rooting - Root Nook Color without removing Nook OS

I have a Nook Color 1.3.0 and a Mac OS X computer. I have a microSD card with ClockworkMod and such for installing the Android OS, but I would like a solution that would allow me to root so that I don't need Honeycomb or ClockworkMod to install and run things from the Market. At the very least a terminal emulator would do. Can anybody help me out?

Answer

It sounds to me like you want to keep a rooted version of the nook OS (which will have to be rebooted to run non-BN apps) (quoted from the cyanogenmod wiki)

Prior to rooting the Barnes & Noble Nook Color, it is recommend you register it with the Barnes & Noble.

Setting up uNooter

In order to properly flash an uNooter image to a SD card, you will need to use an USB card adapter or have an internal SD card slot on the computer. Writing the uNooter image to the SD card will wipe it, backup anything of value and/or importance elsewhere.

1. Download the uNooter image:
   
   


2. Unzip the uNooter zipfile.


3. Write the uNooter image to the SD card:

Windows

1. Due to Windows not having the ability to write images to drives, you will need win32DiskImager to accomplish this. Latest version should be fine. http://launchpad.net/win32-image-writer/+download



2. Insert the SD card you are going to use to write the uNooter image to.


3. Open win32DiskImager.


4. Select the downloaded & extracted uNooter image with the folder button.


5. Select the drive letter for the SD card.


6. Write the uNooter image.

Linux

1. Insert the SD card you are going to use to write the uNooter image to.


2. On the computer, open up terminal and navigate the directory where the extracted uNooter image is located.



3. Once in the same directory as the uNooter image, type the following commands: umount /dev/ NOTE: is the device file associated with the SD card, e.g., sdc or mmcblk0, and NOT the mount point, e.g., sdc1 or mmcblk0p1. dd if=uNooter.img of=/dev/ bs=1M

Mac OS X

1. Insert the SD card you are going to use to write the uNooter image to.


2. On the computer, open up terminal and navigate the directory where the extracted uNooter image is located.


3. Once in the same directory as the uNooter image, type the following commands: diskutil list NOTE: This will help you identify the SD card. Make sure it is the SD card & not one of the hard drives of the computer. diskutil unmountDisk /dev/ NOTE: is the device file associated with the SD card, e.g. disk2. dd if=uNooter.img of=/dev/ bs=1m


4. The uNooter image is now setup on the SD card. Continue to the next section.

Gaining Root Access

1. Power off the Barnes & Noble Nook Color. Also if the device is connected to a computer, disconnect it.


2. Insert the newly setup uNooter SD card into the Barnes & Noble Nook Color.


3. Connect the Barnes & Noble Nook Color to the computer. This will trigger the Barnes & Noble Nook Color to power on (the screen will remain off) and allow uNooter to root the device. This screen is black for up to ten minutes.


4. The computer will see a new USB device.
   
   
   
   • Windows: The computer may complain about missing drivers. Simply cancel through them at this time.
   
   
   • Linux: The Barnes & Noble Nook Color will show up the computer as a RNDIS ethernet device. You may ignore this.
   
   
   • Mac OS X: The Barnes & Noble Nook Color will show up as an additional Ethernet device. Just cancel when you see the dialog box pop up.
   
   
   
   
   


5. Once this occurs, disconnect the Barnes & Noble Nook Color from the computer. The Barnes & Noble Nook Color may restart itself. If it restarts normal, continue to the next step. If it does not, power it off, remove the SD card & power it back on normal.


6. At this point the Barnes & Noble Nook Color is rooted.

Two notes from my experience:

1. Use a small SD card, as you will not be able to reuse it.


2. I recommend going to the cyanogenmod wiki, setting up ClockwordMod, and installing Google Apps, as this will not activate adb. Sorry, not enough reputation to post the link.