ICS (for the most part anyway!)

[brendonlee]

So,
I'm sure others have seen this, but Entrropy512 over at XDA got a working kernel for ICS working on the AT&T Galaxy SII!

[Firmware][Toy][XXLPH]Baby Pacifier LPH 2/23/2012 - xda-developers

Basically its a port over from the international version. This is definitely super pre-alpha (actually was started as a joke/toy), so only flash if you understand there ARE problems!

You should read through the entire thread as well. The ROM that Entropy posted has some issues with overlapping buttons + other issues related to spacing and general UI. It is also a direct port, so Samsung's famous TouchWiz is the default launcher. However, if you read through the last pages, some people have started installing Spike's Special Edition Rom with Entropy's Hacked kernel & the uckh7 modem. This gives you a more stock experience with TW removed, soft buttons removed, etc.

I've tried that method and it is running great so far!

Not working on my device:
-Chrome locks up
-Browser has locked up a few times.
-Screen sometimes turns on by itself, but then turns back off later. Not a huge deal.
-Hardware buttons do not all work: "Menu" button is "Menu"; "Home" Button is "Back; "Back & Search" buttons do not work. I found this to be a mere inconvenience as menu and back buttons are all I really need to functionally use the phone. There's also a mod that you can install the ICS soft buttons if you'd like. But this takes up room on the screen, so I decided to make do with the hardware buttons the way they are.
-It doesn't seem to see my sdcard.[/B] <- It does see my sd card, but under \mnt\sdcard\external_sd. Installing apps is a different issue (from what i've read) in which samsung has configured the ROMs to disable installing to sd card if the ROM is altered in any way. Unmounting SD card allows you to install the app to the internal memory as a work around. Which sucks for big games.

Thanks to Entropy & Spike and all the other developers working hard on this, I think we are definitely on the right path now!!

 

[Jonna09]

Nice! I guess it will take couple of months more to see a proper working build.

 

[Entropy]

Nice! I guess it will take couple of months more to see a proper working build.

I'd say more like hours or days from when I9100 ICS source code drops.

At this point it is:
Get new source drop cleaned up and buildable (1-2 hours of work)
Implement CONFIG_TARGET_LOCALE_NATT in kernel config menus if not already there (20-30 minutes or less)
Fix touchkeys (<5 minutes with kernel source)
Fix kernel component of call audio (<5 minutes with kernel source)

Of course if the source drops when I'm busy, that'll delay things a bit.

After that - the only things remaining are cleanup/polish and implementing the noise reduction disable hack.

 

[Jonna09]

I'd say more like hours or days from when I9100 ICS source code drops.

This is something I have been wondering. Since you have mentioned I9100, I was wondering - how different is the Atnt version I777 compared to the I9100 international version (in terms of rom). I do understand that the roms meant for each are incompatible for the other.

I sometimes feel, buying the international version would have been a much better decision. Because I will now need to wait longer in order to see a fully functional I777 ICS rom compared to an I9100 ICS rom(which I believe will come earlier).

 

[Entropy]

This is something I have been wondering. Since you have mentioned I9100, I was wondering - how different is the Atnt version I777 compared to the I9100 international version (in terms of rom). I do understand that the roms meant for each are incompatible for the other.

I sometimes feel, buying the international version would have been a much better decision. Because I will now need to wait longer in order to see a fully functional I777 ICS rom compared to an I9100 ICS rom(which I believe will come earlier).

Fairly small.
1) Keys at the bottom are different. Requires changing 1-2 lines of code in the kernel and a keymap file in /system
2) Audio hardware for calls is different - requires changing a few configuration items in the kernel (that's what the hacked kernel mentioned in the OP does) and also disabling Samsung Noise Reduction (when enabled and using I9100 libaudio, it doesn't work right)
3) We have NFC, even though it's disabled in the stock firmware. It'll be a while before ICS has working NFC due to this.

So once I9100 kernel source is released, the main things will be:
1) Can't autoport I9100 ICS firmwares like Hellraiser can with Gingerbread - Phone.apk will require manual hacking by a developer for any ported firmware to disable noise reduction
2) Samsung Noise Reduction won't work - but some people hate this anyway
3) NFC won't be supported at all - but it's disabled (although fairly easy to reenable) in Gingerbread

There might be a few other small glitches - people are complaining about random screen wakeups in ICS, but I'm not going to look at that until we have kernel source and I've fixed the touchkeys - the screen wakeups are probably a result of something funky in the touchkey setup or due to the sofkeys hack.