AT&T Samsung Galaxy S II rocking NFC after custom ROM

AT&T Samsung Galaxy S II rocking NFC after custom ROM

As you may well know the AT&T Samsung Galaxy S II has dormant NFC capabilities. They are only dormant because AT&T has had NFC locked off at the software level and that has frustrated many NFC fans in the States. All because of Isis, yada yada yada… We knew custom ROMs were available, but we had never thought to write a post about it until some of the UPM RFID team let us know they had managed to enable NFC in their Samsung Galaxy S II on AT&T. We still think it’s crazy that an NFC tag firm like UPM RFID had to go through installing a custom ROM in the first place to use an NFC smartphone, but that’s another discussion for another day. So, if you are one of the unfortunate souls who have an AT&T Samsung Galaxy S II  know that you can enable NFC on your phone by following some instructions and downloading a couple of pieces of software.

Most of the best custom ROMs for the Samsung Galaxy S II come from over at XDA Developers. There are a few ROMs that work with the Samsung Galaxy S II AT&T variant, but the most popular we are told are the CyanoMode and UnNamend ROMs. However, the CyanoMode version does not enable NFC in its current stable version, so that one is a wash for now. Apparently a couple of developers are attempting to get the CyanoMode ROM to enable NFC, but it hasn’t happened quite yet.

The UnNamend Samsung Galaxy S II ROM does enable NFC and that’s the one that worked out for UPM. We were told that the UnNamend ROM isn’t a perfect solution because it doesn’t contain the standard Android OS Tags app, and that periodically you need to go back into settings and re-enable NFC. You can download the NXP app from the Android market though and having to turn on NFC in settings every now and again is far better than not having the feature at all. The folks at UPM RFID were good enough to even shoot us over some photographs showing the AT&T Samsung Galaxy S II rocking some NFC goodness, which you can click on to enlarge.

If you want to enable NFC on the Samsung Galaxy S II you have to root your phone. Rooting your phone is like giving yourself and then other apps super admin privileges to access core OS files that are normally locked off from user and app access.

How to root the AT&T Samsung Galaxy S II so that a custom ROM that supports NFC can be installed

Okay, if you are going to do this, know that there are some risks of bricking your phone. We haven’t heard of any nightmare situations but that doesn’t mean they haven’t happened. If you choose to root your phone and install the custom ROM, know you do so at your own risk. We found a of video that outline the process of gaining root access to your Samsung Galaxy S II and it makes it seem pretty easy. The video was produced by MobileTechVideos, and if you would like to get any of the reference links they refer hit this link to go to their page on the subject. At the link you will find the Odin download.

Installing the custom ROM to enable NFC in the AT&T Samsung Galaxy S II

Well, you have done the hardest part of the process in gaining root access. As you will from another video we found from Mobile TechVideos the next step is pretty easy. Just a matter of dumping a zip file on your phone and booting up in the right way. The video is below and again here is the link to the relevant page on MobileTechVideos site. Or if you prefer a link to XDA Developers UnNamend pages is here.

The good news is that the root developers over at XDA have shifted their attention to Ice Cream Sandwich. They already have Android 4.0 running on a Samsung Galaxy S II but it is in “Alpha” at the moment. It is also not clear whether the team of devs is planning on enabling NFC in that same custom ROM. Some of our industry sources have been telling us that AT&T will be enabling NFC in the Samsung Galaxy S II due to pressure from customers and their worry that Verizon will have the Galaxy Nexus, so if you are not comfortable rooting your Samsung Galaxy S II you probably won’t have to wait too long. However, if you do use the UnNamend custom ROM do pop over and donate a few dollars as it takes a lot of work to get these ROMs working so you can avert the AT&T NFC software lock for your Samsung Galaxy S II.