How to Unlock (and Root) the Bell Galaxy S2. Step by Step Guide

[JSR84]

I noticed you posted the USB drivers in the original post, but when I download the file its just Odin 1.85?

 

[Blue1k]

I noticed you posted the USB drivers in the original post, but when I download the file its just Odin 1.85?

Oops! Just fixed the link. Sorry about that.

 

[JSR84]

Oops! Just fixed the link. Sorry about that.

No Problem man! Thanks!

 

[fmark]

Hi !

I need some help please. I have Bell SG2 unlocked using Galaxy_S Unlock App.
I'm using it with Fido.

Whatever modem I'm trying to use (except for the I9100MUGKG2), my phone thinks that I'm roaming. I have already tried to flash CSC: I9100MBMCKG2, but it does not change anything. I tried KI3, KI4 modems, but all of them do roaming.

Could anybody please advice of how to use different modems without 'roaming problem' ?

Thanks,
Mark.

 

[Blue1k]

Hi !

I need some help please. I have Bell SG2 unlocked using Galaxy_S Unlock App.
I'm using it with Fido.

Whatever modem I'm trying to use (except for the I9100MUGKG2), my phone thinks that I'm roaming. I have already tried to flash CSC: I9100MBMCKG2, but it does not change anything. I tried KI3, KI4 modems, but all of them do roaming.

Could anybody please advice of how to use different modems without 'roaming problem' ?

Thanks,
Mark.

How are you flashing these modems? Recovery or Odin?

Another solution would be to just flash a pre-rooted stock rom or third party rom with a newer modem. When I had the phone I used VR3RTR3MA Rom with KI4 and I never had any roaming problems.

PM me and I can suggest a few things.

 

[fmark]

I just found out what was causing my 'roaming' problem. It was caused by my old Fido SIM card (year 2005). I replaced old SIM with the new one and now I can use any modem file without my phone thinking that it's roaming.

 

[Blue1k]

I just found out what was causing my 'roaming' problem. It was caused by my old Fido SIM card (year 2005). I replaced old SIM with the new one and now I can use any modem file without my phone thinking that it's roaming.

Glad it worked out. Thanks for letting us know in case it happens to someone else.

 

[DroidSource]

Hi everyone, first post here

So i'm using a Bell Galaxy S II on 2.3.6 (GT-I9100M) on KG2 and my friend has the exact same phone and rooted it and is using a ICS rom. I wanted to go fully custom like him and he gave me this link to first root it.

I first read alot on XDA developpers forums and wiki to make myself familiar with rooting then i followed extremely carefully your steps which i found really well explained and simple.

What happened is when I rooted with ODIN everything seemed to work fine it says "successful" after the zImage but it just won't reboot!! It freezes on the start screen where it's written "Samsung GT-I9100" with the yellow triangle.

After that I was kind of afraid so i dled the stock Bell KG2 ROM and attempted to flash it using the same way in ODIN and, this time, it FAILED. Now when i start my phone I get a RED ANDROID and a text telling me to connect my phone to KIES and go in recovery mode...

So here I am, now I hope i didn't brick my phone or I don't know I'm not a pro that's why i took about 4 hours of reading everywhere before going into this process, but now I'm Lost.. What do??

So I would be really grateful if someone here could help me with this I really want to root it but now i don't know what to do..

 

[Blue1k]

Hi everyone, first post here

So i'm using a Bell Galaxy S II on 2.3.6 (GT-I9100M) on KG2 and my friend has the exact same phone and rooted it and is using a ICS rom. I wanted to go fully custom like him and he gave me this link to first root it.

I first read alot on XDA developpers forums and wiki to make myself familiar with rooting then i followed extremely carefully your steps which i found really well explained and simple.

What happened is when I rooted with ODIN everything seemed to work fine it says "successful" after the zImage but it just won't reboot!! It freezes on the start screen where it's written "Samsung GT-I9100" with the yellow triangle.

After that I was kind of afraid so i dled the stock Bell KG2 ROM and attempted to flash it using the same way in ODIN and, this time, it FAILED. Now when i start my phone I get a RED ANDROID and a text telling me to connect my phone to KIES and go in recovery mode...

So here I am, now I hope i didn't brick my phone or I don't know I'm not a pro that's why i took about 4 hours of reading everywhere before going into this process, but now I'm Lost.. What do??

So I would be really grateful if someone here could help me with this I really want to root it but now i don't know what to do..

Can you boot into recovery? PM me, I can fix this for you. I'll add you to my google talk.

 

[F Dizzle]

Great guide! Rooted and unlocked my Bell GS2 with no issues.

Questions I hope you can help with:

1) I rooted to fix the wifi sharing bug (so that I can freeze wifi sharing). Once/If Bell releases a new firmware update, I will want to go back to stock firmware-unrooted.

a) Can I update my firmware without un-rooting first?
b) Will the Bell/Samsung firmware update automatically unroot my phone?

2) The phone is unlocked (using this guide). If I unroot my phone and/or go back to stock firmware, will my phone be re-locked to Bell?

Thank you SO MUCH for making a difficult and stressful process so easy!

 

[Blue1k]

Great guide! Rooted and unlocked my Bell GS2 with no issues.

Questions I hope you can help with:

1) I rooted to fix the wifi sharing bug (so that I can freeze wifi sharing). Once/If Bell releases a new firmware update, I will want to go back to stock firmware-unrooted.

a) Can I update my firmware without un-rooting first?
b) Will the Bell/Samsung firmware update automatically unroot my phone?

2) The phone is unlocked (using this guide). If I unroot my phone and/or go back to stock firmware, will my phone be re-locked to Bell?

Thank you SO MUCH for making a difficult and stressful process so easy!

1a) Yes, you will need to wait till the firmware is available on XDA to be flashed in Odin. Search the user Intratech. He keeps a thread of all carrier stock firmwares
1b) Yes it will unroot. I would suggest after flashing in Odin that you do a factory reset and cache wipe to avoid bootloops after flashing back a stock unrooted rom

I would avoid going back to unrooted. Why not just flash the newer firmware then root again using a newer CF-root kernel?

2) Phone will remain unlocked.

 

[F Dizzle]

Thank you for the answers.

I have very limited knowledge about all this, and I'm trying to sort it all out.

1a) I see what you mean here. However, now that's I'm rooted, can I still update the phone with the next official Samsung firmware update when it is available via Kies?

1b) "I would suggest after flashing in Odin that you do a factory reset and cache wipe to avoid bootloops after flashing back a stock unrooted rom"

I'm not quite sure what you mean by this, but sounds like it's a bit of a process to unroot. Even doing a factory reset would then take me over a couple of hours getting my phone back to where I had it.

2) Ok, great! So sounds like I'm now unlocked no matter what I do. Perfect!

Thanks again!!

 

[Blue1k]

Thank you for the answers.

I have very limited knowledge about all this, and I'm trying to sort it all out.

1a) I see what you mean here. However, now that's I'm rooted, can I still update the phone with the next official Samsung firmware update when it is available via Kies?

1b) "I would suggest after flashing in Odin that you do a factory reset and cache wipe to avoid bootloops after flashing back a stock unrooted rom"

I'm not quite sure what you mean by this, but sounds like it's a bit of a process to unroot. Even doing a factory reset would then take me over a couple of hours getting my phone back to where I had it.

2) Ok, great! So sounds like I'm now unlocked no matter what I do. Perfect!

Thanks again!!

1a). No Kies won't work. To be honest Kies is a garbage piece of software. You don't even have to use it. As soon as a new update is available you can use Odin to install it. XDA will post the update as soon as it becomes available. Just so you know, you don't have to use a Bell Rom at all. Any International ROM works-they are the same device. Bell may or may not even update the phone so I would not rely on them. PM me if you would like to update your phone. The newer roms have much better GPS reception.

To flash in odin is easy. You can see my guide at the front on using Odin. Basically you are:
downloading the file>use odin to flash>done

1b) No it is very easy. Once you go to back to stock (I would never do this personally) you need to wipe which takes about 5 seconds.

After flashing the stock rom, you would turn the phone off. Boot into recovery (hold volume UP/power/home) and then just reset by choosing the option in the menu.

I wipe my phone probably 5 times a month.

You can use an application called Titanium backup to backup all your apps. Resetting will not delete music or photos.

Hope this helps.

 

[JSR84]

Blue, I need to restore my stock firmware because the phone needs to go into for warranty repair but when I flash the stock Rom (Via Odin) it just gets stuck in a boot loop. It just Keeps running through the Samsung "S" thingy.

 

[Blue1k]

Blue, I need to restore my stock firmware because the phone needs to go into for warranty repair but when I flash the stock Rom (Via Odin) it just gets stuck in a boot loop. It just Keeps running through the Samsung "S" thingy.

Oh that is because you need to wipe the phone after flashing the stock rom. Power down and boot into recovery. Choose Factory Reset and then Wipe/Format Cache.

It will now boot.

..will add to the original post.

 

[JSR84]

Oh that is because you need to wipe the phone after flashing the stock rom. Power down and boot into recovery. Choose Factory Reset and then Wipe/Format Cache.

It will now boot.

..will add to the original post.

Yeah I figured it out like 2 min after I posted this lol.

 

[ghareb]

Hi Blue1K
I have the SGS2 from Bell Canada, currently flashed with the Middle East firmware (to have the Arabic) and also rooted using your guide here. Will it be OK to flash the official ICS from Europe that is posted here:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/show....php?t=1544487

Should I take any precautions?
Thanks a lot

 

[etotheo]

Hi Blue1K
I have the SGS2 from Bell Canada, currently flashed with the Middle East firmware (to have the Arabic) and also rooted using your guide here. Will it be OK to flash the official ICS from Europe that is posted here:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/show....php?t=1544487

Should I take any precautions?
Thanks a lot

I'm in the same boat...

I flashed to the firmware on the original post by Blue1K (thanks!) and now I'm in the process of downloading the official ICS (XXLPQ) from samfirmware.com.

I'll go for it unless I hear otherwise.

 

[ghareb]

I'm in the same boat...

I flashed to the firmware on the original post by Blue1K (thanks!) and now I'm in the process of downloading the official ICS (XXLPQ) from samfirmware.com.

I'll go for it unless I hear otherwise.

Let me know how it goes please. Thanks

 

[etotheo]

All done. Everything seems to be working great!

 

[etotheo]

 

[ghareb]

All done. Everything seems to be working great!

Thanks!
Did you unlock the phone before doing this and was it still unlocked or you need to do it again using Galaxy S unlock?

 

[Blue1k]

Guys hold on!

Don't use odin to flash it. You will need to root again.

Instead download Stock XXLPQ (official 4.0) that is rooted.
You can flash this in recovery.
WAY EASIER.

Here is the link: 4.0.3 LPQ Rooted Official ICS (flash with CWM not Odin)
*please do a nandroid backup first

Steps:
1. Do a nandroid backup
2. Wipe the phone. Factory reset, wipe cache, wipe dalvik
3. Install the new rom (zip)
4. Reboot and enjoy the rom you lucky bastards

Sent from my Galaxy Note running Gingerbread

 

[ghareb]

Guys hold on!

Don't use odin to flash it. You will need to root again.

Instead download Stock XXLPQ (official 4.0) that is rooted.
You can flash this in recovery.
WAY EASIER.

Here is the link: 4.0.3 LPQ Rooted Official ICS (flash with CWM not Odin)
*please do a nandroid backup first

Steps:
1. Do a nandroid backup
2. Wipe the phone. Factory reset, wipe cache, wipe dalvik
3. Install the new rom (zip)
4. Reboot and enjoy the rom you lucky bastards

Sent from my Galaxy Note running Gingerbread

Thanks Blue1K!
So, do I have to unlock the phone again after the update and do you know if the Galaxy S unlock App is compatible with the ICS?
Best

 

[Dinote34]

Hi Blue,
Just wanted to say thank you! Your walkthrough is fantastic and I have recommended it to many! I have followed it too many times to count and have had no issues at all with the rooting/flashing procress. I really really appreciate it! I am downloading the ICS ROM as we speak and should have it flashed in no time!
Thanks again!!!