As usual, the first smartphone to get the newest Android firmware, ICS 4.0.4, was the Galaxy Nexus. This was not a surprise for anyone although all the Android users would most likely want it on their device. Unfortunately, most of them will have to wait and rely, once again, on the manufacturer and their operator. Galaxy S2 owners have two choices at the moment: either wait until Samsung wakes up and updates their device too (this has often been proven to be the wrong choice), or follow the below tutorial and get ICS 4.0.4 today. The XDA developers community has once again worked faster than the above mentioned Korean giant and, using their knowledge, we will show you, in the following article, how to install the F1 GalaxyNexus ROM on your Galaxy S2 I9100.

Please note that this custom ROM is not an official Samsung firmware so it will most certainly contain some bugs. The developer assures the users that he will update the ROM regularly and we can tell you that it can be used for day to day tasks with no problems.

He also gives us some system details:

  • Android ICS 4.0.4 (IMM76D – Android-4.0.4_r1.1)
  • All ICS Features and Apps (Nothing excluded from AOSP)
  • No Visual Changes!
  • Stock ICS Look and Feel
  • This will turn your Samsung Galaxy S2 into a Galaxy Nexus
  • Rooted (Superuser)
  • BusyBox Installed
  • No 3rd Party App
  • ZERO Bloatware
And some known issues:

What you need to know and do before downloading and installing the F1 GalaxyNexus ROM on your Samsung Galaxy S2 I9100:

  • note that onebitzero.com will not be held responsible for any damage you might do to your device while and after you flash F1 GalaxyNexus on your Galaxy S2 I9100. Installing a new firmware to an Android device requires caution, so please continue at your own risk!
  • charge the battery of your Galaxy S2 I9100 to 100%, to be on the safe side.
  • back-up all relevant data like messages, contacts, multimedia files and internet settings on your device.
  • your device needs to have ClockworkMod recovery (CWM) installed. If you don’t have it, you can find a tutorial on our site: Tutorial – How To Install ClockworkMod Recovery On Android.
Android 4.0.4 On Galaxy S2 I9100 With F1 GalaxyNexus ROM

Android 4.0.4 On Galaxy S2 I9100 With F1 GalaxyNexus ROM

How to install F1 GalaxyNexus on the Samsung Galaxy S2 I9100, step by step tutorial:

  1. Go to the developer’s page and download the latest version of the F1 GalaxyNexus.
  2. Connect the device to your computer via the USB cable.
  3. Transfer the zip file to the internal memory of the Galaxy S2.
  4. Turn off the device and boot into Clockworkmod recovery. To boot into CWM, press Volume Up, Home and Power buttons, all at the same time.
  5. Once in CWM recovery, select “wipe data/factory reset”>”Yes”.
  6. Select “install zip from sdcard”>”choose zip from sdcard”. Now you have to navigate to the file you copied on your internal SD card at step 3 and select it. As usual, in recovery mode, navigate using the Volume keys and select with the Power key.
  7. One last “Yes” and the process will start.
  8. IMPORTANT: While installing the ROM, the phone will boot reboot in recovery mode. Do not panic, this is normal.
  9. Once the installation process is over, select “go back”>“reboot system now”.
  10. Now you have download and install the Google Apps package (Gmail, Market etc). Go here and download gapps-ics-20120317-signed.zip.
  11. Transfer the zip file to the internal memory of the Galaxy S2.
  12. Reboot once again in CWM and repeat step 6 selecting the file you copied at step 11.
  13. Once the process is complete, select  “go back”>“reboot system now”.
That’s it! You should now have F1 GalaxyNexus ROM on your Galaxy S2. Let us know in the below comment section how the tutorial worked for you and if you had any issues.

...............................................................................................