Sticky: Side-Loading is broken

[moose_tracker]

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Crafty_Andy wrote:

The option that they updated was something built in the settings, it was not an exploit, it could be used as such, but is not a hidden setting. If you bought an android app and try to installed it , a menu will pop up and you could approve it.

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Thanks Crafty_Andy:

That was the take that I had on it when I looked at the video reviews and instructions that showed it.. But, I never got to open & play with the thing before it was returned. So I kept quiet..  Others made it out that we had to use a special app, that somehow triggered the pop up.. So we all should have known we were opening something we had no right to..

I was of the assumption that any third party app being sideloaded would have triggered upon the first use of.. Sort of like with MS Office. First time you use a feature, it might ask you some setup questions, or even load up depending on how it was installed..

I never read or watched the triggering of that field to be "exploiting what I should not be into".. But I am not that saavy in this field, and none of the tech saavy people to date, used that for a counter arguement, so I just thought, I had not interpreted that correctly, during my reviews.

[JMTR]

moose_tracker wrote: "That was the take that I had on it when I looked at the video reviews and instructions that showed it.. But, I never got to open & play with the thing before it was returned. So I kept quiet..  Others made it out that we had to use a special app, that somehow triggered the pop up.. So we all should have known we were opening something we had no right to.."

_________________

It was more akin to "tips and tricks" lore rather than to hacking. Every operating system has options and settings that are unadvertised, undocumented in the basic materials provided to users, and sometimes actively hidden from users. Superusers experiment with the software, locate and manipulate these settings and tools, and determine how they can benefit other users. Then they share their advice on forums or blogs; in the old days they wrote "... For Dummies" books.

I've made this point before, but I'm continually bewildered by the tendency to ignore decades of collective computer experience when discussing the Nook or mobile devices generally. Operating systems can be like playgrounds for active users. You don't have to write new code or dual boot your system to make real improvements.

[nookknock]

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MohawkX wrote:

I liken app stores to amusement parks.  Apple has Disney world and Six Flags.  B&N has the three truck carny that comes to town for the weekend and charges 5 bucks to see the bearded lady.

Just being funny here.  B&N has all the apps anyone should ever need, hear tell.

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"B&N has all the apps anyone should ever need, hear tell."

I'd like to see that statement hold up in the court of public opinion ;-)

[nookknock]

I liken app stores to amusement parks.  Apple has Disney world and Six Flags.  B&N has the three truck carny that comes to town for the weekend and charges 5 bucks to see the bearded lady.

Just being funny here.  B&N has all the apps anyone should ever need, hear tell.

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[nookknock]

"B&N has all the apps anyone should ever need, hear tell."

[nookknock]

I'd like to see that statement hold up in the court of public opinion ;-)

[deemure]

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Omnigeek wrote:

I'm not against sideloading apps per se, I'm against this entitlement attitude about preserving an exploit that was never an advertised or supported feature and the hyperbole and misstatements of fact.  Some good points in favor of sideloading apps have been raised but there have been far more temper tantrums, distortions and pushing of alternative products (the Amazon forums don't appear to me to be as open to this kind of discussion for some reason ...    ).

I have not rooted any of my Android devices, never felt the need to, but I'm not against doing so.  My warranty on my Nook Color expires next month; I may root it or not then -- don't really feel the need to do so but may do it just to play around since the company "support" ends with the warranty period.  The EULA is exactly that -- a user agreement.  The company provides a product with certain conditions that I can agree to -- in which case they support the product -- or I can "misuse" the product and take my chances.  I don't think I have a right to carry on like a five year old if my "misuse" of that product is later closed by a support patch.

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This is basically my opinion.  I do think companies sometimes must make unpopular moves to protect themselves from undue, undesired consequences which usually are fiscally motivated.

I further believe as I've stated-you use it in a way that conflicts with the EULA (like it or not), then take responsibility for it.  Consider that since you want to own the device and use it however you like, then if you break it doing so you own the device.  You own the mistakes as well.

Bottom line is if you are not ready to make that commitment then you should return to either paper and pen as the highest tech equipment you will own, or use the device in the manner specified in the EULA.

Most companies, even BN are fairly easygoing as concerns their EULAs, to a point.  If you buy software that says in the agreement there's one year free support but you must not try any aftermarket re-programming of it, that free support and in fact all support stops the minute you admit you were tinkering with code.  In fact, you may be in some legal breach at that point. 

There are 2 simple reasons this has been done, I think:

Financial - fixing user mistakes

Security - saving some from themselves, also related to Financial reasons

Again, you can always roll back your NTs to pre-patch, never connect to wifi, and sideload apps to your content.

[gb18]

http://bookclubs.barnesandnoble.com/t5/NOOK-Tablet-General-Discussion/Get-a-NOOK-Tablet-for-199/td-p...

[AdamOutler]

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deemure wrote:

Again, you can always roll back your NTs to pre-patch, never connect to wifi, and sideload apps to your content.

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I just keep mine off the grid.  It's never been updated.  I run ADW Launcher which I have a license to run on Android and homecatcher to get rid of the Barnes and Noble stuff.  

I've pretty much only been using my Nook Tab to research security on the Nook Tab.    I've found a way to use an ATTiny2313 to break the security.  It's a good read if you want to read it Mod chip code:

/*
Barnes and Noble Nook Tablet Mod Chip
 Copyright 2011 Adam Outler - hkvc
 
 This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
 it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
 the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
 (at your option) any later version.
 
 This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
 but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
 MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
 GNU General Public License for more details.
 
 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
 along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 -Adam Outler  adamoutler, gmail.com
 
 */

boolean Position[3]={true,true,true};//Place holders for operation
int inByte; //current byte
String Message=""; //current string of bytes
//begin sketch

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(115200); //Initialize UART and set baud for serial
  Serial.println("I are your god now");
  }
void loop() {
  if (Serial.available()) {
    inByte = Serial.read();
    if ( inByte == 10 ){
      Message="";
    } 
    else {
      Message=Message +(char)inByte; //dump char into string
      if (Message == "OMAP44XX SDP # "){
        if ( Position[1]){
          Serial.println("O hai Nook Im in ur memory");
          Serial.println("mmcinit 0; fatload mmc 0:1 0x81000000 new.flashing_boot.img;");
          Serial.println("Mai kernel is ur kernel");
          Position[1]=(!Position[1]);
          return;

        } else if ( Position[2]){
          Serial.println("Ur Security is my target");
          Serial.println("mw.l 80e84794 e1a00000; mw.l 80e847fc e1a00000; mw.l 80e84808 e1a00000; mw.l 80e847a0 e1a00000;");
          Serial.println("Ur Security is neutralized");
          Position[2]=(!Position[2]);
          return;
        } 
        else if ( Position[3]){
          Serial.println("boot mai kernel now");
          Serial.print("booti 0x81000000");
          Serial.println("k thx bai");
          Position[3]=(!Position[3]);
          lockup;
        }
      }  
    }
  }
  if (millis()>=60000){
    lockup;
  }
}
void lockup(){
  while(true){
    delay(50000);//program cannot end, only sleep
  }
}

I'd like to point out that this code is protected by the GPL which ensures openness, resdistributability and reproducability...  A concept which Barnes and Noble has yet to understand http://bookclubs.barnesandnoble.com/t5/NOOK-Tablet-Issue-Reporting/idb-p/NTIssues

edit: is the code box scroll bar broken in the block above or is it just my computer?  I'm seeing the block above with wrap-around text.  2 things about code-boxes... they should never wrap and they should always use a fixed size font...  Wrapping around is what you are trying to avoid with a code box.. which kinda nulls the point of a code-box on this site.

[DeanGibson Distinguished Bibliophile]

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AdamOutler wrote:

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...

edit: is the code box scroll bar broken in the block above or is it just my computer?  I'm seeing the block above with wrap-around text.  2 things about code-boxes... they should never wrap and they should always use a fixed size font...  Wrapping around is what you are trying to avoid with a code box.. which kinda nulls the point of a code-box on this site.

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Adam, they may be out to get you, but in this case they're not:  Code boxes on the B&N forums have been broken ever since I started using them.

[roustabout]

Adam started this thread with "the 1.4.1 update which was applied automatically to my Nook Tablet. "

Yet here, he writes "I just keep mine off the grid. It's never been updated."

Whoops. 

[AdamOutler]

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roustabout wrote:

Adam started this thread with "the 1.4.1 update which was applied automatically to my Nook Tablet. "

Yet here, he writes "I just keep mine off the grid. It's never been updated."

Whoops. 

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What do you mean whoops?  My servers are taking a serious beating.  We've served nearly 50 terrabytes worth of copies of the reversion package.  http://teamkomin.com/index.php?dir=NookTablet 

edit: that's with 3 servers in place and the main one is pointing to XDA without any analytics. 

[roustabout]

Adam writes:  "the 1.4.1 update which was applied automatically to my Nook Tablet. "

Adam writes "I just keep mine off the grid. It's never been updated."

I write:  "whoops."

Adam can't tell why I'd say that.  

Double whoops.   

[AdamOutler]

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roustabout wrote:

Adam writes:  "the 1.4.1 update which was applied automatically to my Nook Tablet. "

Adam writes "I just keep mine off the grid. It's never been updated."

I write:  "whoops."

Adam can't tell why I'd say that.  

Double whoops.   

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bah..  that was before I sent it for initial JTAG scan. It wasn't really mine yet.  I didn't really consider the device mine until the first of the year.

[roustabout]

Adam, you intentionally applied the update in the course of figuring out the excellent restore from sd card method - the one you posted about on the support forum here.  

So not only is there an itty problem with one of your statements, you actually scored a two-fer there. 

You wondered once why I felt there was a certain lack of candor?   

By the way, that really is a great method of doing a restore.  It makes the NT almost as likely to get a restore as the NC is. While I appreciate the method, it doesn't mean that I take anything you say as reliable.   

[AdamOutler]

Like i said.. until I opened it, I didn't really own it.  I played with it for 1 day, shipped it off, then got it back. 

[nookknock]

Well, as much as I love B&N, their method of handling this launch did not impress me.  The lack of a robust app store and the sideloading issue has driven me (and I imagine many others) to look for alternatives. 

It looks like they and Amazon are going to have some serious competition when the new Asus Memo 370T is released.  It's basically a 7 in. version of the Transformer Prime and it will be going for $250!  It will have 1280 x 800 resolution, Android 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich, NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor, 1GB of RAM, front and rear cameras as well as full Android Market access.  Maybe B&N shouldnt have been so quick to force all Nook Tab owners into their walled garden.  Even if you root the Nook Tablet, it would be hard for it to compete with those amazing specs and very competitive price!