Update Samsung Galaxy Note N7000 to Android 5.1 (Lollipop)

I finally decided to say goodbye to JellyBean and update the ROM on the N7000 to something more relevant (and speedy).

Previously, I have used the Ultimate ROMs on the N7000, and they have been great.  Fantastic stability and haven't been too hard on the battery.  The problem was that apps have become so large, I needed a lighter, slimmer ROM, and probably the biggest reason, I have had enough of TouchWiz. 

After recently updating a Samsung GSII to CyanogenMod 12.1, I liked how light and quick it was, so I went in search of a CM12.1 ROM for the N7000.

The last ROM directly from Cyanogen was for CM11, but there is an unofficial port of CM12.1 out on XDA from NightOwl.  Wanting to stay on Lollipop with all of my devices, I decided to give NightOwl CM12.1 a shot.

All of the links to the most current builds are available on the XDA page here:

NightOwl CM12.1 Android 5.1.1

Pull down the latest ROM and GApps and save both files in the root of the internal SD card on the N7000.

Links to the files I used are here, this is what worked for me, you should be pulling the latest files from the XDA link.

- NightOwl CM12.1 ROM 2015-10-03
- GApps lpmr1 2015-03-24 (signed zip file)
- Philz CWM6 XXLT5-OXX-5.03.0 (signed zip)

Boot into recovery.  Because I had Ultimate ROM before, the power menu when shitting down the phone provides a Boot Into Recovery option.  From power off, recovery can be booted into by press and holding Volume Up + Home + Power.  Release the Power button when the Samsung logo appears while still holding the other two until Recovery loads.

Once in recovery is where I ran into some problems.  I started getting the infamous "Status 7" error when trying to flash any ROM, so I needed to update my recovery, which is where Philz came in.

I selected "Install Zip" then "Choose zip from /storage/sdcard0", select the Philz zip file, select "Yes - ..." and Philz kernel and recovery will install. 

I rebooted into CWM recovery after this to load the new ROM and GApps.  Once in recovery, select "Wipe and Format Options", then "Clean to Install a New ROM", then "Yes - ...".  The system will wipe Cache, Dalvik, and System, but leave Data.  After this finishes, select the "++++Go Back++++" options until you are back on the Home menu, then select "Install Zip", "Choose zip from /storage/sdcard0", select the "Nightowl-cm12.1-....zip", then select "Yes - ...".  The ROM will load, it should take about 2-5 minutes to complete.

After the install completes, reboot the phone.  After the phone boots, check to see if the Google Play Store app is installed.  On my flash, Play was already loaded and I did not need to run the GApps package in Recovery.  If the Play store is missing, then reboot into Recovery  and load the GApps package following the same instructions used for loading the ROM.

My N7000 started right up, I left it sit for 30 minutes after the first boot, then went through the initial setup steps.  After that, I updated some Google apps I had selected in setup to be installed, then started setting the phone up how I like it.  After a few hours, I have most of the core apps loaded and haven't experiences any problems.  There is a small bit of lag compared to my Nexus 4 and Note 4, but overall, this ROM gives new life to the N7000 and makes it a usable device again.

Root + Recovery + ROM + GApps load on Samsung Galaxy S2 (I9100)

I needed to move from the stock ICS ROM on a GS2 to something else to avoid the phone shutting off/freezing for no reason.  At first thought, I wanted to just move to a Jelly Bean ROM since I figured KitKat and Lollipop would be a bit too much for the hardware, but I ended up using CyanogenMod Official 12.1 Nightly.  The install went as expected and start to finish took about 30 minutes.  THe phone runs very fast and smooth, is nice and stable, and I haven't run across anything that didn't work.

Here are the steps to move from stock ICS to CM12.1.

First, I downloaded everything I would need:
- CF Kernel (Root + CWM Recovery)
- Odin (v3.07)
- CM12.1 ROM
- GApps
 
Next, with the phone turned on, connect the phone to the computer to transfer files.  I copied the CM12.1 ROM and the GApps packages to the root of the internal SDcard for later.

Now I needed to Root the device and flash a recovery.  This is accomplished in one step using Odin.

Disconnect the phone from the PC, then turn the phone off normally.  Boot the phone into Download Mode by holding Volume Up + Home + Power until you see a warning telling you that you are about to enter Download Mode.  At this warning, hit Volume Up one more time to enter Download Mode.  Now connect the phone to the computer.  If you get a driver error, download the Samsung Phone USB Driver,unplug the phone and replug to register the phone with Windows correctly.

Extract the Odin307.zip file that was just downloaded to a local directory.  From inside that local directory, double-click to launch Odin3 v3.07.exe file.
In the ID:COM box in the upper left, you should see a device show up on one of the COM ports.  Make sure Auto Reboot and F. Reset Time are checked and the rest of the boxes are unchecked.

Image courtesy of droidow.com

Extract the .tar file from the CF Kernel .zip file to a temp directory.  Click the PDA button in Odin, navigate to where you put the .tar file, select it, and click OK.  Then click Start in Odin and the new kernel and recovery will flash.  When completed, Odin will display a success message and the phone will reboot.

Unplug the phone from the computer when it restarts and press and hold Volume Down + Home + Power until Clockwork Recovery menu is displayed.

In Clockwork Recovery, use the Volume Down to highlight Wipe Cache, then press the power button to select.  On the next screen, scroll down to highlight Yes and press the power key to select.

Next, highlight and select back to get back to the home menu, then highlight Factory Reset, then 'Yes', then home using the volume keys for navigation and the power key to make selections.

Now it is time to load the CM12.1 ROM.  From the Clockwork Recovery screen, select 'Install from zip', then 'choose zip from /storage/sdcard0', select cm-12.1-xxxxx.zip file, then select 'Yes'.

Once finished installing, select 'reboot into recovery' to load the new Clockwork Recovery that was just installed.

In Clockwork Recovery, select 'Install from zip', then 'choose zip from /storage/sdcard0', select tk_gapps-modular-pico-xxxxx.zip, then select 'Yes' to install the GApps service for the Google Play Store.

Once finished installing, select 'reboot system now' and the phone will restart.  The initial boot may take some time, and after the initial boot, the phone should be left to sit for about 30 minutes to finish setting up.

If errors occur, shut off the phone and boot into CWM recovery again.  Wipe cache and do a factory reset, then flash ROM and GApps again.