A few weeks ago, a GSM Nexus S update 2.3.6 (GRK39C) with voice search fixes started rolling out, but it was immediately discovered to break Wi-Fi and USB tethering. After many complaints, Google pulled the OTA, and it seems like they've spent the last couple of weeks making sure everything works as expected.

A new update surfaced tonight, also numbered 2.3.6, but this time bearing build GRK39F. While there is no official changelog, based on the fact that an update with the same exact build hit the Nexus One a few days ago and didn't break tethering, I think it's safe to say it fixes at least that issue (Update: thanks to our buddy Omar for an additional confirmation of working tethering).

Whether the update contains anything else new compared to GRK39C is unknown at the moment. Also unknown is the upgrade procedure for those who already zoomed to GRK39C the first time around.

What we do have for you today is an upgrade path from GRJ22 (2.3.4) to GRK39F. While it could work on non-T-Mobile Nexus S GSM devices, I can't make any guarantees.

Note: This update procedure may or may not work if you're rooted.

As always, proceed at your own risk.

Installation instructions:

  1. Download the update file GRK39F-from-GRJ22 (you have to be on GRJ22 for this to work) and rename it to update.zip (make sure it's named update.zip and not update.zip.zip if you're using Windows and have it set to hide file extensions).
  2. Move the file to your phone's /sdcard directory using your favorite method - the easiest way is probably mounting the phone as disk using a USB cable or use your favorite file manager (mine's Total Commander).
  3. Reboot your phone and when it starts booting back up, hold Volume Up + Power.
  4. Select Recovery.
  5. The phone will reboot into recovery but first it'll show an exclamation point and a triangle. At this point, mash the Power and Volume Up buttons a few times until the recovery screen shows up.
  6. Select Apply sdcard update.zip, which should start the update process.
  7. Reboot and enjoy Android 2.3.6.

Thanks, Omar and Leonid!