Breathe new life into an old Android device. Look for Cyanogen Mod 11 firmware and make it as good as new. Also, in bargain, you get to remove old vulnerabilities, upgrade to a compatible, later version of the Android Operating System flavour and enjoy the newer programs that release on Google Play Store. And most important, better control and security than the default Android firmware updates provided by the hardware manufacturer like Samsung.
This post is about how to go about installing Cyanogen Mod 11 on the old Samsung Galaxy Tab GT-P3110. As per guidelines, Samsung does not release newer firmware for any Android devices it makes after 18 month of their release. These are called legacy devices for which no firmware will be released in future, even if Android Jelly Bean is outdated and Android Lollipop is launched. This gives us users of those old devices a major handicap and leaves us at risk of any discovered vulnerabilities that may be a security threat to it. One major threat is the Poodle vulnerability, which I will not delve. You can look it up on the Internet.
Thanks to the dedicated folks at Cyanogen Mod, we have a path to upgrade to their new Cyanogen Mod 11 firmware and breathe new life into our old device, the GT-P3110. The folks at Cyanogen Mod support many devices.
Follow the instructions below to install Cyanogen Mod 11 on the Samsung GT-P3110. The instructions below were performed on a Linux desktop. Note, you do so at your own risk and you also void the warranty if your date of purchase is within the last 12 months. I have expanded on this post based on my experience of installing Cyanogen Mod 11 on the Samsung GT-P3110 Galaxy Tab.
| 1 | Install heimdall and adb on Ubuntu Linux on the Computer Open a terminal window in Linux and install heimdall-flash and android ADB tools $ sudo apt-get install heimdall-flash android-tools-adb If you use Windows, you will find a Windows version of the above tools on the internet. |
| 2 | Download the required files from your computer Download http://download2.clockworkmod.com/recoveries/recovery-clockwork-6.0.2.7-p3110.img This is the ClockWork Mod Recovery Tool. Download https://goo.im/devs/philz_touch/CWM_Advanced_Edition/p3110/philz_touch_6.57.8-p3110.zip Download http://download.cyanogenmod.org/get/jenkins/94512/cm-11-20141212-NIGHTLY-p3110.zip Download http://itvends.com/gapps/gapps-kk-20140105-signed.zip Now, all downloads are done. |
| 3 | Take a data backup and then factory reset the device Power on the Galaxy Tab and take a data backup of your Contacts and any data you may need. Then Factory Reset the tablet. Factory reset required if you do not want your credentials, data and downloaded apps to go onto the stock firmware backup you will take at later stage. Power off the tab |
| 4 | Connect the USB cable to the computer Make sure the USB cable is connected to the USB 2.0 port and not a USB 3.0 port or even not connected to the computer via a hub. Only works with USB 2.0 port and a direct connection to the computer. On any other port will display “Failed to detect compatible download-mode device“. |
| 5 | Rename the ClockWork Mod Recovery image Open a terminal window on your Linux desktop. Rename the clockwork*.img file to a shorter name recovery.img for convenience $ mv clockwork-6.0.2.3-p3110.img recovery.img |
| 6 | Put the tab into Download Mode To get into Download Mode, boot Galaxy Tab by holding Volume Down and then the Power button. Now connect USB cable to the Galaxy Tab |
| 7 | Flash the Recovery Tool Image onto the tablet $ sudo heimdall flash --RECOVERY recovery.img --no-reboot Heimdall v1.4.0 A blue bar appears at the bottom of the tab screen. Transfer is done. |
| 8 | Take a backup of the stock firmware Boot into recovery mode by pressing Volume Up and then the Power button and you get the ClockWork Mod Recovery Menu.Choose - backup and restore to take a full backup of the stock ROM first. Choose Reboot the Galaxy Tab. |
| 9 | Copy the backed up clockworkmod folder to the PC Connect the tablet to the PC via USB and copy the backup folder clockworkmod to the computer. Next, while connected to the PC, copy the following files to the SD Card of the tablet. After that, unmount and disconnect the tablet from the PC. Power off the tablet. |
| 10 | Wipe the cache, dalvik cache Start the tablet by pressing Volume Up and then Power Key to get to Recovery mode. Choose the option Wipe the cache and then Wipe the dalvik cache. |
| 11 | Install Cyanogen Mod 11 firmware zip file In the Recovery mode menu, select “ Install zip from SD Card“. Then select “ This step will normally display an error with Status 7. That means the ClockWork Mod recovery version installed does not support installation of the Cyanogen Mod 11 firmware. To overcome this, you need to use the Advanced Recovery Tool called Philz_Touch which supports the installation. |
| 12 | Install Philz_Touch Advanced ClockWork Mod Recovery Boot into recovery mode, by Press Volume Up and then the Power button and you get the ClockWork Mod Recovery Menu. Select option Note that Philz_Touch is a touch-sensitive Recovery Menu and a slight touch will perform actions. Therefore, touch the options carefully. |
| 13 | Clear Cache, Dalvik Cache and Factory Reset from the Recovery Menu Start the tablet into Recovery menu by pressing the Volume Up and then the Power button. Select Once the tablet is re-started, press the Power Button to Power Off. |
| 14 | Install Cyanogen Mod 11 firmware zip file In the Recovery mode menu, select Install Zip -> Choose zip from /storage/sdcard1. Then select “choose zip from external sdcard“. Select the file cm-11-20141212-NIGHTLY-p3110.zip, then Yes install. Note that this time, the firmware will be installed. |
| 15 | Install Google Apps on the phone In the Recovery mode menu, select Install Zip -> Choose zip from /storage/sdcard1. Then select “choose zip from external sdcard“. Select the file gapps-kk-20140105-signed.zip ”, then Yes install After installation, you will need to reboot. |
Now you can set up the tablet and install the applications you want from Google Play Store after setting up the Tab. Next time, we will look at how to harden the security of the Cyanogen Mod 11 tablet.
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