Ben Reid on February 1, 2012, 6:35 am

Download And Install Official Android 4.0.4 ICS Update On Nexus S 4G [How-To Tutorial]

Those looking for a dose of Ice Cream Sandwich on their Nexus S 4G devices will be pleased to learn that an official ROM has leaked into the wild, with reports suggesting it’s a final build and will begin rolling out over-the-air pretty soon.

Google’s latest iteration of Android has been scrutinized by analysts and consumers alike for lack of release on seemingly capable devices, so any news like this is bound to get mouths watering. Apparently, everything seems to be working just fine, and those of you unwilling to wait around for the official OTA update via Sprint can install right now courtesy of – as ever – the guys over at XDA.

DISCLAIMER: Redmond Pie will not be held responsible if you lose data or your device gets damaged in the following of this guide. Proceed at your own risk.

Step 1: Download the following necessary files:

Step 2: Download Odin and run .exe file

Step 3: Download and extract the firmware file.

Step 4: Open Odin, but be sure not to modify any of the defaults, and do not – under any circumstances – select EFS clear or you will wipe PRL.

Step 5: Select the software files as follows:

Bootloader: SPH-D720-IMM26-BootLoader-signed.tar (checksum: 7d8b0ad9617b832eeac8786dac2305a9)
PDA: SPH-D720LE-IMM26-PDA Signed.tar (checksum: e3c8e116fbb8668bf3ad0d0cd8b16ed6)
Phone: SPH-D720LE-IMM26-Modem-Signed.tar (cheksum: c346cc28067305bec764f061d9a57098)

Step 6: Now you’ll be flashing via Fastboot. Here are the checksums For The IMG Files:

3d3128bc2b4e2243251892c36277dd87 boot.img
a4b95efbc4298105b52817104cb9d8e0 bootloader.img
a00bf94e614c1b61527491843b435a9e recovery.img
f813f065ed3ad0f22df2b9e6d44edeeb signed_radio.img
1d882334f0f4980984a43d67571d1ebf system.img
6a29adb1ec187b4e2eb61104e0fe2f26 userdata.img

If you followed the steps correctly, your Samsung-made Google Nexus S 4G will reboot into a leaked, official build IMM26 of Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich.

If you don’t like the idea of flashing your firmware, we highly recommend holding out for the official update. If the word on the street that this is a final build rings true, then the wait should not be that long, and you’ll soon be able to officially tuck in to that Ice Cream Sandwich you’ve been so craving.

If you stumble across any snags or have lingering queries, check out the thread over at XDA-Developers, where you’ll find a bunch of folks attempting and discussing this procedure.