- An Introduction to Rooting Your NOOK Tablet
- How to Root Your NOOK Tablet
- Unrooting Your NOOK Tablet
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How to Root Your NOOK Tablet
The rooting process is quite simple. We'll make sure that the NOOK Tablet is ready to be rooted, download some files, and then perform the root, which is actually a couple of quick scripts, or small programs, that some very smart people have written. The process, once you have done the preparatory steps, takes only about 10 minutes to perform.
At the time of writing, the following steps are only workable on a PC. I'm sure a Mac or Linux root is not too far in the future, but they are not available yet.
Prepping Your NOOK Tablet
The following steps prepare your NOOK Tablet for the rooting process:
- Make sure your NOOK Tablet is registered.
- One of the first things we need to do is downgrade your NOOK Tablet from version 1.4.1 to 1.4.0. Download the acclaim_update_zip file from http://tinyurl.com/7xu6l4g. This is the file we will use to downgrade from 1.4.1 to 1.4.0.
- Copy the acclaim_update_zip file to a microSD card.
- Power off your NOOK Tablet and insert the microSD card into the microSD card slot.
- Power on your NOOK Tablet. A factory restore begins and “updates” your NOOK Tablet to 1.4.0.
- Press the Home button, and tap Web.
- In the address space, enter http://tinyurl.com/6navm9b. Tap Go. The tgps_launcher.apk downloads.
- Tap Go. The tgps_launcher.apk downloads.
- Wait for the download to finish, and tap the Download Status icon (see Figure 1).
- Tap tgps_launcher.apk. A Complete Action Using screen appears.
- Tap Package Installer. The Install Blocked screen appears. Nothing to worry about.
- Tap Settings. The Application Settings screen appears (see Figure 2).
- Ensure that the Unknown Sources check box is enabled. When you tap the check box, you are given a warning. Read it and if you are okay with it, tap OK.
- Tap Development. The Development Settings screen appears (see Figure 3).
- Tap USB Debugging so that the check box is enabled. A warning appears about allowing USB debugging. Read it and if you are okay with it, tap OK.
- Tap the second USB Debugging so that the check box is enabled.
- Disable the Auto Mount check box. Your Development Settings screen should look like Figure 4.
- Plug your NOOK Tablet into your computer.
- Open the Control Panel from the Start menu, double-click the System icon, and select the Hardware tab.
- Click the Device Manage button that appears there. You should see the NOOK Tablet appear in the Other Devices list. What we are doing is ensuring that the NOOK Tablet is readable by the computer and is ready for rooting. If you do not see this path, it means that some driver is out of date or incorrect. If that is the case, you might need to go to a different PC to perform the root.
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Figure 1 The tgps_launcher.apk file
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Figure 2 The Application Settings screen
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Figure 3 The Development Settings screen
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Figure 4 This is how your Development Settings screen should look
Get the Necessary Files
The following steps download and prepare the files you need for the rooting process:
- Open your favorite browser on the PC, and go to this location: http://tinyurl.com/89atquw. This downloads the usbdrivers.zip file.
- Open your favorite browser on the PC, and go to this location: http://tinyurl.com/7fk8hgt. This downloads the Nook&Zergy.zip file.
- On your computer, under the C:\ drive (double-click My Computer and double-click C:\), create a folder and call it ntroot. (You can right-click the screen and choose New, Folder from the context menu that appears.)
- Extract the contents of the usbdrivers.zip and Nook&Zergy.zip files using WinZIP or your favorite extraction tool to the C:\ntroot folder.
Rooting Your NOOK Tablet
The following steps begin the rooting process:
- Open the C:\ntroot folder and double-click runmefirst.bat. When this finishes running, you see the screen shown in Figure 5.
- Go back to Device Manager, as discussed in the section, "Prepping Your Nook Tablet," and choose Action, Update Driver. The Hardware Update Wizard appears (see Figure 6).
- Choose No, Not This Time and click Next.
- Choose Install from a List or Specific Location (Advanced) and click Next.
- Click Search for the Best Driver in These Locations if it is not already selected.
- Click Include This Location in This Search.
- Click Browse and choose the ntroot\usbdrivers folder.
- Click Next and wait for your computer to install the hardware interface.
- When you see the screen shown in Figure 7, click Finish. The NOOK Tablet in Device Manager changes to Android Phone\Android Composite ADB Interface (see Figure 8).
- Go back to the C:\ntroot folder, and double-click NookandZergy.bat. A screen like that shown in Figure 9 appears.
- Press Y and then press Enter.
- You are asked if you really do want to root your NOOK Tablet. Press Y and press Enter. The rooting software begins its work.
- You are asked if you want to install gApps. Press Y and then press Enter.
- You are asked if you want to replace certain system applications to make the NOOK more tablet like (see Figure 10). Remember, most Android devices run on phones and are optimized for that. If you here, choose to take advantage of the fact that you are using a tablet.
- Press Y and then press Enter. The rooting process continues.
- You are then given a set of four choices (see Figure 11). Launchers are, essentially, the home pages of the interface. I recommend you go with Honeycomb Launcher (option 3).
- Press 3 and then press Enter.
- When asked to Press Any Key to Continue, press Enter.
- You are then asked if you want to "de-bloat" the device—basically remove some apps and other functionality. Press N and then press Enter.
- The NOOK Tablet reboots. Unplug the USB cable from the NOOK Tablet.
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Figure 5 The final screen after running runmefirst.bat
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Figure 6 The Hardware Update Wizard
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Figure 7 The drivers are finished installing.
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Figure 8 Your device manager changes the NOOK Tablet to an Android device.
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Figure 9 You're almost done rooting.
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Figure 10 Replace system applications screen
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Figure 11 Choose your launcher.
Congratulations! Your NOOK Tablet is now rooted. When you begin using your NOOK Tablet, it will look very much as it looked previously.
Accessing the Android Market on Your Rooted NOOK Tablet
The key to accessing the Android Market and other apps you install from it is to press the Home key and tap Search. Type Market and tap Market when it appears.
Here's how to install an app from the Android Market:
- Start the Market. (From Search, type Market and tap Market; see Figure 12.) The Android Market appears.
- If this is the first time you are starting the Android Market, you are asked to sign in to your Google Account or to create one (see Figure 13). Do whichever is appropriate. The NOOK Tablet and Google "chat" a bit and set up this device to work with that account.
- Accept the terms of service and you see the Android Market home screen (see Figure 14).
- Tap the magnifying glass to search, and type Angry Birds. The results appear (see Figure 15).
- Tap Angry Birds Seasons.
- Tap Download.
- Tap Accept and Download. The app downloads and installs.
- You can tap Open to open Angry Birds Seasons right now or tap Uninstall to remove the app from your device.
- Later, when you want to return to playing Angry Birds Seasons, press the Home button, tap Search, type Angry Birds Seasons, and tap Angry Birds Seasons.
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Figure 12 Start the Market.
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Figure 13 Create a Google account if you don't already have one.
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Figure 14 The Android Market screen
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Figure 15 The results of an Angry Birds search
Pressing 3 for the Honeycomb Launcher allows you to interact with your NOOK Tablet as if it were an Android tablet. You can switch back and forth between the two looks by pressing the Home button quickly twice. You see an option with two icons.
Tap the top one. Then tap Honeycomb Launcher (see Figure 16). Your screen should look like Figure 17. Tap Apps link at the top to access your installed apps.
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Figure 16 Choose an installed launcher.
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Figure 17 An alternate home screen (also called a Launcher)
Whenever you press the Home button twice quickly and tap Home, you are taken back to the NOOK Tablet default Home screen.