Classic Nook Noob Questions (LOTS of them)

[yoitzo]

Hi! I just got the nook as a birthday gift and i LOVE it. Only thing is, I have a ton of books back at home (I'm away at college) and I don't want to buy the same books that I want to re-read. Is there a way I can dl them?

Also, I used Calibre to change a pdf to an .epub and load it up to the nook. However I noticed that only the things in the B&N library can show covers. Is there a way to show the covers of books i had on .pdf?

What is soft-rooting? *blush* I see this word everywhere on this forum. I know it's a mod but what does it do? Is it difficult? And how does it modify the nook? Does it mean it won't be covered by warranty?

Is there a limit on how big my SD card can be?

Finally, any suggestions in accessories I should get? I have a cover for it (i got the punctuation cover. Its so cute and I like that it still resembles a book!) Also I received the 2 year warranty with it. Should I get the lights and screen covers? Which ones do you guys suggest?

Sorry for bombarding with questions!

[ThomasMc]

Originally Posted by yoitzo

Hi! I just got the nook as a birthday gift and i LOVE it. Only thing is, I have a ton of books back at home (I'm away at college) and I don't want to buy the same books that I want to re-read. Is there a way I can dl them?

Also, I used Calibre

I know there is a Content Server in Calibre, that you can use to access your library from the internet. I haven't used it yet, though, as I just got my nook yesterday, and didn't realize Calibre even had that until a few days ago. Go to PREFERENCES then CONTENT SERVER to set it up. Of course, that means you have to actually go home to set it up, or get a competent sibling to do it for you.

What is soft-rooting?

It lets you access the Android OS directly, so you can run other programs, and modify settings unavailable from the provided interface.

Does it mean it won't be covered by warranty?

Yep. Which is why I don't think I will try it on mine until my 2 year accident & breakage warranty runs out. But Nook seems to be good at updating their software with the things people want, so it probably won't even be necessary.

Is there a limit on how big my SD card can be?

The (old) manual says 16GB, but I ordered a 32GB card on eBay from Hong Kong the other day, I'll let you know if it can access the full amount, or not.

I have a cover for it

I made one. I wanted something rigid, because I've read that most broken e-ink screens get that way from flexing. I googled around, and saw a few people describing how they made one, and decided to try it myself. I had one of those blank, lined notebooks that people buy for journals and such. I got it way back in the late 90s, I'm pretty sure from B&N, and it was rather unique in that the covers were made from computer motherboard printed circuit boards (green and silver). I never threw it out, because it's uniqueness was enough to bring out the pack-rat in me. It sat in a closet partially used for a dozen or so years, and a couple days ago I pulled it out and saw it was the perfect size. After removing the covers from the remaining pages and binding, I got some black duct tape, and cut a strip of poster board for the new binding, and hot glued loops of black sewing elastic to hold the corners of the nook in. Turned out really nice, I really surprised myself. And the look is perfect for an "electronic book".

[yoitzo]

^ Wow thanks for all your answers!!!

Let me know if the 32 gb works!!!
Also, your cover sounds really cool!!! Could you show us what your homemade cover looks like???

[bleugh]

Originally Posted by yoitzo

Hi! I just got the nook as a birthday gift and i LOVE it. Only thing is, I have a ton of books back at home (I'm away at college) and I don't want to buy the same books that I want to re-read. Is there a way I can dl them?

Legally, no, you have to pay for electronic format books as you would a brand new book.

Originally Posted by yoitzo

Also, I used Calibre to change a pdf to an .epub and load it up to the nook. However I noticed that only the things in the B&N library can show covers. Is there a way to show the covers of books i had on .pdf?

Not really unless you really want to get technical with rooting and changing stuff around within the nook......given the style of questions you're asking, I'd say a definitive NO

Originally Posted by yoitzo

What is soft-rooting? *blush* I see this word everywhere on this forum. I know it's a mod but what does it do? Is it difficult? And how does it modify the nook? Does it mean it won't be covered by warranty?

Check www.nookdevs.com

soft rooting isn't something that's needed so much nowadays,
basically it lets you 'hack' your nook, adding your own applications and functionality to it
since B&N put the web browser and a few games on the nook, people haven't really bothered.......

as for warranty, YES, this WILL void your warranty should you not be able to return the nook back to the condition you received it in!

...or in other words, if you screw up the nook to the point where it can't boot, it'll be pretty obvious that you've played with it so they won't warranty it....

Originally Posted by yoitzo

Is there a limit on how big my SD card can be?

Apparently SDHC works well, so you're covered up to 16 gig!!

Originally Posted by yoitzo

Finally, any suggestions in accessories I should get? I have a cover for it (i got the punctuation cover. Its so cute and I like that it still resembles a book!) Also I received the 2 year warranty with it. Should I get the lights and screen covers? Which ones do you guys suggest?

some sort of cover is great, I got myself the javo edge slip cover for when I go out on the bus or when i throw it in a bag
...highly recommended is a 'book style' cover...so you can easily attach one of those bookmark style reading lights and give even better protection to the screen.

Originally Posted by yoitzo

Sorry for bombarding with questions!

no problem, also check www.nookboards.com for ideas on covers, etc

[ThomasMc]

Originally Posted by yoitzo

Could you show us what your homemade cover looks like???

Ok, I took some pictures. Please excuse the quality, I'm not the photographer in the family. I can point and shoot, and that's about it.

http://picasaweb.google.com/10106766...eat=directlink

[PG4003]

Thomas, you are SO clever! That really looks good. How did you secure the elastic?

[ThomasMc]

Originally Posted by PG4003

How did you secure the elastic?

Hot glue, quick and easy. If it doesn't hold, I may replace with something else, but it seems to be very strong.

[revfish]

Awesome cover. I thought about a similar idea when I have my Sony but couldn't find the boards locally.

Thanks for sharing the awesomeness of the electronic book cover.

[bgalbrecht]

I rooted my nook because I have about 3000 sideloaded books on it. The stock library app doesn't provide search on sideloaded books so I potentially have to page through 300 pages to select a book to read. The library app with the rooted Nook allows title, author and keyword search as well as cover browsing.

The B&N browser doesn't support file downloading. If you're going to use the Calibre server (which I don't because I downloaded everything to my Nook), you're going to need to root it so you can download files with the rooted browser app or Trook.

As far as I know, nobody's ever permanently bricked their Nook by trying to install the softroot images at nookdevs.com. When I had to exchange my Nook (cracked bezel at a button), I just reinstalled the standard software. I don't know what ThomasMc is planning on putting in his 32GB SD card, but if it's books, he's going to want to root it.

[bookwerm]

Originally Posted by ThomasMc

Yep. Which is why I don't think I will try it on mine until my 2 year accident & breakage warranty runs out. But Nook seems to be good at updating their software with the things people want, so it probably won't even be necessary.

While techincally yes, soft rooting the nook will void the warranty, no one has mentioned that it's super easy to revert back to the standard B&N OS version if you ever had to send the device in. So, for example, if you soft rooted 1.4, then had a problem with your (as I currently do with a crack), all you'd have to do is download from bn.com the 1.4 OS installation, and it would restore your device back to it's factory settings, and you could send the device in to be repaired/replaced. it's pretty easy.

[ThomasMc]

Originally Posted by bgalbrecht

I don't know what ThomasMc is planning on putting in his 32GB SD card, but if it's books, he's going to want to root it.

Thanks for the info about the browser not downloading, and the nook not searching sideloaded content. I hadn't figured that out yet. (I've been too busy just reading.) Hopefully a future update of the nook software will address those issues, soon.

As for the card, I got it so cheap, I figured why not, even if I don't use that much of it. At Target, it would have cost me that much for a 2GB card. I will probably put a few hundred albums of .mp3s on it, but not that many books at a time until they address the browsing/searching issue. I plug it into the computer to charge in the morning, so it's no big deal to transfer content to it via Calibre at the same time.

[ThomasMc]

Originally Posted by bookwerm

While techincally yes, soft rooting the nook will void the warranty, no one has mentioned that it's super easy to revert back to the standard B&N OS version if you ever had to send the device in. So, for example, if you soft rooted 1.4, then had a problem with your (as I currently do with a crack), all you'd have to do is download from bn.com the 1.4 OS installation, and it would restore your device back to it's factory settings, and you could send the device in to be repaired/replaced. it's pretty easy.

My worry would be that while rooted, I would drop and break the thing.
Then I would have no way to revert it back before asking for a replacement under my breakage plan.

[ThomasMc]

Originally Posted by yoitzo

Let me know if the 32 gb works!!!

Got it today, and it works great, the Nook recognizes all 32GB.

[Sylver]

Originally Posted by ThomasMc

Ok, I took some pictures. Please excuse the quality, I'm not the photographer in the family. I can point and shoot, and that's about it.

http://picasaweb.google.com/10106766...eat=directlink

Wow, that is soooo cool, it looks great and the size is perfect. I wandered in the B&N the other day and found several $15 leather notebooks good size and very attractive and thought about doing the same, but finally gave up the idea realizing how daunting it would be to rip out all the pages and still keep the cover safe and to put strips and such, but yours does look so cool and rekindled my creativity - it still looks quite some effort though. The nook cover in store really is overpriced in my opinion considering real leather notebooks with paper sell only $12 to $15, the cost of a non-leather nook cover without paper should be less.

[Rich_D]

I just rooted mine the other day. It's very easy, basically just transferring upload files and rebooting the nook at certain steps. The folks at nookdev.com have included the file management and a couple other apps in the root file which makes it easier. It's definitely worth it for the side-loaded content.