How to Install Android 4.0.3 ICS RC3.1 on the Samsung Galaxy S GT-I9000

Happy owners of the Samsung Galaxy S GT-I9000 will have more reasons to celebrate as an all-new RC version of Android 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich for the Samsung Galaxy S GT-I9000 has finally arrived. Also known as RC3.1 ICS Android 4.0.3, the upgrade promises new exciting features and bug fixes for the previous RC version.

Featuring a 4.0-inch Super AMOLED touchscreen together with a 1 GHz Cortex-A8 processor and 512 MB RAM, the Galaxy S makes running Ice Cream Sandwich a worthwhile experience.  The RC3.1 firmware build is still at its beta stage and is not completely stable yet, although all the core features of ICS are intact and you would rarely encounter any force close errors.

RC3.1 firmware of Android 4.0.3 ICS for the Galaxy S is not an official release from or officially endorsed by Samsung.  Though, if you want the official update from Samsung, you might want to wait for the Value Pack for the Galaxy S that Samsung has promised and which carries similar features as those of firmware XXJVU.

Working features in this RC3.1 firmware include the following:

• Camera
• Bluetooth
• Wireless tethering and wired tethering
• GPS
• Wi-Fi
• Face Unlock
• Panorama mode
• FM radio
• Hardware acceleration
• Radio interface link
• Audio
• Touchscreen
• Calendar and Contacts sync
• Android Market
• Internal and external storage

If you still wish to proceed with installing RC3.1 of Android 4.0.3 to your Galaxy S, then be forewarned that we shall not be held responsible for any untoward incident that may happen during the installation of the RC3.1 Ice Cream Sandwich firmware. Proceed at your own risk.

Requirements

• Rooted Samsung Galaxy S GT-I9000, preferably running on Android 2.3.6 firmware version XXJVU. (If you want to update your phone to firmware version XXJVU, see this guide.
• Download the Android 4.0.3 RC3.1 ROM package from here and save it to your computer. Do not extract the file contents.

Instructions

1. Connect your phone to your PC via USB cable and copy the downloaded ROM file into the root of your sd card. Make sure that you don’t place it deep inside subfolders on memory card as there might be a huge chance that the file may not be detected.
2. Enable USB debugging on your device by heading to “Settings > Applications > Development > USB Debugging.” Make sure that there’s a check mark beside the USB Debugging option.
3. Turn off your phone and enter recovery mode. You can do this by simultaneously pressing down the Volume Up key and OK button, then pressing down the Power button.
4. Once inside recovery mode, select “Wipe data/ factory reset”, then select “Wipe cache partition” to clean the present cache found in the device.
5. Select “Install zip from sd card”, then “Choose zip from sd card”.  Select the ICS RC3.1 file that you have copied to your phone. The installation process may vary and may take 5-10 minutes before the installation is completed.
6. Once the ICS firmware has been successfully updated, select “++++ Go Back ++++” and select “Reboot system now” to reboot your phone and apply the changes. Please note that it may take a while for your phone to boot back to normal as this is the first time it is running Ice Cream Sandwich.

Congratulations! You have successfully installed RC3.1 of Android 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich on your Samsung Galaxy S.