Last Updated on April 9, 2017 by Mathew Diekhake

The “M’ series from Cyanogenmod is a breath of fresh air. The folks from the worlds most famous modding scene are still taking time to deliver upgrades for the Android KitKat ROMs. We know they are working hard on creating Android L software features, but people with older devices still preferring the final stages of KitKat favor the M12.

You should understand that the team spent a great deal of time and effort on creating M12 that doesn’t have as many features as what we are expecting with Lollipop, but does come with performance enhancements, stability improvements and more security fixes. Nevertheless, it’s still not as stable as many want for a daily drive smartphone. Therefore, it’s good practice to install this custom ROM using a secondary phone and not the work phone.

CM 11

You must already have root access by unlocking the internal hardware of the smartphones before coming here and attempting to install a custom ROM. We have plenty of guides here on site or you can search Google, plus a number of other sites offering a similar service. Moreover, you want to back up the OS since you will lose personal data and settings that are not saved to either the internal or external SD card. The two most popular ways to back up a rooted phone are taking a Nandroid Backup and using an application available from the Google Play Store called Titanium backup. You can make copies of the phone contacts, videos, EFS folder, pictures, music and more. Those without the internal system unchained as of yet will prefer to download Helium for Android, Holo and use Google Drive storage space.

You can back up to the internal storage of the phone since the Factory Reset does not wipe the internal storage memory. It will, however, wipe the memory stored from the previous ROM which means unless you backed up, it’s all gone.

The following guide is only for the I9000 and the I9000B model numbered smartphones of the Samsung Galaxy S. You can check your model number at any stage by turning the phone on and accessing the ‘About Device’ menu attached to the ‘Settings’ app.

All customizing techniques should be performed by experienced Android users only. Do not attempt installing such a ROM if you are a rookie without supervision. Try finding a family or friend member that has experience with flashing custom versions before starting. We are not liable for any of your data loss or device issues after you follow through with the steps. You advance from here at your own peril.

You must enable USB Debugging mode from the Developer Options menu from the settings app. The Developer Options menu is hidden in Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, therefore you must tap the build number seven times until the option presents itself on the settings menu. It’s easier than it sounds since the display counts down how many turns you have remaining before it unlocks.

Correspondingly, you must have the up-to-date USB drivers for the Samsung model. You can find these from the official Samsung website or numerous other sources. If you connect the phone to the Windows-based PC and you can get access to the phone data you already know the drivers are working perfectly. You don’t need to download them again.

Users will find the guide working for both the TWRP recovery and the CWM recovery even though this is a Cyanogen installation.

The Galaxy S comes with USB charging. However, since the device is aging rapidly, there’s every chance it’s not working. Only you know your phone’s faults and defects. If the USB charging feature doesn’t work when you plug the device into the computer you must reserve enough power to see through the guide without the handset shutting down. If it does shut down it can soft-brick the handset. Reserve at least 50% battery power before choosing to start the steps.

How to install the CM 11 M12 Snapshot Custom ROM based on Android 4.4.4 KitKat for the Samsung Galaxy S

  1. Turn the computer on.
  2. Download the I9000 ROM here.
  3. Download the I9000B ROM here.
  4. Download the 4.4 KitKat version of Google Gapps here.
  5. Fetch the USB cable.
  6. Connect the handset to the PC with the USB wire.
  7. Transfer the right file to the internal storage of the phone.
  8. Disconnect the phone from the PC.
  9. Do not unzip any of the files.
  10. Perform a Factory Reset by advancing to the wipe data/ factory reset’ option from ClockworkMod.
  11. TWRP users must select the Wipe option.
  12. Go back.
  13. TWRP users select ‘install’.
  14. CWM select the ‘install zip from sdcard’.
  15. Pick the ‘choose zip from sdcard’ option.
  16. Confirm you want to install the file you picked from the storage.
  17. Do the same actions for the Google Gapps pack by finding the file and confirming the installation.
  18. Go back once again to the main recovery screen and select the “reboot system now” option.