[HOW TO] Flash a Custom ROM to Your Android Device

I have received multiple PM's pertaining to installing custom ROM's. Since it would be almost impossible for me to explain this in every PM, I decided to post this guide. the will work on MOST Android devices This is my first guide so cut me some slack. Enjoy!

Using your Android phone or Computer, go to xdadevelopers.com/forums locate your device on the site. Then, open the development thread for your particular device. Once you’re there, open up some posts and find a ROM you would like. If you have trouble choosing, I highly recommend any version of CyanogenMod, AOKP, ShoSTOCK or MIUI. These four are well-known, widely used, and provide a fantastic user experience! Also, before choosing a ROM, decide whether you want AOSP, HTC Sense, TouchWiz, MotoBlur, or a Pure Google UI. However, please note that some custom ROMs do not work with some devices, so, make sure you choose a custom ROM the work for your specific device. This will prevent a lot of problems.

Boot your handset into recovery. There are various ways to do this, and a lot of phones do it differently. So, if these methods don't work, I suggest Google searching how to do it on your specific device. You might be able to hold down the Power button and select Restart > Recovery. Or, hold both Volume buttons and the Power button at the same time until you reboot into Recovery. If that doesn’t work for you, go to the Google Play Store and download ROM Manager. Once installed, open up ROM Manager and select “Reboot into Recovery.” Once you’re in the recovery menu, use the Volume keys to navigate through the options and use the Power button or Home button to select an option.

On the recovery menu, select “Wipe Data Factory Reset then from there. You may or may not need to wipe your Dalvik cache at some point, depending on your device.

Now, navigate to "install zip from sdcard".

Then, select "choose zip from sdcard".

Once you have selected the .zip file, install it and wait for it to complete. When it completes go back to the main CWM screen and select "reboot system now". This reboot will take longer than normal since it is the first boot up of your new ROM.

LINKS:

Google Apps: http://downloadandroidrom.com/file/gapps/gapps-ics-20120429-signed.zip

Enjoy your new ROM!

***ONE THING TO NOTE IS NOT ALL ROMS COME WITH GOOGLE APPS, SO YOU MAY NEED TO DOWNLOAD AND INSTALL THAT SEPARATELY. i INSTALL GOOGLE APPS THE SAME WAY I INSTALL A ROM SO YOU SHOULD DO SO TO.***

***I'M NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY ISSUES. DO THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK (Although there isn't much of a risk...)***

Good luck and, enjoy-TechFitGJ


EDIT: This is now an official stickied post.

You should also note that getting into recovery could be different across the devices. For example, to get into recovery on my nexus s you have to hold volume up and power button and go to recovery from the bootloader.

I will just take pictures of CWM and post them in when I get home

Sent from my SGH-I777 using Tapatalk 2

if you choose to, will your nandroid backup still be there after a wipe, or should you transfer it to your computer?

The thread has been updated! Let me know what you think.

Nice guide but you should have used TWRP


So much better than cwm.

Thanks. This is my preferred way of installing ROMs.

Also, make sure that they have a permanent recovery installed. Works wonders to save their life if they can't boot into recovery.

Awesome guide, I think that you should let iPwn know that the title of this thread should be changed to [HOW TO] Installing Custom ROMS.