Android users have probably come across various custom firmwares more than once, and one of the most popular is Cyanogenmod. There are versions of this firmware for the widest range of mobile Android devices, it contains a lot of advantages and positive changes, so in this article we will deal with installing Cyanogenmod firmware using the example of the Samsung Galaxy Ace S5830 smartphone.
The key advantages of Cyanogenmod, compared to other firmwares, are a modified and faster user interface, a huge number of settings for personalization, as well as, in general, noticeably higher performance of an Android device, especially in comparison with the standard official firmware.
What is needed for the firmware: firstly, of course, the desire to do this and an understanding of all the potential risks associated with this process, including the loss of a guarantee or even the possibility of getting a "brick" at the exit. All this is solved as usual - by creating backups, which we strongly recommend to do before any, even the slightest, modification of the software of your Android smartphone or tablet. Next, you need a microSD memory card with 200 megabytes of free space on it, better, of course, more - with a margin. You will also need the files themselves for flashing the device - ClockworkMod Recovery and the required version of Cyanogenmod. It is highly recommended to fully charge the battery of the Android device, which we will reflash - in our case, this is the Samsung Galaxy Ace smartphone. The whole process takes a little over half an hour.
Let's say you have already created all the necessary backups, including text messages and contact data, but you can skip the last step if you are constantly synchronizing with Gmail. Now let's get started. We put Recovery Clockwork and the firmware itself wherever we want, but so that later it would be possible to find these files. They are packed in .zip format, but there is no need to unzip them in any case. We connect the smartphone to a personal computer via a USB cable in the file transfer mode, that is, as a simple drive, and copy the firmware and Clockwork Recovery files to the memory card, to its root directory.
We turn off our smartphone completely, after which we turn it on, but not as usual, but simultaneously pressing the volume down button and the central menu button. We get to the Recovery menu. In this menu, the control is as follows: the list is scrolled by the volume rocker, where plus is enter, and minus is down, the action is confirmed by the middle button of the smartphone.
Now you need to install Recovery Clockwork. In the menu, select the item "Apply update from sdcard", in the list we find the Recovery Clockwork we are interested in, select it and confirm the action.
Again, turn off our Samsung Ace completely, then turn it on again by holding down the central button and the volume rocker. Select the item in the Recovery menu called "Wipe data / factory reset", then "Wipe cache partition". This is a complete data wipe. We do not turn off the phone, we flash our smartphone from the Recovery Clockwork menu. To do this, select the "Install zip from sdcard" item, and select the desired Cyanogenmod firmware from the list.
The flashing process usually takes about 5 minutes. After successful completion, click "Reboot system now". The first boot of a device with a new firmware takes longer than usual, so you have to wait a little before you can use a device with a new version of the software. In general, the flashing process is not much different on other Android devices, you just need to choose the right version of Clockwork Recovery and Cyanogenmod. It is undesirable to update Google Maps, otherwise they may not work correctly. If the Cyanogenmod firmware interface does not suit you, you can install another launcher, for example Go Launcher.
The Samsung Galaxy Ace (S5830) phone looks a lot like an iPhone. The similarity catches the eye right away, although close up it turns out that the identity is not complete - the cheap plastic casing spoils the whole impression, it is worth picking up the phone. A high-quality 3.5-inch screen, 5 megapixel camera and 512 mb of RAM coexist in this wonderful device with an outdated 832 MHz processor. Firmware updates from the manufacturer have traditionally ended silently on Android 2.3, while the prolific Google has thrown 4.0.4, 4.1.2 and 4.2 into the free float. So the owners of a beautiful phone were left out of updates, unable to enjoy the glitches of the new version of the system from a well-known corporation. We'll make the impossible possible by describing the process of unofficial phone software updates to CyanogenMod 10, which in turn is based on Android 4.1. The benefits of installing an assembly are vast and numerous. In addition to a beautiful number in the phone's settings and a new, slightly nicer interface, the firmware adds wonderful items in the settings, such as controlling the processor frequency, optimizing all the interface beauties, improving the reaction speed of the device and a cute robot when the device boots. Naturally, the programs installed on the phone move in no way worse than on the official firmware, and the stable behavior of the device is not overshadowed by surprises. We will install the firmware from the development team Jellaxy whose work is truly impressive. Especially if you remember that Samsung swears that the latest versions of the operating system from Google will not work on the S5830 smartphone. Well, enthusiasts have proved the opposite, and we will use the experience of wonderful people who have developed an alternative and set the same for ourselves.
Getting started, as is usually the case with any firmware, starts with installing the well-proven alternative CWM bootloader. This program creates a boot menu for those who like poking around in the device's firmware, helps to make the process easier and more effective. We take ClockWorkMod recovery, prepared for our phone, here :( http://yadi.sk/d/SjQwpDrC1XX4y), firmware ( http://yadi.sk/d/dk8rVjrD1XY5i) and lightweight Google services (specially cropped to reduce queries): http://yadi.sk/d/XIcEannt1XYB2... Transfer these archives to a memory card, preferably a clean one. No need to unpack! In order for the installation to begin, you need to reboot the device to the "native" recovery. Clamp the shutdown button on the switched off device, simultaneously clamping the touch button with the house. After a couple of seconds, you will see a text menu on the screen, where you look for the item apply update from sd card. Select it with the sound keys and confirm the selection with the button with the house. In the program window, look for your archive (the name contains the word recovery), confirm your deliberate decision to add our assistant to the phone for flashing. The recovery will be updated to CWM.
Turn off your phone again. Start recovery in the same way as before. In the updated menu, I am very interested in the promising backup item. There, which is logical, choose backup again. So we create a copy of your installed system, this is useful for the inner peace of a beginner and experienced flasher - no matter what happens next, you can return everything back from the same point by choosing restore. Once you've created a much-needed copy, take a deep breath and get down to the essentials. The new firmware version will be installed normally only if all unnecessary items are removed from the phone. In other words, almost completely clear the device of old data. How do I clean up? In recovery, select the following menu items in order: wipe data, wipe cache, wipe dalvik (in advanced). Go back with the "back" button on the phone, there is only one cleaning point - in mount and storage, select unmount system, then format system. We left the phone, figuratively speaking, naked and barefoot. We hastily change it into a new firmware. Look for the following among the text labels: choose zip from sdcard. First, select the CM10 archive, wait until the phone informs about the successful completion of the action. In addition to the Android 4.1 system, we are strongly advised to install Google services as well. You can do without them and thereby save 60-70 MB of RAM, but the services are still useful - installing software from the market, synchronizing, mail without them is unexpectedly difficult. Therefore, we decisively put our third archive, with the words gapps in the title. We patiently wait for the end, choose restart and ... see the logo for 5-10 minutes. The first launch is somewhat stretched in time, because the new version of the system takes time for a cozy location.
If you haven't missed anything from the above, a fast, beautiful firmware based on Android 4.1 will sparkle in front of you. Congratulations, all conditions are met, you are in the new system.
Sooner or later, every smartphone owner begins to think about buying a new gadget or increasing the power of the device that is already in stock. Increasing the functionality of a mobile device is sometimes necessary, because almost every day new unique and useful programs are published that may be necessary for every person.
In such cases, you can try to flash the phone yourself. Today we will take a closer look at the method of flashing such a smartphone model as Samsung GALAXY ACE. Immediately, we note that first of all, you need to make a backup copy of all data, since all files saved on the device will be lost during the firmware.
If you are in doubt about whether to flash for Cyanogenmod 11 Android 4.4, then watch this video.
Preparing for flashing the phone GALAXY ACE
To improve the quality characteristics of a smartphone, it is necessary to carry out some simple manipulations using a personal computer. It should be noted that for the firmware you will need not only a PC, but also access to the Internet in order to download all the software necessary for this process.
To flash GALAXY ACE s5830, you need to perform several preparatory steps:
- Fully charge your phone battery;
- Download on your PC the necessary firmware and drivers that you need;
- Download the firmware for the phone to the hard disk of the personal computer.
IMPORTANT! The category (path) where the firmware will be downloaded should not contain Cyrillic characters. For this reason, it is better to download files to your hard drive along the path D: \ or C: \. Please note that single-file firmware has the .tar extension (*. Md5), while multi-file firmware has * .md5 and * .tar extensions.
After carrying out these simple manipulations, you can proceed directly to the very process of flashing the Samsung GALAXY ACE phone.
Improving the functionality of the smartphone
In order to flash the phone, you must clearly follow the instructions and then in the very near future you will be able to significantly improve the performance of your smartphone. Basic order of work:
- Download and load the Odin_Multi_Downloader_v4.38 program;
- Move it to the folder with the firmware files;
- We drop the special program Cooper_v1.0 into the folder with the firmware;
- We launch Flashmod mode on the phone. To do this, you need to turn off your phone. Then simultaneously press and hold the volume button, power button and the center button. The fact that you have enabled Flashmod will become clear as soon as the Downloading message appears;
- We connect the phone to the computer using the USB connector;
- We launch the Odin Multi Loader application, with which the phone will be flashed. Click on the OPS button and select the Cooper_v1.0.ops file in the window that appears;
- In a new window, select from the list those firmware elements that we need to update;
- Click on the start button.
