
​ ​ ​ ​ • IRQ cluster mappings (@kerneltoast)
​ ​ ​ ​ • Added and enabled force fast charge (500 mA bumped to 900 mA limit)
​ ​ ​ ​ • Added memory boost to LMK (less lag when opening new apps)
​ ​ ​ ​ • Disabled dm-verity
​ ​ ​ ​ • Added Proton version to kernel version
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Direct download link
Enjoy!

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kdrag0n said:
Proton Kernel v7 has been released. Get it here on GitHub.
Full changelog:
Direct download link
Enjoy!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A lot of cool xl features. Since we have different screens that doesn't carry over for us p3 users I presume?

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frewys said:
A lot of cool xl features. Since we have different screens that doesn't carry over for us p3 users I presume?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, it's separate. I'll do some stuff with the regular model soon once there's enough testers to confirm everything works on Telegram.

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kdrag0n said:
Yeah, it's separate. I'll do some stuff with the regular model soon once there's enough testers to confirm everything works on Telegram.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Keep us mortal xda users posted on any success
Looking forward ?

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Performance with the latest version of this kernel + December update is pretty impressive:
https://i.imgur.com/cTJle67.png

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kdrag0n said:
Q: Why GCC instead of Clang? Isn't Clang better? Google switched to it.
A: No. I benchmarked Clang 8 with LTO, Clang 8, and GCC 8. Here are the full results.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Beware of dragons though (referring to -ffast-math -funsafe-math-optimizations)
A story about -ffast-math
How exactly do you get qdisc cake set up anyway ?
How do you make it the default and check that it's really active ?
https://www.bufferbloat.net/projects/codel/wiki/Cake/
Great kernel btw :good: