There is some great news for all those on Sprint who opted to go for the all new Google Nexus S 4G. Android 2.3.x Gingerbread CyanogenMod 7.1 Custom ROM in shape of nightly builds is already available for users to flash and enjoy. For those of you who don’t know, CyanogenMod is a custom developed OS for Android phones that frees them from all kind of operator shackles while kicking out any branded bloatware / apps on board. CM builds are mostly out of the box AOSP Android source code with mods and hacks integrated to provide optimum user experience.
The CM nightly builds are mostly auto complied with source kernel of a specific handset and don’t come with any stability guarantees. However CyanogenMod is the most extensively tested, utilized and deployed custom firmware for Android handsets with root. And most of the users have found CM Nightly Builds as stable as final releases or release candidates. Currently there are two nightly releases of CM 7.1 Android 2.3 Gingerbread Custom ROM for Nexus S 4G available and we believe that soon there will be a release candidate available as well. In case you are worried if installing CM Nightlies on your Nexus S 4G might make it unstable, then I’ll suggest waiting for a stable non-Nightly release.
And for the rest of us, who want to give this build a go, the requirements are as under.
Requirements:
- Google Nexus S 4G With Unlocked Bootloader And Root. (You can refer to our Rooting Nexus S 4G guide for instructions)
- CyanogenMod 7.x Android 2.3 Gingerbread Custom ROM For Nexus S 4G [Download]
Instructions:
- The first step is to download CyanogenMod 7.1 ROM for Nexus S 4G and save the file on your desktop. Download link is provided in requirements section above.
- Once done, connect your phone to the computer, tap on Connect as USB disk drive and copy the downloaded ROM file to SD Card root.
- Now download and install ROM Manager from Android Market on your phone.
- After the installation is complete, launch ROM Manager and tap on Flash ClockworkMod Recovery. Make sure that you phone is connected over a stable Wi-Fi internet connection before you install CWM recovery.
- Now use in-app option to reboot your phone in Recovery.
- Once you phone reboots into recovery, first make a Nandroid backup and then WIPE data / Factory Reset.
- Now go to recovery main menu and navigate down to Install Zip From SD Card.
- In the resulting menu, select CM 7.1 ROM file you earlier copied to SD Card root.
- Now sit back and relax while CM installs on your phone.
- After installation is complete, your phone will automatically reboot and you will now be enjoying the awesomeness of CM 7 on your Nexus S 4G.
- CyanogenMod doesn’t come pre-integrated with Google Apps and add-ons so you will need to manually download them from here and flash through Recovery.
In case you are stuck, need support or want to give feedback, then please visit the official XDA thread for this purpose. It is worth mentioning again that CM Nightly builds do not come with any guarantees and they can turn your phone into a brick for several reasons. So be extremely cautious and careful when you attempt this guide.
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