To Root or Not to Root?

[J515OP]

Hi Monica, rooting your Nook will void your warranty and is not officially supported by B&N (that's why you have us though). The good news is that it is very easy to put it back to straight out of the box condition so that nobody would ever know it was rooted if you needed to. For most of us it is a very easy choice to make because so much potenial is hidden in the Nook that you can expose by rooting it.

I say go for it!

 

[surfmly29]

Just thought I would comment as a new owner of a NookColor (NC) that is rooted and even using an overclocked kernel. The experts here have put a lot of time into laying out very good tutorials and it seems like there is at least one of them online at all times to help when things come up. My experience has been good. Here are some thoughts to help with your decision making:

- the autonooter 3.0 (auto-nooter 3.0) used to root my NC worked like a charm, no problems whatsoever. Just follow the guides as mentioned above in the thread. (note I was already running B&N 1.1 software - anyone with a new NC most likely will be running that or it will auto update as soon as you connect to wifi).
- from here you are able to download many apps to better customize your NC so it essentially acts much more like a true tablet PC (i.e. iPad - note: ok/ok, it may not be quick to iPad level by just rooting, but it is a huge step in that direction )
- I followed other tutorials to get other things working (i.e. getting ready to try other ROM's (i.e. other Android operating systems) if I wanted to play with that later on). Had some issue with those, but honestly the help from the forums got me through it and all was well within 24 hours and really no sweat. AND remember you don't have to even go this far, rooting by itself is still a great step even if you don't want to do anything else.
- With rooted NC I was able to download and flash/install a new kernel that allows me to overclock the speed of the my NC. I can tell you it is very noticeable and it was very easy to do (again just follow simple tutorial).

I love my NC more and more everday and I can tell you that rooting is made it so. If it was just the stock one, I would like it, but with it rooted it is much better and more fun. I plan to keep it simple and just have it rooted with the OC Kernel since this essentially keeps the default B&N software in place so it works just like it did out of the box for reading (which I still use it for a LOT). As others have said I would go for it and have no fear, you have a community behind you willing to help.

 

[Zeiram_P]

Hi, I just got my Nook Color a couple of weeks ago, and I'm thinking that I want to root my NC, but I wanted to ask a question or two before I try. First off, I know that rooting voids your warranty, but I read somewhere else that if you get a warranty from squaretrade.com that they will still cover your NC even if it's rooted. Can anyone confirm that?

Also, I had a chance to try the nook app for android and I really liked the simulated page turn feature where it looks like you're turning a page, but as far as I can tell there is no way to activate this feature on the NC itself. Is there a way to get this feature operating on the NC, whether rooted or not?

 

[J515OP]

I don't think you can do it in the default nook color reader which is what I think your asking. But if you root it you can use the android app and then you'll have it jsut like your previous experience.

 

[rico2001]

Hi, I just got my Nook Color a couple of weeks ago, and I'm thinking that I want to root my NC, but I wanted to ask a question or two before I try. First off, I know that rooting voids your warranty, but I read somewhere else that if you get a warranty from squaretrade.com that they will still cover your NC even if it's rooted. Can anyone confirm that?

Also, I had a chance to try the nook app for android and I really liked the simulated page turn feature where it looks like you're turning a page, but as far as I can tell there is no way to activate this feature on the NC itself. Is there a way to get this feature operating on the NC, whether rooted or not?

It's true, if you root or modify your Nook Color, it will void your warranty. But the good thing is, and unlike other devices' modifications, rooting your Nook Color is only software modifications. So any Nook Color owner can restore the software back to stock (out-of-the-box) condition and restore your warranty. The only downside I could see is if you were to physically damage your Nook Color and were unable to restore its stock software. This could become an issue when using your warranty. On all the forums I'm on, I haven't seen anyone with that particular situation.

On squaretrade, I have no experience with then so can't comment. I've never been a big fan of extended or alternate warranty policies or services for any device electronic device. Just my personally opinion, to each their on.

About the Nook android app vs. Nook Color built-in app: There is no page turn animation in the NC built-in app like the android app, which is a mixed debate. Some people like the animation and others like the speed of no animation. The Nook android app also has no support for magazine subscriptions. However, this is not much of a problem for those Nook Color owners who don't have or use them. Also the look up, notes, highlighting etc built into the NC stock aren't available for the Nook android app.

Side note: if you root the Nook Color and just run the stock B&N software, you will not be able to use the android app from the market for obvious reasons, you have a perfectly good built-in reader application. Now if you decide to flash to a custom rom, the opposite will happen, you will have full stock Android 2.2, 2.3 or 3.0, loose the built-in Nook Color reader but be able to install and use the Nook android app from the market.

 

[thompa]

So I rooted my NC by installing Android 2.2 from an SD card and it was successful... but it resulted in a very limted device.

Main difficulty is in adding Apps... if you don't already have an Android device thta allows you to sign up at the Android Market, it seems as though it is not possible to download any apps to the NC.

There is a browser which works well.. but the calendar, contacts and email built in applications do not function as they need to connect to a MS Exchange Server.. at least with the version that I installed.

I would like to experiment some more from the SD card as it allows me to remove the card and revert to using the NC with the built-in operating system at 2.2...

Does anyone know better versions of Android that I can install on an SD card?

regards,

Allan

 

[J515OP]

So I rooted my NC by installing Android 2.2 from an SD card and it was successful... but it resulted in a very limted device.

Main difficulty is in adding Apps... if you don't already have an Android device thta allows you to sign up at the Android Market, it seems as though it is not possible to download any apps to the NC.

There is a browser which works well.. but the calendar, contacts and email built in applications do not function as they need to connect to a MS Exchange Server.. at least with the version that I installed.

I would like to experiment some more from the SD card as it allows me to remove the card and revert to using the NC with the built-in operating system at 2.2...

Does anyone know better versions of Android that I can install on an SD card?

regards,

Allan

Well that is a very vague description of what is on the SD card. Can you provide details about what you are actually running under? Most likely there is something wrong with what you put on the SD card as there are no market issues from properly rooted devices or custom ROMs that are Android 2.2 or 2.3. You can try this verion of 2.3 running from SD card called CyogenMod7 which is very popular and customized for a tablet experience http://www.androidtablets.net/forum/nook-color-technical/13156-how-cm7-bootable-sd.html

JP

 

[AnimaTechnica]

As J515OP stated this is very vague and might you be mixing things here - first you don't root your device by installing Android 2.2 - rooting just grants you access to hidden areas of your CURRENT OS - might you be talking about the BN 1.2 upgrade?

or were you talking about a custom ROM on the SD card? - if yes then you would have a freshly installed android OS on your device and before the market works you must sign in with a gmail account - if you don't have one, it is easy enough to sign up at google via your PC - but to troubleshoot it, we need to know what version custom ROM you used, what procedure you used to install it

So I rooted my NC by installing Android 2.2 from an SD card and it was successful... but it resulted in a very limted device.

Main difficulty is in adding Apps... if you don't already have an Android device thta allows you to sign up at the Android Market, it seems as though it is not possible to download any apps to the NC.

There is a browser which works well.. but the calendar, contacts and email built in applications do not function as they need to connect to a MS Exchange Server.. at least with the version that I installed.

I would like to experiment some more from the SD card as it allows me to remove the card and revert to using the NC with the built-in operating system at 2.2...

Does anyone know better versions of Android that I can install on an SD card?

regards,

Allan

 

[lobitos]

Hello everyone.... I am ready to root my NC, but before I do, I have a couple of questions:
1. I have about 35 books (all PDF/epub), some photos (about 20), some songs (about 25) and about 8 magazines (PDF).... Once I root my NC, will I lose all of these items? Note that the books were all free from online (B&N and others).... I do have everything saved on my laptop, but I'm just wondering if I will have to upload them all over again?
2. Once my NC is rooted, will I still be able to lock/unlock it with a password?

 

[J515OP]

Rooting won't change anything you already have on your Nook (you should make a back up just in case though) but will allow you to add much more once you unlock the full power of Android. You will be able to lock and unlock you Nook with a password or any number of scren lock that will be available as apps or built into the home launcher you choose.

See here for making a bootable CWR card for back up purposes http://www.androidtablets.net/forum...le-cwr-msd-v3-0-1-0-ext3-ext4-compatible.html

 

[lobitos]

Thanks for the info, but now I am having some difficulties.... I am trying to prep everything for rooting my NC, but when I try to download the win32DiskImager.exe, i'm not having any luck.... What I mean is that it will download to my laptop, but when I try to run it in order to continue, it won't open.... My laptop says that it is unable to read it (or something to that effect).... Any suggestions? Thanks!

 

[J515OP]

Not quite sure about that error. YOu may want to try downloading again. What OS are you running on your PC? If Windows 7 you need to right click on win32DiskImager and select "Run as administrator".

 

[lobitos]

Hello and thanks again for the response.... I don't have Windows 7.... I have Vista..... And still no luck after I tried running it again..... Still trying though.....

 

[J515OP]

I believe Vista may need to be run as administrator in the sme manner. Sounds like a download/install issue at the moment though.

 

[lobitos]

Hello again.... I'm trying to prep everything to root my NC, but I guess my windows Vista is causing me some problems... Any other suggestions because I am stuck like chuck! Thanks!