On November 10, 2011 Sprint announced the Samsung Epic 4g would be updated to Gingerbread S:D700.0.5S.EI22 over the course of the next ten days.  Sprint’s intent of slowing updating everyone to the EI22 ROM is to be able to monitor the process in the event they have to pull the update due to technical problems. Already users are reporting WiFi, GPS, and keyboard bugs which Sprint or Samsung has yet to acknowledge.

For those of us who are too anxious to wait on the OTA now have several methods available (a few of these methods have fixes already available).

IMPORTANT:  Please make sure that you make backups of all your information before doing any upgrades, while some methods like the update.zip is rather safe, it doesn’t hurt to make a copy of what is important to you. For those who have clockworkmod 2.X (green one), you should upgrade to the latest clockworkmod 3.X (purple) as old clockworkmod backups will not be compatible.

1) First method is to do a manual update.

a) Go to this link and download the file gTen has provided.
b) Rename the file to update.zip (make sure it’s not renamed update.zip.zip)
c) Place the file on the Root of your SD Card
d) shut down your phone and boot into recovery by holding voldown+camera+power
e) Choose to flash update.zip

 Notes:
1 This method will not give you Root
2 If you already rooted the above method will not work
3 This is NOT a custom ROM it is the manual way to upgrade.

2) Second Method Rooting EI22 after OTA or Google update (credits: XDA member metalblaster)

a) Video Provided by qbking77
b) first you need to install the OTA either through the OTA method or through the Google link method.
c) Next you need to go to the ACS forums and Download the ACS recovery 1.0.0.5.tar.md5 file, You will need this file as well

1 confirm you have gingerbread EI22.
2 download the 2 files above (you can use CWM purple version as well if you don’t want the acs Recovery.)
3 Put the su-3.0-efgh-signed.zip file onto your sdcard and turn off the phone.
4 Boot into Download mode by holding the 1 key on the keyboard and the power key
5 open odin and connect the phone to the computer, one of the ID:com boxes will light up to confirm it is connected.
6 put the ACSrecovery.tar.md5 file into the PDA area of odin, make sure everything is uncheck except Auto-reboot and hit start.
7 if done correctly your phone should reboot directly into ACS recovery mode.
8 once in recovery flash the Su-***** .zip file then reboot the phone.
9 If CWM does not stick due to the added script Samsung embedded in the phone kernel you should see below. There are thus far, 2 possible options, Option 1 will give you the Keyboard fix with a relatively Stock experience and Option 2 will give you a Deodexed Rom, nubernal, the keyboard fix and the GPS fix.

***UPDATE***

Apparently Samsung included a script that reflashes the stock recovery upon boot, so if you install a custom recovery (ACS or CWM) it will overwrite it upon boot.

d) (Option 1) Fix so that Clockwork Sticks

i) First Odin Mkasik’s EI22 Keyboard fix Kernel (PDA – Only check Auto Reboot) Then Odin Purple Clockwork.

e) (Option 2) override the built in Samsung issue and make CWM as well as add the nubernal.

i) Follow the steps up until you get into ACS recovery or CWM and flash the .zip in this post rather than the Su.zip file.
ii) This will completely fix your GPS and CWM problems as well as deodex the EI22 version you have.

Geeks over at XDA in “Team Win” and member Shinzul have up and done something fantastic. If you haven’t heard about it, Kernel Manager will soon be available to rooted users who love to flash their phones. Very similar to ROM Manger, Kernel Manager is very easy to use and only takes a few seconds to install.

The application is officially called Universal Kernel Manager where developers can submit their kernels to TeamWin, which will be uploaded to a centralized location and available to download via Universal Kernel Manager. You can then view the kernels, download the kernels or even flash them all from this one application. There are more features so go on and give it a shot when you can get access to it.

You will this application it in the market soon! Developers, you can go to this link http://kernels.teamw.in and register for an account now! What are you waiting for?

Source: AP via XDA

The title says it all. If you don’t already know, Honeycomb has been ported for use on the HTC Droid Incredible, HTC Evo 4G and the HTC Desire HD. This isn’t the official update that everyone’s been talking about or hoping for but it’s definitely a start in the right direction. Keep in mind, there are a few bugs to be worked out but hey, it’s available.

Take a look at the videos below of Honeycomb running on the Incredible and the Evo. You will notice a bit of a lag but also you’ll see how the new version of Android fits the phones very nicely.

You can find the download links here and keep in mind if you use this, it’s at your own risk!

via ZoKnowsGaming & Androinica

The developer team over at alldroid.org has  managed to gain root access to the version of the Motorola Milestone which was recently released by Telus Mobility in Canada.  At first glance this doesn’t seem like news; both the Droid and Milestone were rooted months ago.  The difference is the Telus version was released with the root exploit patched.

A few days after the Droid/Milestone exploit was discovered, a developer submitted the patch for it to the Android Open Source Project.  The patch was accepted and merged into the source code.  Interestingly, this developer was Steve Kondik aka Cyanogen who is best known for his custom ROMs which he has developed for rooted HTC phones.  You can review the patch here.

The way to root a Telus Milestone is covered in detail here.  Basically it consists of completely wiping the memory of the phone and then flashing the memory with the Brazilian Milestone’s operating system.  This version of the Milestone software doesn’t have the exploit patched.  Once this is flashed, you simply continue as normal by downloading and running a modified ‘update.zip’ file which piggybacks the root access inside an over the air update file.

Although this does give the user root access, none of the Milestone branded devices will run a boot image unless digitally signed by Motorola.  This means no overclocking, custom roms, or custom recovery menu; but there are already tutorials for running interactive wallpapers, blocking unwanted advertisements, removing unwanted apps, and installing customized themes available over at alldroid.

I wonder how long until these guys figure out how to digitally sign custom ROMs?  At this pace we should see them by Friday.

Sources:  alldroid.org; telusmobility.ca