Installing CM10.0 (standard Android) on a Nook HD+

The Nook HD+ is a great tablet with good battery life and a fantastic screen. Barnes & Noble’s walled garden firmware is even okay (if a little lacking in apps) but you can have the best of both worlds and dual boot into a more standard version of Android without modifying your tablet.

To do this you need a micro SD card (4G or larger), and a bit of patience.

This guide is not particularly original but I have tried to write it in a manner that anyone can follow. Props go to xda-developer VeryGreen since it is his methodolgy, work and general skill that make this possible. I’ve switched the image burning software from his guide to something that actually works for me but the rest of this is actually pretty much his guide from here. Hopefully this is a little more user friendly but I do not intend updating this, so be warned.

Step 1

First of all you need a 4gig micro SD card and the means to plug it into your PC.

Step 2

Download Roadkil’s Disk Image Writer v1.6 from here and install it.

Step 3

Download these files:

sdcard-cwm-early4.img.gz (unzip this)

cm-10-20121231-UNOFFICIAL-ovation.zip (don’t unzip this)

http://goo.im/gapps/gapps-jb-20121011-signed.zip (don’t unzip this)

Step 4

Fire up Mr Roadkil’s Disk Image programme. Select your SD card and browse to where you have unzipped sdcard-cwm-early4.img and select it.

You have now created a bootable SD card with something called the Clockwork Mod recovery on it.

Step 5

Pop the micro SD card in your Nook HD+ and turn it on. It should now boot into CMW. Go to “mounts and storage”, choose “mount /sdcard”. Press power button to go back to the main menu.

Step 6

Turn off the nook at this stage and put the micro SD card back in your PC. Copy the zip files called cm-10-20121231-UNOFFICIAL-ovation.zip and gapps-jb-20121011-signed.zip to volume named “CM10SDCARD”. These two zip files are the Android operating system and the Google Apps (Play store, etc) that are going to be installed onto your Nook HD+’s micro SD card.

Step 7

Insert the micro SD card back into your Nook HD+ and turn it on. Again it should boot to CWM. From the menu use the volume +/- buttons to select “install zip from sdcard”, and then “Choose zip from sdcard” (the power button is select). Pick cm-10-20121231-UNOFFICIAL-ovation.zip and let it run. You should see the Android with it’s internal compartment open as it installs Android. Once it has installed, navigate back to gapps-jb-20121011-signed.zip and install this.

Step 8

Reboot. You should now be in the CM10 version of Android, with the Play Store available along with all the other goodies that B&N don’t want you to have.

Step 9

To return to the stock operating system (and any of your B&N purchases) simply turn the NOOK HD+ off and remove the micro SD card. When you turn it back on, everything should be back to “normal”.

This entry was posted in Technology. Bookmark the permalink.