Hello and welcome to Android Forums
smen!
I am always wary of phones that are from the web and my first reaction is to ask the following questions of myself before replying...
1. Is it a clone phone? Doubtful in this case as it is running, albeit very old, stock Gingerbread firmware.
2. Is the phone an SGS2 variant, for say China, that has had its CSC code and firmware changed to get around certain restrictions such as Play Store. Possibly, but we can never be sure.
Hi ironass, just wanted to say that your guide is really helpful. But as a complete newbie when it comes to this kind of stuff, I've still got a ton of questions to ask before I can semi-confidently install jelly bean. Hope you don't mind...
I bought my phone on ebay from somewhere in China (slightly shady seller, but great price) so I was expecting update issues from the get-go. It currently runs on v2.3.5, connected to Vodafone Australia. My phone's details are:
PDA: I9100XXKI3
CSC: I9100OXAKI3
The current firmware is stock Samsung Gingerbread, Android 2.3.5, for Europe dating from September 2011.
The CSC code doesn't match anything on SamMobile (for jelly bean anyway) so I was wondering which CSC code's firmware would be best to flash it with? Would any of them do, or should I stick as close to my CSC code as possible?
If you are on Vodafone Australia, you will need to flash a, "T", variant firmware, or at least the modem, to comply with your networks bands. See the
http://androidforums.com/galaxy-s2-.../588852-modems-dummies-guide.html#post4711417 for more information on that.
I'm guessing that my current CSC is not the original one since OXA should be able to update via Kies (according to section #2.1). Do you advise re-setting it back to its original one and trying to update that CSC code instead, or should I stick with OXA and let it run its course?
For reasons explained earlier, you cannot be sure what the original CSC code was for that phone. It could be any one of 80+ codes.
Your best bet is to download and flash the latest, stock, Jelly Bean, Samsung firmware for the, "T", variant phone on Vodafone Australia...
I9100TDVLSM_I9100TVAULSF_VAU.zip
and then take it from there.
Kind of regretting not buying the Nexus 4 instead.
IMHO, you would be better off getting the Samsung Galaxy S4, i9505, and flashing the Android Google Play firmware to it. Much better than the Nexus 4.