DISCLAIMER: I DID MOST OF THIS AT WAY-TOO-LATE-O’CLOCK

If you can think of a better way to do something, please let me know

Ever since I started working from home I wanted a small unobtrusive display that I could put my calendar and todo list on. I didn’t want to use a proper lit screen because my desk is bright enough already, and I wanted something I could move around and not have to keep plugged in constantly. I eventually settled on using an eInk screen, but struggled to find a solution that was cheap and didn’t require a complex or difficult setup. Eventually I found a solution that at least met one of those requirements, cheap. It was a bit of a challange getting everything working, but I’m satisfied with the end result.

I did some initial research and discovered that the Barnes and Noble Nook ereader was incredibly easy to root, so initially this seemed like a perfect solution. It runs Android, has a decent battery (for an ereader) and is a complete hardware package for a low price. I picked up one of these off eBay for about $20 US including shipping.

However…

Upon actually receving the thing, I discovered an issue. While it does run Android, it runs Android 2.1, which was released in October of 2009! I could develop apps for it (and have, unfortunately) but it’s lack of modern browser support, and not wanting to maintain my own dashboard app, was a bit discouraging.

I eventually settled on the Magic Mirror software running on a Raspberry Pi, with the Nook serving as a glorified screen. It connects via VNC to a seperate display on the Pi running an instance of Chrome. Since the Nook already has a terrible refresh rate, any sort of latency added by VNC doesn’t matter.

I now offer up a guide on how I did this, if for some strange reason you want to go down this road. This guide is broken up into several steps, and I’ll try to offer up standard solutions I found for my uses, as well as the round-about things I did for my super specific uses.

Rooting the Nook

Rooting the Nook is as I said earlier, surprisingly painless. Turns out it supports booting off a Micro SD with no additional configuration, and people much smarter than me have already developed several useful utilities for this. I’ve included all the files required for this in a repository on my GitHub as the download links seem to fade into obscurity over time, and I had a hell of a time finding them in the first place.

Before starting on this process, I recommend setting up the Nook completely, which involves configuring WiFi and registering it with Barnes and Noble.

First step is to determine the firmware version of your Nook. I’ve included files for both version 1.2.1 and 1.2.2, which are the latest versions ever released.

Download the appropriate file for your version, and using a tool like Win32DiskImager or Etcher flash it to your Micro SD. Then turn off the Nook, insert the card, and turn it back on.

The following images aren’t mine, so the firmware version doesn’t match, but the steps are the same

You should see the NookManager loading screen, before being asked to select whether or not to enable wireless. Choose yes on this to ensure ADB is enabled.

From here go to Root, Root my Device, and wait an exceptionally long time…

Eventually you should arrive at the screen below

Then simply go Back, Exit, follow the prompts, and allow the Nook to reboot.

Upon rebooting you will be asked to select a Launcher to use going forward. Make sure you select Relaunch, and check the checkbox box. This will disable the Barnes and Noble launcher.

The root process also installs the Nook Touch Mod Manager apk. This will allow you some minor customization as far as keeping back/menu buttons in the status bar, and disabling the screensaver. I recommend looking through this.

Installing VNC Client

Assuming everything went well when rooting, you should have ADB access. ADB over WiFi is enabled by default, so determine the IP address of your Nook and then on any computer with ADB installed, connect.

adb connect (ip address)

Then download the provided apk file, and install it to the device

adb install vnc.apk

Installing Magic Mirror

Not going to go too much in detail here. Instructions for installing Magic Mirror can be found here. The only key piece of information is make sure you follow the instructions under (Server Only)[https://docs.magicmirror.builders/getting-started/installation.html#server-only] as we won’t be using the Electron client app.

Installing and configuring Openbox

I used Openbox as the window manager for this. You could technically use any one you want, but this guide uses Openbox.

Start by installing it, as well as a few extra useful tools. This also installs X if you don’t have it already, and Chrome.

sudo apt-get install --no-install-recommends xserver-xorg x11-xserver-utils xinit openbox xdotool unclutter sed chromium-browser

Once installed, configure Openbox. Open the autostart file, and insert the following config.

sudo nano /etc/xdg/openbox/autostart

# turn off display power management system
xset -dpms
# turn off screen blanking
xset s noblank          
# turn off screen saver
xset s off

# Remove exit errors from the config files that could trigger a warning
sed -i 's/"exited_cleanly":false/"exited_cleanly":true/' ~/.config/chromium/'Local State'
sed -i 's/"exited_cleanly":false/"exited_cleanly":true/; s/"exit_type":"[^"]\+"/"exit_type":"Normal"/' ~/.config/chromi$

# Hide the cursor when idle
unclutter -idle 0.5 -root &

# Run Chromium in kiosk mode
chromium-browser  --noerrdialogs --disable-infobars --kiosk $KIOSK_URL

Finally, open the environment file and specify the KIOSK_URL

sudo nano /etc/xdg/openbox/environment

export KIOSK_URL=http://localhost:7777

Port 7777 is the default for Magic Mirror, but if you’ve changed this, make sure it’s reflected here.

Setting up VNC

So I’m going to describe two methods of doing this. You can use the default vncserver implementation offered with the Pi, and this works fine. This does disable the ablility to connect via VNC normally though, if you actually use the desktop environment. The method I went with was to install Xvfb and x11vnc, and create a second X display that houses a Chrome instance.

vncserver

Open /etc/vnc/xstartup and replace it with the following script. I recommend backing this file up first though, just in case.

sudo mv /etc/vnc/xstartup /etc/vnc/xstartup.bak
sudo nano /etc/vnc/xstartup

#!/bin/sh

xsetroot -solid grey
vncconfig -iconic &
xterm -geometry 80x24+10+10 -ls -title "$VNCDESKTOP Desktop" &

exec openbox-session

Then launch VNC with the following command

vncserver -Encryption PreferOff -Authentication VncAuth -geometry 800x600

This will launch VNC connected to an X display with the proper resolution

x11vnc

This method requires a different setup, but keeps the default VNC configuration intact. I also went with it because x11vnc allows for rotating the output, which was useful for me.

Install x11vnc as well as Xvfb.

sudo apt-get install x11vnc Xvfb

Launch and configure Xvfb

Xvfb :1 -extension GLX -screen 0 800x600x16

Launch openbox on the newly created screen

DISPLAY=:1 /usr/bin/openbox-session

Start VNC

x11vnc -shared -rotate xy -passwd password -many -forever -create -display :1 &

Connecting

Finally, open the androidVNC app installed on your Nook, and connect!

A key note, if you’re using vncserver, ensure you put a :1 after the IP address 10.0.0.10:1