Once a ROM comes out for the Galaxy S, you can be sure that someone or the other manages to port it to the Samsung Captivate and Vibrant, the US variants of the Galaxy S. We saw an Android 4.2 ROM released for the Galaxy S, which was followed by a port to the Captivate, and now it is the Vibrant’s turn.

XDA Recognized Developer FaultException has ported over the Galaxy S ROM to the Vibrant and used it to build CyanogenMod 10.1 for it, to let Vibrant users get a taste of all the goodness of Android 4.2, like the Gesture Typing keyboard, lockscreen widgets, (finally) a few toggles in the notifications menu by default, 360 degrees panorama mode pictures with Photo Sphere camera, and improved stability and performance over Android 4.1.

However, there are a couple of issues in the ROM at this point since it is in its alpha stage, so in case you’re looking for a daily usable ROM, this might not fit that category yet. The ROM is pretty stable for an early version, but might have undocumented bugs here and there. Also keep in mind that no Samsung-specific features will be available as it is a ROM built from stock Android sources.

Here’s the list of known issues in the ROM currently, quoted from the source page, where you can always find the most updated list of known issues [as of Nov 27th]:

  • Lockscreen clock/widget is clipped.
  • Setup wizard is weird.

Follow the guide below to know how CM10.1 can be installed on the Samsung Vibrant.

Compatibility

The procedure described below is only for the Samsung Vibrant. 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 CM10.1 on Samsung Vibrant

  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. Make sure you have ClockworkMod (CWM) recovery installed on the phone.
  3. Download the latest build of the ROM from the source page.
  4. Also download the “Google Apps” file from the source page. AOSP ROMs like CM 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 to be able to use all the Google services.
  5. Copy both the ROM and Google apps files (copy the files, don’t extract them) to the internal storage on the phone.
  6. Turn off the phone. Boot into Clockworkmod recovery. To do so, hold down the Volume Up + Volume Down + Power buttons together till the screen turns on, then let them go. The phone will enter recovery soon enough.
    In recovery, use Volume keys to scroll up and down and power key to select an option.
  7. 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 personal files on the SD card).
  8. 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.
  9. 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 8 to install the ROM again.
  10. After ROM installation completes, select choose zip from sdcard again, then select the Gapps file to install the Google apps package.
  11. 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 CM10.1 ROM. The first boot can take a few minutes, so don’t panic if it takes 5-7 minutes to do so.
  12. NOTE: The ROM will get regular updates as development goes on, so be sure to check back on the source page for updated versions. To update to a newer version of the ROM, just download it, put it on the phone, and flash it from recovery, without wiping data. Be sure to flash the Google apps package as well.
CM10.1, based on Android 4.2, is now installed and up and running on your Samsung Vibrant. Don’t forget to visit the source page for further details and updates on the ROM. Do let us know how it works!