How to upgrade Samsung Galaxy SII GT-i9100 India to Android ICS 4.0

Samsung has provided for Android ICS 4.0 update for Galaxy SII in many countries. Now Asian countries are also flooded with official upgrades of 4.0 for Galaxy SII. Finally, for Indian Galaxy SII, Samsung has brought this upgrade. If you are from any other country and unable to find the upgrade for your country, mention it in comments section below and I will help you in finding the firmware for your region.

Steps before Upgrading:

1. Take backup of Contacts. Go to Contacts > Press Menu button > Click on More > Import/Export > Export to SD card > Confirm by pressing Yes.
2. Take backup of your messages. For this, you need an app. I personally use SMS backup & Restore Pro by Ritesh Sahu, you can get it free, check  this article.
3. Take backup of the installed apps. For this you need to use a file explorer app, I used ES File Explorer. To take the backup of the apps installed, Open ES File Explorer > Press Menu button > Click on Manager > Click App Manager > Press Multi-select button on the top and select all the apps > Press Menu key > Click on Backup. The backup will be taken in SD card “backup” folder.
4. Take backup of current settings and application data. Go to Settings >Privacy settings > Put a check mark on Back up my data and Automatic Restore.

Shut down your Galaxy SII GT-i9100 and remove SD card and SIM card. (Don’t Power On your Galaxy SII GT-i9100)

Firmware details:

PDA: I9100XXLPQ

CSC: I9100ODDLP7

Country/Carrier: India

Date: May 2012

Version: 4.0.3

Files required for the process:

Firmware file: Click here to download.

Odin downloader: Click here to download.

Step by step Process:

1. Unzip and extract the files that you have downloaded to a specific folder.
2. Run Odin downloader.
3. Click on PDA and browse and select the file, “GT-I9100_INU_I9100XXLPQ_I9100ODDLP7_I9100DDLP8.tar.md5”. 
4. Now we need to go to download mode in your Galaxy SII GT-i9100. Hold Volume down Key + OK button simultaneously and press the Power Button. Release the buttons if you see the downloading icon on screen (if you see a warning message, press on Volume Up key once to enter into the download mode).
5. Once you are in the Download mode, connect it to USB data cable and then to PC and wait for ODIN to detect the phone. Once detected, the COM PORT 1 MAPPING box will become yellow and the phone’s port will be detected.
6. Click on start to begin the firmware update process. Wait until the green bar in the first box reached to the end. It will reboot your Galaxy SII GT-i9100 twice or thrice.
7. Once done, it will give a message as PASS in the COM PORT box as well as message section.
8. Disconnect the phone from USB. Go to Settings > About Phone and check the Firmware Version.
9. Now shut down the phone to go to recovery mode to wipe off the data. For this, you need to press Volume up key + OK button simultaneously along with Power button. Release the buttons when you see the recovery mode.
10. In the recovery menu, use the volume down key to go to wipe data/factory reset and press home button. Then go down to wipe cache partition and press on home button again. Now select reboot system now to reboot your Galaxy SII-i9000.
11. Once it restarts, shut it down again and insert SD card and SIM card and now your Samsung Galaxy SII GT-i9100 is upgraded with Android ICS 4.0.

Warning: Make sure your cell is fully charged while doing this and take proper back up of apps, contacts and SMS before trying this. If you face any problem while upgrading, try to redo the process. You can also write your issues or queries in comment and we will help you out. Do at your own risk. We will not be responsible if you end up screwing your phone.

We are wiping off the data and cache partition to make sure you don’t face any compatibility issues with the apps that were already installed. You might try using without wiping off the data but it is not recommended. As I said in the beginning, this firmware is for Indian Samsung Galaxy SII. If you have any other region’s SII, you can ask for the firmware file in the comments section below. 

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