The Samsung Galaxy Note GT-N7000 first came out with Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread onboard, plus TouchWiz, Samsung's custom user interface. Not soon thereafter, Google released Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS), which users of the Galaxy Note also wanted to upgraded to — and did officially, after Samsung rolled out ICS to the Galaxy Note.
Some, however, prefer their Ice Cream Sandwich vanilla-flavored instead of Samsung-flavored, so they turn to AOSP-based custom ROMs for their servings. CyanogenMod 9, based on AOSP sources for ICS, is one such custom ROM, and brings a host of improvements to the Galaxy Note, such as a leaner and snappier user interface.
In this guide, you will learn how to flash CyanogenMod 9 on the Galaxy Note N7000.
Warning
- The instructions in this guide are intended for use with the Samsung Galaxy Note, model number GT-N7000. Applying these instructions on another device or model may produce undesired outcomes.
- The information in this guide is provided for instructional and educational purposes only. There is no guarantee that these instructions will work under your specific and unique circumstances.
- Use these instructions at your own risk. We shall not hold any responsibility or liability for whatever happens to you or your device arising from your use of the info in this guide.
- Read and understand the whole guide first before actually performing the instructions.
Requirements
- Samsung Galaxy Note GT-N7000 running stock Android 4.0.x Ice Cream Sandwich firmware from Samsung
- A Windows PC
- WinRAR, 7-Zip, or any other archiving software capable of extracting tarballs (TAR files)
- Download the following if your phone doesn't have ClockworkMod Recovery yet:
- Download the following to your PC:
- Make sure your device's battery still has at least 70% power. You don't want the device to shut down in the middle of the procedure.
- Backup all personal data on your phone to make sure you have a copy of your personal data (e.g., contacts, SMS, MMS, Internet settings, Wi-Fi passwords, and the like) in case the procedure in this guide erases such data.
Instructions
If your phone already has ClockworkMod Recovery, skip steps 2 to 14.
- Copy the CyanogenMod 9 ZIP file and the GApps package file to the root of your phone's SD card.
- Install Heimdall Suite 1.3.2 on your computer. Make sure you install Microsoft Visual C++ first before installing Heimdall.
- Locate where Heimdall Suite is installed on your computer. Open the installation folder.
- Untar/unzip the hardcore kernel (hardcore-speedmod-ics-recovery-n7000.tar). You will get a file called zImage after untarring the tarball. Copy zImage into the Heimdall installation folder.
- Turn off your Galaxy Note.
- Connect the USB cable to the computer, but not to your Galaxy Note.
- As you hold down the Home and Volume Down buttons on your Galaxy Note, connect the other end of the USB cable to your Galaxy Note. This will boot your phone into Download Mode.
- On your computer, open the drivers folder inside the Heimdall Suite installation folder. You will find a file named zadig.exe inside. Double-click on this file to launch it. A menu will appear.
- From the popup dialog, click Options > List All Devices.
- Select “Samsung USB Composite Device” or “Gadget Serial” from the drop-down list.
- Click the Install Driver button. If Windows complains of driver signing or verification, just ignore it and choose to continue installing the driver.
- Open a command prompt on your computer. Change directory to the Heimdall Suite installation folder. (On Windows 7, you can easily open a command prompt from within the Heimdall folder by holding down the Shift key while right-clicking on an empty area in the Heimdall folder. From the context menu, select “Open command prompt here.”)
- Enter the following command at the command prompt:
heimdall flash --kernel zImage
- The kernel will be flashed to your phone. You will see a blue progress bar on your phone as the kernel is being flashed. Your phone will automatically reboot afterwards. At this point, your phone now has ClockworkMod Recovery 5.
- Turn off your phone.
- Boot the phone into Recovery Mode by holding down the Volume Up and Home buttons while pressing the Power button.
- From the recovery menu, select Backup and restore > Backup to create a NANDroid backup of your current ROM.
- Select Wipe data/factory reset and confirm the wipe on the next screen.
- Select Wipe cache partition and confirm the wipe on the next screen.
- Select Install ZIP from sdcard > Choose ZIP from sdcard and select the CyanogenMod ZIP file. Installation of the ROM will begin once you confirm installation.
- Install the GApps package in the same manner as in step 20.
- Return to the main recovery menu.
- Select Reboot system now to boot your phone into CyanogenMod 9.
Terrific! You have successfully flashed Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich via CyanogenMod 9 on your Samsung Galaxy Note GT-N7000.
