Sprint has become the first US carrier to roll out the official Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update to a Galaxy S2 variant – the major update is now available for the Epic 4G Touch via Samsung’s Kies PC Suite, carrying the build number GB27.

The Jelly Bean update includes all the expected changes that we’ve retrodden plenty of times – smoother interface aka Project Butter enhancements, Google Now, enhanced notifications, improved browser performance, resizable widgets, ability to disable notifications for individual apps, enhanced accessibility, offline voice typing, and improved under the hood performance and stability.

Being a major update, Sprint has decided not to make it available over the air due to its size, so hooking your phone to a computer is the only way you can upgrade. If you don’t want to use Kies or prefer to manually upgrade, you can use our step-by-step guide to do so, which is specially useful if you’re currently running a custom ROM but want to make the jump to the official update.

Let’s take a look at how to update the Epic 4G Touch to the official Android 4.1 Jelly Bean upgrade manually.

Compatibility

The procedure described below is only for the Samsung Epic 4G Touch on Sprint, model number SPH-D710. 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 Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean on Epic 4G Touch

  1. [Important] You might need to wipe the data on the phone to make the firmware boot up properly, especially if the firmware is flashed over a custom ROM. Hence, to be sure you do not lose any data, backup your Apps and important data — bookmarks, contacts, SMS, APNs (internet settings), etc. This Android backup guide would help you. The SD card contents are always safe, so there is no need to back up those. Only backup apps and personal data.
  2. Download and install the software Kies on your computer, which will install the necessary drivers for the phone. Remember, this is only for the drivers, we aren’t going to use Kies for the actual update procedure.
    Download Kies
    You can also download the drivers directly — download from here: 32 bit (x86) Windows | 64-bit (x64) Windows
  3. Download the firmware.
    Download Link | Alternate Link 
  4. Extract the file downloaded in step 3 on the computer to obtain a file named KIES_HOME_SPH-D710.GB27_D710SPRLS1_1014481_REV00_user_low_ship.tar.md5 (the file name may end at .tar, which is normal). This is the actual firmware file that we need to flash on the phone.
  5. Download Odin. If you are new to this, Odin is a Samsung program used to flash stuff – firmware, kernels, etc. – on Samsung phones. We’ll use Odin to flash the firmware file obtained in step 4.
    Download Odin3 v3.04 | Filename: Odin3_v3.04.zip
  6. Extract the contents of the Odin3_v3.04.zip file to a folder on your computer.
  7. Now, turn off your phone and wait for it to shut down completely.
  8. Then, put the phone into download mode. To do so, press and hold these keys together: Volume Down + Power till the phone turns on and shows a Warning!! screen. Then press Volume Up to enter download mode.
  9. Open Odin by double-clicking on the Odin3 v3.04.exe file obtained in step 6 after extracting Odin3_v3.04.zip.
  10. Important! Connect your phone to PC now. You should get the message “Added !!” under Odin’s message box in the bottom left.
    • If you don’t get this message, make sure you installed drivers correctly (using Kies or directly) as given in step 2. If it still doesn’t work, try changing to another USB port on the computer and also use the USB ports on the back if you have a desktop PC.
  11. Click on the PDA button in Odin, then browse to and select the KIES_HOME_SPH-D710.GB27_D710SPRLS1_1014481_REV00_user_low_ship.tar.md5 file that you extracted in step 4.
  12. Important! Do not make any other changes in Odin except selecting the required files as given in step 11. Leave all other options as they are. Make sure Re-Partition check box is not selected.
  13. Now, make sure you took a backup as explained in step 1 before continuing, then click the Start button in Odin to start flashing the firmware on your phone. When the flashing is complete and is successful, you’ll get a PASS message (with green background) in the left-most box at the very top of the Odin, and the phone will automatically reboot. When you see the Samsung logo, you can safely unplug the cable.
    • What do if Odin gets stuck or doesn’t do anything: If ODIN gets stuck on setup connection or at any stage of this process after you’ve hit the Start button, and doesn’t seem to be doing anything, or if upon completion of the process you get a FAIL message (with red background) in ODIN, do this: disconnect the phone from the PC, close ODIN, remove battery for 4-5 seconds, re-insert it, turn phone on in Download mode again, and do the procedure again from Step 9.
  14. [Important] What to do if phone doesn’t boot: After you get the PASS message and the phone reboots, the phone might get stuck at the booting animation. If that happens, perform the following steps to make it boot. Remember that these steps will wipe your personal data like contacts, apps, messages, etc. If your phone has already booted, stop reading the guide here, your phone has been updated successfully:
    1. Boot to recovery mode — for which, first power off phone (by removing battery and reinserting it), wait for 5-6 seconds, and then press and hold Volume Up + Power keys together till the screen turns on, then let them go to boot into recovery. Once you are in recovery mode, use volume keys to move the selection up and down and home/power key to select the option.
    2. Go to Wipe data/Factory Reset and select it. Select Yes on next screen.
    3. Then, select reboot system now to reboot the phone, which will now boot properly.
  15. If you run into any roadblocks while flashing the firmware, let us know and we’ll help you out.

The Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean firmware is now installed on your Epic 4G Touch. Go ahead and play around with your phone and check out all the new features and improvements, and don’t forget to leave a comment if you run into any trouble.