Samsung has officially stopped upgrading the international variant, meaning you can't get the official Android KitKat update. Naturally, when such a thing happens, the online community fills the gap. And this is very good news, because Samsung, despite the abundance of complaints and online petitions, does not seem to want to upgrade its Galaxy S3 to KitKat (although everyone knows that you can; Android 4.4.4 is designed to run on a 1GHz processor and 512 MB RAM).

ParanoidAndroid is a ROM created by a dedicated development team and the latest (final) version has just arrived for the international Galaxy S3 model i.e. the model designated I9300. Of course, being a custom ROM, the process of installing it on your phone requires you to have root access, which can potentially brick the phone if it goes wrong and void your warranty too.

Still unsure? Here's an excerpt from Android View regarding the ROM review: "PA3+ is an AOSP-based ROM and most of all, I love it for its beauty, especially its hybrid flexibility. ROM performance is fast and responsive, but one thing that still worries me is battery life. Don't expect very decent battery performance from it. Install it, enjoy it, and look forward to a battery leak fix in the future."

We hate to say such things, but we must emphasize that if you are going to root your phone and install this ROM, then you do so at your own risk. We are not responsible if your phone stops working!

Before we start

1. First of all, it is important to clarify that this software and procedure is for the international variant of the Galaxy S3, for the I9300 only. To make sure you have the correct model, go to Settings > About phone where you should see the model number. If it's an I9300, move forward. In addition, the phone must be disconnected from the network.
2. Second, it's a good idea to back up any important files or data you might have on board your Galaxy S3 before moving on. You can manually connect the phone to a PC and extract what you need or you can use a custom recovery tool like ClockworkMod or TWRP - these tools create a whole backup of the phone and you can restore the state it was in if things go wrong or you change your mind (provided that the phone is not completely bricked, of course).
3. Make sure your computer has updated USB drivers to connect to your phone.
4. Make sure USB debugging mode is enabled on your smartphone. Go to "Settings > Developer Options" and check the "Enable USB debugging" box. Please note that if you cannot see Developer Options, you can open them by pressing the software build number seven times.
5. Make sure your phone is fully charged.
6. Make sure you have a microSD card in your phone.

You must have root access to the smartphone!

Get the files

You must download a custom PA ROM:

• ParanoidAndroid ROM

You must also download compatible Google apps, you have a choice of two sets:

• Google App Files (template)
• Google App Files (Full)

Now flash it!

With these downloaded files, connect your phone to your computer using USB. Copy the PA firmware and Google Apps archive files to the root folder of the phone's SD card - do not extract the files!

You can now install the ROM using recovery methods either via ClockworkMod (CWM) or TWRP Recovery.

If you are using CWM

1. Select "wipe data/factory reset". Then select "Yes" when prompted.
2. Select wipe cache partition and confirm.
3. Go to the main CWM menu. Click "Advanced" and then wipe the Dalvik cache and confirm.
4. Select "Install Zip from SD Card", then "Select zip from SD Card". Find the final ParanoidAndroid ROM file, select it, and then confirm.
5. Once this is done, select "Go back" next to "Reboot system now" from the recovery menu. Wait for the phone to complete the reboot process, which can take up to five minutes.

If you are using TWRP

1. Turn off your phone and wait 5-10 seconds for it to turn off completely.
2. Boot your phone into recovery mode by holding the volume up, home, and power button at the same time until the recovery screen appears. You can use the volume keys to navigate through recovery options and the power button to select an action.
3. Click "Erase" and scroll down. Select "Reset to factory settings".
4. Now choose Erase > Advanced Erase and choose System. Scroll down and select Swipe to Erase.
5. Click install and find the final ParanoidAndroid file on your SD card. Scroll down the screen and make a selection to confirm the firmware.
6. Follow the same procedure for Google App files.
7. Once the installation is complete, click "restart" and select "System". The reboot may take up to five minutes.
8. Note that if the phone gets stuck in a boot loop, perform a factory reset from recovery mode.

As you know, CyanogenMod is a developer that releases firmware with a huge number of interesting features that work on any type of smartphone - top-end, mid-budget and low-cost state employees. Now the CyanogenMod team is actively releasing firmware based on Android 4.4.4 KitKat, which has already become the CM11 firmware series. Therefore, this instruction is intended to familiarize you with installing the official CM11 firmware on the Samsung Galaxy S3 GT-I9300.

Since this is the final release of CyanogenMod 11, so after installing it on your Galaxy S3, all functions and services will work perfectly, which will be a great replacement for Samsung's stock Android, which has not been updated for quite some time.

As usual, CyanogenMod has a plethora of features, apps and features that you can now literally feel on your Galaxy S3. In addition, CM11 is based on Android 4.4.4 KitKat, which will allow you to join the few Nexus users who have become familiar with the new operating system and all its delights. In a nutshell, with CM11, you can improve the performance of your Galaxy S3 by increasing performance and battery life, faster web page loading times and smoother browsing, and of course, a fast user interface that is almost indistinguishable from pure Android 4.4.4 KitKat interface.

If you want to use this instruction, then first go through the preliminary steps. Please note that without preparing your smartphone, you will not be able to upgrade to Android 4.4.4.

• your Galaxy S3 smartphone must be rooted.
• your Galaxy S3 must also have custom recovery installed; We advise you to install the latest version of CWM or TWRP Recovery as they have been tested with CM11 firmware.
• make a backup of the data that is stored on the internal memory of your Galaxy S3, as the flashing process will need to clear it all. Use the recovery capabilities to create a backup or special applications, which are quite a lot in the Google Play store.
• make a Nandroid backup in case you don't like the CM11 platform and can go back to the previous firmware without too much headache.
• Use your computer to temporarily deactivate security protection.
• make sure your computer recognizes the Galaxy S3, that is, all the necessary drivers are installed.
• on your smartphone, in the settings, enable the "USB debugging" option in Menu/Settings/Developer settings.
• check battery status on Galaxy S3. If the battery is less than 50-60% charged, then recharge it before starting the flashing.
• follow the step by step instructions, but only if you have an international version of the Galaxy S3 GT-I9300. This firmware CM11 M8 Android 4.4.4 KitKat is only compatible with this version of the device. If you do not follow everything that is written in each paragraph of the instructions, then you will have a great chance to get a non-working brick from the Galaxy S3.

You must understand that no one will give a full guarantee that everything will be successful, even if you follow all the tips in the instructions. Also, flashing will increase the counter by 1, that is, and this deprives you of any guarantees. If you suddenly just recently bought a Galaxy S3 and the seller's warranty is still there, you can return your warranty by returning the created backup or simply by installing the stock official firmware. And do not forget that you will get root rights, which means that all updates will have to be installed manually.

Installation on Galaxy S3 GT-I9300 firmware CM11 M8 Android 4.4.4 KitKat:

• 1. You can find the latest CM M8 Snapshot firmware for Galaxy S3 GT-I9300 from this link.
• 2. From this link you can download the GAPPS application package for Android 4.4.x devices.
• 3. Save the files on your computer so that they are visible, but in no case do not unzip archives!
• 4. Connect your Galaxy S3 to your computer.
• 5. Wait for the computer to recognize your device.
• 6. Copy the files you downloaded in step 1 and step 2 to your Galaxy S3.
• 7. Once copying is complete, disconnect your Galaxy S3 from your computer.
• 8. Turn off your smartphone to boot into recovery mode.
• 9. To boot the Galaxy S3 into recovery mode, hold down the Volume UP button, the Home button, and the Power button at the same time.
• 10. Then, already in recovery mode, you need to select the “wipe data factory reset” item.
• 11. After that, select "wipe cache partition" in the same place.
• 12. Go back through the menu, select "advance" and select "wipe dalvick cache".
• 13. Return to the main recovery menu again and select "install zip from SD card" and "choose zip from SD card".
• 14. Select CM 11 M8 Android 4.4.4 firmware file and install it on Galaxy S3.
• 15. Repeat the same process with the GAPPS file.
• 16. At the very end, you need to select the "reboot system now" item.

That's basically it. Now it is worth noting that the first boot of the system can be quite long, however, if your Galaxy S3 is stuck at the boot stage, then you will have to boot into recovery mode again and do a “wipe data factory reset” and “wipe cache partition”. Also, if you don't like the new CM 11 M8 Android 4.4.4 firmware, you can use the "backup / restore" menu again with the help of recovery if you made a Nandroid backup.

As you know, Samsung no longer releases OTA update for Galaxy S3 Mini. Thus, the phone is stuck on KitKat OS, unless of course you want to leave
How to update Galaxy S3 Mini from Android 5.0 Lollipop.
As you know, Samsung no longer releases OTA update for Galaxy S3 Mini. Thus, the phone is stuck on KitKat OS, unless of course you want to leave the devices officially. But, if you're ready to bump up a bit of the operating version, then we recommend that you check out the recommendation below. In this tutorial, we will show you how to easily and safely update your Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini to Android 5.0 Lollipop OS with the new Rom firmware.
This drive is built from pure AOSP Android 5.0 Lollipop OS as the goal is to bring the default and latest Android firmware to the Galaxy S3 Mini. The drive has therefore been tuned and optimized in order to fit with your SGS3 Mini. So, if you want to check it out yourself, then feel free to check all the lines below as you will find there all the details you need for the flashing process.
First of all, you should know that this custom version of Android 5.0 L works without problems on Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini. According to users who have already installed AOSP ROM, there are no bugs or other issues related to the software. Of course, since we're talking about custom drives, you might find odd things, but don't expect to have major bugs or annoying problems and you can install it for daily use.
After flashing, you will be able to get the latest lolipop features and apps. In addition, with the help of this CD, you can improve your Galaxy S3 Mini devices.

In a few words, you can improve battery life, gain more speed, change the default Samsung UI, update fast web browsing, and update other features.
I also want to note that after you get into this firmware, you no longer have a phone warranty. In case of anything by phone, you will be taken to the service center of the company, you will have to pay. But guarantees can also be returned, with the official firmware path.
I also want to note that, this disk is not an official release of Samsung or Google, only a custom disk that was created on the latest AOSP release. So do not bundle this firmware with the aforementioned company.
Before installing your phone must have Root rights (Root) and the latest recovery version (TWRP Recovery). Just a reminder, never forget to make a Nandroid backup of the disk that you are sitting at the moment, this means that if the new disk is not to your liking, you can easily return your old disk. How? Read below.
Read and understand the entire manual before actually following the instructions.
Warning: Use these instructions at your own risk. We will not be held responsible for anything that happens to you or your device that results from using the information in this guide.
This tutorial is for Galaxy S3 Mini only. Please do not try to install on any other device.

Make sure the drivers for your device are installed on your computer. You need to enable USB debugging mode which is disabled by default. Your smartphone should have 70-80% charge. Never skip a Nandroid backup as it's very useful, if that firmware doesn't work as you want then it will be easy to get back your old disk. This tutorial will destroy all data.

Proceed at your own risk. Samsung Kies will not detect your phone after installing this disk because it is a custom firmware. Make sure you have backed up all the data in your phone storage before proceeding. How to make a backup read here. Another way: here.
New stable CM12.1 release (20160210) is available for S3 Mini, go here.
The developers recommend installing the firmware via TWRP Recovery, and we will do so.
> Install firmware via TWRP Recovery:

1. First, download both files from the link above to your computer.
2. Connect your device with your computer and copy both files to the root directory on the device(not in any folder).
3. Disconnect your phone and turn it off. And make sure you wait 5-6 seconds to complete the power off completely.
4. You will now boot your phone into Recovery Mode (TWRP Recovery) by pressing and holding the Volume Up, Home and Power buttons.
5. Perform a nandroid backup of the existing disk using the backup program located in the twrp recovery main menu.
6. Select: Backup ››, - set the file name and confirm the process.
8. Select: Wipe "Advanced Wipe", - and from the bottom select: Swipe to wipe.
9. Select: Install ›› cm12.0_golden.nova.20150308.zip ››, - confirm the process.
10.

Select: Install ›› gapps-lp-20150314.zip ››, - confirm the process.
You should now be running Android 5.0.2 Lollipop on your Galaxy S3 Mini. Enjoy!
Returning to the previous ROM: To return to the previous ROM, boot into recovery, select Backup and Restore and restore your previous ROM by selecting it from the list.

How to update galaxy s3 mini from android 5.0 lollipop

Install optional products - DriverDoc (Solvusoft) | | | |

This page contains information about installing the latest Samsung Galaxy S3 driver downloads using the Samsung Driver Update Tool.

Samsung Galaxy S3 drivers are tiny programs that enable your Mobile Phone hardware to communicate with your operating system software. Maintaining updated Samsung Galaxy S3 software prevents crashes and maximizes hardware and system performance. Using outdated or corrupt Samsung Galaxy S3 drivers can cause system errors, crashes, and hardware or computer failure. Moreover, installing the wrong Samsung drivers can make these problems worse.

Advice: If you are inexperienced with updating Samsung device drivers manually, we highly recommend downloading the Samsung Galaxy S3 Driver Utility. This tool will download and update the correct Samsung Galaxy S3 driver versions automatically, protecting you against installing the wrong Galaxy S3 drivers.

About the author: Jay Geater is President and CEO of Solvusoft Corporation, a global software company focused on innovative utility programs. He has been passionate about computers all his life and loves everything related to computers, software and new technologies.

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