How to Update Samsung Galaxy 5 I5500 with Alpha ICS Android 4.0.3 Firmware

Who says that only the Android users who are having the costly phone can experience the goodness of Ice Cream Sandwich?If you are the one who knows about things like Rooting or say firmware upgrades then here comes a great news as in the due course of this article we will be checking out on how you can power your Samsung Galaxy 5 I5500 with the latest alpha version of ICS Android 4.0.3 firmware. Please note that this version is a highly unstable version and is currently in the making, so it’s not recommended for the normal users who are not well versed with such things. There is no ETA on by when there will be an official Roll out of this firmware unofficially but as in when it arrives, we will keep you posted about this. This version of ICS is brought to you by Cyanogen Mod 9.

Disclaimer: We should not be held responsible in any manner in whole or in parts if anything wrong happens to your device after following the instructions though it is very unlikely if you follow the instructions which are mentioned in this article carefully.

There are somethings which are already working, while there are few more which needs bit time to work on. All the things which work and which not are listed below. To make things simple for you, we will also be checking out on what are the list of pre requisites you need to follow and then after that we will proceed to the next page where we will be checking out on how to apply this firmware with the help of a simple tutorial.

Working:
Telephony
Audio
SMS, MMS etc…
Wifi
Keyboard

Not Working (In Building Stage)
Camera and the good rest

Pre Requisites:

• To safeguard all the data present in your phone, you need to back up all the data present in your phone with the help of below mentioned steps so that just in case if the data gets corrupted or deleted, the same can be restored easily. Don’t backup the data using the PC Suites as it won’t support the device after applying this firmware of ICS.

SMS – Use “SMS Backup & Restore app”,
Contacts – Sync with the Gmail application,
Call Log - Call Log and Restore
Songs, Videos, Files – Copy to internal / External SD Card,
APN and MMS Settings – Note down from the path “Applications > Settings > Wireless and Network > Mobile Networks > Access Point Names”

• Once you have backed up the data, ensure that the minimum charge left in the device is at least 60% so as to ensure that the device doesn’t get turned Off in the middle of firmware update.
• Enable the USB Debugging Mode in your phone from the path “Settings > Applications > Development > USB debugging. Ensure that the USB Debugging option is ticked as shown in the below screen capture. 
  
• So assuming that you have followed all the instructions present in your phone, proceed to next page where we have summed up a detailed tutorial on how to apply this alpha version of ICS Android 4.0.3 Firmware                               Procedure to Update Samsung Galaxy 5 I5500 with ICS Android 4.0.3 Firmware:
  • Samsung Galaxy 5 I5500 needs to be rooted before you proceed to the process of installing the ICS Alpha firmware of 4.0.3 release by Cyanogen Mod.
  • Download ICS Android 4.0.3 Package for Galaxy 5 I5500 and Google Apps in your computer and connect your phone with the computer with the help of original USB cable.
  • Copy the downloaded ICS Zip file in your phone’s SD Card, not deep into any of the sub folders. After this, you need to remove the connected phone and turn off the phone to enter the device in the recovery mode.
  • The recovery mode can be entered by “Pressing Volume Up key+ Menu Key + Power ON the device”. Once you enter into the recovery mode, you need to select “Wipe data/factory reset” & “Wipe Cache partition” so that this will clear the cache which is there in your device.
                                      
  
  Select “install zip from sd card” > “choose zip from sd card” > and select the Zip file of ICS 4.0.3 Firmware which you have placed in your phone.
   
  • After this, you need to select “++++ Go Back ++++” and then select “reboot system now” to restart the phone.
  • Please note that, it may even take more than 8 – 10 minutes for showing up the home screen. After the home screen shows up, you need to again turn your phone off to boot the device in the recovery mode.
  • In recovery mode select “Wipe data/factory reset” & “Wipe Cache partition” so that this will clear the cache after which select “++++ Go Back ++++” and select “reboot system now” which will restart the Galaxy 5.

  Tip: Just in case if the device refuses to boot up, then you need to retry the whole process from the start by re inserting the battery.

  So there you are with the ICS Android 4.0.3 firmware on your Galaxy 5 I5500 device. Do let us know in the comments section just in case if you face any issues as we will try our level best to sort out the same.