Upgrade Samsung Galaxy Mini Or Pop To Unofficial Android 4.1.1

Android 4.1 (aka Jelly Bean) was announced in the Google I/O event held back in the month of June and it's source code was released to the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) in July 9, 2012. Jelly Bean update aimed to improve the performance and look of user interface in android handsets and thus, introduced new features such as touch anticipation, Project Butter, triple buffering, extended vsync timing, etc to create a fluid and buttery-smooth UI. With the release of source code, the development of CyanogenMod 10 started and is progressing at a rapid pace. Soon many high end android smartphones were running unofficial android 4.1.1 on their handsets. Thanks to a xda-developer, TheWhisp, this became possible for Samsung Galaxy Mini or Pop GT-S5570 smartphone as well. So, in this article we'll discuss about the latest release of cyanogenmod 10 custom rom for galaxy mini as well as upgrade your galaxy mini with this latest android operating system.

The development of cyanogenmod 10 for galaxy mini started back around the end of July month when TheWhisp with his friends released first beta of this rom. Since then, it has been refined with regular updates with a lot of improvements and bug fixes. When I tried the latest nightly, I found it to be quite stable and smooth. And, now I think it's the perfect time to try it out on your galaxy mini or pop s5570 smartphone if you haven't tried it already. While cyanogenmod latest nightly released on 2012/08/19 is not perfect, it's an awesome release of Jelly Bean and I'm quite sure most of you (if not all) will like it. I've also got few screenshots of cm10 at this article, if you want to take a peek at it's look and features.

Cyanogenmod10 For Galaxy Mini GT-S5570

Unlike Cyanogenmod 9, which was incomplete and came with many preference stubs, cyanogenmod 10 has most of the features from cyanogenmod 7 included within the system settings. Added features include navigation bar with soft buttons, lock-screen settings, options to customize Notification Drawer and many more. However, few options are still not available for now but with cyanogenmod team working hard on it, it won't be long before all the options will be ported from CM 7.2. So, let's have a look at the list below which shows what's working and what's not in the latest unofficial Android 4.1.1 release for galaxy mini.

What's Working : 

• Most things are working fine except those that are mentioned below. 

What's Not Working : 

• Camera
• HQ Video Playback
• Native USB Tethering
• Native WiFi Tethering
• Radio

Changelog - CM10 Nightly 19/08/2012 : 

• Optimized boot animation ( no lags now )
• Added high-end graphics
• Fully fixed audio ( it's now in the same level as in ICS )
• Increased refresh-rate (60Hz)
• Added option to enable/disable navigation bar
• Fixed battery usage data
• Fixed text-to-speech
• Disabled smoothness hack to enable video streaming
• Added michie's script to optimize deep sleep
• Optimized Video Playback
• Removed double camera apps and other optimizations. 

[UPDATE!!!] ChangeLog - CM10 Nightly 20/08/2012

• Fixed PIN lock
• Added Samsung proprietary libs for camera
• Video should really work now ( but UI will be slower )
• Disabled Fraunhofer lib, instead using pv (dec) and visualon (enc) 

[UPDATE!!!] ChangeLog - CM10 Nightly 22/08/2012

• Fixed trace
• Enabled framebuffer console to get rid of white screen (also had to disable init logo because Samsung's framebuffer is weird)
• Removed all camera proprietary libs
• Fixed issue that Wi-Fi passwords didn't save after reboot (thanks to denzel)
• Fixed microphone bug (thanks to psyke83)
• Fixed liboemcamera crash
• Re-added "Smooth UI" Patch

NOTE : Latest update has some issues with it like no file manager, etc. You can use ADB for pushing or pulling files. However, be careful before you update. 

Well, that's all with the change log. Overall CM 10 is working great. However, few minor issues are still there. The Wifi password is not saved over reboots, adding you the trouble to input it again after such reboot/restart. Similarly, the battery will drain rapidly if you turn on the Google's Location Services. As a workaround you can disable this service from Location Services Settings when not in use and get deep sleep working for improved battery life. There might be other bugs as well, which I might not have encountered or noticed. You can notify me at the comments below after trying out this custom rom. So, let's proceed ahead and install this awesome rom on your galaxy mini or pop gt-s5570 smart phone.

Requirements

To flash any custom roms on your galaxy mini or pop gt-s5570, you'll need to have the following things on your handset. If you have them already then, you may directly proceed with flashing instructions. Also, users with another custom rom, may directly proceed with flashing instructions.

• Android OS 2.3 and/or above : It is required that you have Android 2.3 Gingerbread firmware installed on your handset. If you are on Froyo, then please upgrade your operating system to latest gingerbread firmware available for your region using Samsung Kies or Odin Multidownloader.
• Custom Recovery : Install any custom recovery that is available for your handset. It is recommend that you use latest version of custom clockworkmod recovery, but, you can use any other alternatives of your choice.

Flashing Instructions

Disclaimer : Do It At Your Own Risk!

1. Download required files and updates from below :
• Unofficial Cyanognemod 10  : cm-10-20120820-UNOFFICIAL-tass.zip
• Cyanogenmod 10 20120822 (latest) : cm-10-20120822-UNOFFICIAL-tass.zip
• Unofficial CyanogenMod 10 : cm-10-20120819-UNOFFICIAL-tass.zip 
• Latest Google Apps for Jelly Bean : gapps-jb-20120802-signed.zip
2. Copy the downloaded files to the (root directory of) your sd-card.
3. Reboot your device to Custom Recovery (Press Home + Power Button).
4. [Optional but, Recommended] Do a Nandroid Backup of your current rom.
5. Now from recovery main menu and select Wipe Data option.
6. Confirm data wipe by selecting Yes.
7. Now flash this latest nightly of Android 4.1.1 jellybean based CM10 custom rom following the steps below in clockworkmod recovery :
• Choose Install Zip From Sd Card option.
• Select Choose Zip From SD Card option.
• Now select cm-10-201208020-UNOFFICIAL-tass.zip downloaded in step 1.
• Confirm the installation and wait till the rom is installed on you handset.
8. Flash Latest Google Apps for Jelly Bean in CWM recovery.  
• Choose Install Zip From Sd Card option.
• Select Choose Zip From SD Card option.
• Now select the gapps-jb-20120802-signed.zip file which you downloaded in step 1.
• Confirm the installation and wait till the zip is installed on you handset.
9. Reboot your device from your recovery main menu when done. 

Note : If gapps from above doesn't work, use this one : Gapps-JellyBeans.zip

That's all. You've installed latest Android 4.1.1 software on your Samsung Galaxy Mini GT-S5570 smartphone. I hope you'll love the look and feel of Jelly Bean based cyanogenmod 10 rom on your handset. So, what do you think about this custom rom? Don't forget to share you views with us at the comments below.

Also, if you like the rom then, please consider donating a small sum of money to the developer, TheWhisp, and contribute towards android development. You can also head over to his development thread over xda-forum and thank him for his work. Happy Flashing!