The Samsung Galaxy S2 is a popular choice for many users all over the world, and when it comes to custom ROMs, the device is certainly not left far behind. What do you get when you have two great custom ROMs and mash them together? The result is the astonishing HyDrOG3NICS ROM.

Purely based on the latest Android 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich update, the HyDrOG3NICS ROM promises to excel in performance and quality in terms of user experience.

The HyDrOG3NICS ROM combines two AOSP-based ROMs, namely AOKP (Android Open Kang Project) and CyanogenMod 9, giving users a rock-stable CyanogenMod 9 build with the visual and performance customizations found in AOKP ROMs.

Take note that the HyDrOG3NICS ROM is still in its beta stages as both CM9 and AOKP are currently under heavy development. Expect to see bugs and disabled features found in CM9 and AOKP ROMs to be also present in the HyDrOG3NICS ROM.

Among the known issues in HyDrOG3NICS are the following:

• Storage: MTP File Transfer partially broken (USB Sharing)
• Storage: Media Scanner makes CPU going crazy, device gets hot, battery goes down
• Camera: video recording doesn’t store recorded videos
• Camera: crashes when using face effects
• FM Radio: not implemented
• TV Out: not working yet

Requirements

This tutorial is intended to be compatible only with the Samsung Galaxy S2 with model number GT-I9100. It may not be compatible with any other Galaxy S2 variant.   You could irreversibly damage your incompatible phone if you you apply this upgrade. To check your device’s model number, you can see it under “Settings > About phone”.

Comply with the following requirements before proceeding:

• Rooted Samsung Galaxy S2 GT-I9100 with ClockworkMod Recovery installed.  (Need help? Check our guide for rooting the Samsung Galaxy S2 GT-I9100.)
• Fully charged battery or at least 70% battery left.
• Backup of your personal phone data.

Instructions

1. Download the latest version of the HyDrOG3NICS ROM from here and save it to your PC.  Do not extract the ZIP file.
2. Connect your phone to your PC via USB cable.
3. Copy the downloaded ZIP file into your phone’s internal sdcard (not the external microSD).
4. Switch off your phone.
5. Reboot the phone into recovery mode. You can do this by pressing and holding down the Volume Up, Home, and Power buttons simultaneously until you see the Samsung logo.
6. Backup your existing ROM by selecting Backup and Restore > Backup.
7. Completely wipe your phone data by doing the following:
   • Select “Wipe Data/Factory Reset” then select “Wipe Data/Factory reset” on the screen that follows.
   • From the main menu, select “Advanced”, then select “Wipe Dalvik Cache”, then confirm Wipe Dalvik cache on the screen that follows.
   • From the main menu, select “Mounts and storage.”  Select “Format system” and confirm the operation on the next screen.
8. Return to main recovery menu.
9. Select “Install zip from SD card.”
10. Select “Choose zip from SD card”, and browse for the downloaded ZIP file that you copied earlier.  Select the file.
11. Confirm the installation by selecting “Yes” to begin flashing the ROM. It may take 5 to 10 minutes for the installation process to finish.
12. After the installation is complete, head back to the main menu by selecting “go back” then select “reboot system now” to reboot your phone.

Optional: Enabling Button Backlights

The backlight of capacitive buttons are currently disabled by default in the ROM.  You can enable them.  Just download turnthedamnbutton.zip from here, copy the file to your phone’s root storage, reboot the phone into recovery mode, and install the file as in steps 9 to 12 above.

Congratulations! You have successfully installed HyDrOG3NICS ROM on your Samsung Galaxy S2 GT-I9100.