[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] osm0sis:
Radio-RIL MD5s and Correlation by ROM build

So I took a little time this evening to see if I could find any rhyme or reason between the RILs, ROMs and radios (follow links for each), and I think the result is actually pretty interesting.

Grouping them by md5 and then putting them in order of radio build date the pattern becomes pretty clear:

fe69f7825283c3176f58ee19469890ac *cwm-RIL-XXKK1-yakju-ITL41D+ITL41F
fe69f7825283c3176f58ee19469890ac *cwm-RIL-DVKK6-yakjudv-ITL41D+ITL41F
*(missing, presumed placement) RIL-UGKK7-yakjuux-ITL41D
*(missing, presumed placement) RIL-KRKK7-yakjukr-ITL41F
fe69f7825283c3176f58ee19469890ac *cwm-RIL-OMKKD-yakjusc-ITL41F
fe69f7825283c3176f58ee19469890ac *cwm-RIL-UGKL1-yakjuux-ITL41F

5b7b153e52a7d54f17b64f9bdca00fca *cwm-RIL-XXKL1-yakju-ICL23D

063b2200069c626614ab9ef8d79be787 *cwm-RIL-XXKK6-yakju-ICL53F
063b2200069c626614ab9ef8d79be787 *cwm-RIL-KRKL1-yakjukr-ICL53F
063b2200069c626614ab9ef8d79be787 *cwm-RIL-UIKL3-yakjuvs-ICL53F
063b2200069c626614ab9ef8d79be787 *cwm-RIL-UGLA4-yakjuux-ICL53F

2696d03af6e7ee0a8ad949e214df2999 *cwm-RIL-OMLA1-yakjusc-ICL53F

c5f26c3d9aeb859cb7f8b17f1dfa45b2 *cwm-RIL-XXLA2-yakju-IMM76D+IMM76I
c5f26c3d9aeb859cb7f8b17f1dfa45b2 *cwm-RIL-KRLB1-yakjukr-IMM76K
c5f26c3d9aeb859cb7f8b17f1dfa45b2 *cwm-RIL-DVLE1-yakjudv-IMM76K

58e3badeb9080b887f05df4bce304b88 *cwm-RIL-UGLC1-yakjuux-IMM48

0b3154b61ab1b791f20c9cce72fb61a7 *cwm-RIL-OMLE3-yakjusc-IMM76K

ab5a6749029fbc2507a26aca58920ab4 GetRIL-XXLF1-takju-JRN84D

04af518deec07743f27947240694e887 GetRIL-UILE1-yakjuvs-IMM76K
04af518deec07743f27947240694e887 *cwm-RIL-XXLF1-yakju-JRO03C
04af518deec07743f27947240694e887 *cwm-RIL-UGLH1-yakjuux-JRO03C
04af518deec07743f27947240694e887 *cwm-RIL-UILH1-yakjuvs-JRO03C
04af518deec07743f27947240694e887 *cwm-RIL-DVLH1-yakjudv-JZO54K

2c270723b8ea9050ca234eaa482269ce *cwm-RIL-XXLF1-yakju-JZO54K

2a8ca6aaa7f169d5d13db6a636e4df19 *cwm-RIL-XXLH1-yakju-JOP40C+JOP40D
2a8ca6aaa7f169d5d13db6a636e4df19 *cwm-RIL-XXLJ1-yakju-JDQ39+JWR66V+JWR66Y
2a8ca6aaa7f169d5d13db6a636e4df19 *cwm-RIL-UGLL1-yakjuux-JOP40D
2a8ca6aaa7f169d5d13db6a636e4df19 *cwm-RIL-DVMK1-yakjudv-JWR66Y

There are a few obvious exceptions when looking at radio build order, especially the ones that group, but I think these odd-ones-out do make sense in a way: They are often from builds that arrive on either side of new official releases, so depending on the development for them, they must either move ahead to the new RIL or stay stuck back with the old, even though they might have a newer radio. Some other radio-RIL combos are complete one-offs; these are either pre-releases (ICL23D+JRN84D) or seem to be from the same region/device (Japan/yakjusc for the SC-04D). Canada has IMM48 in there too, but that OTA was an aborta with broken NFC so I think we could chalk that up as pre-release as well. I also think this resolves where the missing KK7 radio RILs likely fall, given the pattern.

What does it all mean? Generally, it seems RIL is more tied to ROM build than radio and I'm sure we'll be seeing more with the JZO54K RIL (or the 4.2 RIL) as regional OTAs begin to roll out based on these builds.

To sum it up: Newest might be better since they are ROM-specific vendor drivers after all (as the UILE1 ICS ROM moving forward to the JRO03C RIL even though it was an ICS ROM, and the general trend of builds packaging the newest RIL might seem to support), but generally, an obvious conclusion to draw is that they'll already be matching anyway if you're using current ROMs and radios, so people should just stop worrying about RILs. :)

Edit: Updated with new JOP40C/D+JDQ39+JWR66V/Y RIL. My current recommendation is that if the matching RIL is from a newer Android build than what you have then you should update to match. (eg. If you are running 4.1.2 JZO54K still but want to use a 4.2.2 radio like XXLH1 then you should consider upgrading your RIL). So basically I'd just never downgrade.