A couple weeks ago Barnes and Noble released an 8GB Nook Tablet for $199 to go along with the original 16GB Nook Tablet for $249.
It turns out that rooting an 8GB Nook Tablet doesn’t work with the same method as the original Nook Tablet—it’s a good way to brick it, though—because the process is setup for a 16GB Nook only. The good news is there’s now an easy method to root an 8GB Nook Tablet too, thanks to the developers at XDA, notably jichuan89.
The complete directions for rooting an 8GB Nook Tablet and adding the Android Market and Google apps can be found on this thread at XDA.
Basically you just need to burn an image onto a microSD card and then insert it into a powered-off 8GB Nook Tablet, then turn it on and give it a couple of minutes—that’s it. You’ve now got a rooted Nook Tablet with the Android Market, which grants access to several million more apps than are available through Barnes and Noble’s Nook appstore.
Although it voids the Nook’s warranty, rooting also opens up access to files normally hidden to the user so you have more control over your tablet and what apps can be installed and what you can do with it. Rooting opens up the possibility of installing ROMs for alternate versions of Android such as CM7 for Android 2.3 and CM9 for Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. Last week I posted a review and install guide for CM7 on the Nook Tablet and it runs exceptionally well. Just make sure to use packages made for the 8GB Nook Tablet if you decide to try ROMs.
DOes this work on a tablet running sware version 1.4.2 ?
Yes it works for 1.4.2.
How about 1.4.3?
If install android market on my nook 8gb, am I still gonna be able to use netflix and hulu plus that came with it? It’s HD, I’d hate to loose the image quality…
one more thing, if the rooting doesn’t work, and I gonna damage the nook? I read that not everybody has been successful rooting it…
Thanks!
Nathan,
Your first sentence throws me…
I bought my wife the Nook Color for her birthday 11 months ago – April 25, 2011. What throws me is that it’s an 8GB model, about a year old, but you say they just came out a few weeks ago (Feb 2012?).
(under “other storage available” it says, “4.73GB free of 5.00GB”)
Am I reading something wrong?
I want to root this puppy, but now I’m hesitant…
This is for the Nook Tablet, not the Nook Color. You might as well just run CM7 for Android 2.3 or CM9 for Android 4.0 off a memory card with the Nook Color and keep the stock OS unaffected. Rooting directions for it can be found at XDA; mine are terribly dated by this time.
Ok so I rooted the nt, followed all the instructions, and I can access the Android market from the web browser, but How do I download apps from it to my device, it just wants to download to my phone since its the only device registered in the market, and I cant get it to register the nook…
You have to use the Android Market app, or Play Store, not the web browser.
ok so how do I get one of those cause i cant figure it out?
I’m not familiar with this method so I don’t know the particulars but you should be able to use the search feature to find the new added apps, including the Market app.
I successfully burn the imgage file onto a micro sd card of Mac. Once i put it on my nook tablet, nothing happened when i turned it on…..it booted like normal.. idk what im doing wrong? Please let me know.
What happens to the Nook books and other apps that I already have downloaded in my tablet? Would they be still accessible after I root it to run CM7?
Not from CM7 because it is an entirely different operating system. If you root it they are still accessible and if you run CM7 off a memory card you can take the card out to access the Nook’s regular features. From CM7 you can install the Nook Android app to access Nook books but Nook apps can only be accessed from the stock operating system.
Questions on rooting nook tablet.
1. If I run your script and root the nook tablet, do I loose the functionality of being able to read books at B&N for free for an hr a day?
2. If so is there a way to get the best of both worlds by having it rooted and running that way from an SD chip, so when I go into B&N I can have the functionality of reading the books in store?
3. Burned the chip now on a 32gb microSD chip using the win32 tool. Got the box and waited 5 minutes, popped the chip out and still dont see the apps you noted, so not sure I am rooted yet. Going to try again and let it sit longer.
NM RTFM on my part. You have to follow the directions of going into search and then pulling up the app manually. So far so good. Now to get the “n” to always return me to the go launcher. Even set it as default and it keeps cycling me back to B&N launcher, but still tinkering.
julez, you ever figure out anything on the ‘n’ button? Am having same problem with go launcher. Everything else works fine and as advertised _ thank you, Nathan