Samsung Galaxy S2 owners who have bought the GT-I9100G variant will never have to worry about a thing, as the Korean electronics company has finally released the official Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich for the device. Following the Galaxy Note’s own update, Galaxy S2 GT-I9100G owners who’ve waited long for the elusive Ice Cream Sandwich update are absolutely ecstatic.

For those of you who missed out on the update through OTA, we’re happy to tell you that you can still update via the manual way via Odin. The update, known officially as XXLPQ, is a major ICS update that is tailor-made for the Galaxy S2 GT-I9100G. The XXLPQ software update is already rolling out in India and should be available to the rest of the world soon.

Warning

• The instructions in this guide are intended for use with the Samsung Galaxy S2, model number GT-I9100G. 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 S2 GT-I9100G
• A Windows PC
• USB device drivers for the Galaxy S2 should installed be installed on your computer. If you do not have them yet, you can get them by installing Samsung KIES.
• Temporarily disable Samsung KIES, anti-virus and firewall software as they may disrupt Odin.
• Enable USB Debugging on your phone. You can do this by heading to Settings > Applications > Development > USB Debugging. Make sure that there is a check mark beside that option.
• 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.
• • For backup tips, check our guides on how to sync your data to the cloud and how to create local backups of your mobile data.

Instructions

1. Download the following files and save them to your PC:
   • ICS XXLPQ (I9100XWLPD_I9100NEELP4_NEE.zip, 397 MB)
   • Odin 1.85 (Odin 1.85.zip, 199 kB)
2. Extract the downloaded ICS XXLPQ file using any archive extraction software such as WinZIP or 7-Zip. You should get 2 files.
3. Extract the contents of the Odin 1.85.zip file and place the extracted files inside a single folder.
4. Switch off your Galaxy S2.
5. Boot into Download mode. You can do this by pressing and holding down the Volume down, Home, and Power buttons. A Warning! screen will pop-up, indicating that you are about to boot into Download Mode.
6. On your PC, double-click the Odin3 V1.85.exe file to start the Odin3 application.
7. Connect your phone to your PC via USB cable. You should be seeing the message “Added!” in Odin’s message box. This will indicate that your phone has successfully connected with your PC.
8. On the Odin3 window, click the PDA button, then browse for the I9100GXXLPQ_I9100GODDLP7_I9100GDDLP5_HOME.tar.md5 file.
9. Important! Do not make any other changes aside from the ones being instructed in this guide. Leave other options as they are by default.
10. Select the Start button in Odin3 to begin flashing the XXLPQ firmware to your Galaxy S2. Once the flashing is complete, your phone should automatically reboot. You should also get a PASS message in Odin’s message box, confirming a successful installation.
11. As soon as you see the Samsung logo, you can now safely disconnect your phone from your PC.

Congratulations! You have successfully installed the official XXLPQ Ice Cream Sandwich update on your Samsung Galaxy S2 GT-I9100G.