New Nook Glowlight 4?

[TheOneWhoReads]

Good evening! After starting this thread and much internal debate, I acquired my GL4 today. I did root my NST and installed various things, but that was an age and a computer ago, so I'd definitely appreciate and Windows tips and recommends you have

[luisrodl]

Originally Posted by fbrII

I would like to find out how to do the above and have access to the full 32gb.

Hello! Sorry for the delay, I had not checked the forum today. Downeaster59 was very kind to provide the ADB guide, and I highly recommend doing it if you want to sideload android apps and get more functionality in the Glowlight 4. But you actually fo not need to do that to get access to the full 32gb! What you need to do is go to Settings, second page, and click About. Once you are there you should see a Check system update button. You want to click the Nook icon on top of it around I think like 5 times. Just keep clicking on it until another menu appears.

On that menu click on Android Development Settings. Scroll down until you reach the option that says Select USB Configuration. There you want to choose MTP. And thats it! Once you connect the Nook to your computer, the computer will read the full 32gb partition, not the 5gb. You can actually still see what is in the 5gb one in a folder named spsd. But everything outside that folder is the full 32gb partition.

Sometimes the MTP option gets reverted, so if you connect the Nook and do not get the full partition, just go to the Android Development Settings again and activate it. Hope this information helps!

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by luisrodl

Hello! Sorry for the delay, I had not checked the forum today. Downeaster59 was very kind to provide the ADB guide, and I highly recommend doing it if you want to sideload android apps and get more functionality in the Glowlight 4. But you actually fo not need to do that to get access to the full 32gb! What you need to do is go to Settings, second page, and click About. Once you are there you should see a Check system update button. You want to click the Nook icon on top of it around I think like 5 times. Just keep clicking on it until another menu appears.

On that menu click on Android Development Settings. Scroll down until you reach the option that says Select USB Configuration. There you want to choose MTP. And thats it! Once you connect the Nook to your computer, the computer will read the full 32gb partition, not the 5gb. You can actually still see what is in the 5gb one in a folder named spsd. But everything outside that folder is the full 32gb partition.

Sometimes the MTP option gets reverted, so if you connect the Nook and do not get the full partition, just go to the Android Development Settings again and activate it. Hope this information helps!

Very handy and concise. Thank you!

Even doing that, Calibre will still default to loading books to the spsd folder anyway, correct?

I guess if it does, it would be easy enough to move them in bulk with Windows Explorer or the Mac/Linux equivalent.

[downeaster59]

The purpose of these instructions is to enable you to install apps on your Nook Glowlight 4. Though I did find some of these things on my own, most of the credit goes to Renate and others on this forum and on the xda-developers forum. I’ve pulled together bits and pieces from this thread and others. I hope this proves helpful to you.

We will set up your computer and your Nook to use ADB commands. ADB (Android Debug Bridge) is a connection that enables you to send commands to a device from your computer. I’m going to assume that you know nothing about ADB and so will keep things simple, telling you only what you need to know to accomplish the purpose at hand.

What You Need

A Windows or macOS laptop or desktop, a Nook Glowlight 4, and a USB cable to connect the two.

Step One: Installing ADB On Your Computer

If you don’t know what ADB is, or if it is on your computer, it probably isn’t! If you have ADB on your computer, you can skip this step.

1) Windows: Download Minimal ADB and Fastboot, which you can find here. Install it to your desktop as that will make it easier to find and use. Your Windows PC should be ready.

2) Mac: Open the Terminal app, which is in the Other app group in Launchpad. We will install the homebrew package manager first. Copy the following and paste it at the Terminal prompt:

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install.sh)"

Hit enter. You may be prompted to enter your computer’s password here. Do so. Once the
homebrew installation is complete and you are back at the prompt, type or paste
the following: brew install android-platform-tools
Hit enter.
Once this is complete, your Mac should be ready.

Step Two: Preparing Your Nook

Turn on your Nook. Tap the upper right hand corner. You should see the Quick Settings dropdown window. Tap “See All Settings”. Tap the lower right arrow to go to page 2. Tap “About”. Tap the Nook icon at least five times in rapid succession. You should see a new window appear with a number of options in rectangles. Tap “Android Development Settings”. Scroll down to USB Debugging and turn it on. Your Nook should be ready.

Step Three: Test The ADB Connection

For Windows, start up Minimal ADB And Fastboot. It should take you to a command prompt. For Mac, open Terminal. Connect your Nook with your computer using your USB cable. Ignore the window that pops up on your Nook asking you to turn on USB Mode. At the prompt (Windows and Mac), type adb devices

Hit enter.

You should see a line that says “List of devices attached” and, under this line, a long sequence of numbers on the left and the word “device” on the right. If you see this, then ADB is correctly set up on your computer and your Nook.

Step Four: Install an Android launcher

You can now install apps over ADB. The first thing you need to do is install an Android launcher app. Why? The stock Nook launcher has no app drawer, so it will not show any apps you install. Any launcher that runs on Android 8.1 will work. I use Nova Launcher. You can obtain the apk from a number of places. I use apkpure.com. Get the launcher apk and save it to your desktop. Follow Step Three above to connect your Nook to your computer and test the connection with adb devices. If your connection is good, then, at the prompt, type adb install, hit the spacebar once, copy your launcher apk and paste it at the prompt, and hit enter. You should get a message that the apk is being installed.

Step Five: Test the New Launcher

Reboot your Nook. It will not boot automatically into the Nook stock launcher, but will ask you which launcher you want to use. Select the one you have just installed, and select “just once” (for now). You will now be in your new launcher. Scroll up or find the icon that takes you to the app drawer. You’ll find several app icons already there. Note the Nook icon. This is for the stock launcher. This means that if you select your new launcher as default, you can still access the stock Nook launcher. You will also see two Settings icons. The first one is the Settings list from the stock Nook launcher. The second is a fuller list of Settings that you can only access through the launcher you’ve installed.

You can choose your new launcher as default by hitting the home button on your Nook, or rebooting. When you are given the choice of launchers, pick your new launcher and choose 'always'. If you opt for the Nook stock launcher and choose "always" by mistake, don't panic! Install another launcher as above.

Step Six: Install Other Apps

You are now ready to install other apps. You can download them from a place like apkpure.com and install them in the same way you installed your launcher. You have other options, though. You can install the Amazon Appstore app. This is valuable if you want to install paid apps. You can install the Aurora Store. This gives you access to many free Play Store apps. When installing, opt for an anonymous account. Unless you are more skilled than I am, don’t bother trying to install Play Store. Save yourself the frustration.

For Calibre users, the best way to go – in my experience – is to install Calibre Companion from the Amazon Appstore. This allows you to connect with Calibre wirelessly. You can install third party reading apps to use with your Calibre books. Everyone has their favorites. I recommend Moon Reader Pro, KOReader and Librera.

Some people find that the Kindle app works on the Nook GL 4. It does not work well for me. I can start up the app and open a book, but then the page turns very slowly, if at all, and I cannot access the in-book settings menu. Be warned. YMMV.

Finishing Up

If something here doesn’t work for you, first try it again. Then feel free to ask me. It could be a typo on my part or something I neglected to mention.

Enjoy your Nook!!!

[luisrodl]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Very handy and concise. Thank you!

Even doing that, Calibre will still default to loading books to the spsd folder anyway, correct?

I guess if it does, it would be easy enough to move them in bulk with Windows Explorer or the Mac/Linux equivalent.

You are correct Calibre defaults to the spsd folder. But you can change the default folder in Calibre while the Nook is connected in MTP mode. Just go to device configuration on Calibre and you can put whatever folder you want as the default. I put my ebooks on a folder name eBooks inside the main Nook folder without any issues.

[readologist]

Originally Posted by downeaster59

The purpose of these instructions is to enable you to install apps on your Nook Glowlight 4. Though I did find some of these things on my own, most of the credit goes to Renate and others on this forum and on the xda-developers forum. I’ve pulled together bits and pieces from this thread and others. I hope this proves helpful to you.

We will set up your computer and your Nook to use ADB commands. ADB (Android Debug Bridge) is a connection that enables you to send commands to a device from your computer. I’m going to assume that you know nothing about ADB and so will keep things simple, telling you only what you need to know to accomplish the purpose at hand.

What You Need

A Windows or macOS laptop or desktop, a Nook Glowlight 4, and a USB cable to connect the two.

Step One: Installing ADB On Your Computer

If you don’t know what ADB is, or if it is on your computer, it probably isn’t! If you have ADB on your computer, you can skip this step.

1) Windows: Download Minimal ADB and Fastboot, which you can find here. Install it to your desktop as that will make it easier to find and use. Your Windows PC should be ready.

2) Mac: Open the Terminal app, which is in the Other app group in Launchpad. We will install the homebrew package manager first. Copy the following and paste it at the Terminal prompt:

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install.sh)"

Hit enter. You may be prompted to enter your computer’s password here. Do so. Once the
homebrew installation is complete and you are back at the prompt, type or paste
the following: brew install android-platform-tools
Hit enter.
Once this is complete, your Mac should be ready.

Step Two: Preparing Your Nook

Turn on your Nook. Tap the upper right hand corner. You should see the Quick Settings dropdown window. Tap “See All Settings”. Tap the lower right arrow to go to page 2. Tap “About”. Tap the Nook icon at least five times in rapid succession. You should see a new window appear with a number of options in rectangles. Tap “Android Development Settings”. Scroll down to USB Debugging and turn it on. Your Nook should be ready.

Step Three: Test The ADB Connection

For Windows, start up Minimal ADB And Fastboot. It should take you to a command prompt. For Mac, open Terminal. Connect your Nook with your computer using your USB cable. Ignore the window that pops up on your Nook asking you to turn on USB Mode. At the prompt (Windows and Mac), type adb devices

Hit enter.

You should see a line that says “List of devices attached” and, under this line, a long sequence of numbers on the left and the word “device” on the right. If you see this, then ADB is correctly set up on your computer and your Nook.

Step Four: Install an Android launcher

You can now install apps over ADB. The first thing you need to do is install an Android launcher app. Why? The stock Nook launcher has no app drawer, so it will not show any apps you install. Any launcher that runs on Android 8.1 will work. I use Nova Launcher. You can obtain the apk from a number of places. I use apkpure.com. Get the launcher apk and save it to your desktop. Follow Step Three above to connect your Nook to your computer and test the connection with adb devices. If your connection is good, then, at the prompt, type adb install, hit the spacebar once, copy your launcher apk and paste it at the prompt, and hit enter. You should get a message that the apk is being installed.

Step Five: Test the New Launcher

Reboot your Nook. It will not boot automatically into the Nook stock launcher, but will ask you which launcher you want to use. Select the one you have just installed, and select “just once” (for now). You will now be in your new launcher. Scroll up or find the icon that takes you to the app drawer. You’ll find several app icons already there. Note the Nook icon. This is for the stock launcher. This means that if you select your new launcher as default, you can still access the stock Nook launcher. You will also see two Settings icons. The first one is the Settings list from the stock Nook launcher. The second is a fuller list of Settings that you can only access through the launcher you’ve installed.

You can choose your new launcher as default by hitting the home button on your Nook, or rebooting. When you are given the choice of launchers, pick your new launcher and choose 'always'. If you opt for the Nook stock launcher and choose "always" by mistake, don't panic! Install another launcher as above.

Step Six: Install Other Apps

You are now ready to install other apps. You can download them from a place like apkpure.com and install them in the same way you installed your launcher. You have other options, though. You can install the Amazon Appstore app. This is valuable if you want to install paid apps. You can install the Aurora Store. This gives you access to many free Play Store apps. When installing, opt for an anonymous account. Unless you are more skilled than I am, don’t bother trying to install Play Store. Save yourself the frustration.

For Calibre users, the best way to go – in my experience – is to install Calibre Companion from the Amazon Appstore. This allows you to connect with Calibre wirelessly. You can install third party reading apps to use with your Calibre books. Everyone has their favorites. I recommend Moon Reader Pro, KOReader and Librera.

Some people find that the Kindle app works on the Nook GL 4. It does not work well for me. I can start up the app and open a book, but then the page turns very slowly, if at all, and I cannot access the in-book settings menu. Be warned. YMMV.

Finishing Up

If something here doesn’t work for you, first try it again. Then feel free to ask me. It could be a typo on my part or something I neglected to mention.

Enjoy your Nook!!!

I'm about to purchase a GL4 to replace my dying Kobo Libra. If i do the above (excellent writeup, BTW) what happens when B&N issues a software update?

[luisrodl]

Originally Posted by readologist

I'm about to purchase a GL4 to replace my dying Kobo Libra. If i do the above (excellent writeup, BTW) what happens when B&N issues a software update?

The Nook should get the upadte without any issues. All of the steps that were so excellently described by Downeaster59 do not take away the update function at all. I can still check for updates and if there was one, the Nook would accept it. If one were to root the Nook that would be an issue, since usually rooting breaks OTA updates. But by following that guide, no root happens, just standard Android funcions and app installations so the OTA updates shouldl work without issue.

[fbrII]

Hello! Sorry for the delay, I had not checked the forum today. Downeaster59 was very kind to provide the ADB guide, and I highly recommend doing it if you want to sideload android apps and get more functionality in the Glowlight 4. But you actually fo not need to do that to get access to the full 32gb! What you need to do is go to Settings, second page, and click About. Once you are there you should see a Check system update button. You want to click the Nook icon on top of it around I think like 5 times. Just keep clicking on it until another menu appears.

Hi Luisrodl,

I tried this but was not able to get to the Android Development Settings. I assume the nook icon you wrote about is the gray scale nook icon right above the 'Check for System Update' button. I tried tapping, swiping, long presses etc., and ditto with other area's of the screen but never got another screen to show up. So I am at a loss as how to get to that screen. I also tried doing the same with my Glowlight3 and had the same results.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by luisrodl

You are correct Calibre defaults to the spsd folder. But you can change the default folder in Calibre while the Nook is connected in MTP mode. Just go to device configuration on Calibre and you can put whatever folder you want as the default. I put my ebooks on a folder name eBooks inside the main Nook folder without any issues.

This sounds like the way I would go. I've never been that impressed with Android eBook apps. Just to confirm, if you change the folder for this particular device -- it wouldn't affect any other devices that use Calibre, would it?

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by fbrII

Hi Luisrodl,

I tried this but was not able to get to the Android Development Settings. I assume the nook icon you wrote about is the gray scale nook icon right above the 'Check for System Update' button. I tried tapping, swiping, long presses etc., and ditto with other area's of the screen but never got another screen to show up. So I am at a loss as how to get to that screen. I also tried doing the same with my Glowlight3 and had the same results.

Just tested it on my Glowlight 3. You have to tap that logo (the stylized "n") five times in a row. Nowhere else on the screen will work.

[luisrodl]

Originally Posted by fbrII

Hi Luisrodl,

I tried this but was not able to get to the Android Development Settings. I assume the nook icon you wrote about is the gray scale nook icon right above the 'Check for System Update' button. I tried tapping, swiping, long presses etc., and ditto with other area's of the screen but never got another screen to show up. So I am at a loss as how to get to that screen. I also tried doing the same with my Glowlight3 and had the same results.

Indeed it is the N greyscale icon. If you touch it 5 times it should take you to the screen with the option on Android Development Settings. I just tried it out and it takes me right to it.Like rcentros said, it worked also on the GL3. Maybe restart it and try it again? I did it after installing the latest update, so it should work out.

[TheOneWhoReads]

Truly you are a gentleman and a scholar.

Originally Posted by downeaster59

The purpose of these instructions is to enable you to install apps on your Nook Glowlight 4. Though I did find some of these things on my own, most of the credit goes to Renate and others on this forum and on the xda-developers forum. I’ve pulled together bits and pieces from this thread and others. I hope this proves helpful to you.
[snip instructions]

[downeaster59]

Originally Posted by luisrodl

The Nook should get the upadte without any issues. All of the steps that were so excellently described by Downeaster59 do not take away the update function at all. I can still check for updates and if there was one, the Nook would accept it. If one were to root the Nook that would be an issue, since usually rooting breaks OTA updates. But by following that guide, no root happens, just standard Android funcions and app installations so the OTA updates shouldl work without issue.

That is correct. None of what is in my guide is affected by OTA updates, nor does it stop OTA updates. It only becomes an issue if you root the Nook. Then you might lose root, but you can get it back. But that's another topic!

[downeaster59]

Originally Posted by rcentros

Just tested it on my Glowlight 3. You have to tap that logo (the stylized "n") five times in a row. Nowhere else on the screen will work.

Yes. You need to tap the Nook logo five times in a row, and quick taps. Then you'll get to development settings.

[downeaster59]

Originally Posted by rcentros

This sounds like the way I would go. I've never been that impressed with Android eBook apps. Just to confirm, if you change the folder for this particular device -- it wouldn't affect any other devices that use Calibre, would it?

If you want to use the Nook stock reader for Calibre books, then you need to place the books in the spsd folder. That is where the Nook stock reader looks for them. If anyone knows of a way to change that, let me know.

Edit: I just learned something. I knew there was a Nook folder in the spsd folder and a Nook folder in the main storage. I assumed that everything sideloaded had to go to the spsd Nook folder for the Nook stock reader to see it. Not so! You can indeed place books in the Nook folder in main storage through Calibre (or however else you like) and the Nook stock reader will find them there.