Bad news all around for people who rooted their Amazon Kindle Fire and their Nook Tablet units… First there was an update that messed with the customization of the Kindle Fire and now the Nook Tablet update kills the root and sideloading of apps. However, at least in the case of the Nook Tablet there’s something you can do about it.
Most of users have software versions 1.4.0 now and if you accept the update, you’ll reach version 1.4.1 instead. The easy way is not to update and you’ll keep your root and maybe even that sweet ROM with Android Ice Cream Sandwich included, if you want to risk trying unstable software. However, if you already accepted the update and now you miss the sideloading of apps, all you need to do is roll back to version 1.4.0 and everything will be peachy again.
The folks of XDA Developers have a simple method of doing this, as developer Adam Outler was keen on informing everyone. The solution is called “magic SD card” and Adam simply put the stock 1.4.0 factory image in a update.zip and set up all the needed stuff to get the older software in place. All you need to do is download the 1.4.0 software, put it on the SD card, insert it and choose a factory restore of the Nook Tablet. Of course, this wipes the user data, but after you’re back to 1.4.0 you can keep the root access…
