Installing CyanogenMod 10.2 on a Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet (N8000) for Software Freedom Day

A couple of weeks ago I had an unpleasant on-line interaction with some troll that ended with my Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 in a similar state to this one:

This is how much damage can be inflicted on an electronic device by jabbing it repeatedly with a rigid index finger. Learn from my experience.

After parting with a heart-stopping amount of money, I got the tablet back from the service centre with a new screen and a bunch of crapware because they "upgraded the software" as an additional service.

I tried to uninstall some of these mysterious apps but they promptly reappeared of their own volition. Ironically, this happened on Software Freedom Day, which prompted me to think about the four essential freedoms in the Free Software Definition:

Freedom 0: the freedom to run the program as you wish, for any purpose.

I do not wish to run these programs at all. I have no purpose for them.

Freedom 1: the freedom to study how the program works, and change it so it does your computing as you wish.

I do not want to study these programs and I would like to change them to do my computing as I wish by removing them altogether.

Freedom 2: the freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor.

These programs are redistributing themselves freely but they are not helping me, my neighbours, or the dog, because he is barking at the fence.

Freedom 3: the freedom to distribute copies of your modified versions to others.

I can't modify these programs and I would never foist unwanted crapware on others.

CyanogenMod shall set you free

Fortunately, the dedicated crew at CyanogenMod.org have produced an open source firmware distribution that runs on the Galaxy Note, so here are detailed instructions to install CyanogenMod 10.2, which is based on Android 4.3.1 (Jelly Bean), on a Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 (GT-N8000) using a 64-bit desktop running Debian 7.6 (codename "wheezy").

Flashing non-stock firmware is not for the faint-hearted, but it is not too difficult if you follow the installation instructions exactly.

There are four steps:

• Download and install the software needed to do the flashing;
• Flash the tablet with ClockworkMod Recovery to replace the stock recovery software;
• Install the new CyanogenMod firmware; and
• Re-install the Google apps.

Getting set up

Install ADB

The first step is to install Android Debug Bridge (ADB) which is a command line tool for interacting with the tablet over the USB cable.

Edit the apt package manager's sources.list file to include the wheezy-backports repository so that you can install adb:

1vi /etc/apt/sources.list

Then add the following entry, where mirrorsite.debian.org is a nearby Debian mirror:

1deb http://mirrorsite.debian.org/debian/ wheezy-backports main contrib non-free

Update the list of available packages and install the adb tools:

1apt-get update
2apt-get install android-tools-adb android-tools-fastboot

Install Heimdall

In order to flash the recovery firmware, you must download and install Heimdall (the software, I mean, not the music. Download it from here and install it:

1dpkg -i debian7-heimdall_1.4.0-0_amd64.deb

Firmware downloads

Now download the software that you will flash to the tablet. Make sure that you are downloading the correct versions of each, otherwise it will all end in tears:

• ClockworkMod Recovery for the N8000
• CyanogenMod image for N8000 and
• Google Apps for Android Jelly Bean

Okay, now flash CWM Recovery

Power off the tablet and wait a few seconds until it has died down completely. Don't plug in the USB cable yet.

Press Volume Down then the Power button and hold them down together until a Warning screen appears, then let them go.

The Warning tells you that a custom OS can cause critical problems and invites you to press Power Up if you are determined to proceed, which you are because you want your software freedom.

The tablet will go into stand-by mode:

Despite the wording, it is in fact downloading nothing, it is just waiting for you to take the next step, so plug in the USB cable and use Heimdall to flash the Recovery image from the desktop to the tablet:

1heimdall flash --RECOVERY clockworkmodrecovery.6046.n8000.img --no-reboot

A blue progress bar will appear on the device showing the recovery being transferred to the device. When the image has been flashed, unplug the USB cable, press Volume Up then Power, wait until the Samsung title bar appears, and release them both.

Make sure you reboot into recovery immediately otherwise the custom recovery will be overwritten and the device will reboot as though your custom recovery failed to install.

All being well you should boot into the new custom Recovery.

Install CyanogenMod

Now you are in the Recovery mode, you can install the new firmware image, but first backup the stock ROM.

In ClockworkMod Recovery, you use the physical volume buttons to move up and down and the power button to confirm a menu selection, so use Volume Up to navigate to "backup and restore", confirm with the Power button, and then select "backup to SD card".

When the backup is done go back to the main menu and select "wipe data/factory reset". Once that has completed, go back and select "install zip", followed by "install zip from sideload". Sideload will wait until you have plugged in the USB cable and entered on the desktop:

1adb sideload cm-10.2-20140323-NIGHTLY-n8000.zip

When the sideload is finished, the tablet will find the update package and install it. Note that it does not display an "Install complete" message. You can tell the install is complete if there were no fatal error messages and you have regained control over the menu.

Go back to the main menu and reboot into CyanogenMod. After an agonising wait, you should see:

Finally, Google Apps

Boot the tablet into recovery mode (Volume up, then Power, wait for the Samsung title bar, then release them both) and select "install zip", followed by "install zip from sideload". Then on your desktop enter:

1adb sideload gapps-jb-20130813-signed.zip

Now reboot to your stripped down open source Galaxy Note and enjoy being free to control your own software.