Mobile phone NEWS

Galaxy S i9000 Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich

While Samsung would take ages — if they intend to bring the update in first place, which itself is debatable — to release the latest Android 4.0 update to Galaxy S officially via Kies, our beloved developers have already started burning their midnight oil to get you Ice Cream Sandwich love on your very dear very venerable in android blogosphere, theGalaxy S. And their hard work is showing up now in the form of a custom ROM — we’re talking about the first ICS (Android 4.0) port for Galaxy S, made by pretty famous now on Galaxy S development scene, Galnet.

Donation Link: You’ve a good ICS rom for your Galaxy S (not only on i9000 but also on i9000b, Captivate and Vibrant), thanks to hard work of Onecosmic for the last 2 months (and more). If you like the rom, do consider donating him — find the donate link here. here’s theofficial development page of the rom, btw.

New Official Development Page — Link. Since onecosmic has gone dark for the least week or so, development has been resumed and taken well care of by another good dude, PaulForde. The new official development page is his page only. Do send you wishes, thoughts anddonations, to him over there.

Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) ROM Status

Big Update: RC1 is out. Features working from this release: Video recording and playback, Hardware Acceleration, Calendar Sync, etc. You may want to celebrate this!! People avoiding the ICS — somehow, I mean — should try this version. Kudos to PaulForde (we’re really thankful to him for this) and Onecosmic.

Almost everything is working — though, of course, there are bugs!

COMPATIBILITY

This guide is applicable only for Samsung’s Galaxy S international version — GT-i9000 and GT-i9000B. Check your phone’s version in Settings – About Phone. It has to be “GT-i9000” or “GT-i9000B” for this Android 4.0 port ROM to be compatible with your phone. Otherwise, simply don’t try this ROM on your android handset — don’t even think about it if you care about your android device.

WANRING!

The methods and procedures discussed here are considered risky and you should not attempt anything if you don’t know completely what it is. If any damage occurs to you or your device, we won’t be held liable — you only will be responsible, you’ve been warned!!!

Installing the Android 4.0 ICS custom ROM isn’t that hard if you’ve already done flashing stuff a couple of times. But even if you’re new to flashing and custom ROMs, don’t worry one bit, we’ve got you covered. Just watch the video below, read the instructions and you are good to do it yourself.

Pre-Installation thoughts:

Installing/Flashing this ROM will erase your apps and data. So, it’s a very important you back them up, before proceeding further. To backup your apps and important data — bookmarks, contacts, SMS, APNs (internet settings), etc. Restore APN settings if Internet isn’t working for you. This Android backup guide would help you. And if you’ve rooted your Galaxy S, you can save application’s data too, using Titanium backup (free app on android market) to backup apps with data. And use this this app only again to restore those apps with data.
Drivers! — it’s important you’ve the proper drivers installed. Download links below:
- 32 bit (x86) Windows | 64-bit (x64) Windows
If you have Samsung’s PC software Kies installed, be sure to exit it before using flashing this ROM, or anything with odin software.

Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich for Galaxy S

Update: The installation process is much different now that what was for the initial release. But you can still watch the video — especially if you’re new to this — to get the idea of flashing and stuff. And the guide below has been duly updated to take care of installationneeds of the latest release. So, go ahead!

So, the video below is not to be followed, but if you want to learn about rebooting into recovery, using CWM recovery, and other things, watching the video for once is recommended.

Here’s the video showing the installation of Android 4.0 custom ROM (AOSP port, version alpha4):

Note: There is a brief overview (from 6:58) of Android 4.0 running on Galaxy S in the above video.

Step-by-step guide:

Disable Lagfix on your phone, if any enabled. If you are on a custom kernel or custom rom, you probably have it enabled.
Remove sim card lock, if you set it earlier. Go here: Settings » Location and Security » Sim card lock » checkbox should be clear (not selected).
Download the latest version of “Android 4.0 ROM” from here — let’s call it rom file — and then continue the steps below to flash it without any worries. Also, download the kernel file (see step and of you want root, download the file for that too, form that page. Btw, here’s the direct download and resume-able link for ROM (version RC1, if it gets updated let me know through comments, I’ll upload the new link for latest version).
Transfer the rom file, kernel file and root file to your phone’s sdcard (don’t use external sdcard, btw). Remember the location where you transfer this files. If you are already on ICS rom, then just flash the RC1 rom file from CWM and reboot. If you’re not using on any earlier build of this rom, check next step.
You need to have ClockWorkMod (CWM) recovery installed on your Galaxy S (whichever build number it’s on). If you have CWM recovery installed, continue to next step. If you don’t have CWM, do this:
1. Install XXJVS firmware first.
2. Root and install CWM recovery on XXJVS.
Next, CM7 (or any MTD based ROM) is a must. So, Install CM7 on Galaxy Sfirst. After you get CM7 working (that is, it reboots fine), continue to next step.
Power Off your Galaxy S. Wait for 5-6 seconds until you feel the vibration to confirm complete switch off.
Then, press and hold these 3 buttons together: VolumeUP+Home+Power tillthe Galaxy S logo shows up on screen. You’ll boot into CWM recovery soon enough. (In recovery, use Volume keys to scroll up and down and power key to select an option. Use back key to go back.)
Do Wipe Data/Factory Reset
Do Wipe Cache Partition
Now, select “install zip from sdcard”. Then, select “choose zip from sdcard”. Now, browse through sdcard and select the rom file you downloaded in step 3 and transferred in step 4 above. Select “Yes – Install ___” on the next screen.
Go back and select ‘reboot system now’ to restart the phone.
You would see the new boot wallpaper of a cat, and after that the official ice Cream Sandwich boot animation running on your screen. The phone should boot up within 10 mins at max with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich running on it. Btw, if it doesn’t boot up after 10 mins, remove the battery, put it back, boot into recovery mode, do 9 and 10, and then flash the kernel file (not the rom file) using “install zip from sdcard” option from recovery. After that, reboot the phone from recovery and it should work now — Good luck!
If you get problems with WiFi, do this: reboot into recovery, select “install zip from sdcard” » choose zip from sdcard » browse through sdcard and select the kernel file downloaded in step 3 and transferred in step 4 above. Select “Yes – Install ___” on the next screen.
[Optional] Support the development and appreciate the hard work put in by the team by donating them. Find donation link given above.
Go here to Root Galaxy S on Ice Cream Sandsich rom.
Just for your info, Android 4.0 custom ROM is available Galaxy S2 too — find ourInstallation Guide for Android 4.0 on Galaxy S2 i9100 here.

That’s it. You’ve the Android 4.0 running coolly on your Galaxy S buddy. Cheers to awesome dev team!

Keep watching this space — we’ll be updating this post as and when a new version is available.

GOING BACK TO ANDROID 2.3 (Gingerbread)

Btw, if you want to revert back to Android 2.3 firmware from this Android 4.0 custom ROM, get (install) the XXJVS firmware from link in step 5.1 above and root it if you want, from link in step 5.2 above.