March 1, 2012

[HOW TO] Flash SGS and install custom ROM - FULL GUIDE

SAMSUNG GALAXY S I9000
In this tutorial I will show you how to flash your Samsung Galaxy S, gain root permissions and install a custom ROM step by step.

This guide can be also used as a reference for other devices too. The flashing and installation of custom ROMS in other devices is similar.

WARNING!

BE SURE TO READ THE GUIDE CAREFULLY!
IT'S IMPORTANT TO FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS STEP BY STEP!
PLEASE NOTE THAT DOING THE FOLLOWING, IT WILL VOID YOUR WARRANTY!

BEFORE DO ANYTHING IT'S A GOOD IDEA TO CREATE A BACKUP OF YOUR DATA THAT IS NOT STORED ON THE SD CARD, SUCH AS CONTACTS AND SMS/MMS BECAUSE YOU WILL LOSE EVERYTHING!

TO CREATE A BACKUP USE APPLICATIONS SUCH AS Titanium Backup.

AFTER THE INSTALLATION OF A CUSTOM ROM, YOU CAN NO LONGER USE KIES.

MAKE SURE YOUR DEVICE IS FULLY CHARGED.

AGAIN FOLLOW THE STEPS CAREFULLY! I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE!

STEP 0  - NECESSARY FILES AND SOFTWARE

First things first, make sure you have the following:
STEP 1 - INSTALLING CLOCKWORKMOD RECOVERY USING ODIN (RECOMMENDED)
  1. Unpack Odin
  2. Launch Odin.exe
  3. Click the PDA button and choose hardcore's kernel file or the CF-Root file you downloaded
  4. Make sure Re-Partition is unchecked
  5. Power off your SGS
  6. Connect the microUSB cable to the computer. DONT connect it to your device yet!
  7. Boot your SGS into DOWNLOAD MODE
    • To do it hold down the Home, Volume Down and the Power button
  8. Connect the microUSB cable to your SGS
  9. If your device is connected Odin will recognise it
  10. Click Start in Odin and wait
  11. When the process is completed your device will restart
  12. That's it! ClockworkMod is now installed and you have ROOT permissions!
    STEP 1 (ALTERNATIVE WAY)  - INSTALLING THE CLOCKWORKMOD RECOVERY USING HEIMDALL SUITE
    1. Unpack the Heimdall Suite
    2. Untar the hardcore's Kernel
    3. Copy zImage from hardcore's Kernel folder into Heimdall Suite folder
    4. Power off your SGS
    5. Connect the microUSB cable to the computer. DONT connect it to your device yet!
    6. Boot your SGS into DOWNLOAD MODE
      • To do it hold down the Home, Volume Down and the Power button
    7. Connect the microUSB cable to your SGS
    8. Go to the unzipped Heimdall Suite folder
    9. Go to the Drivers folder
    10. Run zadig.exe
    11. From the menu, go to Options and check List All Devices
    12. From the drop down menu select Samsung USB Composite Device
    13. Click Install Driver
      • If a warning message appears ignore it and click "Install driver anyway"
    14. Once the driver is installed remove the cable from your SGS
    15. Power off your SGS
    16. Boot your SGS into DOWNLOAD MODE
    17. Connect your SGS again to the computer
    18. Open the command prompt(cmd)
    19. Type: 
      • cd "location_of_Heimdall_Suite"
      • For example if the Heimdall Suite folder is inside the Downloads folder 
      • type: cd C:\Users\YourUserName\Downloads\heimdall-suite-1.3.1-win32
    20. Click Enter
    21. Then type:
      • heimdall flash --kernel zImage
    22. Hit Enter
    23. Then you'll see a blue transfer bar on your SGS. After the transfer is complete your SGS will reboot automatically
    24. Well Done! ClockworkMod is now installed and you have ROOT permissions!
    STEP 2  - INSTALLING A CUSTOM ROM

    It's not necessary to install a custom ROM but if you want to, follow the following steps:
    1. Place the downloaded customROM zip file on the root of the internal sd card of your SGS
    2. Power off your SGS
    3. Boot your SGS into ClockworkMod Recovery
      • To do it hold down the Home, Volume up and the Power button
    4. When you are inside ClockworkMod Recovery
      1. To move, use the Volume up & down buttons
      2. To select use the Home button or the Power button
    5. Select the option Wipe data/factory reset 
    6. Select the option Wipe cache partition
    7. Select Install zip from sdcard
    8. Select Choose zip from sdcard
    9. Select the custom ROM
    10. When the installation is complete
      1. Select Goback
      2. Then select Reboot system
    11. Well Done! The custom ROM is now installed!
    12. Enjoy!

    30 comments:

    1. This is an excellent guide. Simple and clear -- I have tried a number of ways to root and rom my SGS, and this is the first guide that worked. Thanks for taking the time to put this together.

      ReplyDelete
    2. awesome guide. It's much more clearer with less jargon then any other guides. Been trying to follow cyangemod wiki but it wasn't as clear as this.

      ReplyDelete
    3. Sorry if this is a n00b question but I've tried launching Odin and "PDA" is just greyed out so I can't select the hardcore kernel. It makes no difference whether the SGS is connected or not.

      What am I doing wrong?

      ReplyDelete
    4. Ah, disregard my previous post. I was using a version of Odin called Odin Multiloader v4.43 rather than the version you linked to.

      I followed the instructions to install Clockworkmod via Odin3 v1.85.

      It went as far as " All threads completed. (succeed 1 / failed 0)
      " and the Samsung Galaxy S screen appeared on the phone. But that is as far as it goes, the screen just blanks and then the Samsung Galaxy S screen reappears. The phone simply isn't booting.

      Now what do I do?

      ReplyDelete
    5. amazing tutorial, the only decent beginners guide on the web. Thank you sir!

      ReplyDelete
    6. Thanks for these great howto's I've been looking for for over a month now!

      My i9000 has been giving me boot loop problems.
      I followed your instructions and installed the ICS rom from your other post. Now I keep getting the clockworkmod recovery screen after a reboot. Suggestions?

      ReplyDelete
      Replies
      1. What exactly you see when you are in the recovery screen? Any errors?

        Delete
      2. I gave CM7 a try too. Same result.
        I see no errors when I get the menu. When I run the Show Log command I see this:

        CWM-based Recovery v5.0.2.6
        ro.hardware=aries
        ro.revision=48
        net.top.buffersiee.default=4096,87380,110208,4096,16384,110208
        net.tcp.buffersize.wifi=4095,87380,110208,4096,16384,110208
        net.tcp.buffersize.umts=4094,87380,110208,4096,16384,110208
        net.tcp.buffersize.edge=4093,26280,35040,4096,16384,35040
        net.tcp.buffersize.gprs=4092,8760,11680,4096,8760,11680
        init.svc.recovery=running
        init.svc.adbd=running

        I:CHecking for extendedcommand...
        I:Skipping execution of extendedcommand, file not found.



        That's all. No error messages........

        I hope you can help me.....

        Delete
      3. Try and follow the ICS guide again. I've added more instructions.

        Delete
      4. It worked! Now I am running ICS. I used the rom you suggested. The only issue I have right now is that my sdcard is not recognized. Suggestions?

        Delete
      5. If your sdcard is not recognized try to install the ROM again (I've added 2 more steps). Also remove your sdcard before installing the ROM.

        Delete
      6. The stock ROM, the ICS ROM, or both? If I remember it correctly, the stock ROM wouldn't install without the SD card and kept booting into the recovery menu......

        Delete
      7. Install the XXJVU first then install the CF Root, then install the ICS ROM twice.

        Delete
      8. Running ICS now. When I open the camera, it tells me, I need to install a SD-card first (it is installed). When I look in settings-storage I see the card is visible. When I look with file manager, it tells me there are no files there (where would my ICS rom be?) So there is still something wrong....

        After booting into ICS I got a message about encryption being unsuccesful. I needed a factory reset. Did that and removed cache. Have seen this message again after a reboot. Rebooted again and the message was gone.

        A bit spooky and it gives me the feeling there might be something wrong with my hardware after all (although the rest seems to work fine). Are there issues with the ROM you suggested and if so, can you advice me a decent ROM (2.3.x) to use?

        Or can you give me advise on how to get my SD-card working again?

        Thanks for putting so much energy in solving my problem!

        Delete
      9. I have the same ROM for 3 months now and it runs smoothly, no problems at all. Maybe it's something hardware related or maybe there are issues with your sdcard. Have you recently connected your sdcard to your computer and the computer said something like "continue with fix/scan" or something related? You should try and format your sdcard and then install it again.

        If you want another ICS ROM check my Android page.

        Delete
    7. tried the first method thru odin. lost my signal with an icon similar to a stop sign. the phone notifies insert sim. baseband version is unknown. Ive read from other forums that i have to flash the modem. cant find an update file for it. please help. thanks.

      ReplyDelete
      Replies
      1. Try to follow the steps again. Are you trying to install a custom ROM or just clockworkmod recovery?

        Delete
    8. i lost my network connections after i installed clockworkmod. i now rooted my sgs, and downloaded darkyrom. but when clockword mod is about to flash the modem, the process aborts by itself. I still cant use my phone to make calls and send sms. what do i do? TIA.

      ReplyDelete
      Replies
      1. I've updated the tutorial with some more instructions. Follow the first step (ODIN) and download the correct CF-Root file for your device. Then try to install the ROM again.

        Delete
    9. I used this toutorial to root my Samsung galaxy S. I did step1 (INSTALLING THE CLOCKWORKMOD RECOVERY USING HEIMDALL SUITE) exactly following your instructions.
      The telephone showed the blue progress bar and rebooted but then only the first Galaxy S GT-I9000 white letters are blinking every 3 seconds for 3 seconds (appear and dissappera). Now the telephone doesn't boot.
      Only the DOWNLOAD mode works. The recovery mode doesn't run.
      Any ideas?

      ReplyDelete
      Replies
      1. Try with Odin. Let me know if it works this way.

        Delete
      2. You need to flash the correct root file for your device. For example if your device is running the 2.2 version you can't flash the root file made for 2.3.4. So make sure the root file you are flashing is for your version.

        Delete
    10. Help! I just tried rooting my Galaxy S GT-19000
      i did it like in the steps, i downloaded Odin3 and hardcore-seedmod, then opend odin and clicked PDA, found Hardcore seedmode and put the device in download mode and connected it and so on, then pressed start and it said success
      but like another one commented before me, The samsung galaxy S screen appers, then the screen just blanks and then the Samsung Galaxy S screen reappears
      and it just continues like that.. what to do?

      ReplyDelete
      Replies
      1. This is called Boot Loop.
        First try and download CF-Root for your android version and follow the steps again.
        If this doesn't work, download the latest i9000 firmware and and the 512 pit file and flash it using Odin(with repartition unchecked).

        Then wipe cache/data a few times(through recovery mode).
        Remove the battery for 30 seconds.

        I hope this helps.

        Delete
    11. Thank you very much!
      I had trouble with rooting my device, as every guide was very complicated. This one is very noob friendly and in under 30 minutes I had installed Cyanogenmod.
      Thanks!

      ReplyDelete