Android forum: E-book reader: To root or not to root?

I purchased a Novel after reading the reviews and blogs about rooting. My intention was to root the device, however Pandigital upgraded the software just prior to my purchase and I decided there was no need to root it since it now does everything I wanted it to do. As for the nook, my wife has one and you can root that device using the removable memory chip leaving the original OS in place. I take the chip out and it's a Nook, put the chip in and it's rooted. Once I completed the process I discovered all the fun was gone.

The moral of the story is, if you simply need to have something that rooting will let you do fine, but I found it's a few hours of work (rooting plus fooling about) that in the long run got me nothing in return.

I get that you are wondering what apps etc would make modifying your novel reader worthwhile. I do agree that unless you are tech oriented, rooting for the sake of doing so may not be worthwhile. Since my wife has this exact reader and I have done 2 different software roots on it I can say it is worth doing simply to keep it current for the next few years. The factory mod allows you to keep an eye on any apps and capabilities not only now, but in the future. We can never guess which app may be YOUR killer app and the ones we use may be useless to you . But with the droid app store available you may find yours next month if not today since so many new ones are created weekly. As an example I found an app I never knew existed and did something I needed for a long time. I have a small business and needed to take credit cards once in a while but not worth the cost at bank to take them. An app called Square fixed that for free. I loaded it in the rooted pandigital Novel and can now take cards via that app for tiny % of charge and no monthly cost. That alone actually will pay for the whole reader. What I am saying is just becuase you dont know today a specific app doesnt mean its not there or wont be! Go for it.

What the hell are you talking about Root ?>????

Aren't you reading ?

I rooted my wife's Nook color and with it rooted, it is a functional android tablet on a 32 gb card.
You can download netflix, amazon kindle as well as the BN nook app.
Easy to do and reversible - you have a boot menu option.
No downside IMHO

If you're willing to, or so inclined "dual boot" (Not the SD card method) is another option. I bought both my kids Nook Colors and spent some time on XDA forums reading about dual boot without having to use the SD Card option. I rooted, no problem, or cares about a warranty as you can reflash to factory if necessary. I did have to repartiion memory allocations beforehand, but in the end the result was 2 Nook Colors that would boot directly into CM7 with the push of the power button, or boot into the Nook Color partition with a push of Power + Volume keys. It's cool because it gives the kids options and the ability to use the "nook book" features when wanted, or just use what amounts to an Android device otherwise. The SD card route may work for the masses, but this one worked if you're willing to spend some time and are so inclined, as I am. A major benefit I saw right off the bat is android mkt apps prices vs. B&N Prices. Angry Birds on B&N $2.99 (are you kidding me?) It's free on most other platforms, including the mkt, via CM7. Kids love the ability to d-load and enjoy apps like they would on a phone w/o having to touch mine .

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Hi Mark,

While I can't speak to your Pandigital tablet, I can offer
some input regarding your friend's Nook Color.

I also was motivated about 6 weeks ago by the resident CNET Cheapskate Rick Broida to purchase a
refurb'd Nook Color for $119 at the Barnes & Noble ebay
store.


Similar to user "corkypad" below, I am now using the Nook Color (NC)
as an Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) tablet. The Android image is from
Cyanogenmod (CM7) running on a $10 Sandisk 8GB Class 4 micro SD card inserted
in the NC. As "corkypad" highlighted, the Sandisk brand of SD card seems
to yield the best results.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> Additionally, as a previous poster said, this is not rooting the device
and if I need to revert back to the out-of-box Nook image, I just unmount and
remove the sd card and reboot the device.


This device has exceeded my expectations and performs way better than I had
expected.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> It has quickly become my
favorite gadget.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> Naturally, it won't
replace my PC, but I do find it in my hands quite a bit - mostly playing games,
checking email, checking sports scores and a little web surfing.



As to your question of why bother doing a full Android
conversion...

In my opinion, the main advantage of using a full Android OS
versus the "minimized" Android OS's that come on devices such as the Nook
Color, Nook Color Tablet, Pandigital Novel, Amazon Fire, etc - is that you are
not limiting yourself to the content and apps that the manufacturer wants to
expose you to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> By running the full
Android image, you can customize the device to your individual needs and you
have access to the thousands and thousands of apps on the Android Market or at
getjar.com.

If you don't need front facing cameras, rear facing cameras
and a plethora of ports, with a minimal investment, a refurb'd Nook Color
converted to a full Android tablet can be an inexpensive entry into the over crowded, over priced tablet
world.

You can buy the Cyanogenmod imaged SD cards on eBay or if you're adventurous you can create the card yourself.
I was able to create the imaged SD card using these
excellent instructions that I happened to stumble upon. In addition to the text instruction, the blogger created step by step videos. She outlines everything that you need.

http://www.anamardoll.com/2011/07/ereader-running-cm7-on-nook-color-from.html



Good luck and have fun with your devices.

I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. "Root" can mean to hack into the root account of a Unix/Linux computer (similar to "Administrator" in Windows). Is that even close?

I'm not going to claim to be an expert but I do have experience with rooting. I've rooted several phones and there are multiple reasons why you should do it. First off you get the experience of learning more about your device and finding out what it is really capable of doing. Is there risk in Rooting any device? Sure there is. Most of the manufacturers are starting to embrace those who root because this is how Google developed the software. They released the software as "Open Source" because they want to encourage the further development of the software. At first the Manufacturers locked down the boot sector (Essentially the O.S), thinking this would prevent people from jailbreaking (iPhone term for rooting) their phones or other devices. But they soon found out that there are a lot of technologically inclined people out there, who were fully capable of cracking them. Not to mention it can benefit the manufacturer; because, a lot of them can develop or find fixes faster then they can. Plus its free development.. There are several reasons and benefits to rooting any device. You can strip un-needed software (Bloatware), customize the device (Change out the ROM, tweak the performance, increase battery life, over-clock) and tailor it to how you want it to look. One last thing about Rooting your device. You can get Newer versions of Android; or for that matter get Android (in the instance of the HP Touchpad [Web O.S.]) loaded on the device. Some of the devices will never be updated by the manufacturer after a certain OS level. Also unlike the iPhone you don't have to go buy new Hardware every time there is a newer release of the software. Some are using phones several years old with the latest version of the software or a stripped down version of it.

Now don't get me wrong there is an inherent risk that comes with Rooting as well. You can "Brick" or damage your device. Though the damage to your device is mainly software related. Very rarely does it do processor damage. But it can happen if you don't pay attention. The main thing I can tell you is that if you do make the jump to Rooting your device. Make sure you do the research and Follow the directions completely. I know the guys at XDA-Developers (No Offense CNET or Rick Broida) have literally rooted just about every device out there. Most of the sites you find on Rooting a device in some form or fashion pull from these guys and their expertise. When it comes to changing the ROM (ie OS) you may find ROMS with bugs. This is because ROM's are still in their building stages or because drivers may not be completely up to date. This is not necessarily the fault of the developer either. Manufacturers will release devices as you know that have bugs to begin with.

Best advice I can give is to read up on the advantages of rooting your particular device and decide from there if Rooting is for you. As others have said, Make sure you follow the directions for YOUR EXACT device. Do not do it if you are unsure if the directions are for your device. Keep searching to make sure you have the right one. Also don't be afraid to ask questions either. Most of those who have rooted a particular device will be happy to answer questions or provide answers to problems you may see.. As there are lots like you who have taken the plunge and have probably run across the same types of issues.

Good Luck!!!

Here in Australia this is a rhetorical question as root is slang for sexual intercourse.
Thus there is much chuckling when reading the responses threads with this interpretation

A tangential reference to a Kindle Fire poked a toe in the door for my segue into rooting this e-reader. I bought my Kindle Fire last month in order to see what sort of unit was offered for the $199 price, and I like it. I won't extoll its virtues here, which are many, but will point out two shortcomings: 1) no external memory card; and 2) no access to the Android Market. For many these 'design features' won't be a problem, but my desire to preserve my customization and configuration of my computers and devices, driven by many years of primary hard drive failures on many machines--I still run 'seti@home' on multiple machines and have hosted my own personal weather station on the internet for the past decade--puts me on the defensive. If available I prefer complete backup and restore capability such as offered by the likes of Titanium Backup. This program requires rooting in order to work its magic. Moreover, a backup program without access to external storage is worthless in case of a system failure and subsequent loss of all local storage. Here's where Dropbox comes in. Titanium Backup will back up to Dropbox via the Kindle's wi-fi connection, and in this way curcumvents the missing SD storage capability of the Kindle Fire. And you can't get Titanium Backup on the Amazon Appstore, so you need to root to get access to it on the Android Market.

The how's of rooting are easily explored via web search engines. If you want to root your device read all about how to do it before you proceed. It isn't that difficult, but there are pitfalls along the way that can leave you with a 'bricked' device recovery from which requires patience plus a lot more learning about the Android SDK (Software Development Kit), which is an essential ingredient for any rooting adventure (or misadventure).

I always thing about rooting.. But to tell you the truth.. I'm just afraid I'll screw something up and end up with a device that no longer works. If I could find a step by step instruction for doing it.. I'd root in a minute.

I would say NOT unless there is an absolutely compelling reason why you should.<span>

<span>Motorola were a little slow to release the operating system updates for the 3G version of the Xoom in the UK so I decided to root it. BIG MISTAKE. I ended up almost turning my Xoom into a brick. When I did get it working with the Root, Motorola released the update and because my Xoom was no longer running the old OS, the update would not run. In the end I ended up having to send my Xoom to the good people at Motorola and have it wiped and re-set. Which they did brilliantly. Thank you, good people of Motorola.
<span>

<span>On the other hand ... I wanted to change phone company for my iPhone and for some reason I still don't understand, it could not be unlocked from the UK mobile phone company I'd registered with. The only way around the problem was to root the iPhone. The process was very difficult and took about 3 days to accomplish properly. As with Xoom the iphone no longer accepts updates from Apple. I thing the OS it is running is 4.1 instead of the version 5.1 which seems to be the current release.
<span>

<span>So the meaning of my tale is: don't do it unless you really really really have to. And you have some hours/days to spare. And you accept that you could totally destroy your wife's device. And you don't want any more updates from the manufacturer.

If it's it's a 7" Pandigital Novel, there's update software available for free from the manufacturer's web site and it worked flawlessly for me, changing it from reader to Android 2.3 tablet. One disclaimer, don't use the instructions provided on the web site! Call customer service (which may take a long while on hold) and get them to send you correct instructions. Expect long pauses in the process - Like "go off and leave and come back later" kind of pauses. Unit will need to restart several times during the process. I have not attempted to do a great deal with it but at what little I've tried to do - it's worked flawlessly for web access, facebooking, email and more after and a great many more apps available and you can access the Amazon appstore - but it's still not a Google recognized/supported device - so I don't THINK you can access that one. My one noted disappointment - the infamous Angry Birds won't play. You get the music and only a portion of the graphics.

I don't have an E-book reader, I do have a viewsonic G Tablet. I rooted it to Cyanogen 7 to try the OS out. I have to say it was super fast. But, I could not get Kindle software uploaded and running on it. It wanted to use a cellphone number instead of allowing me to use internet access with my on board wireless card. I was disheartened and fortunately since I had backed up my OS with Clockwork it was a breeze to back up to my original OS so all my settings and apps were still there.

There is a lot of interest in rooting the Nook and the Kindle Fire. You can read the forums for Android users, just google it. What I found was that I wasn't as unhappy with my Tabs Os as I thought I was Perhaps the important-question should be, what do you want your E_book reader to do that it doesn't do now? One caveat for you will be that though there are many working on the roots for these E-book readers they know what they are doing. Most of the roots are beta so it is something to consider.

I think it's great that the forums and groups are giving us these options, I am an end user and wanted my Tab mostly as an E-book reader. I will tell you stock out of the box I can view videos off youtube with droid youtube downloader. C-Net panned the Viewsonic G tablet as one of the 10 worst tabs of 2011. I've had mine since May of 2011 and I still can't figure out why they said that? It was one of very few tabs that had 16 gb on board membory a micro sd slot, a usb slot and a micro usb slot. I got a 32 gig micro sd card which added to my usable memory. Perhaps consider purchasing one on ebay used, I've seen them for $150.00. Good luck with your root interest.