[Q] Most efficient way to update my GS3

If you don't want to do the research or take the time to go through the trouble of reading through these forums, then the most efficient way will be to remain stock unrooted and update via the approved methods from your carrier and/or Samsung (OTA and/or Kies usually). All software versions from ICS on up (non international S3s are now officially on KitKat) have been covered extensively by now so I doubt anyone is going to entertain your direct request for information. There are many things you need to be aware of, such as but not limited to how the new bootloaders and KNOX, as well as how custom roms and kernels, are working together in the big picture of things.

NOTE: Regardless of which route you take, no one in this forum, including myself, is responsible should anything happen to your phone. Anything you do to your phone is at your own risk, including official updates from your carrier and Samsung.

xshadowinxbc said:

http://imgur.com/EgzxWFI

I think this screenshot should have all of the relevant information. I would tried this sooner, but it was end of college, I got my first full time job, etc etc.

My main issue with this phone is that it does random "soft" resets where everything just comes down and it reboots to the lock screen. This is especially fun when I'm driving and using this as a GPS :laugh:. I'm pretty sure the kernel is involved somehow, but I honestly don't know.

I want to know:
1. What do you guys think would be the most efficient way for me to update both the ROM and Kernel?
2. Is there any way to do this without having to re-root?
3. Would I be better off just choosing a non-stock ROM in order to get to the latest version of the android OS more easily?


That's about it, pretty simple. Just some directions would be nice as I'm quite out of the loop. Thanks.

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You can get all the info you need here: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1725839

As for having to re-root, you won't if you flash a custom ROM. Getting the OTA (or Kies) update will require a re-root which can be easily done with Towelroot.

As for the "most efficient", just follow the ROM's OP instructions to a T - it''s usually straight forward and easy to follow.

xshadowinxbc said:

Thank you for the reply

Okay so basically the most (time) efficient way for me to update is to get some custom ROM. That's fine, all I need to work on my phone is a few programs nowadays. Namely Google maps and the phone (well and the browser). Is Kernel updating the same? What's one of the good kernels and roms these days for the purposes battery life?

The main reason I'm making this topic is I'm fine with just going out and following directions, but I'm updating from such an old version that I'm wondering if there are any "gotchas". Like I update it to this with my old kernel and the thing is suddenly bricked. That's really what I'm worried about.

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Kernel will be overwritten in the flashing process. All you gotta do is make sure you recovery is up to date if you go the custom ROM way.

We don't make suggestions as for what ROM/kernel to use to avoid flaming and it also comes down to user preference. Although, I do suggest starting to look at some custom ROMs (most of them come with their own kernel but can also flash another one). It will most likely come down to AOSP vs TW (stock) base.

The closest to a suggestion I can make is to look at the top threads in the Dev section, those are the most "popular" ROMs/kernels.

For the most part, if you've updated to 4.3 you will be able to flash any available roms. The catch is once on 4.3, you cannot downgrade your firmware.
Firmware is updated either by ota or flashing with Odin.