Install Android 4.3 Jelly Bean on Galaxy S3 Mini Using CyanogenMod 10.2 Custom Rom

Samsung Galaxy S3’s mini version came out right after a few months of the S3 itself. The device was well received by the users, and became much popular because of being an affordable Android smartphone, especially among those who could not afford Samsung Galaxy S3 and wanted to enjoy some of the features of Galaxy S3 in a mini version.

Galaxy S3 mini boasted off a 4.0 inch Super AMOLED screen with 233 ppi, 1 GHz dual core processor, 1 GB Ram, 8/16 GB internal memory, while an external Sdcard slot supporting up to 32 GB. Out of the box, Galaxy S3 Mini runs on Android 4.1.1, while the device received an update to Android 4.1.2 after some time of its release.

While Android is an open source operating system and allows the developers to play with it in so many ways, and that being the operating system on Galaxy S3 Mini paved a way for the developers to develop custom ROMs, recoveries and mods for the device. Maclaw studios successfully managed to develop CyanogenMod 10.2 Custom Rom for Galaxy S3 Mini based on Android 4.3 recently. As of now the device is only upgradeable to Android 4.1.2, there is no official update for Android 4.2.2 or 4.3, so this is a good choice for those who want to get their hands on Android 4.3 Jelly Bean’s features before it officially rolls out for Mini S3 (that is not going to happen anytime soon).

***Please keep in mind that as soon as you install custom recovery or root your device, you may void the warranty. As the methods involved in rooting/flashing/modifying your device are highly custom, and these have nothing to do with the manufacturer, that is Samsung in our case, so make sure that whatever you do, you are doing at your own risk. Follow the instructions explained below to the letter, in case you didn’t you may end up bricking your device and we may not be held responsible in that case.***

Before we begin, here are some pre requisites that you must have:

• Your device must be rooted – Here’s the detailed root  and cwm recovery installation guide.
• Make sure that your phone’s battery is charged over at least 60%.
• Use this method only on Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini i8190, we are not sure about other versions of S3 Mini, you may try at your own risk.
• Make sure that you back up all of your important Contacts, Call Logs & Messages. Although rooting your device does not delete any files, but this is highly recommended as it may become helpful in case of any mishap or data loss.

Things you need to download: 

• CyanogenMod 10.2 Custom Rom: cm10.2_golden.maclaw.20131021.zip – Download Here.
• Gapps:gapps-jb-20130813-signed.zip – Download Here.

How to Install CM 10.2 Android Jelly Bean 4.3 on Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini i8190:

1. Place the downloaded file on your device’s internal or external storage.
2. Boot your phone into the recovery mode, to do so,  press and hold Volume Up + Home Button + Power Key simultaneously and your device should now reboot into recovery mode.
3. Select ”choose zip from sd card”, now select the directory here where you placed the downloaded files, either it is external storage or internal storage.
4. Select the cm10.2_golden.maclaw.20131021.zip file and press yes.
5. It should take a few minutes to flash the custom rom your Galaxy S3 Mini.
6. As soon as the flashing has been finished, select the ”choose zip from sd card” again, and select the directory where you placed the files, this time select the file and press yes.
7. After installing both the files successfully, choose wipe data/factory reset. This is not necessary but is highly recommended in order to avoid any bootloop or lag issues.
8. After wiping the data, select advanced > wipe dalvik cache.
9. All done, reboot your device.
10. Congrats! You’ve successfully installed the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean Custom firmware on your Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini.

Got any queries? Feel free to leave us a comment. We will try our best to help you out with this. Thanks!