Good news for Galaxy Note owners in the United Kingdoms and Ireland. The official Ice Cream Sandwich Android 4.0 update — firmware version XXLQ2 — for the two regions is now rolling out over the air. Ice Cream Sandwich for the Galaxy Note brings a premium suite of applications specifically designed for use with the S-Pen, along with general Android 4.0 updates like faster performance, Face Unlock, improved data usage management, and more.

In case you do not want to wait for the official update to show up on your device, you can flash the update manually on your Galaxy Note by following the guide below. XXLQ2 is a firmware for UK and Ireland, but will work on any Galaxy Note out there regardless of country. Being the latest firmware to be released, you should definitely try it out.

Read on to find out how the XXLQ2 firmware can be installed on the Galaxy Note.

Compatibility

This firmware and the guide below are compatible only and only with Galaxy Note, model number N7000. It’s not compatible with 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 XXLQ2 Android 4.0 Firmware on Galaxy Note

Warning! The official Ice Cream Sandwich firmware for the Galaxy Note N7000 have a serious bug. From what we can gather, the bug bricks the phone when you wipe data — that is, do a factory reset — in recovery, or flash a ROM or something in recovery after flashing the firmware. So, DO NOT use RECOVERY at all. Even transferring a large file may brick the phone, because it’s related to eMMC (sdcard). It’s said that the bug hasn’t affected all phones, and the brick rate might be 5%, which is actually pretty damn high for a bug that can completely destroy the phone, we don’t even know whether Samsung service center guys would be able to fully repair it, although we think they should be able to.

Read more about the bug here.

——————Installation Guide below, but do Read the Warning text above first————–—

  1. 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.
    Important! Don’t forget to at least make a backup of your APN settings, which you can restore later if your data connection does not work after installing the ROM. Use the backup guide to find out how.
  2. It’s important you’ve the proper drivers for the phone installed. If you have installed Samsung’s Kies software, you already have the drivers, so download them only if you haven’t installed Kies.
    Download links: 32 bit (x86) Windows  |   64-bit (x64) Windows
  3. Download the firmware.
    Download XXLQ2 Firmware  |  Filename: N7000XXLQ2_N7000XEULP4_XEU.zip  |  Size: 655 MB
  4. Extract the downloaded zip file once to get the following files (you might see the file name end with .tar instead of .md5 as the file extension is usually hidden, so it’s normal):
    1. N7000XXLQ2_N7000XXLPT_N7000XEULP4_HOME.tar.md5
    2. SS_DL.dll [ignore this one]
  5. Download Odin 1.85 from → here.
    Filename: Odin 1.85.zip | Size: 199 KB
  6. Extract the contents of the Odin 1.85.zip file to a convenient location on your computer.
  7. Disconnect your phone if it’s connected to PC, then switch it off.
  8. Now, put the Galaxy Note in Download Mode — press and hold these keys together: Volume Down + Home + Power. A Warning! screen will come up; press Volume Up key to continue to enter Download Mode.
  9. Open Odin — double-click the Odin3 v1.85.exe that you got after extracting the file Odin 1.85.zip.
  10. In ODIN, click on the PDA button, then select the N7000XXLQ2_N7000XXLPT_N7000XEULP4_HOME.tar.md5 file obtained in step 4.1.
  11. Important! Do not make any other changes in Odin except selecting the required file as given in step 13. Leave all other options as they are.
  12. 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, then probably there is a problem with drivers. Make sure you’ve proper drivers installed (check step 2). Also, uninstall Kies from the Control Panel as well (this will leave the drivers on the computer but remove Kies which can interfere with the procedure).
  13. Now, hit the START button to start flashing of DXLP9 on your Galaxy Note. When the flashing is complete, your phone will automatically reboot — and when you see the Samsung logo, you can safely unplug the cable. Plus, you’ll get a PASS (with green background) message in the left-most box at the very top of the Odin.
    What to do if Odin gets stuck: If ODIN gets stuck and doesn’t seem to be doing anything, or you get a FAIL message (with red background) in ODIN, disconnect the phone from the PC, close ODIN, remove battery, re-insert it, turn phone on in Download mode again, and do the procedure again from Step 9.
  14. If you run into any roadblocks while flashing the firmware, let us know and we’ll help you out.
  15. You can root the XXLQ2 firmware and install ClockworkMod recovery on it by following the guide → here.

The XXLQ2 Ice Cream Sandwich Android 4.0 firmware is now running on your Galaxy Note. Let us know how it works for you, in the comments below.