This custom ROM is stable, fast and usable. It has only one issue with the video recording. But don’t worry as with release of new updates that bug will get easily cleared up. As you can see from screenshots, this ROM is so beautifully customized that you’ll enjoy and experience the combined features from Android 5.1.1 Lollipop OS and Cyanogenmod 12.1 on your Galaxy S Advance. Those who wish to experience the Android 5.1.1 Lollipop OS on their Galaxy S Advance can follow our step by step guide given below.
Try this at your own risk. Neither I nor do the developers of this ROM will be held responsible if any damage happens to your smartphone by following this guide. Although I assure you no such thing will happen if you read, follow and implement every step correctly. Remember to implement these steps only on Samsung Galaxy S Advance bearing model number GT-I9070. Do not flash this CM 12.1 ROM on any other device or variant. If tried your device may turn into semi bricked / non functioning state. It’s always better to check your device’s model number from Menu–>Settings–>About phone before proceeding further.
Pre-Requisites:
- Make sure you’ve charged your Galaxy S Advance at least up to 60%. This is important as lack of battery can interrupt the process thus increasing further problems.
- It is highly recommended to backup all your data including contacts, messages, call logs, apn settings, memos etc. For the safe side, you can transfer all the data on PC or your phones external SD card.
- A folder called EFS present in your phones system directory contains all your phones specific information such as the IMEI, wireless devices MAC addresses, product code, and much more. If by mistake this folder gets wiped out then your device will be completely useless & will no longer be recognized by your carrier. Refer our article to backup and restore EFS/IMEI data:
- Your Samsung Galaxy S Advance must be Rooted.
- Make sure you have installed mobile specific drivers on your PC. This is important so to recognize your phone when connected via USB cable. You can install them by installing Samsung Kies or manually install them from the link given below:
- Make sure you have installed latest custom recovery like Clockworkmod (CWM) or TWRP before flashing this CM 12.1 ROM. If not, then don’t worry just follow the steps given below:
Step 2: Power off your Galaxy S Advance completely and boot into recovery mode.
Step 3: For doing so, press and hold Volume up + Home button (middle button) + Power button until you land into stock recovery mode.
Step 4: Using Volume keys navigate to the ‘apply update from SD card’ option and then select this CWM recovery using Home button.
Step 5: After successfully flashing it, return to the main menu and select reboot system now option to restart your Galaxy S Advance.
That’s it! You’ve flashed the latest CWM recovery. Let’s flash the Android 5.1.1 Lollipop ROM CM12.1 now.
Procedure to install Android 5.1.1 Lollipop on Galaxy S Advance GT-I9070:
Procedure:
Step 1: Download both the zip package files in a folder on your PC. Do not extract them.
Step 2: Using USB data cable connect your Galaxy S Advance to PC, enable mass storage mode and transfer both the downloaded files on your phones SD card.
Note: If your phone is having problem to connect PC, make sure device drivers are properly installed or change USB cable or port.
Step 3: Disconnect your device from PC & switch it off completely. Now you need to enter your phone into CWM recovery mode. Recovery mode can be entered by pressing & holding Volume up + Home button (middle button) + Power button together till you land into recovery.
Note: Touch won’t work in recovery mode. So use Volume keys for navigating up and down and use Home button for selection.
Before flashing any custom ROM it is necessary to backup your current ROM. The same can be done by using nandroid backup. This nandroid backup is the backup of your entire operating system & is always helpful during the failure while flashing process or during any problem with the ROM, then you can easily restore your saved previous ROM.
Refer our detailed article for taking Nandroid backup:
Step 4: For taking nandroid backup, navigate to the ‘backup & restore’ option on the recovery mode itself and on the next screen select ‘backup’ option. This will make a complete nandroid backup of your current ROM and it’ll be saved in your phones SD card.
Step 5: Then you need to wipe the data/cache present on your device. For that navigate to the ‘wipe data/factory reset’ option and on the next screen select ‘wipe cache partition’ option. This will clear all the data & caches from your phones internal memory respectively. A backup of entire data must be done before attempting this step.
Step 6: Then navigate to the Advanced option located on the recovery mode itself. Select Reboot Recovery option on the next page.
Wait until you boot again into recovery.
Let’s flash the Android 5.1.1 Lollipop based CM 12.1 ROM now.
Step 7: Go to the ‘install zip from SD card’ option using Volume keys & select it using Home button. Then on the next screen select ‘choose zip from SD card’ option. As soon as you select this option, it will show all the data present on your external SD card. Just search for the CM 12.1 ROM which you’ve copied earlier and select it. On the next page select ‘Yes’ option to start the actual Android 5.1.1 Lollipop flashing process. It will take few minutes to complete successfully.
Step 8: After completing the process again select ‘wipe data/factory reset’ option and ‘wipe cache partition’ option to clear all your phones data & cache. This step is essential to solve the boot loop issue.
Step 9: Similarly flash the Google Apps (containing Google Play Store, Maps, Gmail, GTalk etc.) as you’ve flashed this Cyanogenmod 12.1 custom ROM. Just remember not to wipe data/cache after flashing it.
Step 10: Everything completes here. Just restart your Galaxy S Advance by selecting ‘reboot system now’ option from the recovery mode. Note that this first boot will take more time to start than usual. But don’t worry after a couple of boots it’ll be normal.
Note: If you want to restore back your previous Rom, then you can do that by going back to the recovery mode and selecting ‘Backup and Restore->Restore’ option.
Congo! The latest Cyanogenmod 12.1 custom ROM based on Android 5.1.1 Lollipop has been successfully flashed on your Samsung Galaxy S Advance GT-I9070 smartphone. You can verify the same from Menu->Settings->About Phone. Enjoy Android L full featured ROM on your smartphone. This is not an official firmware but an unofficial custom ROM. You may share your experience as well as any problem, query through the comments. I’ll be glad to help you. Till then Enjoy!
