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Is there anything I should know about how a rooted Nook Color acts compared to something that's meant to be a tablet (e.g. the Galaxy Tab) that could influence whether I want one? For example,
This thread has workarounds for a bunch of quirks and problems with the NC. Is it common to need to workaround these and other B&N ROM issues?
I've seem mention of 'porting' apps to the Nook Color. Does this mean I have to do more work to get apps from the market than just hitting 'install'? Do some apps not work on the Nook Color?
It looks like B&N pushes over-the-air software updates to the NC that return it to a stock ROM. Is this easy to prevent? When they push their Q1 update, will it (probably) be easy to apply the update and then get all of my data/settings back, or are updates a pain that I have to put off applying until I have time to reconfigure everything?
Is there anything else I should know?
Well I am not hijacking this forum I just ordered a Nook Color I would cetrainly love to see these questions answered but could I also add a few of my own ?
I am in Europe what kind of usability can I expect from the device, will I be able to register it and what about books.
Also I 've heard there are some touch issues, whats up with that ..? is it true .. any solutions..?
I am following the BT thread and all looks great but what about the USB would we be able at some point to connect ext HDDrives or Webcams ..
Lastly I understand it will only play .mp4 movies anyway around that .......?
I will try to give you a couple answers based on my own experiences, though im no expert when it comes to rooting.
Yes there are some quirks with the NC that you wouldn't have to deal with on a regular android tablet. The biggest one is the lack of hardware buttons. There are several software solutions for this, the most effective and stable of which has been "button savior" which you can get in the market.
Some apps font render correctly because of the screen resolution/dpi of the NC. Some of that can be fixed by using an LCD density changing app or altering the setting manually.
You shouldn't have to port apps to run on the NC, but don't be surprised if some apps don't show up in the market. Most stuff works fine though.
As far as i can tell you wont get BN ota updates unless you're on a BN store wifi network. I've been rooted for weeks and i've never seen the 1.01 update pop up. I figure im waiting for the bigger update before i bother reverting to stock and restoring all my apps.
Ill post more stuff as it comes to mind!
posted from my nook color using the official xda app
There are certainly quirks, such as the hardware buttons issue mentioned above. And some apps don't work now, but I imagine other tablets would have similar issues. as android tablets grow in popularity we can expect more compatible apps
spiffytech said:
Is there anything I should know about how a rooted Nook Color acts compared to something that's meant to be a tablet (e.g. the Galaxy Tab) that could influence whether I want one? For example,
This thread has workarounds for a bunch of quirks and problems with the NC. Is it common to need to workaround these and other B&N ROM issues?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The B&N ROM does not contain some things that were completely not needed for the device as it was designed, so yes there are workarounds in that thread and on the wiki here: http://nookdevs.com/NookColor_Issues
spiffytech said:
I've seem mention of 'porting' apps to the Nook Color. Does this mean I have to do more work to get apps from the market than just hitting 'install'? Do some apps not work on the Nook Color?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Never heard anything of "porting" apps, only reason would be screen resolution of tablets vs phones. Some apps don't behave nicely on the higher res, either they are in the center of the screen, stretched out and ugly, or simply draw really badly. Most fall into the first two categories.
spiffytech said:
It looks like B&N pushes over-the-air software updates to the NC that return it to a stock ROM. Is this easy to prevent? When they push their Q1 update, will it (probably) be easy to apply the update and then get all of my data/settings back, or are updates a pain that I have to put off applying until I have time to reconfigure everything?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, your device will query for OTAs and so far nobody has figured out how to safely disable them. Update to 1.0.1 first, then noot it. And when a 1.0.2 or 1.1.0 comes out, expect to do it again. Until someone comes out with a real way to disable the OTAs or a full custom ROM is made.
pavlos46 said:
Also I 've heard there are some touch issues, whats up with that ..? is it true .. any solutions..?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It generally happens only when plugged in, and almost always unplugging it and turning off the screen and turning it back on the problem goes away. Some folks say it happens more if the screen is dirty, although in my experience with capacitive screens this is not the case.
pavlos46 said:
I am following the BT thread and all looks great but what about the USB would we be able at some point to connect ext HDDrives or Webcams ..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Highly unlikely, but there are ways to do USB Host drivers on Android phones, so it's possible in the future.
pavlos46 said:
Lastly I understand it will only play .mp4 movies anyway around that .......?
[/LIST]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure, use something like RockPlayer.
Other things to note...
Games run fairly well on Nook Color. I've been using Dungeon Defenders (framerate not the best), Antigen, Angry Birds, Fuzzies and Nesoid. They all work pretty well except for poor framerates with Dungeon Defenders.
You'll definately need Button Savior. The LCDDensity app is also good to have and tinker with. You'll want to get NookColor Tools on there as well to change keyboards. Root Explorer also.
It runs pretty much any app that I can run on my Droid.
Dolphin-Mini works great on the Nook Color.
There are some issues with buttons at the screen edges, like the Android Marketplace search icon or tab switching in Dolphin. Adjusting LCD Density with the LCDDensity app will cure that problem. Otherwise you will have to figure out how to tap on the edges for it to register. Mine only does this at the top edge and not on the sides or bottom.
Overall, a great device. Clockwork is well on it's way to being finished. And there are now a few folks jumping on the bandwagon to create custom roms.
Rockplayer will play other video types, but wont use hw acceleration and will be choppy. Best to convert to mp4 instead.
In the end i think this tablet is for those who actually enjoy tinkering and tweaking.
Sent from my Nookcolor
Seems like I say this constantly, but in my opinion you do not need Button Savior, Softkeys included in the Auto Nooter script for 1.0.0 or 1.0.1 works great.
markiejones said:
In the end i think this tablet is for those who actually enjoy tinkering and tweaking.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly. I've enjoyed "fixing" the Nook. But this process could be annoying to many people. Those people would be much happier with an ipad.
khaytsus said:
Seems like I say this constantly, but in my opinion you do not need Button Savior, Softkeys included in the Auto Nooter script for 1.0.0 or 1.0.1 works great.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree. When you set softkeys "just so", it's a near-ideal key replacement. The default setup is what throws people off, with the little arrow-guy getting in the way and some confusion regarding the "n" key.
Mine is invisible except when I single tap the "n" key -a double tap gets me "home". That's perfect, and not at all in the way.
i am new to nook color...so i did a lot of reading on this forum...i want to root nc 1.1..which is the best method for rooting nc 1.1
from whatever i have read there is two method one is auto nooter 3 and other is the pre rooted decadence rom..which one should i use..i m tilting more towards pre rooted decedence rom using monster pack .7 .
i also wanted to know if we can root 1.1 using monster pack .7 . it mentions that it is 1.1 compatible but it seems no one has tested it. i m noob to this forum and nc ..so i m sorry if i have offended some one with the above newbie questions..
I just went from ROM 1.1 stock to 1.1 rooted with Monster Pack .7. Works like a charm. Thanks IOMonster!
I just used it on a stock 1.1 Nook Color and it worked great, also installed Gapps just fine and logged into my google account fine. Everything is working on my Nook except the B&N 'Shop' from the main B&N home menu. It starts to load then goes black and nothing is there.
fpga_guy is also having the same problem...is the problem related to monster pack 7 or its a general problem???
mlovesu said:
fpga_guy is also having the same problem...is the problem related to monster pack 7 or its a general problem???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure, lotta stuff to read on this forum. But I ended up just putting it back to a stock 1.0.1 Nook like it was when I bought it. So it's all back to normal now. It might have something to do with B&N registration, although mine was registered before I rooted and flashed, which is how it's supposed be.
Your registration with B&N may have gotten stale. You can post in the Monster Root Pack thread in devl forum and see what folks are saying.
Riley76 said:
I just used it on a stock 1.1 Nook Color and it worked great, also installed Gapps just fine and logged into my google account fine. Everything is working on my Nook except the B&N 'Shop' from the main B&N home menu. It starts to load then goes black and nothing is there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I rooted with MRP, and also had the broken shop issue. As an experiment, last night I rerooted with autonooter - directly over the already done root, no format, no wipe. (I have a backup in case doing this is dumb, natch.)
Now the shop works.
However, the original MRP device supported the Nook standalone app and the autonooted device (this one, and one which was only autonooted, never MRP'ed) do not support the Nook standalone app.
I strongly prefer the real app. The night mode is actually black, not grey, it more consistently remembers where I left off reading, and deleting a book from the bloody library actually works in the real app. It does not work in the stock library app, and the library app frequently forgets where I was reading when I get back into it.
I'll probably restore from backup this evening - there's too much very good stuff in the real nook app to give up. It is very difficult to get the shop to let you search in that app, but recalibrating the touchscreen makes it more likely that you'll be able to. Since search on the device is so weak in the shop, I'm ready to give it up for the better night mode, the better remembering where I left off, and the vastly better file curation.
roustabout said:
I rooted with MRP, and also had the broken shop issue. As an experiment, last night I rerooted with autonooter - directly over the already done root, no format, no wipe. (I have a backup in case doing this is dumb, natch.)
Now the shop works.
...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used MRP because I couldn't get autonooter to work, and so I'm in the no-shop state. I can download free apps (angry birds, of course), although I haven't tried to buy any.
Also, gmail has trouble with my email; I get lots of instances when it goes back to the index after displaying a message for a little while, and for some messages this happens before displaying anything. Is this a FC?
Softkeys also seems to be in a somewhat confused state; I don't quite understand what it's trying to do (well, I know it's creating onscreen buttons or remapping vol+- to replace the hard buttons on most phones, but that's my limit). I often get a popup saying that it couldn't do the task as su; is there some softkeys or su doc I haven't found yet?
However, I'm confused. The autonooter image only contains /boot; where does everything else come from? Does it download everything else from the PC, and that's why you have to plug into a PC?
Hmm.. I don't have SDK/ADK installed (and so no adb), is this why autonooter failed for me?
Please bear with me, I'm a long-time command-line unix/linux user, new to android. I've been using the MRP SD card to install zips, so if there's a flashable zip that fixes this, or an image that I can raid (sudo mount -o loop ...), I'm all set. If it's an adb hack, I'm out of luck for a while.
OK, I'll stop typing now...
Thanks!
Dennis
stolenmoment said:
Softkeys also seems to be in a somewhat confused state; I don't quite understand what it's trying to do (well, I know it's creating onscreen buttons or remapping vol+- to replace the hard buttons on most phones, but that's my limit). I often get a popup saying that it couldn't do the task as su; is there some softkeys or su doc I haven't found yet?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Softkeys is much better now; I like it a lot more. I managed to get it to pop up a root attempt and allowed it, so it works.
Still no joy on the shop front; the non-gmail email app might be better, at least for me, but I do wish that it had collapsible folders. My folder tree is > 20 years old and rather, umm, organic.
Cheers!
Dennis
stolenmoment said:
Still no joy on the shop front; the non-gmail email app might be better, at least for me...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I realized last night that whenever I try to visit an https: website (gmail, google/contacts, www.401k.com) the browser FCs on me.
Oddly enough, accessing gmail works just fine, so security bits appear to be different and only one of them is broken.
Does this happen to others?
Dennis
Autonooter 3.0 is great. It produces a Nook Color with full B&N functionality (the stock reader, including magazines and read-to-me kids books, the in-store browsing) that you can also install apps from the Android Market (and Amazon app store) on.
For me, right now, this is "good enough." When B&N releases its update, I'm going to wait for a pre-rooted package here before upgrading.
The reason I probably won't do anything crazy (like go full CM7) is that I'll probably buy a purpose built Honeycomb tablet for that once the market matures and prices come down.
Riley76 said:
I just used it on a stock 1.1 Nook Color and it worked great, also installed Gapps just fine and logged into my google account fine. Everything is working on my Nook except the B&N 'Shop' from the main B&N home menu. It starts to load then goes black and nothing is there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was in the same state. Following a suggestion from another thread <http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1005975>, I applied autonooter-3.0.0 to my MRP'd NC 1.1.0, and all is well! AFAICT, you can ignore the instructions for after the reboot, it didn't act like a fresh NC at all.
BTW, not only did the shop FC, the browser couldn't load any https: pages, either. Are you in this situation?
Good luck!
Dennis
So I am probably one of the few that is running a completely stock unrooted nook I was playing around with the new update today and downloaded a handful of the free apps. I have several questions:
1) For some reason my Fliq Notes icon disappeared, I can still use the app perfectly fine, but it's showing a gray standard b&n icon, any way to fix this? I tried "archiving" it and installing again, no dice.
2) What is archiving anyway? I'm completely new to Android if that matters. Is it like uninstalling something in windows?
3) In the apps screen, what is that right most "refresh" looking button? Whenever I click it it just spins forever and never stops.
Overall I must say that the nook runs much smoother than it did with Android 2.1. PDFs seem to render faster, the web browser pinch to zoom is smoother as well. Flash is great!
I run a stock unrooted nook, except when I run off an SD card.
I have a similar issue with fliq calendar's icon. I have a suspicion, after reading some reviews on other sites, that this may be a fliq issue.
I agree that the whole experience is a lot smoother with the update.
For these old timers on BN1.3 rooted, what are the advantages/changes of 1.4.1 over 1.3 for NC (rooted of course)? Is browsing faster?
The advantages I see are more magazines and Netflix. Any biggies?
Thanks.
fpga_guy said:
For these old timers on BN1.3 rooted, what are the advantages/changes of 1.4.1 over 1.3 for NC (rooted of course)? Is browsing faster?
The advantages I see are more magazines and Netflix. Any biggies?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I only ran 1.3 stock for about 24 hours before I zapped it with CM, so I don't claim a lot of experience using it. However, I've since gone to B&N 1.4.1 rooted since December, and quite like it. Here's what I'm aware of:
Some enhanced magazines (e.g. Conde Nast pubs like Wired Magazine, New Yorker) require B&N 1.4.x. They won't run on older versions, nor older B&N versions. If you want one of these, this might be important.
The reader has been tweaked (or broken, depending on your view). Landscape mode works now, as does 2 column landscape. There are more font and style options, though still limited compared to other readers. I like it, though. Some folks are having problems with article pages being cut off and other complaints.
The 'n' key is now used to access the B&N shortcuts menu rather than the on-screen button at the bottom. This is reviled by a number of users, but I prefer it. The use of the hardware frees up some screen space I'd rather use for content. While the button will no doubt wear out someday, I don't expect to be using this device forever.
Whether or not these are biggies will depend on what's important for you. Overall, I much preferred 1.4.1 to older versions. I wouldn't bother if I couldn't root it, though.
bobstro said:
I only ran 1.3 stock for about 24 hours before I zapped it with CM, so I don't claim a lot of experience using it. However, I've since gone to B&N 1.4.1 rooted since December, and quite like it. Here's what I'm aware of:
Some enhanced magazines (e.g. Conde Nast pubs like Wired Magazine, New Yorker) require B&N 1.4.x. They won't run on older versions, nor older B&N versions. If you want one of these, this might be important.
The reader has been tweaked (or broken, depending on your view). Landscape mode works now, as does 2 column landscape. There are more font and style options, though still limited compared to other readers. I like it, though. Some folks are having problems with article pages being cut off and other complaints.
The 'n' key is now used to access the B&N shortcuts menu rather than the on-screen button at the bottom. This is reviled by a number of users, but I prefer it. The use of the hardware frees up some screen space I'd rather use for content. While the button will no doubt wear out someday, I don't expect to be using this device forever.
Whether or not these are biggies will depend on what's important for you. Overall, I much preferred 1.4.1 to older versions. I wouldn't bother if I couldn't root it, though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the info. Is there a work-around available for the 'n' key function/behavior introduced with 1.4.1? Thanks.
gsutton said:
Thanks for the info. Is there a work-around available for the 'n' key function/behavior introduced with 1.4.1? Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can use HomeCatcher to try to remap it to your preferred launcher. Or use Button Savior or similar, and map its home button to your launcher. Or use Folder Organizer to put a link to the app drawer in your notifications. Lots of things you can try. I've gone with that last option, since I rather like the B&N shortcut mapping for the hardware button.
Here's my two cents. 1.4.1 is a minor improvement over 1.3 as noted in the previous posts. There are two other improvement:
1. market seems to have better visibility - more apps than before
2. flash update looping is fixed.
I did do the upgrade and will stay with BN 1.4.1 The upgrade was rather painless thanks to GMPOWER.
The 1.4.1 stock ereader can read Nook Comics ~ that allows pinch to zoom and panning on comic/manga pages and supports comics paging left to right while manga page in their native right to left. The B&N Android app does not yet support Nook Comics (though they are putting a new version into beta testing, so perhaps that will change).
Except for comics available with GuidedView, convenient zooming is important for reading on a 7" screen (though I wish the zoom could lock on page turns).
After you root 1.4, update the kernel, then you can overclock it. I tried that the other day and it worked pretty well. In the end, I went back to my CM9 ROM. The only think I miss about the Nook stock software is the reader itself.
I'm running CM 10.1.3 RC2 on my Nook HD+ (as is; no other tweaks) and was disappointed to see my reading experience fall apart with the latest update (which brings "HD" comics to the app). The main page opened very slowly, downloads wouldn't complete and the app froze whenever I tried to open a book.
So I deleted and reinstalled the app, which meant redownloading all of my comics (the app defaulted to grabbing the "HD" versions). The app at least opens and books download now, but the performance definitely took a hit. This is odd because the Nook HD+ seems like it should be more than capable of handling it. While the new interface is really cool, there's now a bit of lag in some of the page transitions and scrolling quickly takes a few swipes to "catch" a page and results in a second or two of blurriness before the page is fully rendered. Not the end of the world, but it's a drag after the buttery smooth experience of the previous version. To be honest, I didn't really see a different in the HD comics (Comixology already looked awesome on the Nook HD+ screen under the old app). I'll try redownloading the non-HD versions and see if there's a difference.
Curious to know if anyone else experienced this and/or if there are suggestions to otherwise improve the performance. I bought this thing specifically for comics and am really bummed out about this.
Large downloads now not working...
As an update, I wiped the tablet with a fresh install of 10.1.3 (stable) and the app seemed to be running much better. Still going with the non-HD downloads as I really don't see a need for it.
Still having a problem with the Nook choking on larger downloads - trade collections are getting stuck at 8% while single issues seem to need a minute or so to start the download (but the single issues come through just fine). I've tried clearing the cache, force-closing the app, rebooting the tablet, etc., but no luck with the larger books. Comixology support suggested that I hit Restore Purchases under Settings, but that didn't seem to make any difference. Feeling frustrated as I really want to read these particular books.
Another note is that I can't read any titles when the app is stuck trying to download something - the books are listed, but I get a blank screen whenever trying to open one. What else can I try to get the large downloads working?