Upgrading Galaxy Tab GT-P1000 to Ice Cream Sandwich using Mobile Odin

In this post I'd like to share some of my experiences on upgrading my Galaxy Tab GT-P1000 to ICS 4.0.4. These instructions are mainly aimed at explaining some of the concepts related to flashing custom roms and give instructions on how I was able to successfully upgrade my device.

REMEMBER, I AM AN IDIOT AND I DO NOT REALLY UNDERSTAND WHAT I AM DOING. THEREFORE DON'T PROCEED IF YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU ARE DOING. DO SOME RESEARCH ON OTHER SOURCES BEFORE YOU START FLASHING CUSTOM ROMS.

THERE IS A VERY REAL POSSIBILITY THAT YOUR DEVICE MIGHT BE DAMAGED.

Okay, now that you have been warned it is time start. Here are the steps that I took:

1. Rooting
2. Installing Mobile Odin
3. Installing CWM Recovery (flashing a custom kernel)
4. Downloading back up files (just in case)
5. Choosing a custom ROM
6. Backing up, Flashing ROM and Google Apps

1. Rooting

The first thing you need to do is gain superuser rights to your tab. That is what rooting does. I was able to root my device using SuperOneClick. There are very good guides on how to do this so follow them. It is easy and quite convenient way to root your device but you will need a Windows PC for this step.

2. Installing Mobile Odin

Then you should install Mobile Odin on your tab. If you do not have access to a Windows machine there is no other (easy) way to flash kernels  Buy the pro version so you do not have to worry about downloading the correct configuration files. You can find Mobile Odin on Google Play.

3. Installing CWM Recovery (flashing a custom kernel)

CWM recovery is the best tool for flashing custom ROMs that are in zip-format. Here is the catch, the current version of CWM that is on Google Play doesn't support Galaxy Tab GT-P1000. What can you do? Well, some smart people have created custom versions of CWM Recovery that are integrated to custom kernel. One custom kernel that includes CWM is the custom kernel by Team Overcome. Use Mobile Odin to flash the kernel to your tab.

For me this was the biggest hurdle, because I do not have a Windows or Linux computer. Once I got CWM on my tab I was able to follow the normal guides for for flashing custom ROMs.

4. Downloading back up files (just in case)

Before you start flashing custom ROMs it might be a great idea to download the original firmware for your galaxy tab. You can find them at sammobile.com. You need to create an account before you can download any firmwares.

5. Choosing a custom ROM

There are two major developers of Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0.4 (ICS) for GT-P1000. Cyanogen Mod and AOKP seem to be the most reliable developers at the moment. You can find their custom ROMs at the website of xda-developers. Remember to download Google Apps, as well.

6. Backing up, Flashing ROM and Google Apps

From this point onwards I was able proceed by carefully following other online guides that are available. The entire flashing process was fairly easy and didn't take that long. Have fun but be careful. And remember to backup your data.

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DO NOT JUST TRUST ME. DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH.
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My Galaxy Tab GT-P1000 running Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0.4 =)

After flashing my tab got so much better. Biggest surprise was that now the GPS works just fine. Before it was totally unable to get a GPS lock. ICS is generally much better than GB. Now I can use my tab much longer than I expected so for some reason the battery life has improved. I just hope that the devs will also roll out Jelly Bean to Galaxy Tab. I would be ecstatic if Linaro would find it's way to Galaxy Tab. Can you imagine how much faster the tab would be?