How to root Nook Color 1.0.1 using Auto-Nooter 2.12.25 and higher

If you rooted your Nook Color and you got Barnes and Noble’s mandatory update and you are now at version 1.0.1, or you never rooted it but want to do it now, there is an easier way right now using Auto-Nooter, thanks to the developers from XDADevelopers where all the credit should go. Again, this method only works if you upgraded to Nook firmware version 1.0.1. To check your version, Navigate to Settings->Device Info->About Your NOOKcolor->Software version.

If you are still at the version 1.0.0. you can read our original How to root Nook Color article or you can update to 1.0.1 (recommended).

Update: If you own a Nook Touch, we just posted our Nook Touch rooting tutorial.

Now assuming that you are at version 1.0.1, let’s see what Auto-Nooter can do for you:

Auto-Nooter is a script designed to automate a number of steps for the Nook Color rooting process that makes everything faster and easier. The script will also install several utilities like Softkeys 2.0.2 and Android market. Below is the detailed list:

  • Installs su and Superuser.apk
  • Installs Busybox
  • Installs Softkeys 2.0.2
  • Installs NookColor Tools (To Enable Non-Market Installs)
  • Installs Calendar and Calculator.
  • Installs Android Market, Gmail, Youtube
  • Enable Multi-touch for Android Apps
  • Enables Live Wallpapers
  • Enables Android Market and Gmail.
  • App Auto Install (Open up NooterFiles from sdcard drop in /data/app)

If you do not have yet Nook Color firmware 1.0.1, you can manually download it from B&N website or just wait until it happens automatically.

Nook Color 1.0.1 rooting Prerequisites:

  • Your device should be registered, ideally using a GMAIL address. If you used a GMAIL address to register your device, that is the e-mail address to be used for this process.
  • Have a microSD card ready to use, at least 128MB large. I used a 4GB card without any issues.
  • You need to link your GMAIL account to your YouTube account. The process is using Android YouTube application to create a GMAIL account in your Nook Color
  • Download WinImage (if you are using Windows) or dd (if you are using Linux). For instructions about how to use WinImage to copy the image on the microSD card, read our original article about how to root Nook Color (steps 3 to 10)

OK, assuming you have everything ready, let’s get to work: Note: You cannot brick your reader using this method!!!

Step 0: Download WinImage from here (last version is fine, winima85.exe) and install it. No need for registration, the trial version will work well for 30 days and you;ll only use it once.

Step 1: Download Auto Nooter version 2-12-18 from here. Note: There might be newer versions available, however the process was tested using  Auto-Nooter version 2-12-18. The file name is auto-nooter-2-12-18.img.zip. Update: There is a new version of auto-nooter 2.12.25.img

Step 2: Extract the content (auto-nooter-2.12.18.imgg) somewhere on your hard drive. Update: There is a new version of auto-nooter 2.12.25.img

Step 3: Insert your microSD card in the PC

Step 4: Depending of what OS you are using, use the following commands:

  • Linux: dd if=auto-nooter-2-12-18.img of=/dev/sdcard
  • Windows: Use WinImage  to write the auto-nooter-2-12-18.img file on your microSD card using option “Restore Virtual Hard Disk Image”. For detailed steps, read  our original article about how to root Nook Color, steps 3 to 10 but use auto-nooter-2-12-18.img file instead of nooter_sdcard_40mb.img file.Update: There is a new version of auto-nooter 2.12.25.img

Step 5: Make sure your device’s USB cable is unplugged and turn your Nook Color off (you know, long press on power button, confirm you want to turn the device off when prompted).

Step 6: Insert the microSD card in your device and plug the USB cable again. Your NOOKcolor will reboot automatically, however the screen will remain off. That is correct, there is a special boot mode enabled by the microSD card. The USB cable LED might also blink indicating a special mode. It will take about 60-90 seconds and your computer will find a new device and try to install the driver for it. It won’t find the proper driver so you need to cancel the process.

Step 7 (lucky): NOOKColor will boot, do its magic and start displaying a new boot animation.

Step 8: After NOOKColor starts, it will be in a special mode where you need to configure it, displaying the Android Welcome Screen. Skip the Sign In and the “Learn how to use your…”, otherwise the device will hang (for some reason I felt compelled to sign in…DON’T!!!)

Step 9: Follow the steps until you get to a screen asking to Enable Location Services. Do so and enable both boxes.

Step 10: Connect to the Internet (hopefully you have wireless Internet access wherever you are performing this process)

Step 11: Navigate to Extras (where all the applications are) and start YouTube. Go to the Menu button. press it and select “My Channel”. Login using your GMAIL e-mail address (the one you paired with your YouTube account). At this point you have added your GMAIL account to your NOOKColor, a critical step in accessing Android Market.

Step 12: Launch GMAIL application (should be also in Extras), chose your account then try to sync by selecting Menu->Refresh, don’t panic if it doesn’t work, You need to try to sync though.

Step 13: Launch Android Market (also from Extras), click Accept to accept the terms and Service and you should be good to go.

Step 14: If you want to also be able to side load applications, run NookColor Tools App. At this point, you should be abpe to install /apk packages via Astro file explorer for example.

Let others know how the process went and if you were successful.

Note: If something went wrong, we just posted a tutorial to restore your Nook Color to factory state. It should help with the famous boot to blank screen problem.

  • roman

    I was not able to get the nook to boot from the SD card. I spent hours writing and re-writing the image file, but nothing works. What can I do next?

  • Jim

    Can you root it via a Mac?

  • D

    Youtube fails to launch. Please help on how to fix this problem

  • tom

    Same as roman. Hours and hours and still cant get it to book from the SD card Tried both 2.12.18 and 2.12.25 on windows with many different imaging progs. Any ideas?

  • Amos

    Having the same issue as the rest, it won’t reboot and stat from the SD card, I’ve tried both 2.12.18 and 2.12.25 and my nook is updated to 1.0.1. Anything else I can try?

  • markcisco

    something is wrong. i am having the same problems and i have tried 5 different micro sd cards

  • Amos

    Tom, Roman, markcisco I was having the same issues. The nook doesn’t auto boot when you insert your sd card. You need to power down the nook completely, then insert your sd card, then hook the usb cable back up to your computer. After doing this you need to wait about a minute and if your nook doesn’t boot you will need to hold down the power button until it comes back on at which time it will boot up from your sd card. I used 2.12.25 and can guarantee that this way works. D mine failed to launch youtube as well on the first try, but I closed it out and tried again seemed to work for me.

  • Brad

    Followed the instructions, but for some reason I cannot get the device to ‘synch automatically’ to my gmail account. Because it’s not synched I’m not able to use the android market. The screen instructions guide me to Home/Settings/Accounts and Synch, but I’m not finding Accounts and Synch. Help!

  • Brad

    Found the Email Account Settings, but every time I select Account Settings, my nook reboots.

  • Paul

    Got all the way to step 6, hooked USB cable to computer and win 7 said it did not recognize device, the Nook was off, I tried to start it but no luck, then I notice the light on the cable change, I waited and unplugged the cable and tried to restart the Nook to see what the deal was and when I did it booted into the special bootmode, talk about step 7-lucky, weird? all is working fine but just don’t understand what happened.

  • YosserHughes

    Worked great, thanks for the info.

    To those that are having problems I can only suggest patience, it can take more than 5 minutes when you first boot on from the SD card before the screen appears.

    Cheers.

  • Frank

    Followed the instructions and successfully rooted. Thank you!

    Wanted to share one problem and solution — The WinImage program threw a Access Denied error when trying to write the SD card. I dual boot my PC, so I switched to Linux and tried that option to write the card. For some reason Nook did not recognize the card after that (was not bootable). I got it to work by reformatting the card on Windows and then using Win32DiskImager from Ubuntu.

    After that, worked as advertised. Hope that helps some of you. Love this device. Expecting to love it more now with access to the Market. Thanks, again.

  • Karl Horton

    These instructions worked well for me. thankyou.

    Some notes: I used a 16G microSD card inside a Samsung Fascinate Android
    phone, because I didn’t have a reader handy, and WinImage worked fine.

    It is slightly disconcerting waiting for the boot from the SD card: for me
    I got a few USB device beeps which gave me some confidence that something
    was happening before “Welcome to the future of reading” appeared after about
    2 minutes.

  • Alex

    Could you write an article on how to customize the nook after rooting it. For example how did you get the applications to appear on the home screen? What is that application running above the nook bar (looks like it’s some sort of launcher)

    Basically i want to make my Nook look like this 10-12-05-21.png but i do not know how.

    Thank you.

  • http://www.reviewhorizon.com Sorin

    Hi Alex,

    Sure, give me a couple of days.

    As a side comment, for some reason my articles about rooting Nook Color went out of Google search results, so nobody can find them anymore…Oh well…

  • http://www.reviewhorizon.com Sorin

    Hi Alex,

    Here you go:
    http://reviewhorizon.com/2011/01/how-to-root-your-nook-color-and-transform-it-into-a-cheap-android-tablet/
    Let me know if it works for you and if you need any details.

    Thanks,

    Sorin

  • Diggs

    I followed this article on a whim yesterday and within an hour I had my nc rooted and I’m loving it. I went to the other article on the ‘finishing’ points of getting it to becoming an android tablet and that is a great article too.

  • myles

    Hi,
    I followed these steps, got through just fine. After running Gmail I decided to restart the nook to test startup time. Now the darn thing will not start. I have tried starting from the beginning again. when I hit step 6 the second time through, I get the eReader notice at bottom of screen then it blanks, the display is still powered though you can see a glow but it just hands. waited @ 20 mins, disconnected from PC and tried to restart again. Same deal. What the heck can I do now?

  • Caren

    Just did it, worked perfectly. THank you SOOO much.

  • Kevin

    myles,

    Did you try to restore your Nook to factory state and start over? Here are the step by step instructions to do that:
    1. power off your Nook Color
    2. After is powered off, Hold N button, Vol+ button and Power Button together until Nook powers back on
    3. Factory Reset dialog should show up
    4. Press Power to exit
    5. Press N (Home) button
    6. Confirm, Press Power to exit, N (Home) to continue again
    7. Press N(Home) again. If you followed the steps properly you’ll see a “Clearing Data” dialog. After it will perform everything properly the unit will reboot itself and you should have a shiny new Nook ;)

  • John

    I worked most of the evening on this. I had trouble getting the SD card properly loaded. I suspect the problem was that I have windows 7 and a 64 bit processor but eventually I was successful and works it works as advertised! Now I can read both kindle and B&N books! Thanks to your efforts.

  • Shawn

    I bought my nook on Sat and with your help rooted it on Sun.

    When I 1st started everything was fine, loaded into YouTube.

    Now, when I press the YouTube button, the screen goes black for a momnent, then reverts back to the Home screen.

    Any ideas where i’ve messed up?

    Thanks,

  • Kevin

    Shawn,

    I experienced the same problem myself. Some new apks I installed damaged my youtube installation. To fix it, you’ll need to re-install YouTube.apk and restart the Nook Color.

  • Shawn

    Thanks for the info, i’ll uninstall YouTube and re-install.

    I noticed today that the i couldn’t charge my Nook Color with a standard Micro SD cable.

    Do you have to use the Nook cable only?

    Thanks,

  • http://www.reviewhorizon.com Sorin

    Yes, if you want a fast charge. Using a normal cable will charge it, but very slow and only if your screen is turned off. The original Nook cable has extra power circuits embedded.

  • Shawn

    I see there is a Nook Color firmware update out today.

    Should I run it on my rooted NC?
    Is there anything I need to do prior to updating?

    Thanks,

  • Sorin

    Shawn,

    No, it will break the root!

  • Ann

    I have a question.
    My NookColor is not registered with a gmail account. Does this affect how it will work?

  • Anjel Liles

    The root worked great – thanks! One question…when I install apps from the Market why don’t they appear on the extras page? I can find it when I open MArket under downloads but there must be a step I missed.

  • quentin

    can anyone help with getting to adp command prompt on mac? I found a walk through and followed the steps, however, I’m having trouble figuring out how to switch the nook color to over to USB debugging. Can anyone help?

  • Matt

    Everything worked great until step 12, cant seem to sync with my account. I keep trying refresh. Also cant find where to configure “accounts&sync” settings, as it is telling me to do to turn on automatic sync…

  • scott

    I just purchased my color nook today, and it came with 1.0. I noticed that 1.1 is out, so I didn’t update before rooting it. I now have a rooted 1.0 and want to update to either 1.01 or 1.1, Is it possible to do so? If so, can someone point me to a step by step. New to Android OS

    Thanks for your help.

  • peaches

    @Anjel Liles – I had the same problem, rebooting makes them appear. I’m not sure if there is an easier way to refresh the extras page.

  • http://www.voilacustoms.com Nicole

    After thinking I had screwed up big time, I was successful. Going back to 1.0.1 from 1.1 was a big pain.

  • Jordan

    Hello. I’m using a MacBook Pro to try to do this. Using terminal, everytime I use the command “dd if=auto-nooter-2.12.25.img of=/dev/rdisk# bs=1m” with my sdcard Disk number, it says “No such file or directory” so I cannot write to any SD card that I use. What am I doing wrong?

  • Jordan

    Never mind. I got it to write to the sdcard finally. Now I put it in the nook color and plugged it in via USB, but now its been stuck on the black screen where it has the Nook n logo and says “Contains Reader Mobile technology by Adobe Systems Incorporated” at the bottom of the screen. Its been stuck at this screen for about an hour. Is it supposed to take this long?

  • dbuskirk

    A few notes on my experiences:

    I originally tried to create the bootable microSD on Linux, but never succeeded. I tried this because there are many low-level utilities on Linux which Windows doesn’t include anymore. It is also instructional to examine the structure of the disk after the image is applied. Using WinImage on XP (32) success was immediate as per the instructions. Curiously, I have been unable to see any difference between a microSD prepared on Linux and one prepared on Windows. Apparently, there is some boot-sector magic which, when it goes awry, is difficult to diagnose.

    The best way to refresh a corrupted microSD seems to be to use Linux to remove the existing partitions and then create a new partition. (Where is fdisk when you need it?) This disk can then be formatted on XP. If you have tried a few times without success, I recommended strongly that you return the disk to its original state before continuing, or you may fail not because your technique was flawed but because the disk is not in the correct state.

    I tried SanDisk and Kingston 4GB drives. I detected no difference except that Kingston was cheaper.

    I was able to load the “To-Do List” example from Meier’s “Professional Android 2 Development”. No color, no graphics, but pretty damn satisfying to see it run on my Nook Color.

  • Candy

    Help! I followed the directions to the letter….but my NC won’t reboot. I have tried several times and cannot even power it on. What do I do???

  • http://www.reviewhorizon.com RH

    Candy,

    Try to restore it following this tutorial and try again. Let us know if you were able to restore your Nook Color…

  • Candy

    I was able to restore my Nook Color. But am a little dsappointed I was unable to root. I will, however, try again. Thanks for your help! :)

  • Maureena

    I’m having the same problem as ‘Jordan’. I’ve done this three time already and get the same results. when I put in the sd card and try to start it up it stays on the nook page and even if I take out the sd card it still won’t boot up all the way. I’ve had to keep turning it on and off over and over to get it to start up but then it gives me an update and basically erases my whole nook. any advice? I’d really like to root it but not if it’s ruining the thing. Thanks! :)

  • Chelsie

    Jordan and Maureen: I had the exact same problem: it stuck on the same “n” screen. After I set it back to factory settings, I tried again and I made absolute sure to use the correct autonooter for my version of Nook and it worked just fine this second time. Try to set it back to factory settings and try again.