Samsung Galaxy S2 is one of the Flagship devices of Samsung. Unfortunately, Samsung has halted the software updates for Galaxy S2 as it will be busy in developing software for latest flagship devices. But the users need not worry. Even though it isn’t available officially, you can unofficially install Android 5.0 Lollipop on Samsung Galaxy S2 GT-I9100 through CyanogenMod ROM. CM is a community which develops custom Android firmware for devices.

The current CyanogenMod ROM for Galaxy S2 is in beta testing. So, it may have minor bugs. You can continue with the tutorial at your own risk. If you are ready to install Android 5.0 Lollipop on Samsung Galaxy S2, go through the list of prerequisites to ensure successful installation of firmware.

Prerequisites

Check Device Model Number It is vital to check device model number before ROM installation to ensure flashing compatible files on the device. The device model number should be Samsung Galaxy S2 GT-I9100. If the device model number doesn’t match with mentioned one, do not attempt the tutorial. Steps To Be Considered You must have a computer installed with Android SDK or Samsung USB drivers. The Android SDK installs ADB drivers which are required to recognize the device connected to computer.

Enable USB debugging on the Samsung Galaxy S2 which lets the device establish a stable connection with computer via USB. You can do it by following the below mentioned path. In latest versions of Android, the Enable Debugging option will be hidden in depth of settings category. You can follow our guide to enable USB debugging.

Make sure the phone’s battery is at least 60% charged at the start up of tutorial. If battery runs off during unlocking process, it may turn your phone into brick. So, charge the device before tutorial.

Rooting the device erase entire data on the device including internal SD card. So, make sure you create a backup of entire important data. If you are not familiar with Android backup process, you can refer our guide to Backup Android phone data.

Root Samsung Galaxy S2 and install CWM recovery on it to support flashing Lollipop ROM. Are you sure you completed all the above steps? Yes, you can now get started with the unlocking tutorial.

Guide To Install Android 5.0 Lollipop On Samsung Galaxy S2 GT-I9100

Disclaimer: Rooting/Unlocking/Installing custom ROMs and Kernels are not official methods. So, neither device manufacturer nor Droid Word team is responsible if anything goes wrong with your device during the process. This article is only for educational purpose. You can continue with the tutorial at your own risk.

Step-By-Step Tutorial

Download CM12 Android 5.0 ROM and Google Apps to your PC. Connect Galaxy S2 to PC via USB cable and transfer the downloaded files to SD card root. Now turn off the device and get into recovery mode by pressing and holding Volume up+Home+Power buttons together until the menu appears. You can use volume buttons to navigate and power buttons to choose an option in recovery mode. From the menu select wipe data/factory reset and then select wipe cache partition. After completion get into the advanced settings and select wipe dalvik cache. Once completed tap install zip>>Choose zip from SD card, browse and pick the previously copied CM12 Android 5.0 ROM package. The installation process initiates automatically. After completion select go back and tap reboot system now. After successful reboot follow the same process for installation of Google Apps.

Do note that if the Galaxy S2 fails to restart normally, then remove the battery, place it back and follow the above instructions once again.

That’s all! You’ve successfully installed Android 5.0 Lollipop on Galaxy S2 through CM12 ROM. If you got stuck up between these steps, do let us know through the comments section. We may help you out.

Source: XDA