How To Flash Radio Image (radio.img) In Android

Radio image is used to update the phone’s radio package. For the unaware, Radio in simple terms is the hardware portion of your android device that actually receives and send voice data. The radio interacts with the phone’s dialer using RIL interface (Radio Interface Layer).

Many custom built ROMs also need their customized Radio software to be flashed, else results in incompatibility and possible non-functioning of the android device. Hence it’s important to first know whether there is any specific mention of Radio image (usually in radio.img format) for the custom built ROM.

Radio images are also flashed independently to get enhanced reception, battery life and call quality. In this guide we will show you how to flash radio.img in Android phones.

FLASH RADIO.IMG IN ANDROID

Disclaimer: A standard disclaimer in case of any tweaks and mods in Android, proceed at your own risk. We are not responsible if you device gets bricked or damaged during the process.

PREREQUISITES

1. You should have ADB Setup on your computer. Follow our guide on how to setup ADB in Windows.

2. We also need Fastboot tool. It comes along with the ADB setup. So if you have setup ADB, FastBoot should be there. To confirm look for “fastboot.exe” in the “Tools” sub-directory of the Android SDK Tools.

3. You should have your android phone rooted. Look for various rooting guides in our site.

4. Finally you need the radio ROM that usually comes built in the form of radio.img file. If the image file is coming with other name, you can rename it to radio.img. Note that it should be an image file, else you cannot flash the Radio ROM.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Extract the contents of the radio zip package. You should have radio.img file in it.

2. Copy/move the radio.img file to “Tools” directory of the Android SDK setup. Fastboot.exe will also be located in the same folder.

3. Connect the Phone to computer via USB cable.

5. Open the command prompt and run the following command:

adb reboot bootloader

fastboot flash radio radio.img

6. Wait for the radio flash to complete.

After flashing is completed, reboot your Android phone. It should boot with the new Radio ROM! That’s it. You have successfully installed Radio.img on your Android Phone.