2012 Nook - any good?

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by badgoodDeb

Any chance this requires 3G also, while connecting to Wi-Fi? I mean, now that 3G is non-existent, might that be a problem?

Any other ideas about not liking my Wi-Fi?

I'm guessing DNSB is right, you need to upgrade the firmware for the newer TLS security.

Here's the web page (with downloads) that walks you through it.

https://help.barnesandnoble.com/hc/e...NOOK-#ManualDL

(Looks like DNSB sent you to nearly the same page. Sorry for the redundancy. If the mods want to delete this post I wouldn't mind.)

[badgoodDeb]

The Nook HD registers as READ-ONLY on a newer and an older Mac. I'm assuming it's dead, and that explains why it was on a give-away table!

I'll recycle it at Best Buy sometime soon.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by badgoodDeb

The Nook HD registers as READ-ONLY on a newer and an older Mac. I'm assuming it's dead, and that explains why it was on a give-away table!

I'll recycle it at Best Buy sometime soon.

I don't know much about Android tablets, but it seems like that should be fixable — it sounds like a permission issue. Maybe someone was trying to root it and somehow messed it up?

[gforgiraffe39935]

Did you use Android File Transfer? Android devices plugged into Mac OS require Android File Transfer to get R/W access to the drive. I know this is true for Mac OS High Sierra and beyond.

[badgoodDeb]

(Sorry — life got in the way of replying.) Ahh, I heard about Android File Transfer once, a long while back. No, I didn’t try that. I’ll try that.

Would a PC write to a Nook without needing that step? Just curious. One brother has PC, so I could ask him. But I’ll probably try the transfer app first.

[gforgiraffe39935]

Originally Posted by badgoodDeb

(Sorry — life got in the way of replying.) Ahh, I heard about Android File Transfer once, a long while back. No, I didn’t try that. I’ll try that.

Would a PC write to a Nook without needing that step? Just curious. One brother has PC, so I could ask him. But I’ll probably try the transfer app first.

On a Windows 10 PC the Nook HD+ is visible as a connected device, and you can see the drive.
On a Mac (OS 10.10+), while the Nook HD+ is visible as a volume (only 256 KB, which contains an HTML file about how to set up the NOOK device), the actual drive contents are hidden away and you need Android File Transfer to see the drive.

If you want to drag-and-drop the last security and firmware update B&N gave your NOOK, you'll need Android File Transfer on a Mac.

If using a Windows 10 PC, you can simply plug the device in and the computer will recognize the NOOK device.

I should mention that I recently bought a couple of these online and Google Services no longer connects as of July 2022. Google Support documentation states the NOOK HD and NOOK HD+ are still supported for their versions of Android, but I haven't been able to connect to any Google Services using the native B&N apps as they were from the NOOK HD and NOOK HD+ Android 4.0.4.

Some people may consider it a boon to be almost entirely Google-free in 2022.

[nmyshkin]

Originally Posted by gforgiraffe39935

I should mention that I recently bought a couple of these online and Google Services no longer connects as of July 2022. Google Support documentation states the NOOK HD and NOOK HD+ are still supported for their versions of Android, but I haven't been able to connect to any Google Services using the native B&N apps as they were from the NOOK HD and NOOK HD+ Android 4.0.4.

Some people may consider it a boon to be almost entirely Google-free in 2022.

The Google sign-in problem is something of a mystery but, hey, it's Google. I guess it's possible that the very old custom GApps package on the device (you can be sure B&N didn't update it) can't negotiate the recently mandatory 2-factor verification now required for all account sign-ins.

IMO, the hardware is wasted on the stock OS. People who are big fans of the HD (and HD+) love the screen, not the crippleware Android system. The colors are exceptionally vivid and the images gorgeous. It's a waste as a reader.

Back in the day when my husband bought his, he wasn't interested in any of the "cool" stuff I was learning to do with an old Nook Tablet I had picked up. You could side-load apps on the HD, so he was content for awhile. He loved being able to use the HDMI out to pick up where he left off on a movie when changing from his workroom downstairs to the living room.

And then...he kept running out of space. So much bloatware on the device (not B&N system stuff, just junk apps) and no way to get rid of it. He eventually let me root it so we could (hopefully) get rid of some of that stuff. And that worked. For awhile.

Any time the device was connected to WiFi. B&N would begin replacing all the stuff we'd deleted. None of the "schemes" people had devised to prevent this worked. Finally, finally he accepted the fact that if he wanted a usable tablet (for the way he used it), it would need a custom ROM.

I initially flashed CM12 and then eventually CM13 (Marshmallow) with GApps. The tablet was an actual device, finally, one that he could arrange the way he wanted.

I recently revisited the old HD (he has since moved on to another tablet) and redid it without GApps. I used microG instead. The old hardware sings. Oh, there may be faster devices out there, but that screen......

[gforgiraffe39935]

Originally Posted by nmyshkin

I initially flashed CM12 and then eventually CM13 (Marshmallow) with GApps. The tablet was an actual device, finally, one that he could arrange the way he wanted.

I recently revisited the old HD (he has since moved on to another tablet) and redid it without GApps. I used microG instead. The old hardware sings. Oh, there may be faster devices out there, but that screen......

I did CM12 (Android 7) and it causes the HD+ to get quite hot and laggy. I had used the same CM12 in 2021 and it wasn't nearly as bad. Not sure what the issue is. I got a Lenovo m10 3rd gen yesterday, and it's honestly only marginally better than my 10 year old Nook HD+. I just wanted all my reader apps on one tablet--Kobo, B&N, Kindle and Libby Overdrive magazines.

Maybe I'll give it another go. Your post inspired me.

[nmyshkin]

Originally Posted by gforgiraffe39935

I did CM12 (Android 7) and it causes the HD+ to get quite hot and laggy. I had used the same CM12 in 2021 and it wasn't nearly as bad. Not sure what the issue is.

CM12 is Android 5. The ROMs for the HD and HD+ are different, of course, but "dirty" or otherwise compromised flashes can produce surprisingly bad results. I found with the HD that I got the best results always returning to stock before flashing a custom ROM. I also became a bit OCD about "wiping" everything I could access TWICE before flashing (except the sdcard, of course! been there, done that...). And...sometimes you have to break down and read every last post in a thread to find that someone has solved an issue you've encountered. Painful, but true.

[HLS]

I have The White face one with the Copper color back 2013 I think. Nook Glowlight Plus 2015 and 7.8: Glowlight plus 2019 and the batterys are all still good and devices fully functional. My 2013 model is glitchy ever since its software was updated to the new software