Two years with Samsung Galaxy Tab, the original first ever 7" tablet, left without too much love at the end.

After move on to younger, sexier Samsung Galaxy Note 2, I start thinking how to do with the old one. Finally I have a free day so I could put CyanogenMod on it as planed. This is the first time I play mod on a smartphone / tablet, taken the whole day to get things under control.

Following the instructions I install ClockworkMod Recovery on the tablet but doesn't work. Can't get into recovery mode, and tablet hangs in booting period during Galaxy logo is showing.

So have to download Android 2.2.3 Telstra customised firmware. Using ODIN transfer to the tablet, rebooting and wishing back to a "good citizen" time. No way, tablet hangs again though this time after Telstra logo shows.

Maybe due to the tablet has been rooted and maybe there are too many junkies in it, backward and forward several times, finally I could get into tablet's default recovery mode then ClockworkMod recovery more. Spending more than half an hour to understand what each dish means in ClockworkMod menu.

The tablet is still half dead at that moment, can't copy, transfer files to it. But just lucky enough, I could manage put downloaded CyanogenMod 10 nightly build into micro SD card on Galaxy Note 2. Then install zip file from this portable micro SD card.

But CyanogenMod installation failed quickly with "Assert failed" error. It can't verify the tablet model is GT-P1000, though my tablet is GT-P1000T, with only one extra letter "T" in it.

Googling, googling ...

Find out it's a old "dead" bug is live again. This time, I need to modify the update script in CyanogenMod zip file. Not big deal. Half an hour later, modified update script back in zip file and into the micro SD again.

Now, after so many pain in the back, pulling the hair, banging the head on the wall, finally CyanogenMod got installed. Reboot three times, finally I see the familiar Android login interface. Hallelujah!

...

Now the old good, yes good, Samsung Galaxy Tab is running "thoroughbred" Android Jelly Bean 4.1.2 which is bullshit free. Even "tiny" 512MB ram, single core A7 ARM processor doesn't make Android feel slower at all. I'm totally amazed and elated - the "crappy" hardware is NOT crappy at all. Crappy is because the developers put "crappy" codes in the previous version!

Now Wifi network, GPS, camera plus sensors all work fine. Running Gmail, G+, Chrome ... several applications at the SAME time without any issues, smoothly switch between them, with NO lagging, NO crash, NO system frozen. Android developer really have done a great job. I couldn't believe a nightly build is more stable than some big companies production release.

Before the upgrade running Android Froyo 2.2 is like stretching 3.5" screen size applications onto 7" tablet. After, it's like squeezing 10" screen applications into 7" tablet, But, the screen is clean, fonts are readable, the most important, you get the full and exactly SAME tablet experience on this aging device. What else more can you expect!

I couldn't be ever more happier than "a Frenchman who has spent a life then found out a pair of self-removing trousers".

:-D