Upgrade Firmware: Install Cyanogenmod 12.1 custom rom on sprint samsung galaxy s3 L710 d2spr

Friday, December 11, 2015

Install Cyanogenmod 12.1 custom rom on sprint samsung galaxy s3 L710 d2spr

Galaxy s3 is one the most popular android device that samsung has ever built.As you all know that samsung usually releases its flagship and other mid range devices in carrier variants too,we got sprint variant variant of galaxy s3 too which has completely different processor and also double the ram than that of international one.

Being a carrier variant it has a different model number than compared to others.Sprint galaxy s3 has model number as L710 while its device specific codename is d2spr.Just like its international sibling it too got huge developer support.

There are many custom roms that are available for this device but only few roms are available with latest android version that is android 5.1.1.Cyanogenmod is officially supporting this device from a long time and good news is that we already has official cm 12.1 custom rom for sprint galaxy s3 under the codename d2spr

If you don't know how to install cm 12.1 custom rom on your sprint samsung galaxy s3 L710 d2spr then don't worry we will guide you install cyanogenmod on your device so that you can update it to latest version of android too.
But before going further:

Check you samsung galaxy s3 model number by going into about device and confirm that you are using sprint variant which has model number as L710 only as flashing on other carrier variants might brick it for sure.
Make sure that kies is already installed on your computer.If you don't have then do install them.
You must have updated it to official software that is already available if you are starting from scratch.
Root: You need to have root access on your sprint samsung galaxy s3 to install cyanogenmod 12.1 custom rom.If not you have to follow the whole guide.
Backup:Backup all your data which includes contacts,apps,photos videos etc everything to computer or any cloud networks as installing cm 12.1 on your galaxy s 3 L710 will erase all the data on your handset.
Backup Efs partitions: This is for those who already have twrp installed.Backup all your efs partition of your samsung device on existing rom.Just in case if you loose signal or imei you can just restore it back.
Battery: Charge your sprint galaxy s3 l710to 100% so that you wont encounter any battery related problems while updating it.
You must have a unlocked bootloader on your galaxy s3 d2spr to flash cm 12.1 rom.
Downloads:Lollipop based cm 12.1 rom for d2spr on your computer or device itself.If you want gapps download them too.Also download the clockwordmod recovery img file from that link too.
Recovery: You need a custom recovery like twrp or cwm or philz already installed on your sprint s3 d2spr.

Cyanogenmod 12.1 rom for sprint galaxy s3 L710 d2spr:

Cyanogenmod 12.1 custom rom on sprint samsung galaxy s3 L710 d2spr

As you know Cyanogenmod 12.1 is one of the best custom roms available in android development ecosystem.They support lot of handset which have kernel sources.This rom is based on android open source project with lot of additional features from cm.Being a samsung flagship and well received by developers this device is still officially supported by cyanogenmod and a stable android 5.1.1 rom is available as cm 12.1.

cyanogenmod cm 12.1 for sprint galaxy s3

Common Features of cm 12.1:

Theme engine: Theme engine is from the cyanogenmod custom rom which basically changes the look user interface from lock screen to ring tones all the way up to boot animations.The speciality of the theme engine is the ability to choose individual elements of every theme you have installed.So you like the ring tons and wallpapers of one theme and icons of other theme then you can have them at a time.Just open the theme chooser and you will understand how to do it.
Performance control:A default cpu manager app to control frequencies and governors.You can adjust cpu frequencies and also set them on boot too.
Trebuchet: This is the default launcher that ships with cyanogenmod rom.But if you flash gapps then you might loose this.It doesn't have too many features like nova or other launchers but its simple and fast.
Software Updates: Cyanogenmod rom is usually available in three types one is nightlies which gets updated with new features every night and are quite stable for daily usage.second one is the snapchat which is monthly build version which will be stable version and other one is the release candidate.Some times nightlies are considered must stable than the snapshots.
Status bar Tweaks:Status bar has lot of tweaks which include a brightness slider.Slide in status bar to adjust brightness of the screen.Double tap on status bar to sleep device and also network speed indicator for on going traffic info.
If you root apps don't work then that is no response form super user it means it has been disabled and you can enable it in developer options easily.

These are the features of cyanogenmod cm 12.1 custom rom for sprint samsung galaxy s3 L710 and you can explore rest of them by flashing this on your d2spr.

If you starting from scratch then you must have root access with clockworkmod recovery installed on your device.If you don't have recovery installed then don't worry at all.We will guide you o install cwm recovery which is essential to flash this rom.Since cwm recovery is readily provided by cyanogenmod them self in the form of .im files you have to manually install them before flashing cm 12.1.

Install Twrp and root galaxy s3 d2spr:

If you don't have root access on your device then you need to install cwm recovery but this requires root access.So in order to attain root access we will first flash twrp recovery and then flash supersu zip file to attain root access.The reason why we are flashing twrp first is that it doesn't require any root access and you can use odin to install recovery.

Download latest version of supersu on you sprint galaxy s3.
Download latest version of odin and place it on desktop for easy access.
Now download Twrp recovery tar for d2spr and extract it.
Enable usb debugging on your s3 by going into developer options.
Power off the device completely and wait for few seconds.
Now put the device in download mode by holding volume down,home key and power button at the same time.Once your s3 enters download mode using volume keys to navigate and press on continue.
Now it is ready to grab the files through odin.
Open odin on your desktop or computer.
Connect your sprint galaxy s3 to computer using usb cable.
Once the device is connected you will notice a blue tab in odin with message added.
Now click on pda and navigate to the file which you have extracted before.
Make sure you tick auto reboot and reset time and leave rest of them untick.
Now click on start and wait till the flashing is completed.
Once the flashing is done you will notice a green tab with message pass and device should reboot automatically.
Once the device reboots you will have twrp recovery installed on your s3.
Now power off your device and reboot into recovery using button combinations.
Once you are in twrp recovery click on install and select the supersu zip file and flash it.
Once flashing is done just reboot it to system.
Once your sprint s3 boots you will have root access and now its time to install cwm recovery.

Install cwm recovery on sprint galaxy s3:

Since flashing cm 12.1 requires cwm recovery installed and cyanogenmod provides .img file you can flash it using flashify or using dd method.

Download the recovery from above link(which is same as that of cm 12.1) and place it in roots of internal storage.
Rename the file as cwm so that it will be easy to type.
Open playstore on your andorid device and search for an app called terminal command and install it.
Open the app and if requests superuser permissions grant them.
Now type the command "su" and press enter.
Now type "dd if=/sdcard/cwm.img of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p18" and hit enter.
Once you press enter the process of installing cwm recovery initiates and wait for it to complete.
Once done just reboot into recovery and you will have cwm installed.

Flash Cm 12.1 rom using cwm recovery:

Download cm 12.1 rom for d2spr from above link transfer them to sdcard or internal storage of device.
Power of the device completely and wait for few seconds to confirm that it is completely off.
Using button combinations reboot into recovery or use quick boot app to enter recovery.
Once you are in cwm recovery backup existing rom first. It might about 5 to 10 minutes for backup to complete and do not interrupt backup process.
Now click on wipe and select wipe data factory reset.Go back and wipe system partition too.
Once you have wiped all required partitions go back and click on install.
Navigate to location where you have placed your galaxy s plus rom and select it.
Swipe to confirm flash and wait for 5 minutes for process to complete.
Again click on install and select gapps this time if you need them.

Once you have flashed cm 12.1 then just reboot to system and it might about 20 minutes for the initial boot to complete.If it doesn't boot even after 20 minutes give it some time before confirming it as a bootloop.Once it boots successfully you can enjoy the features of latest android version.

By following the above procedure you will be able to flash Cyanogenmod 12.1 custom rom on sprint samsung galaxy s3 L710 d2spr.If you have any other queries, do leave them in comment sections below.

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