Manually update Nexus S to Android 4.0


As I woke up this morning my Twitter timeline was going haywire and later came to know that Google had just started to update it’s Nexus S device to Android 4.0. Many people all over the world who own a Nexus S must be impatiently waiting for the update to arrive to their device but there are many people who can not wait and this post is for them. If you have a GSM Nexus S, you will be able to update your device to Android 4.0 with this easy procedure given below.

Note:

  • This procedure does not work for CDMA Nexus S
  • Be careful and read the procedure at least twice before going ahead and doing it
  • You will have to have the latest official Gingerbread build to successfully update to Android 4.0
  • You can not update directly from a Custom ROM
  • You must have at least 50% of battery left in your Nexus S before going ahead with this procedure

Download:

Download the official ICS (Android 4.0) update from here

Procedure:

  • Download and rename the above file to update.zip
  • Copy update.zip to your SD card, not in any folders, just outside
  • Now switch off your device
  • Switch the device on by pressing both Volume UP button and Power button together until you see the bootloader  menu screen
  • Once you are in the Bootloader screen you will find an option named “Recovery” go to it by using the volume toggle and select it by pressing the power button
  • Once you select it you will be able to see a triangle or an exclamation mark depending on the region
  • Once you see the triangle/exclamation mark press power and tap on the volume up button
  • You will be taken to a screen with different options including “Update from /sd card”
  • Select the option “update from /sd card” by using the power button
  • Once you are inside, you will be able to see the update.zip which you had put before, select it by using the power button
  • The update.zip will start flashing and once it has been flashed choose the reboot option
  • The device will reboot into Android 4.0
  • Have fun