Codename Android (CNA) is a fully open source Ice Cream Sandwich Android 4.0 based custom ROM that focuses on speed, usability and putting in a lot of customization and tweakable settings. It has been gaining ground as one of the top custom ROMs for Android devices lately, and now the Samsung Captivate has officially been added to the supported list of Codename Android, which means you can get official CNA ROMs instead of having to rely on unofficial ports.

The ROM is a beta version and in the nightlies stage, where a new update of the ROM comes out every 24 hours (ideally), bringing all the changes made to the ROM by the developers in those 24 hours. This lets you get updates on a regular basis. However, due to the beta/nightly status of the ROM, bugs and issues are to be expected and new bugs can also crop up from time to time.

Read on to find out how you can flash Codename Android ROM on your Samsung Captivate.

Compatibility

This ROM and the guide below are compatible only and only with the Samsung Captivate, model number I897. It’s not compatible with any other device. So, be sure to try this only on Samsung Captivate and not any other device.

Warning!

The methods and procedures discussed here are considered risky and you should not attempt anything if you don’t know exactly what you are doing. If any damage occurs to you or your device, including a bricked, non-functional device, we won’t be held liable. You have been forewarned!

ROM Info

Developer/Maintainer → sixstringsg

Pre-Installation Requirements:

  1. Rooted Samsung Captivate with Clockworkmod Recovery installed.
  2. Make sure the battery is sufficiently charged. At least 50% is recommended.
  3. This procedure will wipe all your apps, data and settings (but it will NOT touch your SD cards, so don’t worry about those). Backup your Apps and important data — bookmarks, contacts, SMS, APNs (internet settings), etc. This Android backup guide would help you.

How to Install CNA ROM on Samsung Captivate

  1. Download the latest version of the ROM to your PC from the original development page.
  2. Download the latest version of the Google Apps package. This will install apps like Market, Gmail, etc. which are not present in the ROM.
    Download Link
  3. Transfer the downloaded zip files from step 1 and step 2 to the root of the internal SD card.
  4. Turn off the phone. Start Clockworkmod recovery. In recovery, use Volume keys to scroll up and down and power key to select an option.
  5. [Optional] Perform a Nandroid Backup of your existing ROM, so that you can always restore it from recovery if something does not work out with this rom. To perform a backup, select Backup and Restore » On the next screen, select Backup again.
  6. Select “wipe data/factory reset”, then select “Yes” on next screen to confirm data wipe (will NOT wipe your SD cards).
  7. Now select “install zip from sdcard”, then select “choose zip from sdcard”. Scroll to the ROM file on the sdcard and select it.
  8. Now confirm installation by selecting “Yes – Install *your_rom_name*.zip” on the next screen. The ROM will start installing.
  9. After the ROM finishes installing, select “go back” to go back to the main recovery menu.
  10. Now repeat step 7, but this time select the Google apps package file you downloaded in step 2 to install the Google apps package. Confirm installation by selecting “Yes” on the next screen.
  11. After the installation is complete, select “go back” then select “reboot system now” to reboot the phone.

Updating to Newer Versions of the ROM

As a new update of the ROM comes out regularly due to the nightly status, updating to newer versions can be done by doing the following:

  1. Download the latest update from the development thread.
  2. Also download the Google apps package.
  3. Copy both the zip files to the internal SD card and install it as described in steps 5 to 10 in the main procedure above to update to the latest version of the ROM.

The official Codename Android Ice Cream Sandwich ROM is now up and running on your Samsung Captivate. Visit the original development page to get more info and to get the latest updates on the ROM. Share your thoughts on the ROM in the comments below.