[Root] NookManager - graphical rooter for 1.2.x and beyond

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This is a graphical, interactive rooting system with the ability to create/restore backups and factory settings.

This has been tested on systems 1.1.5, 1.2.0 (US/UK), and 1.2.1. It will probably work on earlier versions and should be safe to use on future versions. For best results, however, you should be on 1.2.1 before using this tool.

If you've tried rooting your nook unsuccessfully with another utility, it's best to do a factory restore (from NookManager, choose the "Restore" menu and then "Restore factory.zip") and, if your nook came with older firmware, upgrade to the latest 1.2.1 firmware.

Features:

• Root your nook
• Backup/Restore
• Restore to factory settings
• Disable B&N Apps
• Custom plugins

The actual rooting procedure is very basic:

• uRamdisk is patched to enable ADB
• database setting is changed to allow installation of non-market apps
• the DroidSansFallback font is replaced with the updated font from jellybean to add support for extended characters
• the su/Superuser binary/package is installed
• Relaunch is installed
• ADB Konnect is installed for enabling/disabling ADB over wireless
• on systems running firmware 1.2+, the ModManager jars and package are installed
• on 1.2+ systems, the PackageInstaller.apk from the 1.1.2 firmware is installed to resolve issues with package installers
• and, finally, the Amazon appstore is installed just to have some easy way of downloading new apps

The uRamdisk patching is done with scripts rather than copying pre-compiled binaries, so this should be safe for all existing versions of the Nook firmware and (hopefully) will be forward compatible with any new releases.

The rooting procedure is non-destructive and can be run multiple times without causing problems.

Under the hood, this is a minimal linux environment with the nook drivers/binaries and a few core android binaries. The display is generated with imagemagick and written directly to the framebuffer.

Wherever possible, the parts of this system are compiled from source including the Linux kernel, uBoot, and all of the buildroot utilities. The hardware drivers and associated binaries are extracted from the 1.2.0 upgrade package.

The source for the project, including an automated buildscript is available at GitHub.

Support for custom menu items and scripts is documented here.


Download

The download must be unzipped and the NookManager.img file must be written to an empty SD card. On windows, you can use disk imager. Linux and mac users can use dd.

To run, shut down your nook, install the SD card and power on. You should see the NookManager boot screen followed within 15 seconds by the welcome screen.

After rooting, you can install Google Apps using straygecko's excellent NTGAppsAttack package if you want to use Google Market/Gmail/Calendar/etc.

https://github.com/doozan/NookManager/downloads
NookManager.zip
17.9MB · Uploaded 14 hours ago
File was not found.

??

Weird. I deleted/re-upped the file and the download link seems to be working now.

ok..now it works. Thanks

Will this work with NoRefresh?

Thanks for the work on this - it was easy and worked great. And if you're planning to update, maybe add ES File Explorer or Titanium Backup in the pre-installed apps; that would make it easier to install apks directly from your SD card instead of having to do it over wireless adb. But thanks regardless.

Can confirm no refresh works great. Installed FBReader, Opera Mobile, ES File Explorer and Kindle app. Great

I just came from a firmware that had the ability to change the hardware buttons for page turning, any chance of this being added?

Thanks for this! Giving it a try.

Just curious though... I'm trying to create the backup of the device and it seems to take forever to format the free space. It also took forever to find the wireless network and I eventually just rebooted it. How long does it usually take?

I'm using a NST on 1.2.0 and have tried a 2GB Sandisk and a 8GB Dane-elec microsd card.

Gonna try redownloading and re-installing the image.

Install apk

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Hi, i successfully root my NGL(1.2.0) but, if i try to install apk (Cool Reader) i got an error window "Out of space" and i'm almost sure it must be enough space to install, may someone can help with this ?

Originally Posted by mobamoba

maybe add ES File Explorer or Titanium Backup in the pre-installed apps

Good suggestion, I've added ES File Explorer

Originally Posted by Gvr4-330

it seems to take forever to format the free space..and wifi

Thanks for reporting this. There was a glitch with the script that formats the SD card and with the wifi loading. Both issues have been fixed in the latest release.

Originally Posted by asprin

if i try to install apk (Cool Reader) i got an error window "Out of space"

How are you trying to install the apk? I'm also using Cool Reader it installed with "adb install" and runs just fine. For best Nook compatibility, use coolreader 3.1.2-27 (12/11/2012 build) or later.