Updating a possibly-rooted Android phone? (Samsung Galaxy S II)

**TekNinja81** · 10-12-2011, 12:31 PM

Hey folks,

I've got an unlocked and possibly rooted SGS2 which I picked up at Pacific Mall... I asked the shop and they said the phone is "factory unlocked", but I assume that just means they've gotten it unlocked of course. I forgot to ask if the phone is rooted, and I'm not sure which carrier the phone originally belonged with.

When looking at my "About Phone" info, I see the following:

Android 2.3.3
Baseband: I9100XXKF1
Kernel: 2.6.35.7-I9100XWKF3-CL276555 root@DELL101 #2
Build: GINGERBREAD.XWKF3

Now I'm assuming since I see that "root@DELL101" part, the phone is rooted, but I downloaded a rootchecker app and it says the phone is NOT rooted, but that "BusyBox" (??) is installed.

The short question to all this is, I want to upgrade to Android 2.3.4 or 2.3.5 if possible, I don't really care for root access as I don't plan on messing with the phone -- but I want to keep my unlock and take advantage of the fixes/new features 2.3.4+ offer. Can I simply update the phone through Samsung/Android's proper method or do I have to do something specific?

My understanding from some of the searches I've done is that I won't lose my unlock, but I'm not sure if updating the phone will screw something up if I am indeed rooted/with custom firmware.

Appreciate your help!

**RockerGuy** · 10-12-2011, 02:12 PM

Do u get reception problem?
Most of the phones I've bought at Pac Mall have bad reception. I don't know why

**TekNinja81** · 10-12-2011, 03:06 PM

Originally Posted by RockerGuy

Do u get reception problem?
Most of the phones I've bought at Pac Mall have bad reception. I don't know why

Nope, haven't had any issues so far. I'd say it's at least as good as my iphone 4 was, maybe even better.

**RockerGuy** · 10-12-2011, 04:16 PM

Originally Posted by TekNinja81

Nope, haven't had any issues so far. I'd say it's at least as good as my iphone 4 was, maybe even better.

Good for u, mind me asking what u paid for it?

**TekNinja81** · 10-12-2011, 05:56 PM

Originally Posted by RockerGuy

Good for u, mind me asking what u paid for it?

The store there called Blue Wave is one of many selling it; that's where I got mine, and they were selling them for $550 including choice of 2 free accessories (basically choices between a screen protector, case, and/or a car charger.) If you pay cash, they'll knock off the tax too.

I checked at a few other shops in PMall, and they wanted $600-700. Not sure how they can justify the price difference, as even if they tossed in a 32GB MicroSD, that's still not worth more than like $60 tops.

**RockerGuy** · 10-12-2011, 07:16 PM

Originally Posted by TekNinja81

The store there called Blue Wave is one of many selling it; that's where I got mine, and they were selling them for $550 including choice of 2 free accessories (basically choices between a screen protector, case, and/or a car charger.) If you pay cash, they'll knock off the tax too.

I checked at a few other shops in PMall, and they wanted $600-700. Not sure how they can justify the price difference, as even if they tossed in a 32GB MicroSD, that's still not worth more than like $60 tops.

I bought a few phones there. The problem is they are reluctant to take returns, but I;m glad u like your phone

**FiReSTaRT** · 10-12-2011, 07:35 PM

Just flash it with Cyanogenmod and enjoy.. That will guarantee updates and it works better than vanilla Android (not to mention OEM-bloat).

**RockerGuy** · 10-12-2011, 07:39 PM

Originally Posted by FiReSTaRT

Just flash it with Cyanogenmod and enjoy.. That will guarantee updates and it works better than vanilla Android (not to mention OEM-bloat).

What the heck is that anyway? I tried googling it and can't find anything in details. Can somebody explain in leyman terms?

**Lunatic** · 10-12-2011, 08:53 PM

Originally Posted by RockerGuy

What the heck is that anyway? I tried googling it and can't find anything in details. Can somebody explain in leyman terms?

http://www.cyanogenmod.com/

It's a replacement firmware for a bunch of phones. Basically Android with some customization. Works very well, I have been running it for months on my Nexus S.

**TekNinja81** · 10-13-2011, 12:52 AM

Be careful with that site. It doesn't appear to be from the CM site itself, but maybe an ad or a posted link somewhere that's occasionally coming up on the main page -- my antivirus/malware software is detecting malicious code somewhere on the page.

That said, it does look like an option worth exploring. Just have to figure out how to do all this crap, lol.

**FiReSTaRT** · 10-13-2011, 09:20 AM

They have an IRC channel.. Just go to Freenode and the channel is #Cyanogenmod Has lots of people willing to help and they guided me through my first flash

**Lunatic** · 10-13-2011, 10:16 AM

Originally Posted by TekNinja81

Be careful with that site. It doesn't appear to be from the CM site itself, but maybe an ad or a posted link somewhere that's occasionally coming up on the main page -- my antivirus/malware software is detecting malicious code somewhere on the page.

You see ads on the page? Why? Adblock is your friend!

**TekNinja81** · 10-13-2011, 11:23 AM

Originally Posted by Lunatic

You see ads on the page? Why? Adblock is your friend!

Actually, I do have ABP running on my machine, so now that I think of it there were no ads visible... probably something that snuck in via a script or something. Oh well.