please note that if anything happens to your phone then i am in no way responsible…you’re doing this at your own risk. it worked flawlessly for me. i upgraded from 2.3.6 and i didn’t need to wipe…i lost no data…all my apps were preserved…texts…wi-fi settings…etc…backup though. backup.

i used the Polish ROM. grab it from sammobile.com (you’ll need to register to download the ROM but it’s worth it). the one i chose is I9100OXALPQ which is near the bottom. after the download is complete extract the zip so that you have a file called I9100XXLPQ_I9100OXALPQ_I9100XXLPQ_HOME.tar.md5.

now you’ll need to download odin. there’s a link to it just under the screenshots in the first post. once you’ve downloaded the file extract it and run Odin3 v1.85.exe…you’ll get something that looks like this…

(if you want to try this under linux there’s heimdall…i didn’t use it as there isn’t a 64 bit binary and i was too lazy to compile it from source) check the box next to the ‘PDA’ button and then click the PDA button (don’t mess with any of the other settings) and browse to the firmware that you extracted earlier. now it’s time to turn off your phone and boot into download mode. switch off the handset and then press the ‘volume up’ ‘menu’, and ‘power’ buttons together. follow the prompts and you should be in download mode. connect the phone to your computer by usb and you should notice that odin ‘sees’ it. if you’re happy with all of the above click the ‘Start’ button in odin and the flashing will commence. it should take a few minutes and then your phone will reboot.

now all has hopefully gone to plan…you’ll want root, right? if you don’t then ignore the following. if you do proceed then note that this is rather frowned upon by samsung.

follow this link to grab the rooted kernel for the Polish ROM you’ve installed (if you used another ROM you’ll need another kernel…search the xda thread above). repeat the steps you followed for flashing the firmware except browse to the extracted kernel when you click the PDA button in odin.

and there you go…a rooted galaxy s ii with the latest firmware. if you’re worried about the yellow warning triangle on boot then i’d recommend triangle away but read the details first.

subsonic should take care of all your media streaming desires. grab it from here. i’ll be using the debian version on my headerless server.

first off install the java runtime environment (shame, that)…as root issue the following

apt-get install openjdk-6-jre

once that’s complete you’ll need to install the binary you downloaded earlier. again, as root…

dpkg -i subsonic-x.x.deb

and that should be it up and running. login to the new installation using your domain or IP at port 4040 (i’m testing from home so for me that’s http://box:4040) and you should be greeted with something like this

username and password are admin (change the password straight after you login for the first time). most important step? add the path to your media…

a directory for your playlists isn’t created during the install procedure so add one now…as root…

mkdir /var/playlists

now to forward the relevant ports on your router so that streaming will work remotely…the default is, as mentioned before, 4040 but you can change that if you like

if you want to stream from afar you’ll need a domain name if you don’t want to use your IP (which will change if you have a dynamic connection). i use dyn.com but it seems their free service doesn’t exist anymore…i could be wrong. you could try no-ip.com.

that’s about it…you can now browse your media, load and save playlists…and play your tunes.

EDIT — i like it. a lot. have donated and i recommend you do too if you find it useful. it’ll give you a constant url for your dynamic IP address…android app that works after the 30 days trial…and help the developer to continue to improve this cracking bit of code.

and please note that in my defence i have to use windows at work, rather than linux, so i run firefox portable within a truecrypt container through a vpn tunnel. so there.

fire up the app on your phone and pick a profile. you’ll need to enter your hostname or IP address. the first time i tried to connect it failed…i had to long-press the database entry and choose ‘edit (advanced)’ to add the username and password. in there you can also choose the default directory that will be displayed and choose the interface theme. works well…though i’ve found that no GUI is displayed on my laptop and i couldn’t get vlc to exit from inside the phone app. haven’t fiddled with it too much though. found it a lot easier to use and setup than gmote. some screenshots can be seen below…

php_value max_execution_time 0

to it.
you can also tweak other parameters while you’re in there like how much memory is allocated. for example if you’d like to give your site 64MB add the line

php_value memory_limit 64M
another feature is to increase the maximum size of individual files that can be uploaded. add the line like

php_value upload_max_filesize 20M

this will set the file size limit to 20MB

note that none of opera mobile’s serious tweakables can be accessed using the settings option in the menu. you have to type opera:config into the address bar and hit go…or enter…or whatever. this’ll bring up a page with a long list of configurables. scroll down and tap on the ‘Proxy’ option. this will expand to produce something like this…

scroll down in this section and enter the required proxy information (get this from your network admin if you’re not sure of it) in the HTTP Server and HTTPS Server sections. also check the boxes that say ‘Use HTTP’ & ‘Use HTTPS’. now click save at the bottom of the proxy section and you’re done. note that this only enables the opera browser to access the web. your email, twitter and other clients won’t work.

very usable. htc sense has come a long way since i last used it. slick user interface with very little lag. battery usage may be slightly higher but as my cell’s rather aged it needs a lot of charging whatever the phone is running. if you’d like to breath a new lease of life into your phone you could do a lot worse than this. assuming your model is compatible…i’m not responsible for any bricks you might create. screenshots below…

well packaged, eh?

good recycled padding there…

and the seller is a daily mail reader…no accounting for taste i guess.

and there she is. condition’s fine. as i said earlier…just the power supply included…luckily i have many bags of cables lying around. one of which had the appropriate usb lead.

to get to the film scanner one must remove the white background from the lid of the flatbed. this wasn’t instantly obvious to me. little bit of swearing was necessary before i realised this. the scanner head was also a trifle stuck. a good dunt fixed that.

linux drivers. i only bought the epson as i knew they had some linux support. check their site here to locate and download the correct file. a surprisingly wide range of linux distros are supported. i’m using fedora 15 64 bit so went with the rpms (iscan-2.10.0–1.c2.i386.rpm & iscan-plugin-gt-f500-1.0.0–1.c2.i386.rpm) although the source is there if you want it. install them in the usual manner…there’s a pdf there too if you’re struggling.

now i don’t ever buy software but i’d used vuescan on windows years ago and liked it a lot. i figured that i’d got the scanner for a good price and so $39.95 for some cross-platform software wasn’t too steep (you could just use xsane of course). this has a year of updates…$79.95 for a lifetime license.

here’s vuescan doing its stuff. simple and effective. scanned a strip of 35mm ilford hp5 plus first…

and here’s one of the frames…

not that great but that’s the fault of the photographer…not the hardware or software.

so. for £40 or thereabouts i’ve got a very capable film scanner, that’ll do prints nicely also, and some powerful software. not too shabby i think.

now you’ll need a micro sd card (512MB at least) and a #cough# windows pc. format the card with FAT32. extract the contents of the archive to the sd card (this’ll give you a folder called ‘FirmwareInstall’ and four other files. run ‘CHANGER.bat’ from the card and a screen with a list of numbered options will appear. for this tablet number 8 is the correct choice (note that this worked for me with this model. i will not be held responsible if you end up with a bricked slab) so press 8 and then hit enter. press any key when this is complete and eject the card.

insert the card into the tablet (bit fiddly this…i used the tip of a pen to make sure it went in properly) and then switch it on. the install process should start automatically and will look something like this

when the process is finished it will prompt you to remove the sd card (again i used the tip of a pen). when you’ve removed it the tablet will automatically reboot and after a short wait (it will be quicker with subsequent boots) you’ll get to the desktop. *important* make sure you format the sd card using your computer again or the install process will start all over again next time you boot up and you won’t be able to halt it.

it feels very responsive with no lag and seems to multi-task very well. if i have a complaint (and it isn’t anything to do with the ROM) it’s the screen. takes a lot of getting used to. i always seem to select something when i’m trying to scroll. however, using the supplied stylus makes things easier and i’m sure i’ll get used to it. all in all. a great value tablet and a nicely crafted custom ROM.

EDIT — since i posted this uberoid wm8650 1.3.0 HYBRiD honeycombMOD v6 FiNAL has been released. it features improved battery life and much better 2d graphics performance. more info and downloads here