The best instruction guide for upgrading the Samsung Galaxy S is in Cyanogenmod's wiki. I followed the Mac OSX instructions using Heimdall Suite 1.3.2.
The "Installing the ClockworkMod Recovery" instructions will replace the recovery image of the phone and root it. You may then load any custom ROM to your phone after doing this. The trickiest thing in doing this is holding down Home+Volume Down while plugging the USB cable. I suggest you remove any casing you have on your Galaxy S while doing this. You will need the following files to install the recovery image. The links should be in the instructions. This step only needs to be done once. With Jelly Bean ROMs starting to appear, you will be able upgrade your phone easily using the recovery method.
heimdall-suite-1.3.2-mac.dmg (13MB)
hardcore-speedmod.tar (7.5MB)
After installing the recovery image, you can boot your phone normally and copy the ICS ROMs. There are typically 2 files that you need to install a ROM (main ROM and the Google Apps zip). The Google Apps file is usually distributed separately for legal purposes though some ROMs already have it included. I installed AOKP build 40 (Android 4.0.4) though by now there should be the newer AOKP Milestone 6 already.
aokp_galaxysmtd_build-40.zip (139MB)
gapps-ics-20120429-signed.zip (52MB)
Just follow the instructions in the wiki to install the ROM. After installing AOKP and Google Apps, I was able to boot into ICS, but the Google Sign-in did not appear. I had to boot again to recovery and reflash Google Apps. After doing that, the phone was now on ICS.
WARNING:
Installing a custom ROM will require a complete wipe of your apps and data so you will need to make a backup. I recommend Astro to backup the apps. Just use USB cable to copy your photos. For SMS, you can use either SMS Backup & Restore by Ritesh Sahu (backup to USB) or SMS Backup by Cristoph Studer (backup to Gmail). This part takes the longest.
The FM radio in the Galaxy S will not work anymore after you install a custom ROM.
The "Installing the ClockworkMod Recovery" instructions will replace the recovery image of the phone and root it. You may then load any custom ROM to your phone after doing this. The trickiest thing in doing this is holding down Home+Volume Down while plugging the USB cable. I suggest you remove any casing you have on your Galaxy S while doing this. You will need the following files to install the recovery image. The links should be in the instructions. This step only needs to be done once. With Jelly Bean ROMs starting to appear, you will be able upgrade your phone easily using the recovery method.
heimdall-suite-1.3.2-mac.dmg (13MB)
hardcore-speedmod.tar (7.5MB)
After installing the recovery image, you can boot your phone normally and copy the ICS ROMs. There are typically 2 files that you need to install a ROM (main ROM and the Google Apps zip). The Google Apps file is usually distributed separately for legal purposes though some ROMs already have it included. I installed AOKP build 40 (Android 4.0.4) though by now there should be the newer AOKP Milestone 6 already.
aokp_galaxysmtd_build-40.zip (139MB)
gapps-ics-20120429-signed.zip (52MB)
Just follow the instructions in the wiki to install the ROM. After installing AOKP and Google Apps, I was able to boot into ICS, but the Google Sign-in did not appear. I had to boot again to recovery and reflash Google Apps. After doing that, the phone was now on ICS.
WARNING:
Installing a custom ROM will require a complete wipe of your apps and data so you will need to make a backup. I recommend Astro to backup the apps. Just use USB cable to copy your photos. For SMS, you can use either SMS Backup & Restore by Ritesh Sahu (backup to USB) or SMS Backup by Cristoph Studer (backup to Gmail). This part takes the longest.
The FM radio in the Galaxy S will not work anymore after you install a custom ROM.
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