Google has released ICS (Ice Cream Sandwich) – the next version of the Nexus S OS (ICS 4.0.3- IML74K), and once again, I am posting it directly here — mostly for people who have not received it yet, people who are using a jailbroken phone, or people outside of the US who do not get the updates.

If you are on GRK39F (2.3.6), you can apply only the small update:

VQ8PQk_V.zip
(md5: 9cf66f890e71708f458df9932e5206b3)

 

Again, this is directly from google (it is even linked to google), and you should follow the 7 steps from the http://blog.vpetkov.net/2011/03/11/google-nexus-s-update-manually-to-2-3-1-2-3-2-and-2-3-3/ article.

Please note that the above update is the ~128 MB update, and will only work if you are on 2.3.6 GRK39F. This is NOT for people who are running jailbroken/custom roms.

If the above doesn’t work, OR if you are using a jailbroken/custom rom, of if you have another version before 2.3.6, then I suggest doing the full 4.0.3 (IML74K) flash:

ZD3PyN0t.zip
(md5: bdb728fd1581c369cd70e7f0b0e129f2)

This is the ~161 MB image. You can use the same 7 steps from the link above.
If you are having problems with the update above, this is the full factory restore and it should work without any problems.

Please post comments if you have any problems, or if you just want to post that it works!

10 Thoughts on “Google Nexus S – 4.0.3 ICS (full stand-alone install AND partial update)

  1. Hi
    My android is stuck on android logo, will downloading thia app o sd card and rebooting again help

  2. john michael estilong on December 29, 2012 at 2:03 am said:

    can i do this to my msi windpad enjoy 7? the os is gingerbread 2.3 and can someone please give instructions? thanks in advance. :))

  3. Dr. Hassan tariq on September 29, 2012 at 2:54 pm said:

    I did the full 4.0.3 flash installation successfully. Thanks a lot

  4. And I just had a look at http://www.itproportal.com/2011/12/24/google-resumes-android-ice-cream-sandwich-rollout-nexus-s/

    Is the version you’ve posted before the delay by google or after? Not sure if there is a difference though

  5. The benefits sound better than the slight loss of battery. With the app upconvert is that optional or is part of the upgrade to 4.0.3?

    • Yes it’s part of the upgrade. Simply look at your running list and determine the apps that are 3rd party and using memory, and uninstall+re-install them. They will still claim roughly the same amount of memory after that, but your total will free up. I definitely would agree that the benefits of 4.0.3 supersede the negatives. If you can put up with change, and give it a shot for about 3-4 days, I think you will never want to use 2.3 again.

  6. Does this include the bugs that caused google to put the update on hold? e.g. the battery issues?

    • I do not believe there is a battery bug in this. This is the official release for the Nexus S (TMO version). Here is my view on this: I have been running this on my own phone, and there aren’t any problems. I did notice that the battery is being consumed slightly faster than with 2.3, but there are many new features which could be using the battery. When I say slightly, I truly mean 5-10% extra per day. It’s possible that the new animations are causing this. Other than that, the other thing I noticed is that if you do an upgrade from 2.3.6 to 4.0.3 (instead of doing a clean install), there is an “App upconvert” feature which goes through your apps after the upgrade and “converts” them. Whatever this does, it ends up making the apps consume more running memory than they need. This was easily fixed by un-installing and re-installing the apps that were in the running list (in my case 3-4 that I had installed) in 4.0.3. I actually thought about downgrading the first few days, but now I love the system. It provides many new features which are fantastic. Specifically, the new text autocorrection/prediction, voice recognition, new settings menu, and a few nice clean ups make it a much better system. The new google email client is much better too. The one thing I am not a fan of is the new widget system and the new contacts/phone dialer. At last, they have re-written the browser (not a big deal for me since I use Dolphin), but more importantly, they have re-written the Sound/Alerts framework and this is done well (yes, it can still be better) for the first time.

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