Upgrading Samsung Galaxy S II To XXKI3 Firmware

After a successful firmware update to DXKI2 here, I must have been addicted to flashing. I can’t stop thinking which firmware to try. Custom ROMs where out though. I wanted to stick to the latest stock (official/leaked) firmware. I read over at XDA that 2.3.5 (XXKI3) was out. I checked out the comments over various sources in the internet and most of them point to a better battery charge life. Most of them also note improvements in performance. And so I went to try it out.

I went to my favourite source of stock firmware which is www.samfirmware.com and downloaded version XXKI3. After the download was complete I followed the same upgrade instructions as with my previous blog post. You can refer to it here:

http://edmundsspace.blogspot.com/2011/10/flashing-samsung-galaxy-s-ii-to-dxki2.html

After the update I noticed the performance improvements right away. Tapping on the back button gives you an amazingly fast feedback. Various performance can also be noticed like navigating the screen. A few hours of use and one thing I dislike was the removal of the off scroll bounce. Instead, you now get a soft blue glow whenever you over scroll. I could have lived with the update except for a problem I have with the internet connection via my carrier.

Where I originally get a 3G or H connection I can now only get an E. This is very important for me because I often use my phone’s data connection whenever I don’t have an available Wi-Fi connection. Checked CSC and it doesn't have GLB, XTE, or XTC. Hmm... I'm not really sure if it has something to do with the problem though. However, I'm thinking of flashing another CSC or just go back to DXKH2 or KI2. Have you guys tried out XXKI3? What are your experiences?

Flashing Samsung Galaxy S II To DXKI2 Firmware

I purchased the Samsung Galaxy S II (SHW-M250K) less than a month ago and I now have an itch to flash its firmware. I’ve read a lot of users reporting problems after flashing the firmware; some have even reported bricking their devices. This scared me a lot but the itch to upgrade is still there. So, I put a lot of time (make it a few days) into it to research about which firmware to flash to and how to go about doing the actual flashing. I’m what you would call a noob when it comes to flashing roms and this will be my first time.

Strangely, my phone originally came with what I think is the latest Android version which is 2.3.5. However, it is a Korean firmware and I would rather install one that is based on my locale Philippines. I searched and I saw the latest for our country is version DXKI2. I didn’t want to install a modified version of the ROM so I went to samfirware to download.

In preparation for the actual flashing, I downloaded and installed the latest version of Kies. This is required so as to install the necessary drivers for the Galaxy S II to be recognized by the computer. After installing Kies, you simply have to connect the phone to the computer and allow the necessary drivers to automatically install. That’s it for this part.

This time, I’m now ready to proceed with flashing my phone. Before you begin, I suggest that you fully charge your phone.

Step 1: Downloaded Odin3-v1.85. You can simply do a Google search for this one.
Step 2: Went to www.samfirmware.com and registered so I can download a stock ROM.
Step 3: Downloaded ROM DXKI2.
Step 4: Phone managed to charge to 100% while waiting for the download to finish. We’ve got a slow internet connection downloading at a mere 50 Kb/s.
Step 5: Went to SETTINGS > APPLICATIONS > DEVELOPMENT and checked the USB DEBUGGING option.
Step 6: Shutdown the phone by holding down the power button and choosing Power Off.
Step 7: Boot into Odin download mode by pressing the volume down + Home + Power Button at the same time.
Step 8: Kept on holding until I saw the warning to proceed to download mode. Pressed Volume up to confirm.
Step 9: On PC launched Odin and placed the downloaded tar file into the PDA section. This version of the firmware only contains one file.
Step 10: Connected phone to PC and saw it was detected 0:[COM19].
Step 11: Clicked START, waited, and got a SUCCESS prompt.

That means I’m all set and now my phone is running DXKI2 with Android version 2.3.3.

Note: I used a lot of sources over the internet to learn as much as I can about flashing my phone. However, this link really helped a lot.