Nook Simple Touch Rooting

[Mark R]

Updated 4 May 2012 at 17:15 hrs CST. About as complete as I can get it.

I'm creating a step by step guide for rooting a Nook Simple Touch. It's about 99 percent now and there are some up-front assumptions. I'm posting here the initial stages of the document for review and plan to post the completed document along with the software I used on our web site for your access. I'll post those details once I get that far.

Disclaimer: I take no responsibility for a Bricked Nook. Use at your own discretion. I have rooted 5 NST using this process and all have been successful.

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Assumptions: These are notes and instructions to be aware of that I won’t explain in detail.

1. I used a PC based Windows XP laptop.

2. I turn on NST for first time, register it with B&N, skipping the step to add a credit card. When it asks about what network to connect, it should show the MAC address on the screen. (I have MAC filtering on my home wireless router, so I had to record that MAC address and add it to my router filter list to allow the NST to connect to my network. If your network is open, then disregard the last sentence here)

3. Once the Nook Simple Touch (NST) comes up for reading, I check the software version and MAC address, recording both for future use, assuming you know how to do that in the settings (click on n on lower front of NST, it brings up a menu...click on SETTINGS, Device Info, etc).

4. I also by-passed the google g-mail and youtube connection syncs since my NST’s will only be used for Practiscore and market apps will not be used.

5. Android developer software, or namely “ADB wireless”, installed on PC for Practiscore installs. You could just connect NST with USB cord, copy Practiscore.APK file to NST, then use a file manager once rooted to find the file copied, and click on it to install. I find it much easier to install/reinstall Practiscore using ADBWireless from the PC.

6. During the processes outlines below, if any super user prompts appear, acknowledge with YES or OK button.

7. Create a Google gmail and google youtube account if you wish to enable market place for app download. Not required if you only use the NST for Practiscore.

Hardware needed (what I used):

1 Class 10 4 gb Micro SD Card (to write the Nooter Image on)

1 USB External SD card reader/writer (my built-in SD Reader was not fast enough to write image)

1 Nook Simple Touch (NST)

Software Needed:

win32diskimager-binary.zip – To write Touchnooter image to SD Card

Nook_1_1_upgrade.zip – zip file containing Nook software version upgrade from 1.0.0/1.0.1 to 1.1.0. Do not open this ZIP file…it will be copied as is to the Nook when used. If your NST is 1.1.0 or higher, then this file will not be needed.

Touchnooter-2-1-31.zip – zip file containing rooting software

Preparation:

1. On PC…Get WinImge ready to use. Create a folder and unzip WinImage software. This program folder will contain all DLL’s and executable in the folder…there is no install of this software, only unzip. You should see these files in the folder…

<picture here>

2. On PC…Create another folder to hold the Touchnooter file. Unzip the file Touchnooter-2-1-31.zip into this folder.

<picture here>

3. Connect your USB SD reader to your system and ensure it operates correctly, insert the micro SD card into the reader or into a SD carrier and insert that into the reader.

4. Go back to the WinImage folder and double click on Win32DiskImager.exe. This opens WinImage…

<picture here>

On the WinImage window, click on the folder icon at the end of the Image File field box. Find and select the touchnooter-2-1-31.img file you unzipped in Preperation step 2. Ensure the device box contains your SD card reader drive. Select Write button. Watch progress indicator…when it finishes, the progress indicator clears and the program remains open. The image should be written to the Micro SD card. Check it via windows explorer, but do not open any files.

Upgrade your Nook to version 1.1.0: This step is only needed if you NST comes with version 1.0.0 or 1.0.1.

1. Connect your NST to your PC computer with the USB cable. The PC should see the NST and open the file system to the main/root folder.

2. Copy the file nook_1_1_update.zip to the main/root folder. Do not make any other folder.

3. Safely disconnect the NST using the “Safely Remove Hardware” button on your task bar.

4. Let the NST sit for a few minutes. When it attempts to go into sleep mode, the nook will acknowledge the ZIP file and do its work. The NST will install the software automatically (no user intervention). Once it completes the software upgrade it will reboot and come up to the unlock screen.

5. Unlock it and once unlocked, press n on front lower of nook taking you into the menu…select settings and check the software version on your NST. Software version should be 1.1.0.

Root Process:

1. Turn off the NST. Press and hold the power button until you get the “Turn off Nook” screen…press Power off button.

2. Insert the Micro SD card containing the image create in Preparation step 4.

3. Turn on the NST. The NST will read the micro SD card upon startup and the TouchNooter rooting screen will pop up almost immediately. Just sit back and relax, the software is being installed. Give it about 1-5 minutes (mine took about -1 min) and the screen will turn to a dark transparent black color.

4. Once the screen turns dark, remove the micro SD card, press and hold the power button until the system reboots. Unlock it when it gets to the unlock screen. You should see the Android character in the middle of the screen.

NOTE: If you don’t get an Android screen to appear after reboot, then the root process failed. In my case I had one that failed because I removed the SD card too early. To fix it, I went into the Nook settings, and performed a reset/deregistration. The system then unregistered and went back to original settings, but the version remained at 1.1.0…no need to re-version the NST. Re-registering and then repeating the root process came back successful.

5. Press on the Android character to finish install/configuration.

6. Press on the Skip button on lower left of screen to skip tutorial.

7. Click on Skip button to skip Google Account sign-in.

8. Ensure both checkboxes are checked on Google location screen. (not sure why, but I did it) Press on Next.

9. On “Complete action using” dialog box, check the bottom checkbox, then press on ADW.Launcher. Press OK on next screen for changelog. You should ow see a Android/Nook desktop with Google search on top.

If you look close on the middle of the screen on the right border, you will see a small icon. Press on it opens the ADW drawer control. (try it, the top icon will close it again). If you ever get the Nook in the eReader mode and need to get back to the Android/Nook desktop, open this drawer control and press on the home icon…it will bring you back to the desktop. Press top icon in drawer control to close it.

Since I was only going to use the NST for Practiscore, I skipped the Youtube connection and the Google gmail connection. If you plan to use the NST for eReading also, then you may want to continue with the steps to connect to both so you can get apps from the Market place.

Post Root Processes: (optional)

1. Set ADW preferences for rows and columns. In the ADW drawer control, press the 4 square icon. When or if the superuser acknowledgement pops up, press the “Allo” button. You should see a note that button savior has been granted Superuser.

Press the 4 square icon again in the ADW drawer control. It should open a men on bottom of screen. Select “More”, then “ADW Settings”. This should take you into the ADW SETTINGS screen.

Select Screen Preferences (the top settings). On Desktop Layout, press on Desktop Columns, move slider to just left of center. It should be just a little over ¼ inch left of center. Press OK. Repeat same for Desktop rows.

If you want to increase screen scrolling speed, select bottom setting “Desktop Scrolling Speed

“ and adjust accordingly. Mine is about the center of cancel button.

Return to SETTINGS screen. Press the left arrow icon on top of screen. (It’s the return arrow used in Practiscore also.

2. Set ADW background color. On SETTINGS screen, select Drawer Settings. Swipe up to get to second page. Press on Background Color. You will see color is dark indicated by center circle. I clicked on outer circle at aout 2 o’clock to get a dark gray background in the apps drawer. Press return button twice to get back to SETTINGS screen..

3. Set background to Minimal. On SETTINGS screen, press on Themes Preferences, then Select your theme, then press on Minimalist_Black. MINIMALIST in black letter should show up. Press on Return arrow to get back to SETTINGS screen. Press ADW drawer control Home icon to exit SETTINGS screen. The 5 screen display may show up, if so, press on center screen.

4. Allow non-market apps (uncheck and recheck). (Still don’t have this one found, but Practiscore installed and ran without this step)

5. Delete Market Apps icon on desktop if not needed. Press on icon and hold until delete box appears then press on trashcan.

Install Practiscore Process:

1. On PC…Copy latest version of Practiscore.APK file to C:\temp or other folder of your liking. I use c:\temp because it has a shorter path I’ll need to type later in step 4 and 5.

2. On NST, in the ADW drawer (get there by clicking on 4 square icon on lower center of screen), click on the ADBWireless icon found on page two on my systems. This opens ADB wireless. Press on “Allo” to grant superuser.

2. On NST…Click on the large button icon on the middle of the screen. Acknowledge any super user prompts with yes.

3. On NST…You will see an IP address and port number under the button on the screen…something like 192.168.1.130:5555 meaning IP address of 192.168.1.130 and port number 5555 separated by a colon. The numbers will be your network format. Leave the NST in this state.

4. On the PC, open a command window (DOS window for you old farts like me) and change directory to where you placed the Practiscore.apk file, then type in…

> ADB connect 192.168.1.130:5555 <enter> (replacing IP address with your IP)

5. On PC…Once connected to NST via ADB, typein…

>ADB install –r Practiscore.apk <enter> (replace Practiscore.apk with correct filename) The –r parameter indicates to replace if already installed. –r is not required the first install of Practiscore.

6. On PC After install, type in…

> ADB disconnect <enter> and close command/DOS window. On NST, press on big screen button to close ADB process. Press return arrow.

7. On NST, go into ADW drawer (click on 4 square icon on botton center of screen), swipe page to get to page 2 (swipe page from right to left to find Practiscore icon) and press and hold Practiscore icon…this will bring the Practiscore icon to the home page of the NST. Press and hold the Practiscore icon and then slide it into the middle of the screen.

Untested…

Nook Upgrade to version 1.1.2

Copy nook_1_1_2_update.zip file to NST main folder via USB. Wait until it installs and reboots.

Edited May 4, 2012 by Mark R

[Mark R]

Here is the URL from the original instructions I used above...all I did is expound on them.

Root My Nook - NookDevs

[Graham Smith]

YAY!!!

[TreblePlink]

I presume that "a bricked nook" means an unsuccessful attempt rendering it useless?

[Mark R]

Yes...Bricked means it won't do anything...basically a "Brick" or anchor if you like.

Edited May 4, 2012 by Mark R

[Too_Slow]

You can also try this one: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1351719 I have rooted 10 NST's so far (plus one failure; my fault) with this and it works fine. After doing it this way I am able to goto practiscore's web site directly and download and install the app directly (this includes the Opera browser).

Brian

I learned how to do the backups first after that one failure.

Edited May 4, 2012 by Too_Slow

[Graham Smith]

You can also try this one: http://forum.xda-dev...d.php?t=1351719

That's the one that has already been posted and people have been working from. It was written for people at a different level than some folks here and also includes some stuff that's unnecessary if you are just rooting these for use with PractiScore and it leaves out some details that would be helpful for the same group.

Having a step by step guide written by shooters and for shooters could save several people some frustration and ruined hardware.

[Mark R]

Updated/replaced process above at beginning of thread with details during install. I reset one of my Nooks back to default, then re-rooted so I could get detailed instructions.

Good Luck shooters!

Edited to Add: To get the required files, use the URL in post 2 of this thread...they are located there.

Edited May 5, 2012 by Mark R

[cellguy030]

Updated/replaced process above at beginning of thread with details during install. I reset one of my Nooks back to default, then re-rooted so I could get detailed instructions.

Good Luck shooters!

Edited to Add: To get the required files, use the URL in post 2 of this thread...they are located there.

Mark.... what is need of a class 10 card? think i only have class 4s

[Skydiver]

I got by with class 6's when I was rooting mine.

[CHA-LEE]

I will be doing this in the near future. I have a few questions though, does the micro SD card have to stay with the Nook? Or can you reuse the same micro SD card to perform the rooting process on multiple NST's? Is there another need in having a micro SD card in the NST for backups or stuff like that?

Edited May 9, 2012 by CHA-LEE

[Mark R]

You can try a class 4...when I went to Best Buy, all they had was a class 10...my older card was not fast enough to write the image on.

Edited to add: I was trying to educate the masses on the new class rankings of CD cards...so you don't go out and purchase a class 1 or 2 and the process fails.

I use the same Micro SD card to root all my Nooks...5 of them. they do not have to stay with the 1st one. Since all I use my Nooks for is Pratiscore, I don't need any card installed. Not sure about a large L2/L3 match where you have hundreds of shooters...but i think you won't need one installed unless you also use the Nook for eReading, games, etc.

Edited May 9, 2012 by Mark R

[Skydiver]

I kept the SD card in for two reasons:

1. I need to backup the current match data in the Nook (for safety or to file a bug report). The Export Match gives the option to email, or if an SD card is present, save to SD card.

2. I need to pull the scores from the Nook in case the Practiscore App Exporter is misbehaving and can't talk to the Nook. The Export Stages and Scores again gives the option to email, or if an SD card is present, save to SD card.

Since our range has wifi at the stats shack, but no Internet, obviously email won't work.

[CHA-LEE]

I was able to successfully root and load Practiscore onto 5 Nook Simple Touch's yesterday using this process. Thanks for posting such a detailed procedure!!!!

[Mark R]

I kept the SD card in for two reasons:

1. I need to backup the current match data in the Nook (for safety or to file a bug report). The Export Match gives the option to email, or if an SD card is present, save to SD card.

Skydiver...I atttempted to export my match to the SD card and after I did, I went to remove the SD card, but realized the card was not in the device (empty slot)...yet Practiscore exported the match info. I used the Practiscore Importer and all came in ok. I think there is a folder on the device called SD card.

Cha-lee...U R Welcome! Glad it worked for you.

Edited May 14, 2012 by Mark R

[Skydiver]

Yeah, the Practiscore Exporter app actually talks to the program and doesn't really need the SD card. I just like having the SD card because it gives me an alternate way to get to the data in case the Practiscore Exporter keeps giving me the "Make sure your device is on." error message despite my device being on.

[Graham Smith]

Does anyone know how to side-load PractiScore from a SD card? I can't seem to locate any kind of file manager app on the Nook.

[cellguy030]

i was having the same issue with being able to install from card... i just went to the website and pulled it down that way. still playing with how to get astro file manager on it but havent had the time

[Graham Smith]

i was having the same issue with being able to install from card... i just went to the website and pulled it down that way. still playing with how to get astro file manager on it but havent had the time

It's starting to look as if the only way to install something without ADB on your PC is to first install ADB on your PC and use it to down load a file manager so that you can load files without having to have ADB installed on your PC. I know that makes absolutely no sense at all, but that's what I seem to be seeing.

[Dan Burwell]

i was having the same issue with being able to install from card... i just went to the website and pulled it down that way. still playing with how to get astro file manager on it but havent had the time

It's starting to look as if the only way to install something without ADB on your PC is to first install ADB on your PC and use it to down load a file manager so that you can load files without having to have ADB installed on your PC. I know that makes absolutely no sense at all, but that's what I seem to be seeing.

I downloaded an app from the app store I believe called androexplore. you can use that to install practiscore from a card.

Edited May 14, 2012 by Dan Burwell

[Graham Smith]

I downloaded an app from the app store I believe called androexplore. you can use that to install practiscore from a card.

So, to do that, you have to have android marketplace installed. Which, unless I am mistaken, is something that is skipped in this install.

I can find a number of references to installing and using ADB but they all seem predicated on you already having the app installed on the PC. Any clue as to where to get it, I can't seem to find a download for it.

[wgnoyes]

You gotta have the market running eventually. Android Practiscore will come out of beta SOMETIME and (I'm guessing here!) be available as a free app in the market the way it is in the apple app store? (That's a guess!)

[Graham Smith]

You gotta have the market running eventually. Android Practiscore will come out of beta SOMETIME and (I'm guessing here!) be available as a free app in the market the way it is in the apple app store? (That's a guess!)

Perhaps, but Marks instructions specifically state, "I also by-passed the google g-mail and youtube connection syncs since my NST’s will only be used for Practiscore and market apps will not be used."

Plus, doesn't there need to be some way of uploading and downloading registration and scores?

[Alan Adamson]

All, it's pretty easy to install the SDK, and then I use the adb-wireless way of doing it, just turn it on on the nook, and type what it tell you to connect to it and then it's adb install <whatever>.apk. I downloaded the es file explorer and installed that on all my nooks, via wireless, then you can either install PS that way, or you can put it on sdcard.

Alan

[Skydiver]

All, it's pretty easy to install the SDK, and then I use the adb-wireless way of doing it, just turn it on on the nook, and type what it tell you to connect to it and then it's adb install <whatever>.apk. I downloaded the es file explorer and installed that on all my nooks, via wireless, then you can either install PS that way, or you can put it on sdcard.

Alan

Uninstalling the Android SDK, is an entirely different matter. It left little bits of its presence (setup folks tend to call them "turds") in the file system and registry.