Root Barnes and Noble Nook Color – Make it an Android Tablet

By | December 3rd, 2010



Why buy an expensive Samsung Galaxy tab when you can get a fully functional Android tablet for just $250. Yes, the 7 inch Nook Color by Barnes and Noble which was essentially just a color eReader has been hacked to become an Android tablet. Before we present you with step by step guide, let me sell you on Nook Color.

The device has a 7 inch IPS color display running at 1024×600 resolution with a remarkable 178-degree viewing angle. It has 800 Mhz CPU, built in 512 MB or RAM and 8 Gb of flash storage, if you want more space, you can also use the microSD slot (maximum 32GB card supported). The only network support is WiFi 802.11 b/g/n (compare with iPad WiFi only model’s price). Battery life expectancy is 8 hours with WiFi off. If you’re convinced that your next (or first) Android Tablet will be Nookcolor (which I’m sure you are), then you need to follow the following instructions to root the device and make it an Android Tablet:

nook color running angry birds

Step 1: (Pre-requisites)

You need a Nook Color to hack and a minimum of 64 MB microSD card. (Guys it’s MB not GB, so a 1 GB card will be enough). You need a computer (with Mac, Windows or Linux installed) to root your Barnes and Noble Nook Color. Make sure your computer can read microSD card; almost all laptops have built in card readers.

Step 2: (Prepare the microSD card for Rooting)

Download this file: nooter 0.2 on your PC (file size: 7.45 MB). This zipped file contains an image file (.img) worth 40 MB which has all the data you’ll need for rooting your Nook Color. Write the contents of the image file onto the microSD card using your computer. If you’re a Window user, use Winimage for that purpose. Mac and Linux users can find the guide to burn the image at this link. Remove the microSD card from your computer (it’s ready).

Step 3: (Boot Nook using microSD card)

We’ll now boot your Nook Color using the microSD card, make sure you follow the following steps properly:

  1. Unplug USB from Nook, and shut it down completely. To do this hold the power button for a while, the Nook will prompt, use Power off option. Insert the microSD card (that we’ve prepared in step 2) into the device.
  2. Connect Nook to your computer via USB cable (don’t power on the Nook). The Nook will boot from the microSD card (although you won’t see anything on Nook’s screen). After a minute or before you’re computer will find a new USB device. (Ignore/Cancel if computer asks for drivers)
  3. Once the device shows up, wait another 30 seconds while the script makes the changes to enable ADB. Now disconnect the cable and remove the microSD card before you proceed to the next step.
  4. Power on Nook by holding the power button for about 15 seconds, make sure the microSD card is removed otherwise Nook will boot from it again. Once the Nook boots normally, reconnect it with computer via USB cable.

Step 4: (Enabling Android Debug Bridge):

Note that the nook firmware has now been modified to enable ADB however ADB will not detect the device yet, you need to update the ADB INI file first. You’ll find a complete guide to edit ADB INI and enable the Android Debug Bridge on Nook Color at this link.

Source: Nook Devs