Nook Simple Touch - a cheap hackable e-reader

Non Joggler related discussion.
gegs
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Re: Nook Simple Touch - a cheap hackable e-reader

Post by gegs »

Leonardo wrote:
gegs wrote:
Leonardo wrote:...The best for me is to have the possibility to zoom!
Hi Leonardo, you mention that you were reading comics in an earlier post - Do want to zoom into comic panels or do you want to increase text sizes for books? I
Hi Gegs, I mean zooming the PDF not only the text size. Pdfs I have are only comics scans, so they are jpg or whatever later transformed in a pdf.
AFAICS tapping on the display (non rooted version) doesn't do anything (just opens the bottom menu with contents, find, go to, text and more), but no way at the moment to zoom a image.
As I said at the moment I'm using the default viewer and not others, did you install "Perfect Viewer" on a rooted device or you were able to install on the original rom?
Thanks, Leo
As I said earlier, I'm still rooted. There's no way (AFAIK) to install another reader on an un-rooted Nook; all my observations about Perfect Viewer etc. are on a rooted Nook.

Useful steps for a good rooted Nook experience:

1) Root your Nook using Nook Manager

2) Install NTGAppsAttack using the instructions here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthr ... ?t=2086582

3) Use SearchMarket to find and install the following apps:
  • No Frills CPU Control - to underclock or overclock the Nook. Set Governor to "ondemand" and I/O scheduler to "noop".
  • Button Savior - This creates a collapsible row of buttons on the right of the screen with a "home" icon that allows you to choose any other launchers.
  • ADW Launcher - a great and easy to understand launcher for those familiar with Android. The apps screen is reachable by touching the bottom icon on the home screen of ADW Launcher (six squares within a circle). This is MUCH faster than ReLaunch and can be activated by opening the row of Button Savior icons, clicking the home icon (in Button Savior) and choosing ADW Launcher from the list of installed launchers. It will probably appear as a selectable launcher each time you boot, but you'll need to use Button Savior to launch it thereafter, if switching from the B&N screen for example, or launch it as an app from ReLaunch.
  • FX File Explorer and the FX File Explorer root addon. After installing these you will be able to mount the /system/app folder as read/write and can rename TelephonyProvider.apk to TelephonyProvider.old and Phone.apk to Phone.old. These use a huge amount of power keeping the Nook in phone standby - even though it can't be used as a phone.
  • Dropbox - this allows you to save files to your Dropbox account, access and install them on your Nook without attaching cables. You can also save ePubs directly from Project Gutenberg to your Dropbox account by clicking on the Dropbox icon on PG and authorising the upload the first time you do it. Selecting the file in Dropbox on your Nook will automatically download it to the /My Files/Books folder on the SD card and add it to the library.
  • Forums are full of people who have trouble reading PDFs on the Nook. The best PDF reader I've found is APV PDF Viewer Pro. You can easily lock it to landscape or portrait. There are 3 semi-transparent zoom buttons at the bottom of the screen when viewing PDFs - Zoom in, Zoom out and a middle button that fits page to screen width. It sounds just like the app you want.
Most of my comic scans are in CBR and CBZ format and these are usually better read with a comic reading app like Perfect Viewer, although this is down to personal preference. There are PDF to CBR conversion tools available if you'd like to give it a go. CBR files are folders containing scanned pages as jpegs and saved as a RAR archive; CBZ files are the same but saved as a ZIP archive.
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Leonardo
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Re: Nook Simple Touch - a cheap hackable e-reader

Post by Leonardo »

LOL I did it too slow and now I'm stucked :D
I had the famous "server error" I uninstalled Market but I cannot re-run the Android registration like described on the XDA tutorial... no way to reach point 14... I'm little bit confused :D
gegs
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Re: Nook Simple Touch - a cheap hackable e-reader

Post by gegs »

Leonardo wrote:LOL I did it too slow and now I'm stucked :D
I had the famous "server error" I uninstalled Market but I cannot re-run the Android registration like described on the XDA tutorial... no way to reach point 14... I'm little bit confused :D
Gulp! I hope you can get it fixed. I suppose I'm lucky that it worked first time for me. Would a restore and a re-root work?
gegs
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Re: Nook Simple Touch - a cheap hackable e-reader

Post by gegs »

For those worried about battery life (aren't we all?) on their rooted Nook, I've read that there's a bug that causes increased power loss if you use the power or Nook button - the inverted U - to put it to sleep. It's advised to change the screensaver timeout to 2 minutes and let the Nook go to sleep itself.
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Leonardo
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Re: Nook Simple Touch - a cheap hackable e-reader

Post by Leonardo »

Got it! After a lot of tries I was able to register device... not that user friendly but now I have Search Market too :)
Thanks for tips!
Cheers, Leo
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hawsey
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Re: Nook Simple Touch - a cheap hackable e-reader

Post by hawsey »

Cheers for all the tips Gegs :-)

First of all I picked up a little clip on ereader light from Poundland for , yes you guessed it a whole pound , to stop having to disturb my good lady with the bedside lamp, quite surprising how sturdy it looks and it works fine too .

I have still not worked out the Kindle app as I have some mobi books I would like to read , just not working well for me , has anyone had any luck?

Is search market on the play store ? not sure where to look for it lol

Off to bed now to read Inferno on my little nook :grin::grin::grin:
Happy Joggling
gegs
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Re: Nook Simple Touch - a cheap hackable e-reader

Post by gegs »

Yes, SearhMarket is on the Play Store. If you've managed to register your Nook as a device with Google, it should show up as a device called 'phone' when you log in on the website. You can push SearchMarket to the Nook from there. You can push other apps to the Nook from your computer but installing SearchMarket makes it more convenient. Instructions on registering and installing are on the NGTAppsAttack page on the xda-devs site.

With regard to the Kindle app, it works well on my Nook but I only have Kindle books, no .mobi or .lit files. I've posted a link to a working version of the Kobo app somewhere on this thread. It also supports .mobi I believe.
Last edited by gegs on Wed Jul 10, 2013 8:06 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Leonardo
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Re: Nook Simple Touch - a cheap hackable e-reader

Post by Leonardo »

Gegs, about PDF reader I installed "PDF Reader by Ivan Ivanenko" it's really good and light, with progressive zoom factor and very useable!
Cheers Leo
ilovemyjoggler
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Re: Nook Simple Touch - a cheap hackable e-reader

Post by ilovemyjoggler »

hawsey wrote:I have still not worked out the Kindle app as I have some mobi books I would like to read , just not working well for me , has anyone had any luck?
Hawsey, Coolreader (free on google's playstore) allows you to read mobi books, so if yours are DRM Free you should be able to hook up your nook to your pc, copy them over and away you go.

Kindle app: try installing this modified version.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthr ... ?t=2024062
gegs
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Re: Nook Simple Touch - a cheap hackable e-reader

Post by gegs »

Leonardo wrote:Gegs, about PDF reader I installed "PDF Reader by Ivan Ivanenko" it's really good and light, with progressive zoom factor and very useable!
Cheers Leo
Thanks, I'll check that out later today. I'm glad you've found your rooted Nook useful. I can't believe how much this little device can do; it's not a power-house tablet computer but, considering it is only meant to be a simple ebook reader, it's pretty good nonetheless.

@ilovemyjoggler - you beat me to the punch with the modified Kindle app link. Having tried the official version, I can confirm that the modified one is cleaner, crisper and easier to navigate on an e-ink device.

A tip on the NoRefresh hack - it's supposed to activate automatically with scrolling when active - and you're not supposed to need the multi-tap activation/deactivation switch anymore. I found that it would switch itself off and on arbitrarily, so I've set the multi-tap switch on in the settings and set it to 3 taps. I found it easier to control this way and page transitions are nicer, especially when running 3rd party reader apps. Because the hack works by minimising the colour gamut to 1 bit (b/w only, no shades of grey) there is a price to be paid with font-smoothing; anti-aliasing is no more but I find it perfectly legible and a much smoother reading experience with most readers. It's easily switched off again when needed or if you don't like it.

--EDIT-- The NoRefresh hack for 1.2.x firmwares is beta, which probably explains why it doesn't always work automatically when scrolling and why it switches off for no reason, even with whitelisted apps.
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Leonardo
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Re: Nook Simple Touch - a cheap hackable e-reader

Post by Leonardo »

Sometimes I think about the evolution we are whitness of... When I was a child I had the dream to have a computer, inspired by science fiction movies, talking computers, home automations, computes so little to be weared or kept in a pocket... In the 70's It was REALLY science fiction... But just few days ago, following Gegs' post about Nook, I was in my terrace, reading a comic on this device... I felt the sensation to be young again and living my dream! Our lives are really changed thanks to the technology process we are so lucky to touch every days!
Cheers, Leo
gegs
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Re: Nook Simple Touch - a cheap hackable e-reader

Post by gegs »

I feel the same, and tech is useful for things decidedly un-techy too. At weekends I use my Android phone to check the tides to see if it's worth the drive to take my family and dog to the lovely beaches of East Lothian. If the tide's in, we'll go for a woodland walk instead. Every time I do this I marvel at how technology can help with ordinary life; the things we'd do (but maybe not so well) without technology - like going for a walk or keeping in touch with friends.
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dwl99
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Re: Nook Simple Touch - a cheap hackable e-reader

Post by dwl99 »

gegs wrote:I feel the same, and tech is useful for things decidedly un-techy too. At weekends I use my Android phone to check the tides to see if it's worth the drive to take my family and dog to the lovely beaches of East Lothian. If the tide's in, we'll go for a woodland walk instead. Every time I do this I marvel at how technology can help with ordinary life; the things we'd do (but maybe not so well) without technology - like going for a walk or keeping in touch with friends.
Does your phone have a Geiger counter app? :lol:
gegs
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Re: Nook Simple Touch - a cheap hackable e-reader

Post by gegs »

Having been aboard nuclear submarines, East Lothian beaches are the least of my worries.
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Leonardo
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Re: Nook Simple Touch - a cheap hackable e-reader

Post by Leonardo »

LOL :D
Coming back to serious discussions, I tried to rename phone apps but I were not able. I used tools of FX to remount in RW the filesystem but renaming the files I have an error that says not possible to rename (before remounting in RW I had the read only file system error). Are these files "in use" do I have to kill something before renaming?
Thanks, Leo
jimeney
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Re: Nook Simple Touch - a cheap hackable e-reader

Post by jimeney »

gegs wrote:
Leonardo wrote:Gegs, about PDF reader I installed "PDF Reader by Ivan Ivanenko" it's really good and light, with progressive zoom factor and very useable!
Cheers Leo
Thanks, I'll check that out later today. I'm glad you've found your rooted Nook useful. I can't believe how much this little device can do; it's not a power-house tablet computer but, considering it is only meant to be a simple ebook reader, it's pretty good nonetheless.

@ilovemyjoggler - you beat me to the punch with the modified Kindle app link. Having tried the official version, I can confirm that the modified one is cleaner, crisper and easier to navigate on an e-ink device.

A tip on the NoRefresh hack - it's supposed to activate automatically with scrolling when active - and you're not supposed to need the multi-tap activation/deactivation switch anymore. I found that it would switch itself off and on arbitrarily, so I've set the multi-tap switch on in the settings and set it to 3 taps. I found it easier to control this way and page transitions are nicer, especially when running 3rd party reader apps. Because the hack works by minimising the colour gamut to 1 bit (b/w only, no shades of grey) there is a price to be paid with font-smoothing; anti-aliasing is no more but I find it perfectly legible and a much smoother reading experience with most readers. It's easily switched off again when needed or if you don't like it.

--EDIT-- The NoRefresh hack for 1.2.x firmwares is beta, which probably explains why it doesn't always work automatically when scrolling and why it switches off for no reason, even with whitelisted apps.
I don't know if I have the wrong version of the NoRefresh hack, but I can't seem to get the service to start. The app seems to force quit every time I try to enable it. What version do you have, can you post a link (or the APK?)
gegs
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Re: Nook Simple Touch - a cheap hackable e-reader

Post by gegs »

The link for NoRefresh for 1.2.x firmware is available from:

https://github.com/marspeople/NoRefreshToggle/downloads

It says it's for 1.2.0 only but I have 1.2.1 and it works. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I find it better to switch it on and off according to my needs. There is an "activate when dragging" feature that didn't work all the time for me. It's supposed to minimise flashing and smearing when reading comics or PDFs, returning to full quality when the drag stops. This feature also meant that when reading text there was a screen refresh between each page (because I wasn't dragging the page, I was tapping or using the buttons). Forcing NoRefresh to 'on' means page transitions are smooth, whether dragging, tapping or button-pushing.

Remember to set the apps that you will use NoRefresh with in the whitelist.
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hawsey
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Re: Nook Simple Touch - a cheap hackable e-reader

Post by hawsey »

Thanks again for all the tips ,
now I am getting somewhere , button saviour makes thekobo reader and kindle apps sort of work as I can now get more options up , but Cool Reader is just great , it seems very easy to use and finds my .mobi files no problem it even has links to download copyright free books to the nook .
I did everything suggested but can't work out the bit to rename those non needed phone apps I have the apps downloaded and can see the folder needed but am still struggling on this one lol. :-(.
Off on holls soon , any reccomendations for a great book to read .
Happy Joggling
gegs
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Re: Nook Simple Touch - a cheap hackable e-reader

Post by gegs »

hawsey wrote:I did everything suggested but can't work out the bit to rename those non needed phone apps I have the apps downloaded and can see the folder needed but am still struggling on this one lol. :-(.
If you download FX File Explorer and the FX File Explorer root addon you should be able to do it easily. You have to choose the root file system option then navigate to the /system/app folder. Now you have to choose the tools option and click "Mount Read/Write". You'll get an "I understand the risks" dialogue box and you have to tick a box to proceed. Now you choose the file (I think it's a long press) and choose "Rename". Now you can change the file extension or file name if you wish.

There's a lot of stuff on Nook forums about this being a great way to save battery drain, others saying it makes no difference, still others saying that there is no phone functionality on the Nook and that the battery stats are phantom or false reporting. I really don't know what is true but I've changed the file names and not had any adverse effects. I haven't been using the Nook long enough to know if it's had much influence on battery consumption; I've had wi-fi on a lot to play around and download books and I think this has been a bigger battery drain than anything.

I do think that leaving the Nook to go to sleep itself after two minutes has helped though. I don't know who 'discovered' the power bug (purportedly caused by putting the Nook to sleep with the hardware buttons - not sure if it's a rooted-Nook-only problem) but there now appears to be less drain on my Nook's battery when it's idle.
Off on holls soon , any reccomendations for a great book to read .
I'm not the person to ask about good books. I read a lot of history and at the moment I'm reading 'Vita Caesaris' (commonly called 'The Twelve Caesars') by Suetonius. After that it will probably be Paul Preston's 'The Spanish Holocaust' which is a well-received book about war crimes and atrocities during the Spanish Civil War. Then it will probably be Alain de Botton's 'Religion for Atheists' which is about how secular society can learn from religion's sense of community, particularly its community support structures and ethical values - a book by an atheist, for atheists about the good points of religion (possibly a unique sub-genre). Not everyone's cup of tea I'm sure, but my reasons for buying the Nook for myself was to encourage the reading of more literature, not just my usual fact-based book choices; that may have to wait until I finish these particular dead tree and ink based volumes.
gegs
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Re: Nook Simple Touch - a cheap hackable e-reader

Post by gegs »

Leonardo wrote:LOL :D
Coming back to serious discussions, I tried to rename phone apps but I were not able. I used tools of FX to remount in RW the filesystem but renaming the files I have an error that says not possible to rename (before remounting in RW I had the read only file system error). Are these files "in use" do I have to kill something before renaming?
Thanks, Leo
Each folder has to have its permissions set separately; setting permissions on a parent folder is not recursive regarding its sub-folders. Make sure you have opened the folder with the phone apps before changing permissions to read/write.
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