NookColor registered by previous owner; is this the cause of my random resets?

[johntee]

I bought my Nook Color already rooted, and the previous owner had registered it with B&N before he rooted it. I've been playing with this thing (OK, not playing, working on it...) on and off for 3 weeks. I have a backup from before I started messing with things. I'm OK with resetting to factory and restoring to backups (thanks Darmeen, Rico, Faceman, and everyone else).

The Market never worked, so I've tinkered here and there and restored and reset back to factory and tried to re-root it from scratch, but I can't get to a stable system.

After the factory reset, I got the B&N introductory video and tried to set up my Nook as if it were from the box. I got this error after putting in my information --
"Error. Sorry we're having trouble setting up your NOOKcolor. Please shutdown the device and try again. If the problem persists, contact Customer Support at 1-800-THE-BOOK (1-800-843-2665)."
Trying it again gave the same error.

I spoke to B&N technical support and they said the old owner has to call them to de-register the Nook from his account, then I can set it up under mine. (She also said that it could also be because I didn't have a credit card on file with them (the registration process never got that far to ask me for one), or that it could be that there was no Wifi connection, so I'm not sure I trust her answers 100%. Apparently the first failed registration attempt did establish my account at BN (so it obviously had an internet connection), but it didn't have all my info. So I added all the info to BN.com as she directed and tried it again, but no go...

The previous owner hasn't responded to my requests yet to de-register the device from his account. This thing randomly will reset (seems to be after it goes to sleep for a long time, or if the battery dies down while it's sleeping), and sometimes gets stuck at the "Touch the future" screen. Thanks to all the help I've already gotten, I can "recover" from the stuck screen, but I can't seem to get to a stable place that doesn't need me to keep resetting.

Does anyone know how the old owner's info might be impacting the Nook, or if there is another way to de-register it if the old owner doesn't cooperate?
(I tried to de-register it immediately after I'd restored to my original backup, but it just gave me the 1-800-THE-BOOK error.")

Thanks for any info!
John

 

[faceman]

That is not the cause of your random resets.

The issue of registering is that his B&N account has the NC attached to it. While you can have more than one NC attached to a single B&N account; you can only have one B&N account linked to a NC. So in order for you to enjoy the benefits of B&N association (nookbooks, magazines, etc) you need the previous owner to log into their online B&N account and remove the NC from their device list.

However, if you plan to continue with the NC beyond basic stock rooted (and install a Froyo, Gingerbread, CM7, Honeycomb version) then you won't be able to access those features from B&N as they all completely sever that link, having the device on the previous owners account won't harm your experience. It's just inconvenient really.

Your random reboot could be caused by a few reasons, search the forums here for the threads on random reboots and restores.

 

[avi]

Random reboots :
-Have you OC'd it ?
-Which version on you actually are ?
-Which custom rom ?

and about deregistering, only way, I can think of is, ask your seller to login into his B&N account and de-register it from there. If he is not responding, call customer care and explain the situation. They might help you. Also, if you have bill, visiting nearest B&N store might help. As it is, un-rooted again, no problem with warranty.

 

[darmeen]

If you go to deregister device in the Nook settings, does that require the previous password? I would check myself, but I am not currently running the proper ROM to verify that info.

Random reboots like the ones you are describing isn't about how its registered...it has to do with something calling on wifi while sleeping...there are several conversations in various threads with ways to stop wifi while sleeping.

You may think about installing a ROM like phiremod to totally move away from the B&N version of Android (only do that if you are ABSOLUTELY comfortable with flashing a ROM.

Lastly, you may want to try blowing it all away...check the thread in my sig on steps to completely reset your NC and start over.

 

[avi]

If you go to deregister device in the Nook settings, does that require the previous password? I would check myself, but I am not currently running the proper ROM to verify that info.

I believe OP is not able to start the device to homescreen and hence he cannot got to Devices > Settings.

and I agree about moving completely away from B&N Android versions.

 

[darmeen]

All right...then you really need to look at the thread in my sig...it will reset your device to clean 'out of the box' ready.

 

[avi]

OT : why 8 interrupt boot method is not included in that thread ?

 

[darmeen]

The 8 interrupt is not needed by following the instructions in that thread

 

[johntee]

If you go to deregister device in the Nook settings, does that require the previous password?

No, it didn't ask for a password, but it also errored out instantly, so not sure if it wanted to ask for one...

The previous owner called BN and they ended up deleting his whole BN.com account. So it should be clear path for me to register. I reverted to stock and tried to register it, but keep getting the "Error. Sorry we're having trouble setting up your NOOKcolor. Please shutdown the device and try again. If the trouble persists, contact Customer Support at 1-800-THE-BOOK (1-800-843-2665)" error.

BN wants me to attempt to register it using their (unsecured) network at the store, and if it fails then, to have the store clerk call the Tech Support number to authorize a replacement, since they will assume it's defective. Since it's been about 5-6 weeks since it was bought (although never registered, on their current records), we'll see how enthusiastic they are about giving me a new one.

Would I have to be careful of the Serial Number of the new one? Or can any of them be rooted (and stable), as long as I choose the proper AutoNooter version?


Update: While it was sleeping, it woke up to install the updated software from BN (which according to their website can cure some registration problems). But it still gives me the same error, even under updated sofware.

You may think about installing a ROM like phiremod to totally move away from the B&N version of Android (only do that if you are ABSOLUTELY comfortable with flashing a ROM.

Is the version we get after rooting (is it Eclair?) actually a B&N version? Froyo is also?

Thanks!

 

[darmeen]

Eclair, yes...the whole version 1.1 and 1.0.1 are all the B&N version (they are all android 2.1)

If you install a froyo ROM like phiremod or the newly released CM7 r1, then you have fully stepped away from the B&N version as you are overwriting the internal system memory.

I don't know how far you were wanting to stray from the B&N version of android, but it is an option.

Before doing any of that...I would take your NC back to a clean slate with a fresh install of the default B&N ROM either 1.0.0 or 1.0.1, and before you try and register it, reboot it one more time...I imagine by now, you can clean slate that thing in your sleep.

 

[johntee]

Before doing any of that...I would take your NC back to a clean slate with a fresh install of the default B&N ROM either 1.0.0 or 1.0.1, and before you try and register it, reboot it one more time...

This time I decided to try the 1.0.0 stock image (since I was having no luck with the 1.0.1). I didn't get the same md5 hash as the site said I should, so I downloaded it again. Same result (it matched the hash from my previous download, but not the one the site said I should expect).
I decided (since the 2 downloads were identical) to give it a try anyway.

It turned on to the "Touch the future" screen, followed by the "n" logo.
Then it flashed again to the "Touch the future" screen, followed by the "n" logo. Again.

I let it run in that loop several times, then I powered it down during the "Touch the future" part of the loop. It shut off, but then it powered itself on within 20 seconds or so.
I powered down during the "n" logo part of the loop then. It stayed shut off that time...

So either my download really wasn't good, or 1.0.0 was a bad choice. Is it dependent on what my serial number is, to decide which version I should use?

Did you get the following MD5 hashes on your downloads of the Stock Images?
03273d46da4e1afadf11bd709068a69e nook-complete-restore-1.0.0.zip

and

6d00a461a221e69195440355f6706104 nook-complete-restore-1.0.1.zip

I imagine by now, you can clean slate that thing in your sleep.

Oh yeah...