How to manually update your Nexus S to Android 2.3.3

By Jerry Hildenbrand  | Feb 24 2011 | 5:32 pm  | 28 Comments

GRI40

The Android 2.3.3 (GRI40 for those keeping score at home) OTA update for the Samsung Nexus S has started to roll out, but there's no need to wait -- it's a breeze to manually install.  Think of it as the OTA update, with less of the A.  What you need to do:

  • Grab the OTA package here [ link via XDA]
  • Rename it to update.zip.  This isn't needed for the Nexus S bootloader, but it makes things easy.
  • Copy it over to the internal storage on your Nexus S.
  • Power off, then hold volume up and power to reboot to the bootloader.
  • Using the volume key to navigate, select recovery, then use the power button to confirm
  • When you see the warning triangle and arrow, hold the power button and tap volume up.  You'll see a menu.
  • From the menu, select "apply update from /sdcard", and choose update.zip from the list.
  • Let it do its thing and update your system, radio, and other partitions.  When finished, choose "reboot system now"
  • Enjoy!

Sound off in the comments how things are going for you.

Jerry Hildenbrand

Jerry Hildenbrand Cowboy

"Fascinated by things that go beep."

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There are 28 comments

colombia_sprint_android says:

Since nexus one has an update wont the rest of htc get them too... /

Jerry Hildenbrand says:

Those updates will come from HTC, not Google. The Nexus One is a Google OEM device built to specs for Google by HTC.

colombia_sprint_android says:

Oh.... i c.. thank jerry

gunderson says:

Jerry, I'm new to this. Do we rename the whole folder to "update.zip" or just rename the "bootloader.img" file as update.zip?

prissysox says:

rename the whole folder to update.zip. that is all.

gunderson says:

Oh I realized Mac was unzipping the file automatically, needed the zipped file on the Nexus S. All better now. Thanks

prissysox says:

just put the update on my ns. will do husband's next. so far so good. hopefully this fixes the random reboot issue

Jerry Hildenbrand says:

Mine no longer reboots when opening an app from it's market page. I've tried a few (dozen lol) times. It used to reboot EVERY time.

quattrocoupe says:

The instructions and update worked like a champ for me. Very easy!

gunderson says:

It does seem like my screen contrast or something has changed since running the update. The white portions are more of an off-white(yellowish or tan) now and all the colors seem a bit off in general. Did anyone else notice that on their Nexus S?

BB_JULY says:

that is the first thing i noticed too! and its pissing me offffffff!!! one way i "fixed" the problem was by manually changing the brightness setting on the connection manager.... i get a feeling this OTA was not as official as they claim... i kinda want to go back to what i had till its sent officially to my phone by T-Mobile

chillwill25 says:

It was the first thing that i noticed... is there a way to go back to the previous ver?

chillwill25 says:

It was the first thing that i noticed... is there a way to go back to the previous ver?

mrenne says:

I agree ... it looks very yellow.

On auto-brightness, it is now too dark for me to use.

Is there a way to go back to 2.3.2?

datimmerman says:

FIFTH'D! My screen is also a gross yellowish color now. What the hell, google?

hamldreza says:

What is the third icon from left in notification bar?

jepoiski04 says:

pure plain awesome! just completed manually updating both my Nexus phones to 2.3.3! thanks AC!

levingston#ac says:

Jerry, there are those of us who have never ever manually updated our android phones so i am having heck with it. I need a much better detailed directions(i can't find one anywhere online, lol) on how to put this thing onto my phone from my computer. How do i put the 2.3.3 zip copy on my phone? nexus s

rickydross says:

1) Plug your phone into your computer with the USB cable
2) Drag down the notification bar and click "USB Connected"
3) Click "Turn on USB Storage" button
4) Open My Computer/Finder (depending on PC or Mac)
5) Locate your phone (one of the "Removable Storage" options on a PC, likely the name of your SD card on a Mac) and open it
6) Drag the file into this folder
7) Eject phone from computer and click "Turn off USB Storage" on your phone
8) Proceed with instructions in article
9) ...?
10) Profit

nep2099 says:

I'm getting a Status 7 error. It's a rooted Nexus S. Can anything be done at this stage?

smile_fadillah says:

i have the same thing, too!! my bootloader is unlocked.. GAH!! anybody knows how one can go back to locked bootloader?? or maybe when the update can work for rooted users??

sma11s101 says:

Just as a warning, it doesn't look like you can root 2.3.3 at the moment. I doubt it will take terribly long before you can though.

dominic_pope says:

If I update manually, will I still receive future ota's?

renato#ac says:

Right after getting the message "verifying update package" I am getting E: signature verification failed.
Installation aborted. Any reason why? thanks!

ektimo says:

Me too. Do I need to upgrade to 2.3.2 first or something like that? I'm on 2.3.1 now.

Winkyboy says:

I'm getting that, too. I'm suspecting it's due to the same reason that all Google Apps installations fail on my phone (a Nexus S) as well: Somehow, when purchasing this directly from Best Buy, they gave me a phone with a "userdebug" build. This is *EXTREMELY* frustrating because, it seems, I am unable to update anything from Google. If I find a solution, I'll come back here and update.

ventz says:

Fix to the status 7 error:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=11617596&postcount=423

So, it's the firmware version. You need to update it.
Also, some other info:

from 2.3 (.0) you have to to: 2.3.1
from 2.3.1 you have to go to: 2.3.2
from 2.3.2 you have to go to: 2.3.3 (and most likely use the fix above).

ventz says:

Here is one better:

If anyone is getting the Status 7 error, check out (patch provided):
http://blog.vpetkov.net/2011/03/11/google-nexus-s-update-manually-to-2-3...

Also, it will give you all the updates from 2.3.0 to 2.3.1, 2.3.2, and 2.3.3

Hope this helps people, and saves you the 2+ hours I spent.