As is the case with any smartphone, the
initial ownership period is always the most exciting one. Your phone is
new and you can’t wait to try out all the features it has to offer.
After a while, though, you tend to get bored with it and that’s when you
start thinking about buying a new one. Unfortunately, what many don’t
realise is that at times, manufacturers aren’t able to exploit the
phone's true capabilities due to various reasons and one of the best
ways to achieve that is by rooting it (if it’s Android) or jailbreaking
it (if it’s an iPhone). You may have heard these terms thrown around the
Internet or amongst your friends and may have wondered what’s the big
deal behind this. Well, today we’ll talk about what is rooting? How to
root virtually any Android phone? And finally, installing a custom
recovery and why you may need it.
As a special treat, we’ll also
show you how to install Ice Cream Sandwich on your Samsung Galaxy S
GT-I9000. This still remains one of the most popular phones, especially
with the modding community and thanks to them, they’ve achieved what
Samsung refused to do. More on that later, though, first let’s get you
rooted!
What is rooting and why do I need it?
At
the core, Android is based on Linux and by default, it gives users only
limited access to the system. The permissions are set to give users
access to everything they would typically need and restrict them from
accidentally modifying any system files or permissions, since a novice
user can end up bricking their phone. Rooting your Android phone gives
you Superuser access, which is similar to having an Administrator
account in Windows. Armed with this, you can now perform system level
updates; make changes in the UI through specialized apps; modify
protected files, etc. With this you can now use
Titanium Backup,
which is one of the best backup apps in the Marketplace letting you
backup virtually all your settings, data, etc, which otherwise is not
possible.
Adfree is
another very handy app that lets you block ads in any free app you
download and since it works at the IP address level, it doesn't slow
down the system.
Superuser access granted!
Rooting your phone will void your warranty, but luckily you can
unroot it as well, should you choose to in the future. There are a bunch
of ways to root your phone and each device sometimes has a specific
method of rooting. We’ve already seen how to
root the Galaxy Note and today we’ll take a look at two applications that will do just that, but for virtually any Android device.
Using SuperOneClick –
Download
This
Windows-based application will root (almost) any Android phone in the
market and is a good place to start. It works on Windows Vista and
above, and requires you to have .NET Framework 2.0 and above
pre-installed. For the full list of supported phones and instructions on
how to use this on a Mac or Linux, read this
thread on XDA. Once you download and install it, just follow these steps:
- Put your phone in Debugging mode – For this, go to
Settings > Applications > Development > USB Debugging. Some
phones have this placed differently, so if you don’t find it here, just
browse though all the sub-menus in settings, you will eventually find
it.
- Make sure the drivers for your phone are installed –
If you received a CD with your phone then install it. If not, then go
to the support section of your phones website and download it from
there. In case you have a phone from a lower tiered company like Spice,
Lava, etc then chances are you may not find drivers for it. Don’t worry,
as OneClickRoot will download generic drivers for your phone.
- Plug your phone to the PC via USB cable – Remember, not to “Turn on Mass Storage”, if you get the prompt. Just ignore it.
- Run the software and it should now detect your phone. Then you
simply click ‘Root’ and wait for it to complete. If Windows can’t detect
the drivers for your phone, click the second tab on the program and
click “Get Drivers”.
Your phone is now rooted! You’ll now have a new app in your list
called ‘Superuser’. All that it does is keep a log of which applications
require Superuser access.
The simplest way to root your phone
The other application we mentioned was
Unlock Root,
which works in a similar fashion. So, if for some reason OneClickRoot
doesn’t work, you can give this a try. Now that we have rooted the
phone, it’s time to install a custom recovery, so we can install custom
ROMs and a lot more.
What is Custom Recovery and why do I need it?
Think
of recovery as DOS mode in your PC. You access it to make changes to
the system, apply updates, change file partitions, etc, which is
normally not possible through the OS itself. All Android devices come
with a recovery, but the stock one offers very basic options, which
won’t let you install custom ROMs or make any other system level
changes. For that, we have a custom recovery and the most popular one is
the ClockworkMod Recovery or CWM.
A couple of things you can do with CWM are:
- Make, restore and manage backups of your current ROM
- Install a custom ROM or flash a kernel from internal storage
- Mount, format your phones internal storage partitions
- Create logs for error reporting
It’s ok, if you don’t know what some of them are, as you’ll
seldom be using them. You can install CWM in different ways, but the
simplest is through an app called ‘ROM Manager’. Here’s what you do:
- Download ROM Manager from the Android Marketplace
- Launch the app and the first option itself should say “Flash
ClockworkMod Recovery”. Just press that and follow the instructions
onscreen. In case you don’t have enough internal memory, you’ll be
prompted to insert an SD card, so do that.
- Be patient and let it work its magic. Once it’s done, you now have a custom recovery on your phone.
You can get into recovery mode a number of ways. Some phones have
a button combo, which you boot into, but again, the simplest way is
through ROM Manager. The second option says ‘Reboot into Recovery’, so
just hit that and your phone should boot in to recovery mode.
The ClockworkMod Recovery
After a reboot you won’t see the screen above directly, if you
boot through ROM Manager (sometimes). Instead, you’ll have an Android
logo with an exclamation mark. Don’t be alarmed; simply press the ‘Home’
button or any of the soft keys and you’ll see the main menu. You can
scroll through the options using the volume keys and enter them using
the ‘Home’ or ‘Power’ button. It’s a bit different for each device, but
nothing that you can't figure out on your own. CWM will not work with
every device, especially the lower end handsets from Spice, Lava, etc.
The reason being they aren’t support by the developers, since they are
relatively unheard of. However, almost every phone from a Tier 1 brand
are supported.
Congratulations! You now have a rooted phone and a
custom recovery installed. Don’t worry about loss of data as both these
procedures will not affect any of the settings or data on your phone.
The next step? How about installing a custom ROM? And what better to
start with than Ice Cream Sandwich for the Samsung Galaxy S GT-I9000!
Installing Ice Cream Sandwich on the Samsung Galaxy S GT-I9000
Now
that we’ve learnt how to root and install a custom recovery, it’s time
to install Android 4.0 on your Galaxy S. The custom ROM comes from Team
ICSSGS, which was initially started by Onecosmic. The latest build is RC
4.1 and so far, all the primary functions work just fine. If you
encounter minor bugs or glitches, don’t freak out as they will be fixed
in the upcoming builds. Here’s a list of things you’ll need:
- Galaxy S GT-I9000 (Rooted and CWM installed)
- ICS_4.0.3_MR1-RC4.1_I9000 ROM (Download)
Galaxy S with Android 4.0 in all its glory!
Once we have all the files, the next step is to make sure you
backup all your data. You can use My Backup Pro or Titanium Backup to
create a copy of your messages, call logs, media, etc. Get them from the
Marketplace and back them up on your SD card. You can also install ROM
Manager and create a backup of your current ROM, so you can revert back,
should you feel the need to. Also, make sure your phone is at least 70
percent charged, before you proceed.
- Dump the ICS_4.0.3_MR1-RC4.1_I9000, Semaphore_ICS_0.7.5 Kernel and Wi-Fi fix zip files as is, into the root of your phone memory. Make sure it's not in any folder, but in the root directory.
- Disconnect your phone and boot into recovery mode, either through
ROM Manager or using the three-button combo. For this, you need to power
down the phone first. Then, start it up by holding the volume up button
+ Home button and then press the power button. Once you see the Samsung
logo, you can let go of all the buttons after a few seconds.
- Once in Recovery mode, do a "Wipe data/factory reset" and "Wipe cache partition". Scroll up and down with volume keys and use home or power button for 'Enter'
- Go to "Advanced" > "Wipe Dalvik cache" > "Go back"
- Now choose "install zip from SD card" > "choose zip from sd card" > Select “ICS_4.0.3_MR1-RC4.1_I9000”, which should be at the bottom and press enter. Select ‘Yes’ and let it do its thing.
- The first boot will take some time. In case you get stuck at a boot
loop (the colourful honeycomb flashing animation keeps going for 10min
or more), remove the battery and put it back in. Then follow steps from 3
onwards and install the ROM again. It should boot just fine the second
time. I faced this issue and it worked just fine the second time.
We’re almost there. Now that you have ICS up and running, you’ll
notice that it’s slightly laggy when opening apps or in the animations.
All this is fixed with Semaphore’s ICS Kernel. Here's what you do.
Flashing Semaphore’s Kernel
- Boot into recovery mode and select “Semaphore_ICS_0.7.5 Kernel” through the same method we did for the ROM.
- You don’t need to wipe any data or cache this time
- Reboot
You’ll now notice a dramatic boost in the speed in the menus and
apps are a lot more responsive. In case you happen to have the Wi-Fi
bug, where Wi-Fi doesn’t work, then reboot into recovery and flash the
“WiFi_fix.zip” file in the same fashion. If you need FM Radio, then
install
Spirit FM from
the marketplace and you should be all set. Remember to change the
country to India and audio method to 'Galaxy S ALSA' for it to work
properly. I also strongly recommend you buy
VooDoo Control Plus
(if you haven't already). What this does is that it gives you full
analog control over the Wolfson audio chip in the phone and improves the
audio quality ten fold that will rival any portable amplifier in the
market. Couple that with
Poweramp and experience audio nirvana!
Sweet ICS on SGS!
Here are some of the features that await you:
- Full Hardware Acceleration
- Touchscreen works perfectly
- Fully working Calendar sync
- Face Unlock (a little slow due to low res camera on the SGS)
Remember, this is a work in progress, so things will only get better with subsequent builds. You can check the XDA-Developers
thread for
the latest updates and developments on this ROM. In case you have any
queries, issues or need further explanation on certain steps, feel free
to discuss them in our forums.
