The mini version of the Galaxy S3 is one of the most popular cell phones today, specially when it comes to enjoy some good features in a little lower price. The device ran on Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean out of the box and received Android 4.1.2 update later on, but there hasn’t been any official word about any further updates by Samsung since that time. Perhaps, there is no need to worry about when we have the great people working over XDA developer forums.
The Maclaw Studio, well known guys with the earlier CyanogenMod 10.2 based on Android 4.3 Jelly Bean, have once again brought us a chance to enjoy the Android 4.4 KitKat on our beloved Galaxy S3 Mini unofficially. If you are custom ROM freak and always want to have the latest and greatest version of Android running on your device, then CyanogenMod is surely for you. It’s not an official update by the manufacturers, perhaps it let’s you taste the feel, features and look of the higher version of Android unofficially as it is an open source community, the new features are dug out every day.
Update: Install Android 5.0.2 Lollipop On Your Galaxy S3 Mini With CyanogenMod 12 Custom ROM
CyanogenMod 11 based on Android 4.4 KitKat is available for Galaxy S3 Mini now. As said by the developer, the ROM is fully working and stable and may be kept for daily use. To make the installation easier for you, I’ve explained the steps to do so in simple and easy words below. You just got to follow this guide to the letter.
Disclaimer: The methods involved in flashing custom roms and rooting your phone is highly custom and may result in bricking your device, and has nothing to do with Google or the device manufacturer that is SAMSUNG in our case. Also rooting your device will void its warranty and you will be no longer eligible for any kind of free device services by the manufacturers/warranty providers. In case of any mishap we may not be held responsible. Follow these instructions to the letter to avoid any mishap or bricking. Make sure that whatever you do, you are doing it at your own responsibility.
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Before we begin here are some pre requisites.
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- This ROM works for all the variants of the Galaxy S3 Mini i8190/N/L. Do not try this on any other device. Check your device’s model under settings > About device > Model.
- Your device must be charged over at least 60%. This is highly recommended in order to prevent any mishap during the installation process.
- It is highly recommended that you make a nandroid backup of your device using a custom recovery. This is handy in case something goes wrong and you want to get your older system back immediately.
- Use the OEM data cable to establish connection between your PC and Phone.
- Make sure that you have backed up all your important Contacts, Call Logs & Messages. It is highly recommended in case of any mishap or data loss to backup all your important data.
- Alright! follow this guide to the letter now!
You can flash this ROM using two methods.
Method 1: Through Odin.
Files you need to download:
- Download Odin3 PC and extract it. – Get it Here.
- Download and install Samsung USB Drivers – Get Here.
- Download and extract Android 4.4.2 KitKat CM 11 ROM: cm11.0_golden.maclaw.20140118.ODIN_TWRP.zip
How to Install Andorid 4.4.2 KitKat CyanogenMod 11 on Galaxy S3 Mini:
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- Open Odin.exe.
- Put your phone in download mode. To do so, turn it off completely and then turn it on by pressing and holding Volume Down + Home Button + Power Key. You should see a warning now, press Volume Up to continue.
- Connect your phone to your PC now. The ID:COM box should turn blue in Odin now.
- Hit the PDA tab in Odin and select the .tar.md5 file that you got after extracting the CM11.0_golden.maclaw.20131210.ODIN_TWRP.zip. Your Odin screen should exactly like the one as shown below.
- As soon as the .tar.md5 file is loaded, hit start button in Odin.
- The ROM installation should start now and you should see the progress in the process bar in Odin.
- As soon as the process is finished your device will reboot.
- Pull out the battery now to turn it off and boot into the TWRP recovery. The recovery is installed along with this ROM in your phone. To do so, turn on your device by pressing and holding Volume Up + Home Button + Power Key.
- You should see the TWRP recovery interface now.
- Select wipe, and wipe cache and dalvik cache.
- Reboot.
- You should see the CM logo on the bootscreen now, it might take upto 10 minutes in order to take you to the home screen, so keep patience.
Method 2: Install Android 4.4.2 KitKat CM 11 Using Custom Recovery.
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- Your device must have a cwm recovery installed. Follow our full guide here.
- Download cm11.0_golden.maclaw.20140121.zip and place it on your phone’s sd card.
- Boot into CWM recovery. To do so turn off your device completely, now turn it on by pressing and holding Volume Up + Home Button + Power Key.
- In CWM recovery, select “Install Zip>Choose Zip form SD / ext SD card>Select the CM11.0_golden.maclaw.20131210.zip file” and then select Yes to proceed.
- It will take a short time to flash the ROM. As soon as the flashing process is done, wipe cache and dalvik cache from the recovery.
- Reboot!
- Congrats! You’ve installed Android 4.4 KitKat CM 11.0 on your Galaxy S3 Mini.
How to Install Gapps on your Galaxy S3 Mini.
In the above methods, I’ve explained the steps to install the ROM but not the Gapps, in order to install Gapps follow these steps.
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- Download Gapps for Android 4.4 KitKat CyanogenMod 11: Gapps for Android 4.4 KitKat
- Place the downloaded.zip file on your phone’s sd card.
- Boot into the custom recovery, the one you’ve installed.
- Select Install>Gapps.zip file.
- Proceed with the installation, as soon as it is done, reboot your device.
- Find the Play Store and other Google Apps in your app drawer now!
That’s all. In case you got any queries/suggestions or face any difficulties regarding this post, feel free to stop by the comment box below. Thanks All!
This post was last modified on October 13, 2018 2:23 am
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broken download link
@disqus_2aCJA0izSn:disqus link updated.
I tried the two methods, instructions followed well, and I unable to power off the device due is stucked while is trying to powering off or rebooting.. The model is S3mini i8190L do you know what is happening I have tried to reflash several times setting it to factory defaults and is still not working
@juanmiguelmarinrodriguez:disqus you can go back to your stock firmware, this rom is causing some problem, i'll check it now. At the moment this guide will help you: https://techbeasts.com/2013/10/12/how-to-install-stock-firmware-on-samsung-android-smartphones/
Edit: Confirmed, The ROM only works for I8190.
When I tired method 1, it failed.
The box above ID:COM says failed
and it says Unsupport dev_type on my phone
I get these messages:
@abbyfraser_shadbolt:disqus Can you please try the method 2 and tell me if it works or not? Thanks.
Method 2 gives an error message saying:
E:signature verification failed
and even though both methods failed, when i boot into download mode it says Custom for current binary and for system status
@abbyfraser_shadbolt:disqus what's your device model? You can turn of signature verification from advanced settings in cwm.
upon flashing a stock firmware, the Current binary will turn to official, so no need to worry about that.
where on my device, do i find cwm? and my device is am s3 mini model number sm-g730w8
@abbyfraser_shadbolt:disqus this guide, and this rom does not support your device. You should read the pre requisites first.
Also, can you please tell me the model number of your device?
its an S3 mini, model number SM-G730W8
@abbyfraser_shadbolt:disqus Sorry, but you must have read the instructions carefully first. Your device is not supported, that's why you are getting NAND write error. Please flash a stock firmware and get the official system back.
How to Root again ,...? Binary SU not updated.
@kakangrizalrawisrengga:disqus flash Supersu.zip through CWM. Download it here http://download.chainfire.eu/372/SuperSU/UPDATE-SuperSU-v1.86.zip
hello, after doing wipe davilk cache, the updating partition details process takes too long. What should i do
@duongnhattan:disqus there is no need to worry about it. It takes time to build Dalvik cache once again.
Thanks, it worked :). I found that I can do that action via CWM recovery mode and it seems to more cleary by that way
@duongnhattan:disqus Thanks for the feedback. Glad that it worked for you. :)
I was trying to do instal Gapps but i don't have sd card so i get an error. Do i have to buy sd card?
@kacper_biernacki:disqus use internal sd of your phone.
why my google account failed to sync? all related to google like gmail, play store also can't sign in and used..? thanks.
@disqus_MfkoHB42Av:disqus Try pulling out your SIM card and then turn on wifi without having the SIM card inserted and connect your google account. Also make sure that Auto-sync is enabled under settings.
Why doesnt work SELECTOR? It's a kind of launcher of kitkat right?
@allanojeda:disqus No it's a custom ROM. Not a launcher, but all features may not work as these are not the stocks.
Ok. everything is fine in the custom rom, only com.google.android.launcher [selector] doesn't work in my phone. Thanks :D