Update HTC Desire S to ICS 4.0 Android with CyanogenMod 9

HTC has officially announced Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update for Desire S and around dozen other HTC smartphones. Android ICS 4.0 is the latest Google Mobile OS version.

Android ICS update will apply to HTC Droid Incredible 2, HTC Amaze 4G, HTC Desire S, HTC Desire HD, HTC EVO 3D, HTC EVO Design 4G, HTC Incredible S, HTC Sensation, HTC Sensation XL, HTC Sensation 4G, HTC Sensation XE, HTC Raider, HTC Rezound, HTC Rhyme, HTC Thunderbolt and HTC Vivid.

However, the tiwan based smartphone maker did not offer specific dates for the much awaited update model wise. So, it will take some time for the Android 4.0 update to roll out in all countries. But in the meanwhile, we have put together an unofficial detailed step-by-step instructions guide on how to update HTC Desire S with Android 4.0 ICS.

HTC Desire S ICS 4.0 Android Update Requirements

• This tutorial is only for HTC Desire S. Please don’t try this on any other variants of the phone.
• Your phone should have at-least 60-70% battery when you try out this tutorial.
• Make sure you backup all your data in your phone before proceeding.
• This is not an official ICS software update. This is a custom third-party ROM.
• Bootloader should be unlocked from the HTC Dev website.
• Make sure ClockworkMod Recovery is installed on your phone.

How to update HTC Desire S to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich

If you have fulfilled all the requirements above, then proceed to the actual tutorial on How to update your HTC Desire S smartphone to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich version operating system:

1. Download Android 4.0 ICS (CM9) for Desire S to your computer.
   
   
2. Connect and mount your Desire S USB memory on your computer using the USB cable.
   
   
3. Now copy/paste the CyanogenMod 9zip file to your SD card. Make sure the file is in the SD card root.
   
   
4. Then turn off your phone.
   
   
5. Now to get in the bootloader mode. Turn on the phone while pressing and holding the Volume Down + Power buttons.
   
   
6. Follow the navigation instructions on the screen. Select BOOTLOADER and then go to RECOVERY.
   
   
7. Assuming you have ClockworkMod recovery, first perform a full data wipe. Then scroll down to "flash zip from SD card" and press the power button to select it.
   
   
8. Press the power button again and select "choose zip from SD card".
   
   
9. Now using your volume keys, navigate to CyanogenMod 9 zip file and select it using the power button. Confirm the installation on the next screen and the installation procedure should start now.
   
   
10. After the installation completes, go to "+++++Go Back".
    
    
11. If you unlocked your phone via htcdev.com, you must flash the included boot.img after flashing the ROM in recovery.
    
    
12. Connect your phone to your PC and copy the boot.img from the ROM .zip to the same place as fastboot.exe and issue the following command:
    fastboot flash boot boot.img
    
    
13. After the installation completes, go to "+++++Go Back" and reboot the phone by selecting "reboot system now" from the recovery menu. The phone will boot now and it might take about 5 minutes to boot on your first time. So, please wait.

That’s it! Your HTC Desire S should have the Android 4.0 ICS software update installed on your phone! Go to Settings >About phone to verify.

Have fun playing with it! If you have any issues, please fire them up in the comments below! If you’re still not interested in trying out Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0) on your phone, you can opt to wait for the official Android 4.0 ICS update from HTC.