We saw an extremely early port of Android 4.2 come out for the original Galaxy S, the original Galaxy smartphone that put Samsung on the path to their current success, and now XDA Recognized Developer pawitp, the man behind the CyanogenMod ROMs for the Galaxy S, has released an almost fully working AOSP Android 4.2 ROM, with every major thing working.

Android 4.2 brings quite a few new features that have been talked about a lot, such as a new keyboard with inbuilt Gesture Typing (Swype-like typing), Photo Sphere mode in the camera for 360 degrees panorama photos, Daydreams screensaver mode for displaying pictures and other info when the device is charging, lockscreen widgets, Quick Settings toggles in the status bar, and general performance and stability improvements.

If you’ve been itching to try out the latest version of Android on your Galaxy S, you can follow our step-by-step guide to install the Android 4.2 ROM by pawitp. Keep in mind that this is an unofficial ROM that may have some issues, and no Samsung-specific features will be available as it is a ROM built from stock Android sources.

Let’s take a look at how the Android 4.2 ROM can be installed on the Galaxy S.

Compatibility

The procedure described below is only for the Samsung Galaxy S, model number i9000. Do not try it on any other device.

Warning!

The methods and procedures discussed here are considered risky, so try them out at your own risk, and make sure to read each step carefully before attempting anything. We will not be held responsible if anything goes wrong.

How to Install AOSP Android 4.2 ROM on Galaxy S i9000

NOTE: If you are already running an Android 4.0 or 4.1 on your phone, you can skip steps 3 and 4.

  1. [Important] The procedure to install the ROM includes wiping the data on the phone, so make sure you backup important apps and data such as SMS, contacts, bookmarks, etc. See our Android Backup Guide for help. The personal files on your SD card, however, will not be wiped, so there is no need to back them up. You just need to take a backup of the installed apps and data such as messages if you want.
  2. Remove sim card lock, if you have set it earlier. Go here: Settings » Location and Security » Sim card lock » checkbox should be clear (not selected).
  3. Flash the stock XXJW4 firmware by using → this guide.
  4. Root XXJW4 to obtain Clockworkmod recovery (CWM) by using → this guide.
  5. Download the latest build of the ROM from the source page.
  6. Also download the Google apps package using the link below. AOSP ROMs do not contain Google apps like Gmail, Talk, YouTube, Search, etc by default, so you will need to install the Google apps package as well.
    Download Google Apps | Filename: gapps-jb42-20121120.zip
  7. Copy both the ROM and Google apps files (copy the files, don’t extract them) to the internal storage on the phone.
  8. Turn off your Galaxy S and wait for complete shutdown (wait for vibration and check capacitive button lights).
  9. Then, boot into CWM recovery. To do so, press and hold the Volume Up + Home buttons while powering on the phone. When the screen turns on, let go of all three buttons. The phone will boot up into ClockworkMod recovery in a few seconds.
    In recovery, use Volume keys to scroll up and down and power key to select an option.
  10. Select wipe data/factory reset, then select Yes on next screen to confirm. Wait a while till the data wipe is complete (this will only wipe installed apps and settings, but will not wipe files on the SD card).
  11. Select install zip from sdcard, then select choose zip from sdcard. Scroll to the ROM file and select it. Confirm installation on the next screen.
  12. The phone may reboot once during installation, then continue installing the ROM automatically. If it doesn’t resume and just boots into ClockworkMod recovery, repeat step 11 to install the ROM again.
  13. After ROM installation completes, select choose zip from sdcard again, then select the gapps-jb42-20121120.zip file to install the Google apps package.
  14. Once the installation of the Google apps package is complete, go back to the main recovery menu and select reboot system now to reboot the phone and boot up into Android 4.2. The first boot can take a few minutes, so don’t panic if it takes 5-7 minutes to do so.
  15. Going back to stock ROM: To go back to a stock Samsung ROM again, you can flash the XXJW4 firmware by following the guide linked in step 3 above.

The Android 4.2 Jelly Bean ROM is now up and running on your Galaxy S. Put it through its paces, and see how it works, and do let us know if you run into any problems while installing it. Enjoy!