Nook Touch--easy root

[TLHsc]

There is an easy root for the touch.

http://www.the-ebook-reader.com/nook-touch-root.html

[JohnnyB54]

I like that landscape mode. Thanks!!

[mettleh3d]

Thank you

[mettleh3d]

Some of those apps are pretty cool but that refresh rate will kill my eyes.  like installing a browser on a gameboy1

[BookNinja4]

Hey do you know how to just add the web browser?

[ilexq]

Thanks for the link! I've been hoping for a really good root to check out. All I'm interested in, though, is better file management. Couldn't care less about games or web browsing. Will check this one out. 

[roustabout]

I've been frustrated for a long time by the fact that the Nook Color doesn't let me download the new yorker.  Once, somehow, I managed to find my issue on the BN website and downloaded it.  I was able to read it on the NC, no problem - it recognized that I owned the file.

I ultimately cancelled my subscription, and then the NT came out.  It supports newsrob and b-folders, making it a nice light RSS reader and - in a pinch - a contact manager. 

And lo!  I can read the New Yorker on it.

But bugger all, they've meddled with the partitions enough that I can't see my files. 

Sorted that this evening. 

the problem: 

as shipped, data are now stored in /data/media and are normally invisible.

the fix:

1)  need to resize data and media

Connect to your rooted device via adb (or ssh if you have not installed adb)

and confirm the output of mount

/dev/block/mmcblk0p8 /data
/dev/block/mmcblk0p7 /cache
/dev/block//vold/179:6 /media

meaning /dev/block/mmcblk0p6 in fidsk is media

fdisk /dev/block/mmcblk0

/dev/block/mmcblk0p6             406         525      245760  83 Linux  media - starts at 119 blocks. 
/dev/block/mmcblk0p7             526         926      821232  83 Linux  cache - supposedly starts sized at 400 blocks????
/dev/block/mmcblk0p8             286         405      245728  83 Linux  data - starts at 119 blocks

on nc, p7 (cache) is a ton smaller.  quick hack:

fdisk /dev/block/mmcblk0

d6
d6
d6

gets rid of partitions 6, 7 and 8.

Next, to create partitions of a useful size in the correct order

n
(creates p6)
406 807
n
(creates p7)
808
926
n
(creates p8)
286 405

write and reboot. 

2) fix the formatting:

boot into noogie

format 7 as ext3

format 6 as fat16

(best tool for this is qtparted in linux.  A vmware player (free) linux install
(free) is an excellent way to go here, if you don't have a linux desktop.

You don't have to touch /data, because you deleted the partition but recreated it

at exactly the same spot. 

3)  symlink /data/media to
/media so you can actually see your files.  Win! 

cd /data/media
 
rm -r *

cd ..

rmdir media

ln -s media /media

one wants to avoid the erase and deregister step if possible here. 

It's not fatal, but you have to re-root, etc. 

The partition sizes remain correct if you do erase and dereg, though.

Read your magazines, and transfer them by simple copying to any other Nook device

registered to that account - no DRM headstands required. 

Finally, do save your work:

- boot to noogie

- connect to your linux install

- dd if=/dev/sdb of=touchroot.img bs=1M

(where /sdX is the device that your nook touch is seen on in linux.) 

Many thanks to Dean Gibson for his insanely valuable work on partitioning.  

[roustabout]

As an fyi:  when I first got the ST I backed it up.

My backup became unavailable before I started this project.

It appears to me now that at some point I chewed up the partition table.  The hack works for me, but is not ready for primetime yet. 

(basically, I inadvertently shrank /data and grew /cache before I started.  This is what happens when you're on a conference call, bored, and start making bad decisions about what order to do things and what order to put partitions in.  I thought I'd documented the boundaries before starting;  I did, but did so incorrectly.) 

This approach is also being looked at by sharper folks than I am who probably didn't start from a screwed-up device, and it may well be something which can be built into a boot disk at some point (a la the Dean Gibson disks for repartitioning the NC.) 

[compulsiveread…]

I have a question. What happens to the rooted Nook when the next update happens? Does it revert back to the original OS?

[Nooksimpfornoo…]

The nook simple touch has a built in web browser. All you have to do is press the n, click search, then type in a url such as www.google.com. Neat huh

[MacFlash]

Accessing the  browser with that technique was suppressed in firmware 1.1.

[keriflur]

---

MacFlash wrote:

Accessing the  browser with that technique was suppressed in firmware 1.1.

---

But now there is a new workaround:

http://bookclubs.barnesandnoble.com/t5/NOOK-Simple-Touch-General/Browse-Web-even-after-1-1-0-update/...

[jbean00]

I'm wondering how many people have actually rooted their ST's and what kind of luck they've had?  I would love to be able to get all my Kindle books on mine.  The Nook Color seems SO heavy now that I've gotten used to the lighter ST.  I don't care that much about any other apps, although Overdrive would be nice...

[keriflur]

---

jbean00 wrote:

I'm wondering how many people have actually rooted their ST's and what kind of luck they've had?  I would love to be able to get all my Kindle books on mine.  The Nook Color seems SO heavy now that I've gotten used to the lighter ST.  I don't care that much about any other apps, although Overdrive would be nice...

---

If you just want the kindle books on the nook, you could strip the DRM (technically illegal) and convert them to epub format with Calibre.  All it takes is installing and setting up a Calibre plug-in.  Just an FYI.  Just Google "DRM Calibre Plug-in" for more info.

[RHWright]

And, at least from reading the procedures not trying them, the plug-in seems the easier of the two options.

[MacMcK1957]

I am not a lawyer, nor do I play one on TV, but my understanding is that it is not illegal to strip the DRM off of a file that you have legitimately purchased.  It is only illegal to unencrypt it for the purpose of sharing it with someone who did not pay for it.  Unencrypting the file for yourself only may well fall into the definition of fair use.

Again, just my layman's understanding.

[keriflur]

---

MacMcK1957 wrote:

I am not a lawyer, nor do I play one on TV, but my understanding is that it is not illegal to strip the DRM off of a file that you have legitimately purchased.  It is only illegal to unencrypt it for the purpose of sharing it with someone who did not pay for it.  Unencrypting the file for yourself only may well fall into the definition of fair use.

Again, just my layman's understanding.

---

There is a post somewhere (though I have no idea how to find it now that the boards have been restructured and posts moved around) that explained the legalities in more detail, but the gist of that post was -

It is against the law to remove DRM.  However, it is not a crime (I was suprised to learn there is a difference).  You cannot be arrested, but you can be fined.

I forget what the amount is that you can be fined, but it was over $1000 per infraction.

That said, the reality is that if you're not posting it to a torrent site or sharing it with others then it's highly unlikely that you'll be caught and/or fined.  But that could, of course, change at any time.  So it's always a risk, as long as the current law is the law.

[moose_tracker]

Question about the plug in.. I got lost at Step 7 & 8

7. Select one of the zip files in that folder

8. Click on Add (or the button may say “Open”)

by selecting the folder I enter the folder without unzipping it. Then I see 3 files one .txt, and two .py   I suppose I should be selecting one of th e.py  files  to get the prompt to Add???  Which one??

[moose_tracker]

Never mind I figured out the step I missed (opening up Calibre and going to the zip file thru the PlugIn tool)

thanks..

[gswh2]

I just got a Nook Simple Touch as a gift.  In addition to just reading, I would like to be able to have an easy to use calendar to keep track of appointments, assignment and the like.  I don't need web browsing or games. Could someone tell me the easiest method for doing this?