Name says it all.
I received a Nook Tablet from my Goodly Woman this last Christmas.
The only negative to this device, when compared to the Kindle Fire… is that the Nook App selections are terrible and B&N really tries to prevent you from getting around that. Other than that, the Nook is superior to the Kindle Fire in specs and screen clarity… and it has expandable memory (up to 32 GB).
The Nook Tablet OS originally allowed you to easily “side load” apps. That is, if you have the APK file… it would load it. You just couldn’t load the Android Market or Amazon Market(where all the good apps are) and then use those platforms to search and load apps. In the first version of the OS, you could sideload those platforms and then get easily get and update those apps.
Well, B&N decided to tighten the side-load feature to make it tougher… basically screwing the user. I don’t blame them, really… they are selling good hardware with the idea they will make up the HW loss with the sales form their shop. Amazon has done the same thing with the Fire. However, those wonderful US courts determined that the owner of the hardware has the right to hack the shit out of it to expand it’s use…so… that means you do not have to look to the underworld for people willing to do so and can direct you in the process.
The Nook Tab isn’t the open book that the Nook Color was. You cannot clear it out and put a whole new OS in it like most other full price tabs. They have locked the bootloader down, and currently… there is only a HW based hack for it. Forget that for now.
What you can do it root it… basically giving you administrator powers to yourself, so that you can then install whatever you want. I have done so and now enjoy all the apps from Android and Amazon Markets.
Click Here for detailed Instructions, videos and needed files.
You will need:
Nook Tablet with it’s USB cable
Windows PC.
A clean MicroSD card.(I bought a cheapy 4GB card)
The PC I used had a dedicated SD card reader, which I used with the SD card adapter that came with the MicroSD card I bought from NewEgg.
I downloaded the files form the link above.
I put the MicroSD card_adapter in the SD slot of my PC.
I ran the imagemaker.
I powered off the Nook Tablet.
I then put the MicroSD card in the Nook Tablet.
With the Nook Tablet still off, I plugged it in the PC with the Nook USB Cable.
The Nook auto powered on and booted form the MicroSD card, going into the mode which allowed me to update the image to the rooted image.
That’s about it.
When I restarted the Nook Tablet, I was in superuser root… the image already had a few basic needed apps, including Android Market.
I have since added Amazon market and brought over all my paid for and free apps.
I also downloaded a great comic book file reader (it reads CBRs), and transferred my digital collection to the large Micro sd card I usually keep in it.
Just so you know… this is a safe root. Nook Tabs have a procedure for powering on into a clean factory state, so you can’t really hurt yourself with this method.
When you have successfully rooted, donate to AlbertWertz from Tabletroms.com who is helping the community out with this root image and video assistance. He’s earned a few bucks to give you full use out of this great piece of HW.
