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Looking for a Nook/Android Primer

M

mitsein

Lurker
Well, it says you are a friendly bunch so I should come in and say hello... so hello.

And I am looking for a primer on the options for running Android on the Nook and what are the advantages and disadvantages of each. I have read all sorts of stuff I have found through the google machine and am still not satisfied with my knowledge base.

Is there one spot that explains and compares/contrasts the different options (basic root, root with froyo, running android off of honey comb... etc etc.)

It is like drinking from a firehose.

I am looking to make my NOOK run relatively quickly, I am fine losing access to the original BN version of android.

Any help finding answers to which direction to take would be great.

I have read a bunch of threads, read through nookdevs, etc. I think part of my problem is that things are developing so FAST, it is hard to discern what it is that I am reading that is up to date.

Thanks so much.

ms.
 
I can give you the short version. :D

Rooted with stock Nook is clumsy and Flash apps won't work in any web browser. You'll have to load a different launcher from Market to be able to add shortcuts to your desktop. Some magazines apps will be lost if you load a custom rom, but you can load B&N or Kindle from Market and get back your paid books. Battery life is still best on the stock rom, rooted or not.

B&N is overdue (middle of April) with an update that enables some limited Market apps and Android 2.2 (Froyo). With this update you WILL be able to view web pages with Flash content and it should be a bit faster.

You could install a rom with Froyo (similar version to the B&N update), but everything I've read says that CM7 and it's better lookin' cousin, Phiremod, is faster, more stable and also has dedicated soft buttons on screen so you don't have to use the s/w hacks for back and menu. FWIW, most development is on CM7 and some of that is added to Froyo so Froyo is an afterthought. :D

CM7.0 stable and Phiremod 6.1 are the lastest versions. Phiremod is a themed (different appearance), tweaked version of CM7.0 stable and includes the Google apps. Once a stable version was reached, work on 7.1 started.

CM7 included the tablet tweaks, and kernel mods (faster speed, video compatibilty and overclockable) weeks ago.

The stock nook did not have bluetooth support, but it was later added when devs found the chip on the board. Current version only allows range of about a foot and it's difficult to get to work. Battery life while sleeping is currently worse with Froyo and CM7 but a future update should improve both of these.

Most of the technical stuff is on XDA. Barnes & Noble Nook Color - xda-developers
 
Colchiro, you rock. Thanks.

So, it sounds like CM7.0 will yield the best experience at this point. And that necessitates rooting first (i.e. it can't run off of an SD card).

Also, the only reason to run off of an SD card is to be able to protect warranty and use the NOOK as out of the box, right?

thanks.
 
From what I've read in this forum, online magazines are the only thing that you can't do with the Nook with a custom rom. I have never used my Nook with the stock rom, but did root my wife's and play with it a few evenings before that. I bought them for use as tablets. :D

I created a boot sd card to install Phiremod on both of mine. You don't need to be rooted to do that.

If you intend to leave your nook's stock rom intact, you should get a class 10, 16 gb card (32 gb is the max it can use) and install the rom to that, removing it if you need to restore it to stock. It could be slower by going this route tho. Then your rom and data will be on separate partitions on the removable card.

BTW, removing/replacing the external card is a clumsy process.
 
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