Nook color - How do I boot to unrestricted ROM - without rooting?

Candlestick

Member
Mar 30, 2011
75
3
I've been kicking the tires for a while now on an android tablet.

My main purpose for wanting this device is to cut down on paper to store a ton of pdf's on this device as a convenient way to read them. I currently own a 7" ( non android based ) e-reader and like the size - but navigating .pdf's is impossible. From Youtube video - The text overflow on EZpdf reader looks like it would fit my needs perfectly. I'd like to try it first - as I already own a device that's cumbersome to read .pdf's that I am trying to upgrade away from - I don't need 2 unusable devices.

If I can't get this device to fit my needs for reading .pdf's - I'll probably return it and look for prices or larger Tablets to come down a bit. B/c of this - I really don't want to root it out of the box - unless I know I'm keeping it. If I can - I'll Root and install CM7 or one of the other ROM's - and customize my device.

Before I purchase the NOOK CoLOR,

1) Is it possible to test run this device running the ROM and and .pdf reader file like I would like to?

2) How would I do that - is there anything I'd have to take off the Nook Color after using this ROM - in order to return it?

3) What's the ROM file I would have to burn onto a MicroSD to get this done? I've got a card reader - and a microSD card already.

FYI - I'll explore other android market place apps on the device once I own it if I choose to keep the Nook Color - but the only reason I want to spend 2-300 bucks right now is for the .pdf reading function. Everything else is want vs need.

If anybody could answer the above questions - or has any other suggestions - any help would be appreciated.

Thanks
 
Last edited:

kabbie1882

Member
Feb 24, 2011
75
1
Supposedly it is easy to revert back to stock after rooting the Nook. It depends on the root method but shouldn't be to hard.
 

J515OP

Super Moderator
Staff member
Jan 6, 2011
5,172
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There are links in this section http://www.androidtablets.net/forum/nook-color-technical/ that describe how to create bootable SD card. I recommend trying honeycomb on SD just for fun. It is easy to do and gives you a good idea of what honeycomb looks like as well as providing an easy way to try a bootable SD. When you are done simply remove the card and reboot back into the normal state of your Nook.

If you do root your Nook or flash a custom ROM on to the internal memory the proceedure for removing and returning to stock is pretty straight forward and does not leave any indication that you had done something to your Nook.
 

Candlestick

Member
Mar 30, 2011
75
3
There are links in this section Nook Color Technical that describe how to create bootable SD card. I recommend trying honeycomb on SD just for fun. It is easy to do and gives you a good idea of what honeycomb looks like as well as providing an easy way to try a bootable SD. When you are done simply remove the card and reboot back into the normal state of your Nook.

Will Nookie Froyo work the same. From what I've read - it looks like it's a bootable SD card like you're describing above.

NookColor: Nookie Froyo - nookDevs

I'm gathering from my reading thinking that Froyo will have less bug issues than Honeycomb. I'm really focused initially on just evaluating the device - to see if it's a keeper or a returner to B & N. I'm looking for the most glitch free path to do that. There's only a 14 day return window for the device if I don't like it - and I'd like to maximize that time period to play with device - rather than learnng to get it back to normal under a crunch deadline.

If I follow the instructions in the link I posted - should that do what I described in my OP that I wanted to do?

Also, will I be able to add android market to my device using Nookie Froyo - so I can D/L EZpdf Reader. Where would I add apps - direct to the device hard drive - or onto the bootable MicroSD card to keep the drive OEM?

Thanks
 

J515OP

Super Moderator
Staff member
Jan 6, 2011
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Yes, Nookie Froyo from that link will do what you are asking. HC was just a suggestion as it would let you learn how to make a bootable SD and see another OS on your Nook without any real commitment. but you can skip that and just as easily go to Nookie Froyo bootable.

You should have market access and be able to download apps. They will only go on the card. The disadvantage to running bootable is speed. It will be slower than running internally and will also depend on the speed of your SD card. Class 6 SD or better should work pretty well though.

Since you are pretty focused on testing out a few things you really shouldn't have any problems and if you do you can find help from the people here. Reading this thread will give you an idea of problems you might experience with Nookie Froyo http://www.androidtablets.net/forum...m-nookie-froyo-0-6-8-02-15-cwm-flashable.html ahead of time.
 

Candlestick

Member
Mar 30, 2011
75
3
Yes, Nookie Froyo from that link will do what you are asking. HC was just a suggestion as it would let you learn how to make a bootable SD and see another OS on your Nook without any real commitment. but you can skip that and just as easily go to Nookie Froyo bootable.

You should have market access and be able to download apps. They will only go on the card. The disadvantage to running bootable is speed. It will be slower than running internally and will also depend on the speed of your SD card. Class 6 SD or better should work pretty well though.

Since you are pretty focused on testing out a few things you really shouldn't have any problems and if you do you can find help from the people here. Reading this thread will give you an idea of problems you might experience with Nookie Froyo http://www.androidtablets.net/forum...m-nookie-froyo-0-6-8-02-15-cwm-flashable.html ahead of time.

Excellent, thanks. I've already got the img unzipped on my PC. it's 1.9 GB - and my 8GB MicroSD is class 6 - so as soon as I find a program to burn the image - it looks like I've got what I need to test drive a nook Color. I'll factor in a faster speed after ROOT - in my evaluation.

If I buy and keep the Nook Color - I'll definitely be interested in Rooting - I'm sure I'll have some additional questions - but this thread helped me clarify all the different things I've been reading the past few weeks. All the ROM options and updates muddled the water a bit once I settled in on the Nook and started reading forums like this one and xda.

Do you have an application suggestion for burning the image onto my MicroSD card? Win32Diskimager is giving my PC some fits. I've got Win 7 64bit O/S.
 

J515OP

Super Moderator
Staff member
Jan 6, 2011
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Do you have an application suggestion for burning the image onto my MicroSD card? Win32Diskimager is giving my PC some fits. I've got Win 7 64bit O/S.

Right click and "Run as administrator"
 

Candlestick

Member
Mar 30, 2011
75
3
Right click and "Run as administrator"

i'm a bit confused here.

I got Disk imager open - and have main menu open with my file in front of me. How do I get this to my MicroSD card in a usable format?

.... OK - I used the " TEST " tab - and it looks like the image is on my MicroSD drive.

When I open my MircoSD " G " drive - I have the 1 file
Name - nookie-froyo-SDIMAGE_2GB-0.6.8
Date last modified - 2/15/2011
Type - Disc Image File
Size 1,921,024

5.62 GB free of 7.45 GB

Does that mean I've got a working Bootable ROM - ready to plug and play in a nook color for full function? Or did I use the wrong function ( test ) to Burn image onto MicroSD card?

Thanks
 
Last edited:

J515OP

Super Moderator
Staff member
Jan 6, 2011
5,172
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I am using a slightly older version of win32diskimager but the process should be:

Right click on the .exe file for win32diskimager, and select "Run as administrator"
Click "Yes" on the windows user acount pop up to allow it to run as administrator
Click on the "..." in the program and navigate to the image file you want (the nookie froyo image)
Make sure the location under "Device" is your micro SD card
Click "Write"

I am not sure about the Test tab method as i have no tabs in my version. You can always try inserting the card and booting your Nook. If it wrote the image to the card the you will boot into froyo, if it did not you will have a regular nook boot up.
 

Candlestick

Member
Mar 30, 2011
75
3
I'll try that when I actually buy the device... LOL.

Today I'm attempting to do the technical work ahead of time - to maximize 14 day evaluation time to play with device.

I don't think I ever got Win32DiskImager to work on my PC. Whenever I tried to run the .exe file - kept saying that a file was missing. I opened it in Peazip and that's what I used to move the file to my MicroSD drive with the Test tab.

I used Peazip to unzip the image. But not sure about the mechanics of Flash drive and ROM ISO's on them. All I know is the file is on the MicroSD drive now.

If I would have taken the unzipped ISO and drag and drop the file on the MicroSD card - would it work??? But the softwaqre

Or does WinDiskImager - do something different than drag and drop would have in terms of how it would install on the MicroSD drive.

If this thing turns out not to have worked - is there another application that can work. The Win32DiskImager just doesn't want to open on my PC like it should.
 

Candlestick

Member
Mar 30, 2011
75
3
I am using a slightly older version of win32diskimager but the process should be:

Right click on the .exe file for win32diskimager, and select "Run as administrator"
Click "Yes" on the windows user acount pop up to allow it to run as administrator
Click on the "..." in the program and navigate to the image file you want (the nookie froyo image)
Make sure the location under "Device" is your micro SD card
Click "Write"

I am not sure about the Test tab method as i have no tabs in my version. You can always try inserting the card and booting your Nook. If it wrote the image to the card the you will boot into froyo, if it did not you will have a regular nook boot up.

I installed a different app - I got WinImage.exe now - and it installed properly. It's looking like what you are describing above when opened.

So I open the program
I Go to Disk drop down- and choose G drive < as in my MicroSD destination >
Then Open File - to select my unzipped ISO image of ROM ?

Next -
I'm prompted to " Select the partition to connect to " with 4 options to choose from?
Partition on disk 0 Size 120456MB, FAT 32
Partition on disk 0 Size 313267 MB, Linux
Partition on disk 0, size 618052 MB Linux
Partition on disk 0, size 867510 MB FAT 32

With a Read only box I can check.

Is this what you are seeing on your application when you're burning an ISO to MicroSD. Which of the 4 choices should I select to create the image. None of these choices are intuitive to me.

Thanks
 

Candlestick

Member
Mar 30, 2011
75
3
I found some complete instructions for using WinImage.

I think I succesfully burned the image to the disk following the instructions - but the file size seems a little small.

Here's the steps I followed : using Froyo file instead of Honeycomb
Nookie Honeycomb: Burning a bootable SD card - nookDevs

Here's what I've got on my MicroSD drive after Burn

On COMPUTER window it's listed under Removable Storage as .... as

boot (G : ) 110MB free of 115MB... ??? ( Drive was 8 GB when I started.. not quite sure why this is now reading as a much smaller drive )

Files On the actual Disk
MLO - File - Size 15 KB
u-boot.bin - BIN FILE - 281 KB
uIMAGE - file - size 2,174 KB
uRamdisk - file - 178 KB
uRecImg - File - 1,962 KB
uRecRam - File - 1,251 KB

Does this all seem correct? Do I only have 110 MB of storage for Apps now on my G drive?
 

J515OP

Super Moderator
Staff member
Jan 6, 2011
5,172
899
Yep, this all seems correct. Can't confirm the exact files/sizes but it looks right. Yes, burning an image will partition your card in a way that the left over free space a computer sees can be pretty small. There are different versions of some of the ROM images out there to allow you yo keep as much of the leftoverspace as possible.

In otherwords you want the 8GB image of the ROM if you have an 8GB card. You may use a smaller image but never larger. If you use a 2GB image on an 8GB card for example, the card will only be recognized as 2GB in total size and after burning the image your free space will be whatever is left up to that 2GB limit.

I am not sure if there are mulitple size image files for Nookie Froyo. Most of the delevlopment has moved on to other builds and these ROMs do offer card size image options. For your purpose of doing a test run though you should be fine with the free space left. If not you can try getting some software that allows you to change the partition size so that after burning the image you can expand your free space to whtever is left available on the card. Here is one option Free Partition Recovery Software - Recover Deleted FAT/NTFS/Ext2/Ext3 Partition.
 
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