[Nook Color General] AidenM:
Rooting the NC, Installing Custom ROMs, Re-partitioning, dual-booting, un-bricking, burning SD cards, Theming, etc for the Nook Color!

This guide is aimed to help anyone (from Newbs to old Android veterans) to get their fancy new Nook Color up and running to their liking. Note that most of this was cooked by ROM devs, not me. So go ahead and thank them for it.

Re-partitioning the Blue-dot NC​

You may have purchased a new Nook Color, and looked on the box and said "Huh. I wonder what the blue sticker is there for?" Well, everyone should go check in their boxes right now. The blue-dot Nook Color's give you 5 GB for apps (like anyone could fill that much space up! Normal apps are between 50 KB and 1 MB) and only *gasp* 1 GB for your own data. (Books, Movies, etc). This also messes up everything to do with rooting and flashing ROMs. If you don't have a sticker, you don't need to follow this part of the guide. Skip to rooting. To those who do, to go back to the classic Nook Color partitions, you must flash a package through CWM. Todo this, you will need a microSD card. A cheap 1 GB will work. Once you have the microSD, download this to your computer. Then simply follow these instructions to burn an SD card:

Windows Instructions:

1. Download Win32DiskImager.

2. Insert the microSD card into your computer. You will need a microSD card USB adapter for this. DO NOT USE THE NOOK COLOR FOR THIS! Open up Win32DiskImager for Windows. Then in Win32DiskImager select your sd card. Make sure to have a backup of it as this erases it.

3. Select the file to write and browse for the downloaded CWM image from earlier. Select it and then OK. Hit Write. Once it says it's done, your Done!

Mac Users (If you are on Linux you'll know what these mean on Linux because anyone who runs Linux has a knowledge on computers)

1. Open up Terminal & Disk Utility

2. In Disk Utility, select your sd card on the side pane and then hit Command+I. Somewhere in the popup there should be something like "disk3" or "disk5". If you get "disk5s2" read it as "disk5". Take note of the number, not the "disk" part.

3. Go back to Terminal. Type:

diskutil unmountDisk /dev/diskX

Replace X with the number you got from earlier.

Then

sudo dd if=xx of=/dev/rdiskX bs=1m

Replace xx by dragging in the downloaded file into Terminal. replace X with the number from earlier. Here is a sample command:

sudo dd if=/Users/Steve/Downloads/cwm.img of=/dev/rdisk6 bs=1m

<-- Note that there is no space between the = and the path to the file.

It will then prompt you for a password, the Admin password. Type it in (I'm assuming you know it, if not ask your parents and tell them this is important) Nothing will show that you are typing, to be secure, but it will type. Then hit enter. Wait until until you see the username on the left again. Done!

-For both Windows and Mac users-

Once that is finished, eject the sd card from the computer. Put it in your Nook Color. Turn off and Turn on the Nook Color. You *SHOULD* see a Loading screen. If not try the instructions again. Then you will be greeted with a yellow+black screen. Take the sd card out and hit the home button. It should reboot the Nook. If not, hold the power button until it does. Put the sd card back in your computer. Then download this and put it on the sd card. Put the sd card back in the Nook and then reboot the Nook. Again, loading and then yellow+black screen. This time use the Volume- to move down the menu, and select "Install zip from sd card" Hit the home button there and then select "Choose zip from sd card" using the home button. Find the zip you downloaded and put on the sd card. Select that, then select "yes". It will flash that and then you will be back to the menu. Hit the power button and then select "reboot system". Now you should be ready to get on with the rest of the guide.

Rooting the Nook Color (Stock)​

Everyone want to do whatever they want with the Nook Color. They want to copy files, install Android apps, get a better browser, etc. The only snag is that B&N doesn't let you do that by stripping the Android OS of most of it's features, making it a trivial eBook Reader OS. Well, Mr. Root is here to change that. Now enough of that stuff, let's root your new Nook!

1. You must know the OS version of your Nook Color. Todo that, hit the arrow at the bottom and touch Settings. Go to "Device info" and then select "About Your Nookcolor" Under software version you should see a number. For most, it will be 1.2. If it is anything under that, go ahead and upgrade your Nook using the official B&N method:

The ver1.2.0 update is available over the next week as an automatic download that will roll out to NOOK Color customers connected to Wi-Fi®; or to get the software update right now, follow the instructions above for manual download. (Don't manual update. It's a pain.)

If your NOOK Color is registered and has Wi-Fi® connectivity (Wi-Fi® should be turned ON and connected to a hotspot), your device will be updated over the next week.

The process will take 4-5 minutes for a manual download (depending on your Internet connection). You should NOT turn your NOOK Color off while the new software is being downloaded. Once the software update is completed, your NOOK Color will automatically restart and display the Home screen. The software update will preserve your personal settings, including your registered account information, content, display settings, and Wi-Fi® settings.

Once you have 1.2.0 on your Nook Color, simply follow these steps to burn a CWM sd card:

(Note that if you already have one from re-partitioning the Nook Color you still must repeat these steps.)

1. Get an microSD card for your Nook. This should be a backup sd card to restore the Nook in case of failure. I recommend any cheap 2 GB one. Dependent on your sd size, download the correct image here Use the 1st set of links, not the 1gb image at the bottom. Download that and then follow these instructions to make a CWM sd card:

Windows Instructions:

1. Download Win32DiskImager.

2. Insert the microSD card into your computer. You will need a microSD card USB adapter for this. DO NOT USE THE NOOK COLOR FOR THIS! Open up Win32DiskImager for Windows. Then in Win32DiskImager select your sd card. Make sure to have a backup of it as this erases it.

3. Select the file to write and browse for the downloaded CWM image from earlier. Select it and then OK. Hit Write. Once it says it's done, your Done!

Mac Users (If you are on Linux you'll know what these mean on Linux because anyone who runs Linux has a knowledge on computers)

1. Open up Terminal & Disk Utility

2. In Disk Utility, select your sd card on the side pane and then hit Command+I. Somewhere in the popup there should be something like "disk3" or "disk5". If you get "disk5s2" read it as "disk5". Take note of the number, not the "disk" part.

3. Go back to Terminal. Type:

diskutil unmountDisk /dev/diskX

Replace X with the number you got from earlier.

Then

sudo dd if=xx of=/dev/rdiskX bs=1m

Replace xx by dragging in the downloaded file into Terminal. replace X with the number from earlier. Here is a sample command:

sudo dd if=/Users/Steve/Downloads/cwm.img of=/dev/rdisk6 bs=1m

<-- Note that there is no space between the = and the path to the file.

It will then prompt you for a password, the Admin password. Type it in (I'm assuming you know it, if not ask your parents and tell them this is important) Nothing will show that you are typing, to be secure, but it will type. Then hit enter. Wait until until you see the username on the left again. Done!

-For both Windows and Mac users-

Once that is finished, eject the sd card from the computer. Put it in your Nook Color. Turn off and Turn on the Nook Color. You *SHOULD* see a Loading screen. If not try the instructions again. Then you will be greeted with a yellow+black screen. Take the sd card out and hit the home button. I should reboot the Nook. If not, hold the power button until it does. Put the sd card back in your computer. Then download this zip and put it on the sd card. Put the sd card back in the Nook and then reboot the Nook. Again, loading and then yellow+black screen. This time use the Volume- to move down the menu, and select "Install zip from sd card" Hit the home button there and then select "Choose zip from sd card" using the home button. Find the zip you downloaded and put on the sd card. Select that, then select "yes". It will flash that and then you will be back to the menu. Hit the power button and then select "reboot system". Your finished! The nook will boot and as soon as you unlock you will see a white box with 3 options. Tick the check box at the bottom and hit "Zeam Launcher" Now hit the icon with white dots at the bottom and you should see the root apps+the normal Nook apps. Open up the market and download anything you want to! Because you can!

Installing a Custom ROM​

Well, once your Nook is rooted, you might wanna change the ROM to a better, more Android experience. In this case you will need a CWM sd card. Use the instructions above for rooting but at the when downloading the zip to your sd card download one of the ROM zips below:

CM7 - An Android 2.3 Gingerbread experience with countless optimizations to make it awesome. Highly supported, extremely HQ ROM. Download the latest here.

Phiremod Nook - A custom ROM based off of CM7. Anything that works on CM7 will work here. Pretty awesome, good support. Here.

Nookie Froyo - A Stock Froyo experience with customizations. Old, minimal support, not really used. Umm.. Download.

Nookie Comb - Very old, Honeycomb themed, unused, old. Very old. Download.

Honeycomb SDK Build 10 - Honeycomb, optimized for tabs, but slow and unsupported. Pretty old. I cannot find a download.

Honeycomb SDK Build 11 - Honeycomb, really optimized for tabs, slow, and a pretty unsupported. Download.

MIUI - Awesome in my opinion. REALLY REALLY Optimized for tabs, awesome UI, great, awesome, supported, great, awesome, sweet, should flash it. Download as of the latest version at this time of writing.

For CM7, HC, and the Nookie builds you must download this after flashing the ROM and flash that too. It will get Market.

Dualbooting CM7 and Stock 1.2​

0. Make a CWM sd card using these instructions.

1. Download CM7 to your sd card. I recommend the latest version from here. Also, if you would like to overclock download this. Lastly, if you would like to remap Volume + and - to Menu and Back, download this too. Also, your gonna want (duh) have a copy of Nook Color Stock 1.2. This one is the best in my opinion. Also, if you would like to root Stock 1.2, get this. Now get gapps from here. Almost! Download thishere. And now the multiuboot! Grr... this is tiring... but lasties! Get it here. Put ALL the files you downloaded on your SD Card.

1. Boot into CWM. Go into Backup+Restore and create a backup. Then go into Mounts+Storage and unmount the sd card. Put in an MicroSD reader in your computer. Navigate to /sdcard/clockworkmod/ and find the backup. Copy it to your computer. You can now delete it from the SD Card. Put the SD Card back in the nook. Go into Mounts+Storage and hit "Mount sd card" Now from the same place, wipe system, data, and cache. Now go to the root menu (hit the power button once). Hit "Install zip from sd card" then "Choose zip from sd card" Select prep.dualboot.zip. Then redo the choose zip Select your downloaded 1.2 Zip. It should be called "update_nc_stock_1.2_keepcwm.zip" Flash that. Now wait for it to install. Reboot your Nook. It will boot and will ask you to setup the Nook. Set it up but if you don't have wifi, follow these instructions. After setting up, boot back into CWM using your sd card.

2. Now Choose the zip from sd again, but select ManualNooter. That will take one minute to flash. Reboot again. Make sure your root is setup. To confirm, download an app from the market. Any app.

3. Once that is done, boot back into CWM. Flash the zip "eclair-to-dualboot-0.2.zip" It will duplicate Stock 1.2 to the Second partition. Now go into Mounts+Storage, and wipe system+data+cache. Now choose zip again, but this time pick CM7. Then Choose again, pick GAPPS. Then anything else, like that KeysMod or OC kernel. Now flash Multi-Uboot-0.3.zip. Now reboot without holding anything. It should boot CM7. Reboot, but this time hold the home button. BAM! Stock 1.2. Hope it worked for ya!

To those whom it doesn't work:

Originally Posted by yelloguy

---

I had the same problems as everyone else is reporting on this thread. I did this on Tuesday without the benefit of this guide but with the help of other two mentioned in the OP.

So after talking to iKingBlack via PM, I tried it again yesterday. And here is the exact sequence of events in case it helps anyone.

Install removal script for dual boot found in these forums

Install stock 1.2 from the link mentioned in OP

Boot 1.2 and register the device

Sleep 7.5 hours and then chat with iKingBlack :-)

Install manual nooter, then the apk enabler

Boot 1.2 to check root access

(no boot from now on)

Install prep dual boot

Install eclair to dual boot

Format system, data and cache

Install CM7 nightly

Install gapps

Install multi boot

Reboot holding N and check stock works as it used to

Reboot normally, check CM7 works and set it up

Since then I have used both partitions successfully.

Credits:

@GirLuvsDroid for the feedback and testing

@GabrialDestruir for 1.2 Manual Nooter

@Koush for ROM Manager and CWM Flashes

@yellowguy for telling us to flash prep.dualboot

@Anyone else who helped but escapes my mind at the moment

@pndo1 (Who has moved on to better things than our little NC's... aka Flyer) for this orignal project

----

Unbricking a "not booting" Nook Color​

@RileyGrant has done a great job on this so I will quote him:

Again, say Thanks to him. Great Job!

Burning a bootable CM7 or custom ROM sd card​

People want to burn an sd card to boot cm7 and then take the sd out to use stock os. This doesn't void the warranty, just don't forget to take the sd card out before running off to B&N.

Here you go:

Download this. Thanks @verygreen for this image. Unpack it into a .img.

Use the instructions for burning an sd card above for rooting the nook color but this time the if= should be this downloaded image. Then download the latest version of CM7. Download the latest here. Put the zip on the sd card. Put the sd card in the Nook. Turn it off then on again. You should see progress installing. Once that is finished, you're done! Reboot and it should boot cm7. To get Market, follow these instructions:

Again thanks to @verygreen for the GAPPS install.

Theming your Nook Color

Many people want to theme it to their liking. There are many different themes, but to get one you must perform a search. Type the theme you want followed by "cm7 theme chooser", because CM7 uses a special kind of theme loader. Once you have downloaded it, you need to put the .APK on your Nook. Pretty easy. First, on the Nook, goto Settings>Applications and tick Allow non Market Installs. On Stock OS, use Nook Color Tools to tick the check box. Then, eject the sd card from the Nook and put it in your computer. Copy the apk to the sd card and put the sd back in the Nook. Download ES Explorer from the market. You can navigate your sd card using it. Find the apk and tap it. Hit install. Now open up the app "Theme Chooser". You should see your theme. Select and apply. Done!

Backing Up and Restoring, Coming Soon!

Credits

@Koush for ROM Manager and CWM Flashes

@verygreen for sd CM7 installs.

@RileyGrant for the unbricking guide

@CyanogenMod for the ROM

@anyone else who I forgot. PM me if I did.

Note:

A lot of this wasn't made by me. Credit the hard working devs. I just threw together it into a guide.