Root for Nook Tablet 8GB (w/ Android Market)

Search This thread

tcb2

New member
May 30, 2012
1
0
factory reset worked for me

After trying many SD cards, i finally got the brown box to appear by using the image that jichuan suggests in his troubleshooting section (post 131) and then erasing the files included with the image and copying over jichuan's files from his zip in method #2. Still no brown box until i put the sd card in and restored the nook to factory defaults (hold down power and n keys, releasing when n screen goes blank). The next time i turned on the device, the box appeared.
 

Oryp

New member
May 30, 2012
2
0
Thanks

jichuan,

All I can say is thanks and WOW! Worked straight out of the gate for me, using a 8gb Dane Elect memory card (cheapy from Target). The only issue I had was the stupid "unknown sources" remaining checked issue that some people get.
Unknown sources is now checked, (no idea how I finally got it) but I still can't get HomeCatcher to install.

[Edit] For some reason, I can't sideload at all. I am rooted, and it does show the unknown sources as checked, however when I try to intall something it won't install.
I can load things from the Play store fine. Any ideas?
 
Last edited:

growthweb

Member
May 29, 2012
11
3
My SUCCESS and TOTAL NIGHTMARES :)

I can not believe my luck. I had purchased 2 brand new 8 Gig Color Nook Tablets (thanks to previous poster asking if these are Tablets and not the Nook Colors, they are the Tablets). All went perfect on the first Nook. I was rooted and did not have any problems with the unknown sources check box. Then I factory restored it as I thought I was going to be giving this to a family member and they did not want rooted. They changed their mind. So I went back and went through the exact same process on this first Tablet with the SAME 4 gig microdisk as I did the first time. This factory restored Nook will not brown box at all. I tried everything. Even reformatted the 4 gig disk all different ways. Formatted with the Nook, then formatted with Windows, then formatted with sd formatter program. This factory restored nook just does not want to be rerooted nor. Even tried a different 4 gig disk. So I figured well my 2nd 8 gig NEW Color Nook Tablet will be rooted since its just out of box and Iam doing all like I did when I had success on the first Nook. Now the unused 2nd Nook wont go to the brown box. Too strange. So I have 2 8 gig "NEW" color nook tablets that cant be rooted. To eBay they will go (at a great price by the way) if I cant figure this all out.
 

ckuke4

Senior Member
Jul 2, 2007
92
15
After trying many SD cards, i finally got the brown box to appear by using the image that jichuan suggests in his troubleshooting section (post 131) and then erasing the files included with the image and copying over jichuan's files from his zip in method #2. Still no brown box until i put the sd card in and restored the nook to factory defaults (hold down power and n keys, releasing when n screen goes blank). The next time i turned on the device, the box appeared.

What worked for me after trying 4 different SD cards was to do a full format of the card. Did it in Windows and unchecked the quick format box, after that it finally booted off the SD card. Hope that helps others as nothing else did it for me and I have seen no mention of trying a full format in other threads. Cheers.
 

leapinlar

Senior Member
Oct 18, 2006
8,873
3,878
I can not believe my luck. I had purchased 2 brand new 8 Gig Color Nook Tablets (thanks to previous poster asking if these are Tablets and not the Nook Colors, they are the Tablets). All went perfect on the first Nook. I was rooted and did not have any problems with the unknown sources check box. Then I factory restored it as I thought I was going to be giving this to a family member and they did not want rooted. They changed their mind. So I went back and went through the exact same process on this first Tablet with the SAME 4 gig microdisk as I did the first time. This factory restored Nook will not brown box at all. I tried everything. Even reformatted the 4 gig disk all different ways. Formatted with the Nook, then formatted with Windows, then formatted with sd formatter program. This factory restored nook just does not want to be rerooted nor. Even tried a different 4 gig disk. So I figured well my 2nd 8 gig NEW Color Nook Tablet will be rooted since its just out of box and Iam doing all like I did when I had success on the first Nook. Now the unused 2nd Nook wont go to the brown box. Too strange. So I have 2 8 gig "NEW" color nook tablets that cant be rooted. To eBay they will go (at a great price by the way) if I cant figure this all out.
Which method of preparing the SD card are you using? The easiest and best is burning the image. It puts the format on the SD as required by the nook. Use win32diskimager to burn the image to the SD. Run the program in administrator mode and use an external USB card reader instead any built in reader. The nook is very particular about how the SD is prepared. Any little thing can cause it not to boot. Just keep trying.

Sent from my Nook running Tapatalk
 

growthweb

Member
May 29, 2012
11
3
Help ....................................

Thanks everybody for your help. I tried all the methods. As I mentioned in my post I had GREAT SUCCESS on my first try with the sd card I was using. Everything went crazy when I factory restored my nook and went back to trying to root it again. Using same disk same procedure as before. And now I have tried 3 other sd disks and of course win32diskimager. And as I mentioned I went to root my second new nook 8 gig tablet and now that does not work EVEN USING the same exact disk that I rooted my first tablet with. I KNOW THIS CRAZY but its like BARNES and NOBLE knows something after my first root and my account and somehow prevented me doing any more roots. Otherwise my second new 8 gig should of rooted with the same sd disk as I originally rooted my first. This is like the twilight zone. I really do have to sell these 2 new 8 gig nooks as they are worthless to me if I can reroot and root them. :(
 

leapinlar

Senior Member
Oct 18, 2006
8,873
3,878
Thanks everybody for your help. I tried all the methods. As I mentioned in my post I had GREAT SUCCESS on my first try with the sd card I was using. Everything went crazy when I factory restored my nook and went back to trying to root it again. Using same disk same procedure as before. And now I have tried 3 other sd disks and of course win32diskimager. And as I mentioned I went to root my second new nook 8 gig tablet and now that does not work EVEN USING the same exact disk that I rooted my first tablet with. I KNOW THIS CRAZY but its like BARNES and NOBLE knows something after my first root and my account and somehow prevented me doing any more roots. Otherwise my second new 8 gig should of rooted with the same sd disk as I originally rooted my first. This is like the twilight zone. I really do have to sell these 2 new 8 gig nooks as they are worthless to me if I can reroot and root them. :(
The problem stems from not the disk you are using, but how it is getting burned. The disk must be formatted so that the first partition starts exactly on the 63rd sector of the disk or it will not boot. That sometimes is hard to achieve. Apparently it worked the first time you tried it. All I can suggest is to keep trying with different combinations of burning software, computers, and readers.
 

growthweb

Member
May 29, 2012
11
3
Thank you so much for your input. I have tried every conceivable option on every forum and youtube videos. I know what your saying is the key. Even though I had success that first time on my first 8 gig NT (using the image from this thread) I will go back to to work and figure all this out. I have tried partitioning and formatting with partionwizard all different ways with different tutorials I will go back and try more. I have tried formatting first with the color nook itself, formatting with sdformatter, formatting with windows 7 doing a complete (uncheck quick format) format. GETTING A 8 GIG NOOK TABLET TO BOOT TO BROWN BOX (again) IS MY MISSION! ...and hope I can keep that "UNKNOWN SOURCES" BOXES CHECKED AFTER ROOTING AS THAT IS SCARY) I will get this figured out because I have 2 brand new 8 gig color nooks sitting here and had success only once (wish I would of never restored back to barnes and noble!) but will do it again even if I have to spend forever doing this .. Iam on a mission!). Then I will let everyone know. And I know it goes down to that 63rd Sector! :) so back to partitionwizard I go.



The problem stems from not the disk you are using, but how it is getting burned. The disk must be formatted so that the first partition starts exactly on the 63rd sector of the disk or it will not boot. That sometimes is hard to achieve. Apparently it worked the first time you tried it. All I can suggest is to keep trying with different combinations of burning software, computers, and readers.
 

leapinlar

Senior Member
Oct 18, 2006
8,873
3,878
One more option to try is to burn the image with winimage and instead of choosing 'write disk' from the menu, use 'Restore Virtual Disk Image to physical disk'.

Sent from my Nook Color running ICS and Tapatalk
 

growthweb

Member
May 29, 2012
11
3
UPDATE!!!!! Found the solution. Easy Root 8 gig 1.4.2

After spending hours and hours on this. I went back to youtube and see if there was anything I missed. WELL! Found it. Downloaded the image installer they provided. Wrote it to my 4 gig sd card. Booted RIGHT TO THE BROWN box on both my 8 gig Nook Tablets!!. Installed Veronicas Ribbon Root. All went perfect!! Please maybe someone can make this like a STICKY? Or maybe it is. If I would not of missed this web page or his youtube tutorial days ago I would of saved hours of time and frustration. Thanks so much for Veronica and Waldo for this perfect root. (at least for me...I did both my 8 gig CNs in the last 10 minutes). Everybody should see this. Especially if you have the newer 8 gig Nooks like I do.

thank you sooooo much ....... raywaldoDOTcom! .........
 

growthweb

Member
May 29, 2012
11
3
Final note

ONE FINAL NOTE to my excitement below. NO MORE WORRIES ABOUT "ALLOWING DOWNLOAD FROM UNKNOWN SOURCES" works like a charm and once I rooted with Veronicas root I was surprised at all the cool needed programs she put on there. Homecatchers, file viewers,task managers,GO browser, all kinds of stuff. My 8 gig Nook color tablets are SUPER TABLETS! And they were cheap since they are the newer 8 gigs.



After spending hours and hours on this. I went back to youtube and see if there was anything I missed. WELL! Found it. Downloaded the image installer they provided. Wrote it to my 4 gig sd card. Booted RIGHT TO THE BROWN box on both my 8 gig Nook Tablets!!. Installed Veronicas Ribbon Root. All went perfect!! Please maybe someone can make this like a STICKY? Or maybe it is. If I would not of missed this web page or his youtube tutorial days ago I would of saved hours of time and frustration. Thanks so much for Veronica and Waldo for this perfect root. (at least for me...I did both my 8 gig CNs in the last 10 minutes). Everybody should see this. Especially if you have the newer 8 gig Nooks like I do.

thank you sooooo much ....... raywaldoDOTcom! .........
 
Last edited:

tinkturtle

Senior Member
Dec 18, 2007
79
7
Chicago
Rooted 1st try for me. After running TeamB CM7 for a couple months I'm really enjoying this. I was having some annoying bugs with CM7 that would require reboot/retether. I can now actually use the reader the way it was intended and enjoy the tablet the way BN didn't want me to. With the help of DropBox I've been able to load all the apps that say they are not compatible with your device, from my phone. A big thanks.

Sent from my PC36100 using XDA
 

growthweb

Member
May 29, 2012
11
3
still cant run FLASH on rooted 8 gig Color Nook tablet

Hi All, Love that I have had success rooting my 2 8 gig color nooks. HOWEVER still can not get FLASH to work. I installed the newest flash from the android store. Even running the VIMEO.com app (which is mostly flash stuff) cant get flash to work. Wonder if its because this is because its the newer 8 gig nook? Anybody figured this out? Thank you. :)
 

cinnocent

New member
Jun 9, 2012
1
0
Alternative to Win32DiskImager

I am a new member so I guess I cannot post URLs yet or I would have included them in my posting.

I didn't know it then but I had two strikes against me from the beginning - I bought what is an apparently problematic brand of SD card, a PNY and internal SD burners are also a problem - particularly those found in Dell machines.

When I tried burning to an SD card from my internal SD card burner, I ran into a known issue with Win32DiskImager - lookup Question #194026 if you are curious.

I don't have an external burner so I searched for quite some time to find something that actually works and I found an alternative - Roadkil's Disk Image.

It is free, worked very well, and was extremely easy to use - thought I would pass this along to anybody having trouble with an internal SD burner.

I was able to root my NT successfully!
 
Last edited:

old_fart

Senior Member
Dec 8, 2011
1,484
400
it never rains here
I am a new member so I guess I cannot post URLs yet or I would have included them in my posting.
welcome to the group ! you can after ten posts.
I didn't know it then but I had two strikes against me from the beginning - I bought what is an apparently problematic brand of SD card, a PNY and internal SD burners are also a problem - particularly those found in Dell machines.
yes, there is a debate on 'sd cards', the five dollar ones, 8GB class 4 SanDisk work the best for me. thx for telling us about 'roadkill' -hmm. ( i tell my kids - that's what for dinner off and on. )
 
Last edited:

apocalypse 2012

New member
Jun 15, 2012
3
0
trouble booting

it took me almost two hours to get the NT to boot, but i eventually got it to work.

i originally followed the simple instructions. downloaded the image, used Win32DiskImage to write it, confirmed all the files where there and the partition was active. i tried restarting the nook 5 times and it kept booting normally.

since i didn't have an sd card reader at home, i took a different approach. here is what i did:

booted the nook with the sd card still inside
-went to system and formatted the sd card
downloaded jichuan89's zip file from Instructions for option 2.
-unzipped the contents and transferred them to the sd card (tethered)
used windows diskpart to set the partition as active
powered the device down
unplugged and replugged the tethering cable
the device booted to the cardboard box as expected
 

old_fart

Senior Member
Dec 8, 2011
1,484
400
it never rains here
booted the nook with the sd card still inside
-went to system and formatted the sd card
downloaded jichuan89's zip file from Instructions for option 2.
-unzipped the contents and transferred them to the sd card (tethered)
used windows diskpart to set the partition as active
powered the device down
unplugged and replugged the tethering cable
the device booted to the cardboard box as expected
well first, congrats on getting the 'sd card' to cooperate. Ya !
so the 'take away' is that if a person does not have a card reader...
they can use the NT as their card reader. Hmm, is this card a off brand class 10 or a Sandisk class 4 ?
 
Last edited:

TurtleSmores

New member
Jun 20, 2012
4
0
Just popping in to say I followed your rooting guide a few weeks ago and everything worked perfectly. I used an 8GB SanDisk micro sd card and burned the image. No hiccups. Thank you! I actually bought this tablet before I knew they'd made it so you couldn't side load apps, so you saved me from having to return it, because I really do love the NT.

Sent from my Nook using XDA
 

tinkturtle

Senior Member
Dec 18, 2007
79
7
Chicago
Just popping in to say I followed your rooting guide a few weeks ago and everything worked perfectly. I used an 8GB SanDisk micro sd card and burned the image. No hiccups. Thank you! I actually bought this tablet before I knew they'd made it so you couldn't side load apps, so you saved me from having to return it, because I really do love the NT.

Sent from my Nook using XDA[/QUOTE

I also bought once I saw the less expensive 8GB nook come out and before I knew they changed it so rooting was harder. I used the root from sd for awhile but always had to reboot/retether. It was a pain, and you couldn't use the nook as the reader it was meant to be. Now best of both worlds.

Sent from my rooted nook tablet using XDA
 

Top Liked Posts

  • There are no posts matching your filters.
  • 27
    [Updated 3/4/12] Add flashable SD card image
    [Updated 3/5/12] Update instructions to include tethering
    [Updated 4/16/12] Add compatibility warning (as suggested by lavero.burgos) and answers to common questions

    Sorry for posting this here -- this is the first time I'm posting on xda-developers and I'm not allowed to post in the dev section.

    Root for Nook Tablet 8GB (w/ Android Market)



    So ever since I bought the 8GB Nook Tablet last week I've been checking this forum daily to see whether there's a root method that I could use to sideload apps etc.. But it seems that no current root method for the 8GB tablet existed, and I even came across a video showing that none of the current root methods for the 16GB version works on the 8GB.

    So when I saw bauwks's updated 2nduboot that allows booting from an SD card, I started poking around to see if I could use that to root the tablet. While bauwks's kernel and ramdisk cannot boot into the stock Nook userland on the 8GB version (it reboots right after the "READ FOREVER" screen), they do allow me to boot into Android's init process, and that's enough to root the tablet and install Android Market. Basically, what I did was package the files I needed as well as a small installer script into bauwks's boot.img.

    The result (root + Android market) is demonstrated in this video.


    Compatibility

    This method is for rooting the stock firmware version 1.4.2 that is shipped with the Nook Table 8GB when you buy one from B&N. It is not supposed to be used with other ROMs such as CM7, nor the Nook Tablet 16GB.


    Included

    - Root (su + Superuser.apk)
    - Android market


    Options

    There are two equivalent ways to apply this root method.

    1. The first, and easier method is to burn an image to your SD card.

    2. The second method is to partition and format your SD card and copy over the files yourself. This latter is more complicated than you think as the SD card must be partitioned and formatted in a very particular (and peculiar) way for it to boot.


    Instructions for option 1 - burning a pre-built microSD card image

    0. Before you proceed, know that THIS IS EXPERIMENTAL SOFTWARE THAT PROBABLY VOIDS YOUR WARRANTY AND MAY PERMANENTLY OR TEMPORARILY BRICK YOUR TABLET. Even though it worked for me, it may not work for you, and worse, it is quite possible that it could cause your tablet to boot-loop or die. I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY POSSIBLE DAMAGES TO YOUR TABLET / ANYTHING ELSE CAUSED BY THIS METHOD. BY USING IT YOU AGREE TO ASSUME ALL RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR ACTIONS.
    1. You need a microSD card. The image itself is ~55MB, which means any card above 64MB will work. Backup anything you have on that SD card because THIS WILL ERASE ALL DATA ON YOUR microSD CARD.
    2. Download this image. MD5: 1a4f5cb32f09d3003b11aa782fe9566f
    3. Burn downloaded image to microSD card. This page explains how to burn an image on Linux, Mac and Windows. Ignore the Nook Color-specific stuff, don't download the Nookie Froyo image, and replace in the instructions the nookie froyo image with the image you've just downloaded. THIS WILL ERASE ALL DATA ON YOUR microSD CARD.
    4. Turn off the tablet.
    5. Put the microSD card with the burnt image into the tablet.
    6. Connect tablet to computer using a USB cable. The tablet should boot up on its own; if not, press the power button to power on.
    7. After the initial black screen with the "n" logo, you should see a brown box in the middle of a white screen. (If you do not, your tablet is not booting off the microSD card and you probably did something wrong.) After you hit the "READ FOREVER" screen, WAIT ABOUT TWO MINUTES. Even though nothing changes on the screen, a script is copying over root and Google stuff onto the /system partition.
    8. After two minutes, hold down on the power button until the tablet turns off.
    9. Take out the microSD card and power on again.


    Instructions for option 2 - manual setup

    0. Before you proceed, know that THIS IS EXPERIMENTAL SOFTWARE THAT PROBABLY VOIDS YOUR WARRANTY AND MAY PERMANENTLY OR TEMPORARILY BRICK YOUR TABLET. Even though it worked for me, it may not work for you, and worse, it is quite possible that it could cause your tablet to boot-loop or die. I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY POSSIBLE DAMAGES TO YOUR TABLET / ANYTHING ELSE CAUSED BY THIS METHOD. BY USING IT YOU AGREE TO ASSUME ALL RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR ACTIONS.
    1. Create a 50MB vfat partition with boot and lda flags set, as explained in this video. I followed the instructions on the page referred to by the video at the very beginning.
    2. Download this zip file, and extract contents to root of the 50MB microSD card partition.
    3. Turn off the tablet.
    4. Put the microSD card with the burnt image into the tablet.
    5. Connect tablet to computer using a USB cable. The tablet should boot up on its own; if not, press the power button to power on.
    6. After the initial black screen with the "n" logo, you should see a brown box in the middle of a white screen. (If you do not, your tablet is not booting off the microSD card and you probably did something wrong.) After you hit the "READ FOREVER" screen, WAIT ABOUT TWO MINUTES. Even though nothing changes on the screen, a script is copying over root and Google stuff onto the /system partition.
    7. After two minutes, hold down on the power button until the tablet turns off.
    8. Take out the microSD card and power on again.


    After Rooting

    You will not see any visible difference in the interface when the tablet powers back on, nor will your firmware version change, but you should now be rooted. To launch the Android / Play Market, do the following: "n" -> Search -> hit top-left button on screen -> select "apps" -> type "market" in search bar -> select "Market". For a step-by-step guide on other things you'd probably want to do after you root (e.g., installing 3rd-party .apks, making the "n" button start a custom launcher), check out this thread by RevenantOne.


    Common Questions / Problems

    Here are some of the common issues people have run into according to this thread. Read this through if you have a question or problem before posting it!

    1. Am I rooted? / I did everything correctly, but nothing changed after I reboot!
    If you saw a brown box and then the "READ FOREVER" screen, you are already rooted. There will not be any visible differences in the interface / software version. To launch the Android / Play Market, do the following: "n" -> Search -> hit top-left button on screen -> select "apps" -> type "market" in search bar -> select "Market". Check out this thread by RevenantOne for other things you probably want to do after you root.​

    2. I don't see the brown box screen; instead the tablet just boots up normally.
    There are a number of possibilities:

    a. Some people have had better luck combining the files from this method with a root image for the 16GB tablet. Theoretically this could work for everyone, so make sure you do try this one out if your tablet refuses to boot (i.e., you don't see the brown box). Instructions can be found in post #131.

    b. Your microSD card may be incompatible. As strange as it may seem, people have posted on this thread that certain microSD cards will simply not work. It appears to be somewhat random which cards work and which don't, so you might have to try out several cards from a different brand or with a different size before you find one that does work.​

    3. How to restore the microSD card back to its normal capacity from 50mb?




    Disclaimer

    Again, this is experimental software. That it worked for me does not mean it will work for you, or that it won't brick your tablet. I am not responsible for any possible damages resulting from using this method.


    Credits

    Credit goes to:
    - [URL="http://xdaforums.com/member.php?u=4426306"]bauwks
    for his 2nduboot hack (see this thread)
    - Indirect for his root + gapps package (see this thread).
    - Everyone on this thread for posting amazing feedback and a wealth of information and solutions to common problems, and most of all to those of you who donated! It's really appreciated :)
    2
    Which files... If this is not easy to say/show - n'mind.

    Code:
    /system/app:
    	CarHomeGoogle.apk
    	GenieWidget.apk
    	GoogleBackupTransport.apk
    	GoogleCalendarSyncAdapter.apk
    	GoogleContactsSyncAdapter.apk
    	GoogleFeedback.apk
    	GooglePartnerSetup.apk
    	GoogleQuickSearchBox.apk
    	GoogleServicesFramework.apk
    	LatinImeTutorial.apk
    	MarketUpdater.apk
    	MediaUploader.apk
    	NetworkLocation.apk
    	OneTimeInitializer.apk
    	PackageInstaller.apk
    	Superuser.apk
    	Talk.apk
    	Vending.apk
    /system/etc/permissions:
    	com.google.android.maps.xml
    	features.xml
    /system/framework:
    	com.google.android.maps.jar
    /system/lib:
    	libvoicesearch.so
    /system/bin:
    	su
    /system/xbin:
    	busybox
    	su
    1
    Did you happen to try any 3d games out?
    1
    new launcher gone again after I hit the "n" button. any way to relink the button?:mad:

    To get back to your custom launcher, you'd have to use the good-ol' search ("n" button -> Search). To permanently switch to your custom launcher as the default launcher, you can install the HomeCatcher app (http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1357175). Before you do that though you'd have to enable the installation of APK files (or installation from "unknown sources" - I recommend using the "NT Hidden Settings" app which is available on the Android Market).
    1
    If you have a Nook COLOR I suggest you head over to that sectionand find the root instructions for that device. This is for Nook TABLET!!

    Sigh... not the first to to get it wrong and won't be the last. If only people took a few seconds to learn the difference.

    Sent from my CM 10 nook. Thanks devs.