This guide is designed to be easy to follow for all skill levels. At the end of the process you should have the following accomplished:
- Permanently Enables ADB via uRamdisk
- Installs adbWireless
- Installs su and Superuser.apk
- Installs Busybox
- Installs Softkeys 3.0.6
- Installs zeam Launcher
- Installs B&N HomeLauncher
- Installs NookColor Tools (To Enable Non-Market Installs)
- Installs Gapps (Gmail, Market, Youtube, Others)
- Enable Multi-touch for Android Apps
- App Auto Install (Open up update.zip from sdcard drop in /data/app)
credit for the accomplishment goes out to GabrialDestruir@ XDA developers
Requirements:
Nook Color(stock firmware v1.2)
atleast 1GB micro SD card
Bootable Clockwork Recovery Image(select your respective SD card size and download)
Win32 Disk Imager
ManualNooter 4.6.16
USB SD card reader(a must have, you cannot use the nook for writing to the SD card during this process)
Instructions
1. Download all of the above files and put them in a convenient location. only extract the files Win32 Disk Imager, and xxgb_clockwork-3.0.2.8.rar
2. Plug your SD card into your USB reader. Open Win32 Disk Imager, select xxgb_clockwork-3.0.2.8.img and write the image to your SD card.WARNING THIS WIPES THE ENTIRE SD CARD
3. Once the writing process has finished, copy over manualnooter-4-6-16.zip to the SD card.
4. Reboot your nook color with the SD card in. It should now boot into clockworkmod(CWR)
5. clockwork mod is an environment to install roms and programs before the operating system boots to navigate use the volume buttons for up and down. home to select and power as the back button.
6. At the home screen select install zip from SD card, choose zip from sdcard, manualnooter-4-5-18.zip. Navigate down to install to confirm the installation. Wait…..if it fails, reboot and try again. It will work.
7. Once the install has finished, reboot without the SD card in.
8.Unlock your device using Zeam Launcher.
9. Open the market app and accept the terms and login using a Google account.
10.Enable Non-Market Installs by running the NookColor Tools App.
11. To return your SD card to original size Go to Settings > Device Info > SdCard > UnMount > Format
12. Enjoy your rooted Nook and access to the Android Market.
Make sure you check out the overclocking guide for increased performance up to 1.2ghz
Comment below for questions, praise, and tech support.
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thank you for your straight forward instructions using the manual nooter. i want to be able to dual boot my nook and run gingerbread from a disk as well. is this still possible with the manual nooter method? I found instructions on how to create that disk on theunlockr.com but i was wondering if you are working on a set of instructions too.
This looks great! Do you have such easy to follow instructions to actually root using the SD card to always boot the nook? That way I do not alter the nook OS and I can just take the SD card out if I want to go back to the original nook color. Thanks for any help!
Thats available but not the most stable method. Honestly, there really isn’t an reason why you wouldn’t want to run Rooted all of the time. It is perfectly legal, and is just better for the end user. If you want to unroot just follow my repair a broken Nook Guide. For warranty sake, if there is ever a problem with your nook you should unroot it before you send it in.
I used your method and it it worked perfect. Nook ran normal for about an hour, then froze. Now when I restart, it gets to the screen that draws out “nook color” from left to right. It just keeps repeating this animation over and over. Usually it freezes at “nook co” and then starts over. Any suggestions?
follow the instructions again. Manual Nooter has been updated and should fix the problem.
Same thing happened to me today after I loaded 4 6 16 and 4 gb clockwork-3.0.2.8.img. Worth trying again after reset back to 1.1? Suggestions?
I’m still working on trying to get Gingerbread working. But in the event that I can’t and want to go this route (pun intended), what happens if B&N pushes another update after this root has been installed?
hi have been trying the above to root but am getting the following error message (an error accord when attempting to lock the volume error8) this happens when i try to wright the life to the SD card
hi
thanks alot for the clear instructions even for even a cluless person as myself. the nook works beautifully but i have another layman question. i cant seem to run apps from the sd card (after i formatted it of course)….could you explain again how to install apps from the sd card for us technically challenged folk ? thanx again in advance
if you put apps on the SD card you need to download an app to navigate your file system. I prefer File Expert. Then navigate to SD card and click on the app then install.
>>”I used your method and it it worked perfect. Nook ran normal for about an hour, then froze. Now when I restart, it gets to the screen that draws out “nook color” from left to right. It just keeps repeating this animation over and over. Usually it freezes at “nook co” and then starts over. Any suggestions?”<< I'm having the same problem, although it worked fine for a day. I have re-done every step 3x and still no worky. Files were downloaded on June 4 – so I'm assuming they are up-to-date? I now have unuseable NC. Restore "fix" to 1.2 isn't working either. Please help – thanks
Get any help. In same situation.
[...] weekend of getting none of my main tasks done. I did however get my Nook Color rooted with great, easy to follow instructions from Maurine Mongeon. That was an accomplishment only because it took quite some time to write [...]
I wrote the 8gb_clockwork-3.0.2.8 to the SD card using win32diskimage as instructed. When I tried to add the manualnooter-4-5-25.zip my computer informs me that I have to format the SD card before I can write to it. I have tried several times with the same result. What did I miss?
Michael
I had the same problem with numerous reasons. One was my Win Xp didnt recognize the 8 gb card so had to install a patch , second was my laptop has a built-in SD card reader which gave the same message .. I had to use a SD card reader with USB adapter for this to work .. hope it helps
I am still having the same problem with Nook being stuck in some kind of boot loop after being rooted. After rooted, I can never let it fully shut down (or run out of battery power) or it will not restart correctly) Then the only way to restart is to fully restore the device.
sorry to hear about that. Have you tried restoring using my broken nook guide and then rooting again? If that doesn’t work I don’t know whats wrong. The stock OS is not my area of expertise. I left it a long time ago. You can always post your problem at the source here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1054027. Sorry i couldn’t be of further assistance.
I myself was finding that my ManualNooter 4.6 was going into a “C” loop after I rebooted, but only after I had restored all my backup Apps from Titanium. I went through the process of restoring one app at a time with a reboot to follow to see if it would ‘loop’ again. If not I would backup ROM image with ROM Manager. I was able to pin-point my problem to Adobe Flash being updated to 10.3. (Adobe Flash 10.1 is included in ManualNooter 4.6.16) So unless you want to keep Nook turned on indefinitely to watch YouTube, dont update Adobe Flash 10.3. Wait for a later update. Besides Netflix still works for me!!
One thing I have not tried – Using the App SPareParts+ 1.39 by DroidGram to disable the boot splash screen altogether.
I used your instuctions and rooted my Color nook perfectly last week. However, inadvertenlty using softkeys I just changed the default home screen to the default B&N home screen and can’t seem to find a way to get back to the Zeam Launcher. Help!
this is off memory, because i never use stock anymore…..so bear with me. Open Nook Color tools and go to settings>application> then find the home screen or home app> reset application defaults. Something around those instructions will do it. You might have to jump around a little bit but it is definently applications> find the app for the B&N home screen> reset application defaults. Best of luck! If you have any trouble going back you can always install another launcher from the market and set that, such as Launcher Pro or ADW Launcher.
Where is the NookColor Tools App? And after rooting how do I install non-market apps?
you use that tool to enable non market apps.
thanks. Eventually it showed, I think after it I shut it down & booted again. However now won’t boot. Going to set it back to 1.2 and try again.
Everything worked eventually, after booting a few times market became available as well as ADB, but now when I boot it gets stuck in a booting loop & never starts. Any ideas?
I can’t seem to get the image to write to the SD card. I have a new 4gb class 6 SD card that I formatted on the NookColor. I have a bluedot nook and I’m trying to image the bluedot file (1 gb I think). It freezes up a long time. I don’t have a USB card reader, but I have one built into my desktop.
Specifically the error message is: “An error occured when attempting to get the device’s geometry. Error 8:”
first make sure that the card is not write protected (the switch on the SD card). Then format it with HP USB Format tool. Then write the image. It will work.
What ROM is the manual nooter? I rooted my nook a while ago, using your guide. I have phiremod 6.3 on mine, not sure if I only used part of your files/instructions or all of them. Basically trying to duplicate what I did on my wife’s nook.
I also never re partitioned my blue dot. How do I do that, without losing all of my files/apps? Thanks
you will follow the CM7 nightly guide, that is the latest ROM out there http://mrm3.net/nook-color-how-to-install-cyanogenmod-nightlies/. There is no way to re-partition without looking your apps. You can always backup your rooted apps first with Titanium Backup.
I’m a newbie and I’m having trouble making this work. Something obvious I must be missing. After following all the steps to create the image on 2GB SD, I try it in the Nook and nothing happens – i.e. the Nook boots as normal with the “Read Forever” screen then normal Nook. I’ve looked at SD card contents to verify that there is something there and have verified that I am inserting, seating, and installing SD card in Nook appropriately. Just doesn’t see it. Thanks in advance for any help/advice.
Nevermind previous post. I discovered that I had a bad SD card. The data wasn’t being written to it properly. Changed cards and all went fine. No issues that I’ve found yet.
Actually I have noted what might be a problem. After booting the modified Nook, it seems to hand (?) or stay on the opening splash screen where the “Nook” and two facing “C” color symbols continuously trace out. Only way out is to power-off. I have nothing in SD card slot. Is there a magic key sequence or gesture to get past this opening splash screen that never goes away?
I managed to root my NC but don’t know why i can’t find kindle for android on market also can’t download kindle for android from amazon.com. Can anyone help me as i have many books in prc format and aldiko can’t open?
I rooted my new blue dot Nook Color (NC) twice.
The first time around I didn’t know about the blue dot, so I used CWM 3.0.2.8 and ManualNooter 4.5.2. This worked partially. Zeam Launcher launched the Market and I accepted the terms, but then every download I tried gave me the “download unsuccessful” message. I checked on my Android Market account page and the rooted NC did show up, but with no data about its OS or any other details that my Droid 2 shows.
So I googled around a little more and ran across your site, where you mention the blue dot detail. So, I re-formatted my 1G microSD card, put in CWM 3.2.0.1 (eyeballer, direct download), and ManualNooter 4.6.16.
Now both Gmail and Market shut down immediately after I try to launch them. I tried to “fix permissions” with the ROM manager and reboot, but the behavior remains the same: no Gmail, no Market. What am I doing wrong?
Thank you,
Gabi
This is a follow-up to my earlier report that rooting failed. The third attempt worked, as far as I can tell, and my blue dot rooted Nook is now an Android tablet.
I restored its factory settings using help from here — http://androidforums.com/nookcolor-all-things-root/387777-market-app-crashes-rooted-nook-color.html (post by Colchiro that mentions “wipe Davlik cache”). I then re-registered it, and rooted it again using CWM 3.2.0.1 and ManualNooter 4.6.16 as explained in my earlier post.
Probably at the same time that I was messing with my Nook the Market must have gone through some major overhaul. It looks different and it works a lot better than it used to. Even the search works without problems.
Thank you,
Gabi
I rooted my Nook Color several months ago uisng above instructions. Barnes/Noble has published vs. 1.3. Can it be installed to rooted Nook or will it cause problems? Any help is appreciated. Thanks.
My rooted Nook just auto-updated the software to 1.3 and kinda hosed the whole thing (home key stopped working, some apps like calendar disappeared.) I had backed up what was there (not that I care too much, the other devices have the same data.) I still had the SD card with all the files I used to root it orginally. Picked-up in step 4 and set up my accounts etc. Works fine so far.
I rooted my NC and once I lost power on the Nook, it wouldn’t boot back up. Just keeps rewriting Nook Color… I started with the 1.3 system. I tried re-formatting the SD card and following your instructions again, and it still won’t boot. Is there a copy of the original system I can disk image over onto my 16GB SD Card anywhere so I can at least boot the NC back up completely? Then try again…
I have done exactly what you have listed so well above 3 times. I love the results but the first time I shut down and restart–it won’t boot. After trying to boot a few times I get a white not saying that a request has been made to reset to factory–and it wipes it back to version 1.
What did I miss?
If you put the SD card back in and reboot you should see the wipe data/factory reset. That turns it back into the NC. AYou lose all the apps,etc and have to re-register it through BN. A few times it popped back to 1.2, so I did the manual 1.3 update and then rerooted. I hoping the nightlies will provide me with more stablity.