yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Nook Touch Android Development] FalkoniLondon:
Thank you so much for taking so much time to lay it out in such clear detail. I think even I can now manage to follow it without messing it up.

I’ve completed steps 1 and 2 and hope to finish it all today. (Limited computer time due to kids online school)

Will write again when complete.
[Nook Touch Android Development] Renate:
I have no real objections to this utility except that the download is 5.4 Megs and that's a zip file even!

I have my own utility for burning SD cards.

It weighs in at 74,752 bytes. (In signature)

C:\>sdcard /?
SD Card Utility Copyright (c) Temblast 2015-2018
usage: sdcard flags sdletter imagefile
/r read from SD card
/w write to SD card
/z zero (erase) SD card
/v verify SD card
/y don't ask for confirmation

C:\>sdcard /w /v G myimage
[Nook Touch Android Development] FalkoniLondon:
So, I’ve attempted this procedure five times, On two different PCs and several re-downloads.

I believe I’ve followed the instructions religiously, but I always fail at stage 5. The Nook file on the PC continues to show the update zip file even 24 hours later, and when I inevitably do another hard reset, it shows at the beginning of the process that the FW was 1.2.1

I feel so bad for taking so much of your time that I think I might give up, unless there is something obvious that I’m doing wrong.
[Nook Touch Android Development] nmyshkin:
I asked this question earlier but got no response so I just assumed the answer was "no". I'll ask again. Are you outside the US and/or did the devices come from outside the US?
[Nook Touch Android Development] Renate:
If the update.zip isn't being consumed then maybe there is a conflict with the current UK stuff.

@nmyshkin should they be doing the manual update?

adb shell /data/local/tmp/update-binary 2 stdout /sdcard/update.zip

Edit: Sheesh, you can't chmod 755 something in /sdcard
[Nook Touch Android Development] nmyshkin:
IF it is a UK unit. We wait to find out...
[Nook Touch Android Development] Renate:
Mmm, does Falkoni London give you a hint? :p
[Nook Touch Android Development] nmyshkin:
Maybe. That's why asked the first time. Julie London was a domestic product, however.
[Nook Touch Android Development] FalkoniLondon:
Hi guys,

Many apologies. For some reason I received non of these on my Android phone.

I just noticed the last message while working on my Mac, so I went back to my phone and looked at my phone's email, choosing all mail and your messages are still not showing. neither are they in my spam or deleted folders.

Even weirder, only when I search xda, does the last message show up. (claiming to be in my inbox) But when I go to all mail, it is not there.

OK. Found you now in promotions.

Really really sorry. I wasn't ignoring you. Feeling very embarrassed.

So, to answer the question:

I live in the UK and bought my Nook in the UK. Not sure from your exchange if it is a good thing.

I promise I will check my emails regularly now on the Mac.
[Nook Touch Android Development] nmyshkin:
Yeah, the email notification system is not working since the forum reboot. I got a couple of emails awhile back, but generally, nada.

OK, so

now

we have the necessary information. UK ROMs cannot be updated. The last UK update was version 1.2.1 which now cannot connect to the US-based servers. However, it is possible to flash a US 1.2.1 system on your device. Then you can update to 1.2.2, etc. Two minor drawbacks, both of which can be addressed later: 1. the US ROM lacks the ability to change the Locale. The setting is still there but it only shows the US as an option, so British English spelling variants (e.g. color vs. colour) will not be used in the system menus and displays, and 2. you will probably lose the Oxford Dictionary and get a US-English dictionary. As I say, both of these issues can be fixed when all the electron dust has settled.

To get going, the last sentence of Step 4 of post #539 should now read:

4. .... When the device reboots leave it at the "welcome" screen and power down.

4.5 Go to https://sites.google.com/site/xcdguides/nook/nookregion and follow the directions there to create an sdcard (you have two, right?--and you can reclaim this one after you've fixed both devices) and make the ROM change. You can skip his step 4 since you've done a reset already. When you are done and the device has rebooted and is at the "welcome" screen, you can then connect via USB to your PC and proceed with step 5 in the sequence I gave in post #539.

Before you leave that site, go down to the very bottom of the page and download the UK ROM zip. Later, you can extract the Oxford Dictionary from it and I'll guide you in replacing the US-English dictionary (if you want).

Don't give up. I know it's frustrating but communication in this form is often imprecise and it sometimes takes time to get on the same wavelength. Once you get past this, things will be a lot easier and you'll have a device that is stable and uncomplaining. Then you can customize it according to your needs. And the second one will be easier :)
[Nook Touch Android Development] Renate:
Jack London was an author.
[Nook Touch Android Development] nmyshkin:
Indeed, but Julie London was a noted torch-song singer (famous for "Cry me a River", among others). Probably before your time :)
[Nook Touch Android Development] FalkoniLondon:
And Michael London, the actor from little house in the Prairie. (oy. really shows my age)

I'm afraid mine is far less poetic. it is just a geographical location. London UK.

Thanks again for all your support and perseverance. I will attempt it tomorrow, when hopefully more brain activity will mean an enhanced probability of success.
[Nook Touch Android Development] nmyshkin:
Oops....Michael L

a

ndon. But close.
[Nook Touch Android Development] FalkoniLondon:
Ooops. I guess my growing up in Israel shows up in my sketchy perception of vowels.

So, I had a pig of a time trying to format my other SD card using 2 very elderly windows PCs. Both insisted that it was write protected and refused to format it. I looked at tutorials on how to bypass it, but when I tried to follow them my computers went all weird on me.

I gave up and formatted my Nook Manager SD card and managed to burn the region change onto it.

I loaded it and followed the instructions religiously (as much as an atheist can) and it seemed to have worked.

However, before getting to stage 5 - updating the FW to 1.2.2, right at the last stage of step 4.5, the Nook stopped. It has been displaying the attached picture for the past 24 hours.

Does this mean the region change has failed?
[Nook Touch Android Development] nmyshkin:
Maybe? I've never done it before. I heard reports from others who have, so I know it can work. My advice would be to force shutdown using the power button and then try powering up again. Maybe it will feel better the second time around.

If that fails, you may need to remake the card. For formatting, you might try the little utility SDFormatter. There are versions for both Windows and Mac. Also, if you have previously tried to image an SD card with NookManager, the card is partitioned and you might need to merge those partitions before using it for something else. That could be the issue, although I would think that writing an image overrides everything. Formatting is trickier and Windows especially can generally only see the primary partition on a card.
[Nook Touch Android Development] hawsey:
I've just bought a brand new NST for £15 in the UK in Settings it says it's a BNRVR300 on Software version 1.2.1 , am I good to follow this thread for rooting and getting APKs to run on my new toy ?

Thanks in advance 👍
[Nook Touch Android Development] nmyshkin:
Please see https://xdaforums.com/t/nst-g-dealing-with-non-us-aka-uk-devices-in-2021.4233411/
[Nook Touch Android Development] SJT75:
Does anyone can give me an answer which file type is actually used for creating an backup image of device using Nook Manager before/after compression? Is it .img or .nrg or something else?
[Nook Touch Android Development] Renate:
The name doesn't really matter.

.img is often used for kernels, ramdisks, complete Android kernel/ramdisk/dtb and also complete physical disk backups.

Physical (raw) backups are good, but only for putting back on the same device.

File copy backups are good for saving useful things to different devices.

Me? The only "useful" things I have on my devices are photos that I've just taken on that device.

Everything else is synced to my devices.
[Nook Touch Android Development] FalkoniLondon:
Thank you. Powering down and back on didn’t work. I will try your reformatting idea before giving up. I should have realised that something was not 100% seeing how hard it was for the pc to write the region change.(multiple failures) I just assumed it was due to the age of my pc.

I also haven’t realised it before, but my Nook’s battery was probably suffering for years, ever since the UK Nook urls were made inactive, so I suppose if I were to eventually give up, go for a hard reset, bypass registration and just root it, I’ll get nearly all the functionality but with the reduced battery life that I was used to. (I thought it was the machine’s age :-)

That is, unless all the customised apps you guys have created, like kindle, Libby, file manager etc. Wont work on 1.2.1?
[Nook Touch Android Development] nmyshkin:
I'm becoming concerned that this process is spiraling out of control--too many unknowns. I tried to reproduce what you did with the SDcards so I'd at least be able to talk intelligently about that. I burned a NookManager card, used Windows to format it, then burned the region changer image to it. Although Windows was only able to see and format the primary partition of the NookManager card and left behind the partition structure, burning the region changer image to the same card gave the same result as burning to a clean, unpartitioned card. So as I suspected, the DiskImager tool takes care of everything. No need to reformat the card (assuming it has been formatted once) or merge the partitions.

What that means for your situation, I am not sure, but we can't get anywhere with this process unless we have functioning cards, preferably one NookManager and one RegionChanger. As I say, we can recover the RegionChanger card once that job is accomplished for your devices.

This is the list of files I see on the RegionChanger card:

boot.scr

boot.script

booting.pgm

cfg.bin

flash_spl.bin

mlo

nook_1_2_update_UK_CWM.zip

nook_1_2_update_US_CWM.zip

rom_backup.zip

u-boot.bin

uImage

uRamdisk

wvf.bin

The card has two partitions, "boot" and unallocated space (i.e., blank). Windows shows a data size of 243 Mb and a "total" card size of about 1.75 Gb. This is because it only sees the primary partition.

My chief concern now is that we have not managed to turn your NST into a doorstop. Since you will have to do it anyway before you try the region change again, I strongly suggest that you prepare a NookManager card (don't worry about the updating right now, we just need a functioning card) and use it to trigger a factory reimage (under the "Rescue" category, "Restore Factory zip"). If that works and you can get back to the "welcome" screen, then we're good and you can try the region change again (use your second card and prepare a fresh image burn on it).
[Nook Touch Android Development] hawsey:
So I managed to get my NST rooted fine and backed up and the card stored safely .

Should APK s be able to install ok now , I tried one and it said unable to parse .

Do I need Gapps ? I am not really wanting Google stuff unless absolutely necessary . Also with the mod I've just done are most unneeded apps already removed or do I do that manually please .

I couldn't find a file manager either, I'm probably not looking properly 🤣

I basically want it the bare minimum with maybe a way to store extra apps on an SD card if possible .

Thanks in advance 👍
[Nook Touch Android Development] Renate:
Did you:

C:\>adb install myapp.apk

Check your apk, check another apk. Try unzipping the apk to see if it's sane.

Make sure that it's signed (META-INF/MANIFEST.MF & others).

Releases · openintents/filemanager

OpenIntents file manager. Contribute to openintents/filemanager development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com
[Nook Touch Android Development] nmyshkin:
I don't know what customizations you may have made to NookManager. If you just updated it for 1.2.2 and left the rest unchanged, then ReLaunch is your file manager (and alternate launcher). Apps can be installed by placing them on the SDcard and tapping the file when in ReLaunch. Parsing errors during installation on the NST are almost always due to the wrong Android version. Remember, the NST runs Android 2.1. There are apps out there but you have to choose carefully and maybe hunt them down--or ask on the forum.

You do not need GApps unless you really have an urgent need for NetworkLocation. It and Gmail are the only two remaining pieces that work.

Assuming you used NookManager "as-is" except for the 1.2.2 update change, there will be stuff left to get rid of:

Browser

Gallery

Music

NookCommunity

That last one is extremely annoying, constantly sending out nagging notifications. It can be removed without any apparent issue--except to silence the nagging. These are system apps and can be deleted from /system/app, not uninstalled. My list is minimal. There are other things that could go, but it's not like you need to free up internal space.

To do that you will need a file manager with root capabilities, something ReLaunch lacks and just one of the reasons I think it's not a good choice. I mean, you go to all the trouble of rooting the device and now you can't access root?? Where is the sense in that? I'm aware that ADB will do all these things but saying that is a bit like suggesting that Windows users do mundane stuff like copying, moving and deleting files from the command prompt! So if you need a "real" file manager, I suggest ES File Explorer (you can get it in the NookManager update thread). It has root options and enables you to mount /system as RW so changes are easy to make. It also includes a simple text editor, music player and has FTP abilities for wireless transfer from your PC to the NST.
[Nook Touch Android Development] Renate:
Eh, my thoughts on this is that I don't want SU or apps having root.

I just don't understand the need.

I use my usbhostd daemon to do a specific root-like thing without allowing general access.
[Nook Touch Android Development] Grailerdio:
My wife just picked up an old nook nst. It's running 1.2.2, I did the changes to to update nook manager to work with this version. In nook manager root shows success, but nothing is changed after rebooting. After some investigation it seems as if none of the scripts listed in do_root are being executed. the only success echo I can get is the one in the do_root itself.
[Nook Touch Android Development] nmyshkin:
"Nothing is changed" is a little vague. What is not vague is that scripts are 100% unforgiving. A stray or missing bit of punctuation, an unexpected CR or LF, missing targets: all will sink the ship. If you can't find any obvious issue with what you did--and I'm assuming you did something beyond just the update for 1.2.2--the best advice I can give is to make a new NookManager card and

only

do the update for 1.2.2 (you can use the scripts I provided, if you think that might help). Then try again. No need to reset the device. You can run NookManager repeatedly--or should be able to--and it won't wreck things. Yes, you might get some stuff that you don't want and one dead app, but if you can get through the whole script then you're good to go and you can side-load and uninstall whatever you want.
[Nook Touch Android Development] Grailerdio:
Sorry, by nothing changed I meant that the nook was exactly the same as it was before the rooting attempt, no alternate launcher or mod to reassign the buttons, etc. that should have existed after rooting using nookmanager.

I'm guessing I must have had a wayward formatting mark or such, I originally manually editied the scripts to update, but using yours it now worked. Thanks for all your work
[Nook Touch Android Development] Grailerdio:
In case this helps anyone in the future, I appears my problem was with wordpad. even just opening the do_root file and saving without altering anything and making sure it saved in the same format would cause none of the scripts called in it to be executed. Using notepad seems to work though
[Nook Touch Android Development] Renate:
Many Linux things take joy in turning up their noses at the Windows End of Line CR/LF.

It's best to use an editor like the (free) Notepad++ which always makes it clear whether it's Unix (LF) or Windows (CR/LF).

Downloads | Notepad++

notepad-plus-plus.org

Note: I've not recently seen any Windows thing that hates LF so all my text files are "Unix" style.
[Nook Touch Android Development] AlpacaJones:
Hello, I can't seem to find a download link for NookManager. Is there still one available? Preferably for windows. It looks like people were still active here a month ago so I still have hope 🤞
[Nook Touch Android Development] nmyshkin:
The link is in the first post. If you are going to root FW 1.2.2 you will need to update the package. See here: https://xdaforums.com/t/nst-g-updating-nookmanager.3873048/

NookManager is an Android application, but you will need an image burning application for Windows, also linked in the first post.
[Nook Touch Android Development] AlpacaJones:
Ha! You're right, I tried the link again and it worked 🤦‍♂️ Done gone made a fool out of meself.

Many thanks.
[Nook Touch Android Development] jptiger:
Hey all, I tried making a backup with this recently before updating cacerts, but I just learned the hard way that the top left button on my NST isn't working :(. This makes navigating the menus a little challenging, and backing up impossible. Any way alternative ways to navigate the menus, or alternative tools/ways to create a backup?

EDIT: If it helps, I can enable wireless in the beginning and start adb, but not SSH (triggered by the button that isn't working)

EDIT the second: Managed to make an image backup using a different tool with these instructions. Noogie link there is busted, you can download it here.
[Nook Touch Android Development] nmyshkin:
Hmm... as far as I can tell, the buttons are "defined" in \scripts\menu_getkey on the NookManager card:

if [ "$key" = "019c" -a "$button1" != "" ]; then

exit 1

elif [ "$key" = "0197" -a "$button2" != "" ]; then

exit 2

elif [ "$key" = "008b" -a "$button3" != "" ]; then

exit 3

elif [ "$key" = "009e" -a "$button4" != "" ]; then

exit 4

fi

I'm thinking that the "n" button is never used in NookManager, so I suppose it might be possible to substitute the code for the "n" button for the hardware button that seems not to be functioning. Maybe?

Or, better, use the scripts for backup that already exist and copy them over to the "custom" section, selecting your own key (avoiding the non-working one).
[Nook Touch Android Development] jptiger:
Not critical since I was able to find a workaround, but any idea where I can find the code for the n button? Forum search seems to be busted and googling any of the exisiting ids "019c site:xda-developers.com" is only returning this thread as a hit...
[Nook Touch Android Development] nmyshkin:
That first one looks like hex to me. So I read that in decimal as 412. Let me see....where are those keycodes....

So I have: 407 Right_nextpage, 412 Left_nextpage, 139 Left_prevpage, 158 Right_prevpage as defaults for the hardware buttons. In that same file Home is listed as 102 (066 Hex). Not saying it will work...

Edit: according to the User Guide the two top buttons default to nextpage,so I guess 412 (019c) is the value you want to try changing. It may depend on how he's reading the information but it looks like all the hex values are 4 digits. You might need to use "0066".

Edit: Well, phooey. I decided to try this myself. I first did a getevent on the "n" button and it is indeed 0066. But changing the keycode in the NM file only disables the upper left button. The "n" button has no effect :-(

Edit: Something else not to bother trying... It occurred to me that you can start wireless ADB from the opening of NookManager. So maybe "input keyevent 412" might work as a shell command to spoof the keypress. Nothing happened, but I did get an error message about not recognizing "input". So then I went for something more primitive like sendevent with multiple lines. No error messages, but no dice.

I'm feeling like short of repairing the hardware key the only other option is to copy whatever functions you would want from "Rescue" into the "Custom" folder, always avoiding the use of that one button. That will involve some careful tinkering to get all the pieces in the right place.
[Nook Touch Android Development] nmyshkin:
DON'T try this:

Turning the Nook off completely

Turning it on

As soon as you see the screen flash begin holding the bottom page turn buttons until the screen flashes with a message asking if you would like to do a reset

Press the 'n' key twice to start the reset

Changed my mind. I suspect this just wipes user data. We need to remove root and make the device recognizable to the update.

So...power up and as soon as you see the "Read Forever", press and hold the power button to cause a reboot. Repeat 7 more times. If you miss even one attempt you start over again to rack up 8 failed boots. When you reach the magic 8 you'll see the factory reset dialog.
[Nook Touch Android Development] Renate:
Huh? Why? You should be able to do an update over anything.

(It will kill the root anyway.)

The only thing AFAIK that it cares about:

getprop("ro.product.device") == "ntx_6sl" || abort("This package is for \"ntx_6sl\" devices; this is a \"" + getprop("ro.product.device") + "\".");
[Nook Touch Android Development] alexandrebe:
Thank you very much for this new version. It works perfectly:good:

I can install dropbox, mantano reader.

More than Gapps to be perfect !
[Nook Touch Android Development] winstonma:
I installed Gapps successfully.

You only need to follow this steps:

1. Download Clockworkmod Recovery(CWM) and install CWM on empty SD card

2. Download Gapps for CM5, which is for Android 2.1

3. Enter recovery and install Gapps

4. Reboot system

5. Login using Youtube

Now I can use Google Drive, which requires Google Login. However I can't use Market
[Nook Touch Android Development] remlap:
Where did you download the gapps from?
[Nook Touch Android Development] erreur404:
not work for me. can you share your ZIP file please ?

Envoyé depuis mon GT-N7100 avec Tapatalk
[Nook Touch Android Development] winstonma:
http://108.166.171.36/goodata/3dde0...0cca9bc/gapps/gapps-passion-EPE54B-signed.zip

But the build-in youtube app doesn't work. You need to grab the GlowNooter zip file, get the Youtube app out of the zip file. Then install the Youtube using adb push.
[Nook Touch Android Development] hansrolo:
CWM won't install this, saying it's using a script command that Google depreciated in Android 1.5.

Is this the right link?
[Nook Touch Android Development] erreur404:
same problem

Envoyé depuis mon GT-N7100 avec Tapatalk
[Nook Touch Android Development] winstonma:
Sorry actually I assume CWM works.

But you know what? I just extract the zip file and use adb push to put all files in Nook

EDIT: If B&N Apps is being disabled, you won't be able to use GMail.
[Nook Touch Android Development] David0226:
Jeff,

Thanks again for this. I install the latest version yesterday and am now able to install apps without using adb.

There seem to be quite a few requests asking for gapps to be added this rooting method. I would like to give my $0.02. I appreciate a rooting method that does NOT include the gapps. I want more control of my NST but I don't want to turn it into a tablet. So, my request is that if gapps is added that it be added as an option and not included by default.

Thanks for your consideration.

-David
[Nook Touch Android Development] winstonma:
I partially agree with you. It would be great if there is an option on the NookManager menu.