How to make your own custom rom for Samsung Galaxy S4 I9500

 
“There is no something called best custom Rom”

if you ask the question “what’s the best custom rom for my device?”, most probably you will get the answer “ there is no something called best custom rom”. it’s all about your taste. Custom ROMs are developed when users are not satisfied with stock rom in terms of performance or appearance.

Specially users who are on Samsung Galaxy S4 I9500 which is a high end device, may hesitate to customize your expensive device. it may void your warranty since there is no way to go back to original firmware status. But it’s possible and safe to customize your S4 as long as you exactly follow the procedure.

If you visit XDA developers, you may get number of good custom Roms developed for Samsung Galaxy S4 I9500. still it’s all about your taste. you may not satisfied.

But you can try to create your own Rom based on stock Rom

It’s always better to start with a fresh copy of your stock Rom. read our post  How to un-brick Samsung Galaxy S4 I9500 android 4.4.2 to learn about flashing a fresh copy of stock Rom. it’s not necessary to start with fresh copy of stock rom.

 

Step 1 (Super user access/ Root your device)

Root you Device – Yes everybody want to get Super user access on your device. nothing is new. there are number of ways to get root access of your device Samsung Galaxy S4 i9500. we performed both the below mentioned methods and everything went ok. please note this guide is only for Samsung Galaxy S4 i9500 android 4.4.2 and do not perform for S4 other variants.

method 1

CF Auto root method

this will install only SuperSU app in your device via Odin and no custom recovery will be installed. please read the instructions on XDA.

method 2

CWM method

in this case we replace stock recovery with ClockWorkMod recovery via Odin and then flash SuperSU via CWM recovery.

1. Download CWM root zip file and copy into a local drive of  your windows computer.
2. Unzip the CWM root zip file. you will get 4 files. Unzip again only Odin3v185.zip file to get Odin3V185.exe and run Odin3V185.exe as administrator.
3. We assume that you have already installed Samsung USB drivers for your device in your computer.
4. Switch off the your Samsung Galaxy S4 i9500. make sure your device is charged (at least 70%)
5. Boot in to download mode. (Press Volume down, home and power buttons)
6. connect your device in to computer via USB cable and press volume up key to connect in download mode.

 

You can see that ID : COM will become yellow color and will see the port number when device is detected. please make sure to tick only the Auto Reboot option.

Now tick PDA check box then click PDA button. select the downloaded GT-I9500-CWM-6.0.4.5 .tar file and press OK. your screen will look like below picture.

 

 

 

Click on Start button. be patient. Once recovery is successfully flashed it will automatically reboot. now you have successfully installed CWM recovery. next step is to get root access.

1. Copy UPDATE-SuperSU-v1.94.zip into SD card of your device.
2. switch off the phone
3. Boot into CWM recovery (Press Volume Up, Home and Power button together, when you see Samsung logo release the power button but keep pressed volume up and home button)
4. Now your device is in CWM recovery

1. navigate CWM options with volume up/down buttons and confirm selection by pressing power button
2. select Install Zip
3. select choose Zip from SD card
4. now navigate and select UPDATE-SuperSU-v1.94.zip
5. confirm the action
6. this will flash SuperSU into your device.
7. reboot the system now
8. now Your Samsung Galaxy S4 i9500 is rooted

How to check whether you have super user privilege

you may interested to know whether you're device is really rooted or not. there are many ways to do this. but I prefer following method.

1. install Android terminal emulator from Google play
   
2. run terminal emulator
   
3. you will see $ mark before the cursor
   
4. type su and enter
   
5. if your device is properly rooted, you will now see # mark before the cursor
   
6. type exit and enter
   
7. you will see again $ mark before the cursor
   
8. type exit and enter
   
9. you will exit from the application android terminal emulator

Now your Samsung Galaxy S4 i9400 which runs android 4.4.2 is rooted. congratulations. This is the basic requirement to build your ROM. lets discuss in the next post about removing unwanted bolt ware, blocking advertisements and  some UI mods (Xposed framework)

 

 

 

Step 2 (Customize your Device with Xposed framework)

Xposed is a framework for modules that can change the behavior of the system and apps without touching any APKs. That's great because it means that modules can work for different versions and even ROMs without any changes (as long as the original code was not changed too much). It's also easy to undo. As all changes are done in the memory, you just need to deactivate the module and reboot to get your original system back.

You need to download and install installer for the Xposed framework which is required to run all the modules. please visit Xposed Module Repository to read more information about the framework. you can download installer apk from their download page.

 

Once installer APK is installed, open Xposed installer app on your device. it may look similar to this screenshot.

1. Tap on Framework – it will open framework window where you need to click on install/update button to install the framework in to your device.
2. reboot the device as prompted.
3. now you are ready to install required modules based on your taste.
4. once framework installation is completed your Framework window would be like following picture.

 

Step 3 (installing modules)

You can find hundreds of free modules which suits to your taste by clicking Download on Xposed installer app. However I would like to recommend mainly two modules which were installed and tested with Samsung Galaxy S4 i9500.

 

 

GravityBox is available under Xposed installer download section and you can download the compatible module based on your android version.

You can test your self about what extend of customization can be achieve with GravityBox.

Circular battery icon and network speed meter (data connection) on status bar (see the screenshot) are done using GravityBox.  there are many system, call, phone, display and sound tweaks are available with GravityBox.

activating and deactivating modules are very easy. you have to tap on Modules on Xposed installer app. it will show you currently activated modules. to deactivate, simply un-tick  the module and reboot the device.

I have activated GravityBox for android Kit Kat and Wanam Xposed modules on my Samsung Galaxy S4 i9500.

 

 

Wanam Xposed app is specially designed by aiming customization of Samsung devices. you can download it from Google play.  I have configured advanced power menu with Wanam Xposed app. please refer following screenshot.