[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] lickwidice:
Hi,

I am a new Galaxy S II (i9100) owner. I have a couple of questions, if some of the experienced users could please assist me I would greatly appreciate it. My questions are listed by priority:

EDIT: I am rephrasing my questions and putting the answers that I feel are best suited so that people who are interested can see the answers in one clean post

1) I understand that CM Mod is based on AOSP and is used as a base on a lot of ROMS but could someone please explain to me how a ROM could be an AOKP ROM and "Based on CM10". Are they taking certain modules from CM10 and certain things from an AOKP Build and putting it together?

ROMS usually take the best of CM and AOKP and combine to produce a more stable base.

2) I know what CWM is but once you use ODIN to flash CWM onto your phone where does it go? By this I mean, does it sit on the ROM or somewhere on your Internal SD card (or both, maybe it puts settings on your SD card). I would like to know if I format my Internal memory will it remove or cause CWM to bug out?

CWM will get removed from your phone if you flash a Kernal that doesn't have CWM on it. It will also get removed from your phone if you "format" the internal SD as that is where it is stored. CWM will NOT be removed if you flash a update to your phone that doesn't require you to "wipe"

3) I am not a fan of the Stock Samsung ROMS because of the bloatware that it contains. However, is it all possible that these Stock Samsung ROMS have built in optimization code or something that works better for my specific device? I ask this because the best battery life I've managed to get was on Stock Samsung ICS where as my battery life dies on any of the JB Roms (Even SlimBean)

AFAIK Stock Roms are optimized for basic / standard features. Custom ROM's can be optimized for the way you use your phone. A Stock ROM is a "One Size Fits all ROM" a Custom ROM can be "Tailored" to fit your needs.

4) I understand how I/O Schedulers / Governors etc work but what advantage does using a non stock Kernel have? As far as I understand these can be changed on any rooted Kernel or am I incorrect?

I/O Schedulers / Governors can be changed on rooted or non rooted Kernels. Rooted Kernels have access to their own custom schedulers and governors.

5) When I download an app from Play store is there no way for me to not install it and just download the APK? So that I don't have to backup all my apps (I don't like using Titanium very much) and so that I can just reinstall the APK files from my internal Memory?

No There is no way to get around this. Install APK files from the Web. Use Titanium Backup to backup applications installed from the Play Store.

6) I've followed the guide to enable or disable Fast Dormancy (I'm still learning about this) however when I type the code in my phone (*#9900#) or (*#0011#) nothing happens. Is this because I'm running JB and these codes only work on ICS?

These codes only work on Stock ROMS

7) When I have a look at my battery usage (currently on CM10) screen says "52%" even though my brightness is set to like 25%. I am trying to figure out why my battery is dying so fast. Is this normal?

There is no "Normal". Too many factors involved. Have a look at the BBS Thread http://xdaforums.com/show....php?t=1179809. You may post your BBS dump/log in this thread and ask the experts to analyze it for you.

8) What is the main difference between AOSP and AOKP? I understand that AOKP will open up a lot of other customizations to me but what are these customizations? I assumed it was things like setting the governor and the I/O Scheduler etc but I've installed ROMS based on AOSP that allows me to do that.

Busy Formulating an answer

9) Galaxy S2 Modems I keep flashing different modems on my phone but I see no change in signal whatsoever is there an application or anything that can help me get an accurate benchmark so that I know which modem is "best" for me?

This is usually done by trial and error. Have a look at the Modem / RILS thread to ensure that your Baseband and RIL version match. Alternatively you can use an app called GETRIL which will get the correct RIL file for your modem

10) Please don't mistake this as a "What's the best ROM??" question. I've tried many different ROMs and I still haven't got a favorite I am looking for someone who has an idea of which ROM will mostly fulfill my requirements which are:

(BTW I'm leaning towards SlimBean here)

1) JB (I love JB keyboard)

2) Battery life (I think I'm looking for something that uses the conservative governor)

3) I mainly use my phone for WhatsApp (I use this ALOT) and browsing (barely for games)

4) Lightweight (I don't want Samsung Apps, I don't want a ROM that has 3 launchers etc.)

5) I don't mind charging my phone once every 16-18 hours.

6) Preferably AOKP so I can mess around and experiment and perhaps give back to the community

This is my personal opinion but I think that SlimBean will best fit my requirements