To root or not to root?

crmldlyte · 01-01-2011, 05:59 PM

Hi Nookies! This is my 2nd day owning my Nookcolor and I'm in love! Anyone have a comprehensive "Root for dummies" link? I cant say I'm a techie and I've never owned a Droid so I'm still not sure what rooting will buy me. On the instructions page by nookdevs.com, it says after rooting I wont be able to link my NC to BN to purchase books. Excuse the ignorance but I'm new to ebooks altogether so where will I get them from after rooting? I feel like I've been under a rock all these years when I read some of the posts on here. Where have I been??? I've definitely been enlightened! Please dont throw any rotten tomatoes at me; I'm just learning this awesome subculture! Thanks!

SCION · 01-01-2011, 06:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crmldlyte

On the instructions page by nookdevs.com, it says after rooting I wont be able to link my NC to BN to purchase books. ...

Hi and Welcome!

If you read it carefully, it's telling you to register your device first. That's all. You won't be able to register your device after you root. The device forces you to register so it doesn't really matter. But some people would ignore that prompt and just try to root from the jump.

crmldlyte · 01-01-2011, 06:15 PM

Hi Scion! You're like the Nook goddess around here (I've read many of your posts)! Can you share a post or link that explains exactly what I gain by rooting? Keep in mind I've never owned a Droid but I hear the app possibilities are endless with it being open source and I'm not much of a "techie".

SCION · 01-01-2011, 06:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crmldlyte

...You're like the Nook goddess around here ...

Since you've only had the device for a couple of days and aren't familiar with the apps available, you may want to hold off on rooting. Work within the confines of the stock device. Make note of things you don't like or are missing (each time something comes to mind write it down). Then share your findings, and we'll tell you what additional functionality you can obtain from rooting with specific Android apps.

crmldlyte · 01-01-2011, 06:48 PM

Mucho gracias....yeah I need to learn what this thing can & can't do. Do you think since I'm unfamiliar with the Android it will be hard to appreciate the possibilities of the NC? If I understand what I've read so far, rooting make it works more like a tablet than just an e-reader. Is that true? SDK, ABD etc is all Greek to me so when I read others' posts I have no clue what they are talking about.

SCION · 01-01-2011, 06:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crmldlyte

Mucho gracias....yeah I need to learn what this thing can & can't do. Do you think since I'm unfamiliar with the Android it will be hard to appreciate the possibilities of the NC? If I understand what I've read so far, rooting make it works more like a tablet than just an e-reader. Is that true? SDK, ABD etc is all Greek to me so when I read others' posts I have no clue what they are talking about.

SDK, ADB are terms related to rooting.

You can make your device look like an Android tablet or you can keep the stock look. It's flexible. Some people just want a better web browser and a better PDF reader.

RockdaMan · 01-01-2011, 07:02 PM

See the following threads for extremely pertinent information:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=112846
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=113625

crmldlyte · 01-01-2011, 07:21 PM

thanks Scion & RDM!

The Joker · 01-01-2011, 09:46 PM

I never had any android device before (or any type of Ereader).....Originally I was going to get the nook classic (love Eink)....the people at Barnes and Noble really convinced me to get the NookColor.....

I played with mine for about 4-5 day's before rooting....it was helpful to know what I had (as Scion suggests)....Loved the the features on the stock NC.....wasn't even planning on rooting....Didn't actually know that something like rooting existed, before digging deeper on this forum....
I noticed I'd prefer better file management, organization.....I'm not a gamer, so rooting to access games was not really in the equation....Had no clue what The Market even was.....

From reading posts I decided that rooting would allow me the flexibility I was looking for....knowing that I could easily reset it back to factory settings (and bricking it - making it a $250 paperweight, was really not even a possibility)....I began researching the root process....

Went with rooting.....and found it to be easier than I thought, and really was able to follow the directions pretty easily......Scion sure helped when I came up with minor issues or questions

....

I'm glad I rooted.....it's been a blast customizing my NC.....there's more to rooting than just games (although I've enjoyed some game play)

I've only read 1 complete novel so far, and a few of the free short story books....so my reading has suffered a bit....but the fun setting it up, to my liking, has outweighed any negatives....

The standard out of the box NookColor is sweet....loved it.....but rooting takes it to another level......

Either way.....you'll enjoy it....

SCION · 01-02-2011, 10:00 AM

Forgot to mention that if you root you will lose the ability to read a book for an hour in B&N stores. If this is valuable to you, then you may not want to root. You can still connect to store wifi and gain internet access to do whatever you would normally. The Read-In-Store feature no longer works.

Steven Lyle Jordan · 01-03-2011, 12:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SCION

Forgot to mention that if you root you will lose the ability to read a book for an hour in B&N stores.

They still have stores?!?

Seriously, I'm surprised to hear anyone say "I just got it... I love it... I want to hack it now!" I'd take some time to get familiar with it, and also wait on the expected (legal) upgrade that is expected to give access to an app store, which might have all the upgrading apps you'll want. Don't know how soon that'll happen, but maybe someone else can provide more info on it (for me, too... I also just got mine, I love it, but I'm waiting to see how I can upgrade it without rooting it).

gtriever · 01-03-2011, 01:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steven Lyle Jordan

They still have stores?!?

Seriously, I'm surprised to hear anyone say "I just got it... I love it... I want to hack it now!" I'd take some time to get familiar with it, and also wait on the expected (legal) upgrade that is expected to give access to an app store, which might have all the upgrading apps you'll want. Don't know how soon that'll happen, but maybe someone else can provide more info on it (for me, too... I also just got mine, I love it, but I'm waiting to see how I can upgrade it without rooting it).

I got it... I love it... I hacked it! (Actually, the main reason I got it was to root it.)

I have the Nook "Classic", and it serves very well for my ereader. The NC, however, just had so much potential in it for a technical document reader that I couldn't resist. When word is released on the specs for the 2.2 upgrade, I may very well consider unrooting it, if the stock upgrade meets my needs. In the meantime, rooting was the only way to get what I needed (or at least, wanted) out of it.

Steven Lyle Jordan · 01-03-2011, 02:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gtriever

The NC, however, just had so much potential in it for a technical document reader that I couldn't resist.

Just so we know, what's the format of the tech documents you use? If it's PDF, what was bad about the Adobe reader that you couldn't use it?

RockdaMan · 01-03-2011, 02:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steven Lyle Jordan

Just so we know, what's the format of the tech documents you use? If it's PDF, what was bad about the Adobe reader that you couldn't use it?

PDF's derived from deadtree documents seem squished to me on every dedicated ereader out there.

The iPad seems to render them well though.

edit: I know that the NC business people loath the idea, but I'd love to be able to use the Kindle (and other) apps on it.

gtriever · 01-03-2011, 03:01 PM

Steven, most of my tech documents are in Word, Excel, and PDF. By rooting, and installing Documents to Go, I can both read and edit the Word and Excel files. As far as the PDFs go, I'm still waiting on that killer Android app that'll allow annotation, but IMO the Docs to Go app is better than the stripped-down QuickOffice reader that comes stock with the NOOKcolor.

01-01-2011, 05:59 PM	#1
crmldlyte Phenoma-mama Posts: 8 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Atlanta Device: Nookcolor (not yet rooted)	To root or not to root? Hi Nookies! This is my 2nd day owning my Nookcolor and I'm in love! Anyone have a comprehensive "Root for dummies" link? I cant say I'm a techie and I've never owned a Droid so I'm still not sure what rooting will buy me. On the instructions page by nookdevs.com, it says after rooting I wont be able to link my NC to BN to purchase books. Excuse the ignorance but I'm new to ebooks altogether so where will I get them from after rooting? I feel like I've been under a rock all these years when I read some of the posts on here. Where have I been??? I've definitely been enlightened! Please dont throw any rotten tomatoes at me; I'm just learning this awesome subculture! Thanks!

01-01-2011, 09:46 PM	#9
The Joker Addict Posts: 205 Karma: 882 Join Date: Dec 2010 Device: NookColor.........rooted	I was new to any Android type device.... I never had any android device before (or any type of Ereader).....Originally I was going to get the nook classic (love Eink)....the people at Barnes and Noble really convinced me to get the NookColor..... I played with mine for about 4-5 day's before rooting....it was helpful to know what I had (as Scion suggests)....Loved the the features on the stock NC.....wasn't even planning on rooting....Didn't actually know that something like rooting existed, before digging deeper on this forum.... I noticed I'd prefer better file management, organization.....I'm not a gamer, so rooting to access games was not really in the equation....Had no clue what The Market even was..... From reading posts I decided that rooting would allow me the flexibility I was looking for....knowing that I could easily reset it back to factory settings (and bricking it - making it a $250 paperweight, was really not even a possibility)....I began researching the root process.... Went with rooting.....and found it to be easier than I thought, and really was able to follow the directions pretty easily......Scion sure helped when I came up with minor issues or questions .... I'm glad I rooted.....it's been a blast customizing my NC.....there's more to rooting than just games (although I've enjoyed some game play) I've only read 1 complete novel so far, and a few of the free short story books....so my reading has suffered a bit....but the fun setting it up, to my liking, has outweighed any negatives.... The standard out of the box NookColor is sweet....loved it.....but rooting takes it to another level...... Either way.....you'll enjoy it....

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01-01-2011, 06:15 PM	#3
crmldlyte Phenoma-mama Posts: 8 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Atlanta Device: Nookcolor (not yet rooted)	Hi Scion! You're like the Nook goddess around here (I've read many of your posts)! Can you share a post or link that explains exactly what I gain by rooting? Keep in mind I've never owned a Droid but I hear the app possibilities are endless with it being open source and I'm not much of a "techie".

01-01-2011, 06:48 PM	#5
crmldlyte Phenoma-mama Posts: 8 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Atlanta Device: Nookcolor (not yet rooted)	Mucho gracias....yeah I need to learn what this thing can & can't do. Do you think since I'm unfamiliar with the Android it will be hard to appreciate the possibilities of the NC? If I understand what I've read so far, rooting make it works more like a tablet than just an e-reader. Is that true? SDK, ABD etc is all Greek to me so when I read others' posts I have no clue what they are talking about.

01-01-2011, 07:02 PM	#7
RockdaMan Banned Posts: 1,644 Karma: 213512 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: On the other side of over there Device: Pandigital Novel, Kindle G1 (broken), iPod Touch	See the following threads for extremely pertinent information: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=112846 https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=113625

01-01-2011, 07:21 PM	#8
crmldlyte Phenoma-mama Posts: 8 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Atlanta Device: Nookcolor (not yet rooted)	thanks Scion & RDM!

01-02-2011, 10:00 AM	#10
SCION Séduisant Posts: 4,706 Karma: 2107018 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Texas, USA Device: Boox Note Air2+; Kobo Libra2; Kindle Scribe, Oasis3; iPad Mini6	Forgot to mention that if you root you will lose the ability to read a book for an hour in B&N stores. If this is valuable to you, then you may not want to root. You can still connect to store wifi and gain internet access to do whatever you would normally. The Read-In-Store feature no longer works.

01-03-2011, 03:01 PM	#15
gtriever Addict Posts: 281 Karma: 2125576 Join Date: Sep 2010 Device: Kobo Forma	Steven, most of my tech documents are in Word, Excel, and PDF. By rooting, and installing Documents to Go, I can both read and edit the Word and Excel files. As far as the PDFs go, I'm still waiting on that killer Android app that'll allow annotation, but IMO the Docs to Go app is better than the stripped-down QuickOffice reader that comes stock with the NOOKcolor.

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