I know I’ve said it before, but Samsung is really on a roll and apparently very hard at work on the official Jelly Bean Android 4.1 update for the Galaxy S3, as yet another Android 4.1 firmware – XXDLH9, following up after XXDLH8 – has now been leaked. With bug fixes and performance improvements apparent in each firmware, it seems the official release might be very near.

But until the official release does happen, interested users can try out the leaked firmware to get a taste of the official Jelly Bean beforehand, and the guide below will walk you through the steps to install the XXDLH9 firmware on your Galaxy S3.

Keep in mind that this is a leaked firmware, so it might have some serious issues or bugs, which might make it unstable for every day use, so you should wait for the official update to come out if you’re not comfortable with manual flashing. But you can still try it out, as you can always flash back to an Android 4.0 firmware later if needed.

Let’s take a look at how the XXDLH9 Jelly Bean Android 4.1 firmware can be installed on the Galaxy S3.

Compatibility

This guide to install Android 4.1 Jelly Bean firmware is compatible only and only with the international Galaxy S3, model number i9300. It’s not compatible with the US variants or any other device. Check your device’s model number in: Settings » About phone.

Warning!

The methods and procedures discussed here are considered risky and you should not attempt anything if you don’t know completely what it is. If any damage occurs to your device, we won’t be held liable.

How to Install i9300XXDLH9 Jelly Bean Android 4.1 Firmware on Galaxy S3

  1. [Important] 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. Backup all the SD card files, including camera photos, music, etc as well as those also might get erased during the flash as this is a leaked firmware.
  2. Download and install the software Kies on your computer, which will install the necessary drivers for the phone.
    Download Kies
    You can also download the drivers directly — download from here: 32 bit (x86) Windows |   64-bit (x64) Windows
  3. Download the i9300XXDLH9 firmware.
    Download XXDLH9 Firmware 
    Filename: I9300XXDLH9_I9300OXADLH9_I9300XXLH9_BTU.zip
  4. Extract the I9300XXDLH9_I9300OXADLH9_I9300XXLH9_BTU.zip file to obtain the following files:
    1. I9300XXDLH9_I9300OXADLH9_I9300XXLH9_HOME.tar.md5
    2. Odin3_v3.04.zip
      Note: If you don’t get the Odin3_v3.04.zip file after extraction, you can download it here.
  5. Extract the contents of the Odin3_v3.04.zip file to a folder on your computer. Odin is the software we will be using to flash the firmware on the phone.
  6. Now, turn off your Galaxy S3 and wait for some 5-6 seconds after screen goes off to allow it to shut down completely.
  7. Then, put the phone into download mode. To do so, press and hold these keys together: Volume Down + Home + Power till the screen turns on. Then press Volume Up to enter download mode. You can flash a firmware only from download mode.
  8. Open Odin by double-clicking on the Odin3 v3.04.exe file obtained in step 6 after extracting Odin3_v3.04.zip.
  9. 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 1. 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.
  10. Click on the PDA button in Odin, then browse to and select the file I9300XXDLH9_I9300OXADLH9_I9300XXLH9_HOME.tar.md5 you obtained in step 4.1 above. (Take care and do not select the .zip file you downloaded in step 3.)
  11. 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.
  12. Now, click the Start button on Odin to start flashing the XXDLH9 Android 4.1 firmware on your Galaxy S3. 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 to do if Odin gets stuck or doesn’t do anything: If ODIN: 1) gets stuck on setup connection, or 2) at any stage of this process after you’ve hit the Start button, and doesn’t seem to be doing anything, or 3) if upon completion of the process you get a FAIL message (with red background) in ODIN, then in all these scenarios, 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 7.
  13. After you get the PASS message and the phone reboots, there are chances that it doesn’t boot properly and gets stuck either at some strange screen (3e recovery, actually) or maybe gets stuck at boot animation. Well, there is nothing to worry about that. All you need to do is do a “Factory Reset” from 3e recovery.
    So, if your phone boots in 3e recovery (with black background and Android in the center of screen, and some blue text), just do a factory reset as said on steps 13.1 to 13.3 below. And if it’s stuck while restarting at boot animation, perform the following steps to make it boot properly. Remember that these steps will wipe your personal data like contacts, apps, messages, etc.
    (Note: If phone has restarted, that is booted properly, you do not need to perform steps 13.1 to 13.3, these are only for those whose Galaxy S3 is not booting up/restarting after the flashing from Kies and getting the PASS in Odin.)
    So, perform these steps for doing a Factory Reset:
    1. Boot into 3e recovery mode — turn off the phone by removing and re-inserting the battery, then press and hold Home + Volume Up + Power keys together till you see the Samsung logo, and then let them go of keys 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 restart/boot properly.
  14. If you run into any problems trying to install the firmware, let us know in the comments and we’ll do our best to help you out.
    Going back to Ice Cream Sandwich: If you wish to go back to an Android 4.0 firmware after flashing the leaked firmware, you can use this guide to do so.

XXDLH9, the latest leaked official Jelly Bean Android 4.1 firmware is now up and running on your Galaxy S3. Do let us know how it works for you and the things you notice in the firmware (like bugs, improvements or new features).

Also try out a few custom Jelly Bean ROMs for the Galaxy S3 → here.