Samsung Galaxy Note 3 With Android 5.1 Lollipop Unofficial CM12.1 ROM
The Unofficial CM12.1 port for the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 comes from recognized XDA developer arter97 and is meant for the HLTE Galaxy Note 3 variants. Supported Galaxy Note 3 models include the N9002, N9005, N9006, N9008, N9008S, N9008V, and other North American variants of the Galaxy Note 3 with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 chipset. Even though the ROM is in early stages of development currently, most of the functions do work as expected. There are a few minor bugs and issues that need to be ironed out though. These issues will most likely be fixed by the developer in the later versions of the ROM. Despite that, the ROM can be considered almost good enough to be considered as a daily driver ROM for most people. Things will obviously only get better with time. Since CM12 for the Galaxy Note 3 almost free from bugs by now, you can expect CM12.1 to reach the same level of stability in the very near future. If you own the Exynos octa-core variant of the Galaxy Note 3, you should not follow this tutorial and flash this Unofficial CM12.1 ROM on your Galaxy Note 3. Doing so will result in your device getting bricked. So we suggest that you wait for the CM12.1 ROM to become available for the Exynos variant.
In this tutorial we are going to walk
you through the steps involved in flashing this Android 5.1 Lollipop Unofficial
CM12.1 custom ROM on your Samsung Galaxy Note 3. We suggest that you follow
this guide carefully and do not skip any step or use your own judgment to do
anything differently. If you make a mistake during the installation process,
you may end up bricking your Samsung Galaxy Note 3. We would also like to warn
our readers once again that this ROM is only meant for the Galaxy Note 3
Snapdragon powered variants and should not be flashed on an Exynos octa-core
chipset based Galaxy Note 3 variant.
Before we get to the ROM installation
process, we will need to make sure that your Galaxy Note 3 is ready for the
installation to begin. The first thing that you will need to do is to make sure
that you take a backup of all your important data. You can do this with the
help of the Samsung KIES application on your PC or by installing a third party
backup and restore application from the Google Play Store. You can download any
of the popular backup and restore apps available on the Google Play Store such
as Titanium Backup, MyBackup, or Helium. Some of these apps do require root
access, so make sure your device is rooted before you use them. Along with the
backup of your personal data, you also need to take a Nandroid backup of your
current ROM so you can revert to it in case you find yourself dissatisfied with
this Android Lollipop ROM. If you do not have any idea on how to take a
Nandroid backup of your ROM, you can follow the tutorial posted at this link.
In order to install this Unofficial
CM12.1 Android 5.1 Lollipop ROM on your Galaxy Note 3, you will need to have an
unlocked bootloader. Like any other AOSP based ROM, this ROM also requires that
your device’s bootloader be unlocked. So you will need to unlock the bootloader
of your Galaxy Note 3 before you are able to install the ROM on it. However, we
should warn you that unlocking the bootloader will void the warranty on your
device. So make sure you keep this in mind before deciding whether or not you
want to unlock the bootloader of your device to install this ROM. Along with an
unlocked bootloader, it is also required that you have a custom recovery
installed on your device. You can install latest version of any of the popular
custom recovery options such as CWM, TWRP, or PhilZ recovery on your Galaxy
Note 3. It is also recommended that you have root access on your device.
One very important thing that you
should keep in mind every time you install a custom ROM on your Android
smartphone or tablet is to ensure that you have at least 60% battery charge
remaining on your device. In case the battery runs out during the installation
process, your device will end up getting bricked. Which is why we recommend
that you first charge your Samsung Galaxy Note 3 before proceeding with the
installation process, if your device has lower than 60% battery charge
remaining.
Finally, you will need to make sure
that the USB Debugging option is checked under Developer options on your
Samsung Galaxy Note 3. You will need to go to Settings – Developer Options –
USB Debugging and then make sure that the USB Debugging option has been
checked. If it is not checked already, make sure you check the option.
Now that all the prerequisites for
installation have been taken care of, we now proceed to the ROM installation
process.
How to Update Samsung Galaxy Note 3 to Android 5.1 Lollipop with Unofficial CM12.1 Custom ROM
The first thing that you will need to
do in order to get the Android 5.1 Unofficial CM12.1 ROM installed on your
Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is to download the ROM ZIP file from this link and save
it to your computer. Along with the ROM, you will also need to do download the
GAPPS package separately as CM12.1 doesn’t come with any Google apps or
services by default, much like any other AOSP based ROM.
Once the two ZIP files have been
downloaded to your computer, connect your Samsung Galaxy Note 3 to the computer
and transfer the two files to the internal storage of the device. Do not
accidentally transfer the files to the external SD card as you will not be able
to flash these files in that case. Also, it is recommended that you move the
two ZIP files to the root directory of the internal storage so that it becomes
easier for you to find the files when you need to flash them via recovery in a
later step.
After you are done transferring the
two ZIP files to your Galaxy Note 3’s internal storage, unplug it from your
computer. Now turn it off and enter recovery mode.
In recovery, tap on ‘wipe data factory
reset’ to perform a factory reset. Once the factory reset is complete, tap on
the ‘advanced’ option and individually wipe the cache, dalvik cache, system,
and data partitions. This is an important step and should be followed each time
you flash a new custom ROM on your Android smartphone or tablet.
In case you are
simply upgrading to a newer build of the ROM you are running currently, you
will only need to wipe the cache, and dalvik cache. However, if you are
upgrading to CM12.1 from CM12, it is still recommended that you perform a full
wipe.
Now return to the main recovery menu
and tap on ‘Install zip from SD card’ and choose the ROM ZIP file that you had
transferred to the internal storage of your Samsung Galaxy Note 3 in an earlier
step. Flash the file and wait for the process to complete.
Once the ROM ZIP file has been
flashed, tap on ‘reboot system now’. Once your device boots up, configure
CyanogenMod and then boot your Galaxy Note 3 into recovery mode once again.
In recovery, tap on ‘Install zip from
SD card’ and choose the GAPPS ZIP file and flash it. Once the file has been
flashed, tap on ‘reboot system now’.
That’s it. You should now have the
Android 5.1 Lollipop Unofficial CM12.1 custom ROM installed on your Galaxy Note
3. The first boot is likely to take longer than usual, so do not worry if your
device takes a few minutes to boot to the homescreen.
