If you are still having the old Samsung Galaxy S2 and if you haven’t updated your phone with a custom ROM until now, it means you are still stuck on the Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) firmware. Well, that might be really annoying especially since Google released a new and completely modified platform: the Android 6.0 Marshmallow system. Anyway, if you aren’t planning in getting a newer device and if you don’t want to be left alone, read the guidelines from below and learn how to update your own Samsung Galaxy S2 to Android 6.0 Marshmallow OS.
Of course, I am definitely not talking about a new official update released by Samsung for your SGS2. It is about a new custom update, developed by those of xda-developers – we must thank them for this update tutorial. Thus, it is about CM 13, the latest CyanogenMod platform that is based on the AOSP version of Android 6.0 M. As you can tell, you won’t be able to use the Nightly built of CM13 for now as the firmware isn’t coming from the CyanogenMod team. However, don’t worry, the present ROM is stable and will smoothly run on your own Galaxy S2 device.
According to the devs and to the users who have already tested and flashed the software, the CM 13 update works without major problems on the S2. You will get all the new features, apps and capabilities along with extremely useful in built settings through which you can then customize, optimize and improve the performances of your smartphone – basically, with CM 13 installed, your GalaxyS2 will run better and also faster. Anyway, since it is a custom ROM, in this Android 6.0 Marshmallow software you might still find some minor problems or software related issues, but nothing major though.
Since your S2 is from a while on the market, most likely the warranty period was already lost. However, I must tell you that flashing a custom ROM is not an official update operation, so by default, when dealing with such operations, the warranty of your phone gets void. That’s why I always recommend a dedicated troubleshoot solution to be read before doing anything else. In this way, if something wrong happens, you will be prepared and you will know
how to manually fix a soft bricked Android based device.
Moreover, since flashing an unofficial Android 6.0 Marshmallow OS isn’t coming in form of an OTA, you must complete a manual installation process. Well, in order to make things work, first you have to prepare your Galaxy S2. In that respect you must
root your Samsung branded device before resuming the guidelines from down below. Moreover, a custom recovery image (you can use CWM or TWRP recovery) must be installed on your handset as through the same software you will flash the CM 13 system.
As a precaution, you should consider in
applying a Nandroid backup. Basically, you should save the Android OS that currently runs on your SGS2. In this way, you will be able to downgrade back to stock anytime you want, by using the Nandroid file. Do note that this dedicated backup operation can be completed through the same custom recovery image.
If you are coming from any other software than CyanogenMod, then you will have to complete a clean install of Android 6.0 M (if a previous version of CM is already running on your phone, then you can skip the wipe). So, you will have to
clear app data cache and hard reset your smartphone before doing anything else. Thus, you can lose all of your personal data, info and accounts, unless you previously make a proper backup – just sync your data with your account or use any other backup and restore apps you prefer. On your way don’t forget to take care of essential data such as
EFS, internet settings, contacts, call logs, texts, images, videos, audio files, market apps,
IMEI / NVRAM data, saved passwords and anything else you might need afterwards.
A manual installation guide implies in preparing a computer, on which you should temporarily turn off the security protection (because you have to download third party files which might be detected as viruses). Also, you will have to prepare a few things on your phone too: go to “menu – settings – about phone” and enable Developer Options (just tap several times on Built Number); then, tap on Settings, enter Developer Options and check the USB Debugging field that will be displayed. In the end, charge your Galaxy S2, or else you might have problems during the Marshmallow update operation – basically, your phone might get turned off in the middle of the CM 13 flashing process and if that happens your device might get also
bricked.
Do note that this step by step guide is compatible only with the International model of the Samsung Galaxy S2, so try not to mess things up in any matter.
Install Android 6.0 Marshmallow on Samsung Galaxy S2 with CM13 Custom ROM
- You can download the Android 6.0 M firmware file from this page.
- You also have to download compatible Google Apps.
- First, place these files on your computer; put them on your desktop.
- Then, you have to connect your smartphone with your PC by using the USB cord.
- Now, transfer the downloaded files on your device and when done, unplug the USB cord.
- Finally, power off your S2 and reach recovery mode on your Android device.
- Good; now from recovery make the wipe (if you are coming from a different system than CyanogenMod): select “wipe data factory reset”, “wipe cache partition” and “wipe dalvik cache”.
- After doing that, go back to main menu of recovery and pick “Install”.
- Just load the CM 13 firmware file and the Google Apps package.
- From this point follow on screen prompts and resume the flashing procedure.
- When done, within main menu of recovery select “reboot system now”.
Good job. Test the CM 13 Android 6.0 Marshmallow OS and see how everything works on your Samsung Galaxy S2. Of course, don’t forget to share everything with us by using the comments field from down below.
Scroll down to check the complete and correct list of Port harcourt Postal Code / Zip Code.
The
list are differentiated in areas, arranged in alphabetical order.
kindly select the area that your address falls under and that will be
your postal code / zip code.
Area: Amadi flat 500251
Alabo
Opia St., rocchukwu St., Asaba St., Atali St., Calabar St., Floyer St.,
Macauley St., Nzimiro St., Ogoja St., Paris Jones St.
Area: Bori kiri 500244
Alabo Opia St., rocchukwu St., Asaba St., Atali St., Calabar St., Floyer St., Macauley St., Nzim
Etche St., Harold Wilson Drive, Kolokuma St., Nembe St., Okarki St., Rex
Lawson St., Rumukrushe St., Sandilled Phase I, Sandfilled Phase II,
Sandfilled Phase III
Area: D -line 500261
Agudama St., Amaigbo St., Asinobi St., Emekuku St., Ina Obasi St., Kaduna St., Khana St., Mbonu St., Okoroji St., Omoku St.,
Premabiri St., Wogu St.
Area: Diobu mile 1 500262
Abba
St., Abakaliki St., Abonnema Rd., Afikpo St., Agede St., Akokwa St.,
Awkuzu St., Emenike St., Ikot Ekpene St., Ikwerre Rd., Nanka St.,
Niemanze St., Njemanze, Nsukka St., Obodu St., Ogwa St., Ojike St.,
Okija St., Orlu St., Udi St., Urualla St., Uyo St., Agip Rd., Ebira Rd.,
Epirikom St., Express Way., Road C, Road A, Road B, Uni Tech. Rd.
Area: Diobu mile 2 500263
Abel Jumbo St., Adelabu St., Anozie St., Echua St., Gambia St., Ihidionma St., Lumumba St., Ojoto St., Timber Rd.
Area: Diobu mile 3 500264
Azikiwe St., Chigbu St., Ejigini St., Eji -Ogbu St., Ekwe St., Obaziolu St., Obunda St., Odunze St., School Rd., Wokoma St.
Area: Diobu mile 4 500265
Customs and Ecise, National Council of women, Nursing school, Prisons Headquarters, Specialist Hospital
Area: Eagle island rumueme/Oroakwo 500262
Abba
St., Abakaliki St., Abonnema Rd., Afikpo St., Agede St., Akokwa St.,
Awkuzu St., Emenike St., Ikot Ekpene St., Ikwerre Rd., Nanka St.,
Niemanze St., Njemanze, Nsukka St., Obodu St., Ogwa St., Ojike St.,
Okija St., Orlu St., Udi St., Urualla St., Uyo St., Agip Rd., Ebira Rd.,
Epirikom St., Express Way., Road C, Road A, Road B, Uni Tech. Rd.
Area: Ikwerre 500272
Mgbuoba, NTA Area, Rumu one, Rumuigbo, Rumuokwuta
Area: Magbuoba 500271
Phase I, Phase II, Phase III, Epirikom Rd., Ikegwuru Rd., Ikwerre Rd., Road C., Rumuoluwuta Rd.
Area: New layout 500243
Bishop Johnson St., Gapt. Amangala St., Gelsthorpe St., Ibadan St., King Jaja St., Moorehouse St., Ndoki St., Onitsha St.
Area: New G.R.A 500271
Phase I, Phase II, Phase III, Epirikom Rd., Ikegwuru Rd., Ikwerre Rd., Road C., Rumuoluwuta Rd.
Area: Old G.R.A 500241
Abana
St., Agina Ave., Akomas St., Allagoa Ave., Ebunine St., Ernest Ikoki
St., Force Ave., Graham Ave., Harley St., Inikere St., Miller Ave.,
Umuahia St., William Jumbo St., Wokekoro St.
Area: Old Township 500242
Accra
St., Aggery St., Ahoada St., Asaba St., Azikiwe Rd., Banham St.,
Barrack Rd., Bathurst Rd., Bende St., Bernard Carr St. , Bonny St., Bori
St., Brass St., Church Hill Rd., Creek Rd., Crowther St., Degema St.,
Diobu St., Elliot Henry St., Enugu St., Freetown St., Henshaw St.,
Hospital Rd., Industry Rd., Isaa Boro St., Jos St., Kano St., Lagos St.,
Market Rd., Moscownd , Niger St St., Okrika St St., Opobo St St., Paris
Jones St St., Sokoto St St., Station (Okrika Rd), Tokoradi St.,
Victoria St.
Area: Rumuokwuta 500272
Mgbuoba, NTA Area, Rumu one, Rumuigbo, Rumuokwuta
Area: Rumukrueshi 500211
For years, the government paid militants in the Niger Delta not to blow up oil pipelines. Now it’s cutting them loose — and they’re taking up arms once again.
WARRI, Nigeria — Every attack on an oil pipeline leaves Felix Timileami feeling as if he’s on top of the world. The 39-year-old, who belongs to a recently formed — and as of yet unnamed — militant group, has taken part in raids on a number of oil facilities in the Niger Delta. Last month, they hit one operated by Royal Dutch Shell.
“It’s the only means to vent our anger and to draw the world’s attention,” says Timileami, who hails from the Delta city of Warri.
For six decades, the people of this swampy southern region have been the sore losers in Nigeria’s scandalous game of crony capitalism. Oil worth billions of dollars is pumped directly through communities here, but residents see almost none of it. For most of the 2000s, an insurgency fueled by bitter resentment claimed thousands of lives and, at its height, cut Nigeria’s oil production in half. Now, after a brief respite, it is beginning to re-emerge.
Seven years after an amnesty agreement persuaded most militants to put down their weapons in exchange for monthly stipends — and in some cases, contracts to guard the same pipelines they used to bomb — the Niger Delta, a region of more than 20 million people, is suddenly sliding back into chaos. This month, a militant group calling itself the Niger Delta Avengers has already
claimed three separate attacks on oil installations and promised to cut the country’s oil output to zero. The Ijaw Youth Council, an influential grassroots organization that has its roots in the armed struggle of the 2000s and advocates for local control of natural resources,
said last week that the security situation is “rapidly deteriorating and getting out of control.”
At issue is President Muhammadu Buhari’s perceived abandonment of the region. Already viewed suspiciously in the Delta because he is a Muslim from the north, Buhari has courted trouble by slashing funds for the amnesty program and revoking some of the security contracts. When he abruptly called off his first planned presidential visit to the region last week, people saw it as proof that he does not care about Christians in the south of the country.
“The body language of the president does not favor us at all,” Eric Omare, a spokesperson for the Ijaw Youth Council, told Foreign Policy. “But we in the Niger Delta have oil and gas pipelines in our backyards. So when we are angry, we can attack the pipelines and that will force the federal government to pay attention because we are affecting the national economy.”
The Niger Delta produces 90 percent of the country’s commercial crude and accounts for roughly 70 percent of government revenue. The total dollar amounts are staggering. According to OPEC, Nigeria made
$77 billion from oil exports in 2014 — and that was a low year. The U.S. Department of Energy
says Nigeria’s oil export earnings hit $99 billion in 2011. (The figures were $94 billion and $84 billion for 2012 and 2013, respectively.)
In the communities of the Niger Delta, there is a feeling that these mind-boggling profits belong to the people here. Oil money, people feel, is a birthright. They say God blessed them with oil and they deserve to reap its wealth.
Instead, they have borne the costs of environmental degradation while the benefits have largely passed them by. Much of the wealth, which is supposed to flow back to the states from the federal government, is simply siphoned off. A recent federal government audit
showed that the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. (NNPC) failed to pay $16 billion in revenue that it owed to the state treasury in 2014 alone. (NNPC officials disputed that figure, claiming it was closer to $1 billion.) The revelation came after then-Central Bank Gov. Lamido Sanusi
accused the NNPC of failing to pay $20 billion to the federal government between January 2012 and July 2013. (Sanusi was immediately suspended after making the accusation and eventually forced out of his job.)
The discovery of oil in 1956 forever changed the face of the Niger Delta. Located in the southernmost part of Nigeria, it is the largest mangrove swamp in Africa and the third largest in the world. Its dense forest and complex labyrinth of creeks and waterways breathes life into over 339 plant species and more than 100 species of birds and fish. Tall palm trees with thick branches stretch upward before bending to touch the water below. The natural wonder stretches for miles and miles, but today it’s only a fragment of what it once was.
A burgeoning population coupled with rapid urbanization has swallowed much of the mangrove, which is being reclaimed to create more habitable land. Meanwhile, multinational oil companies have dredged the swamp to build pipelines, disturbing the delicate saltwater and freshwater balance, eroding banks, and depriving the roots of plants and trees of vital nutrients. Oil spills have clogged the soil and contaminated just about every community in the Delta, contributing to myriad health problems, including cancer.
The list of environmental mishaps reads like a criminal record. Royal Dutch Shell, one of many multinational oil companies pumping crude from the troubled region, has
admitted to 1,693 oil spills since 2007. (Advocacy groups like Amnesty International
claim the figure is much higher.) In just one of those spills, in 2008, 100,000 barrels seeped into the Ogoni Land region of the Delta. Thousands of hectares of mangroves were damaged, and 69,000 people were affected. Four months later, Shell was responsible for another spill that further devastated Ogoni Land.
For the Niger Delta communities that rely on farming and fishing, the environmental damage has been catastrophic. All told, the United Nations
says it could take 25 to 30 years and at least $1 billion to clean up pollution from more than 50 years of oil operations here. But the government has done little to help the region bounce back.
Countless studies reveal that access to water, electricity, health facilities, jobs, and education remain limited. A 2006
report from the United Nations Development Programme highlights “administrative neglect, crumbling social infrastructure and services, high unemployment, social deprivation, abject poverty, filth and squalor, and endemic conflict.” The report goes on to call the Delta one of the world’s starkest examples of the “resource curse.”
This is why Timileami and his fellow militants are destroying pipelines again. The son of a retired soldier and a petty trader, Timileami participated in the last insurgency here in the mid-2000s. “We wanted to make Nigeria fall to its knees,” he says.
Hundreds of young people in the Niger Delta shared the same ambition. For a decade ending in 2009, they attacked oil infrastructure and kidnapped oil company workers for ransom. Nigeria’s crude oil output dropped by nearly 50 percent and the militants, collectively known as the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), brought the nation’s economy to a virtual standstill. It was during this period that the Ijaw Youth Council was founded as a civilian counterpart to MEND, documenting local grievances and advocating for greater autonomy. All told, thousands of people were agitating for change in the Niger Delta, some through nonviolent protest, some through militancy, and some by aiding militants.
Teenage girls cooked for MEND fighters, cleaned their guns, and served as lookouts. Whole communities took part in the struggle against the Nigerian government, which ended only after the Ijaw Youth Council helped broker an amnesty agreement that covered some 30,000 Niger Deltans. These former militants and their family members began collecting monthly stipends of 65,000 naira — then, roughly $400 — from the government. Some received scholarships for foreign study or vocational training. Others landed lucrative contracts to secure oil installations or target illegal refineries, some
reportedly worth as much as $100 million.
Suddenly, it paid to be a former militant, and warlords became superstars in the Niger Delta. One of them, still known by the name he used during his MEND days, Pastor Reuben, lives in a palatial mansion in Rivers State with gold-plated furniture. Another, Ateke Tom, bought two lions that he keeps in a house “far away” because he’s “afraid of them,” he says.
But the high life is winding down for the former militants. A frugal disciplinarian, Buhari
slashed the budget for the amnesty program by about 70 percent and yanked some of the security contracts. He has also scrapped a plan to build a new university in the Niger Delta. As a result, resentment is building in the region. Some people say Buhari is retaliating against communities that voted overwhelmingly for his opponent in the 2015 election.
Timileami is one of those people. He voted for former President Goodluck Jonathan, a native son of the Delta, and sees Buhari’s presidency as a threat to his livelihood. Before the election, he was dismantling illegal refineries as part of a contract offered through the amnesty program. But then his monthly government stipend became irregular; he soon went back to the way of the gun. He says he will continue hitting pipelines until Buhari “comes to his senses.”
The recent wave of attacks has contributed to a gradual reduction in
oil output — from 2.2 million barrels per day at the beginning of the year to between 1.5 million and 1.6 million per day — that has cost Nigeria its claim as Africa’s largest oil producer. (It has fallen behind Angola.) A major port has been closed because of the violence, along with two refineries.
Buhari has responded by
announcing a deployment of troops to the Delta. In a May 29 address marking the end of his first year in office, he finally offered to “engage” leaders in the region and pledged to restructure the amnesty program. But he also implied that his military would continue to use force against those targeting oil installations. “If the militants and vandals are testing our resolve, they are much mistaken,” he said. “We shall apprehend the perpetrators and their sponsors and bring them to justice.”
