From nookDevs

Part of the NookColor portal

Contents 1 Install New Keyboard 1.1 Technique One -- download KB from Market 1.2 Technique two -- Side load the APK 1.2.1 Install KB with working ADB 1.2.2 Install KB without working ADB 1.3 If you cannot get your keyboard to work

Install New Keyboard

The Autonooter process installes the Droid Multitouch Keyboard and disables the Nook Color default keyboard for you.

If you did not use Autonooter, you will have additional steps listed at the end of this article.

What keyboards work and do not work should be listed on the Working Apps page. Below are the instructions to add a keyboard and switch to it.

Note: If the using the mount or cp command in any of the following instructions fails, try prefixing it with busybox, ie: busybox mount -o remount,rw /dev/block/mmcblk0p5 /system

Technique One -- download KB from Market

Download and install your new KB from Market. Reboot your nook. Use Nook Color Tools to select your new keyboard.

If your keyboard does not show in the list of keyboards in Nook Color Tools, you will need to move it into the /system/app folder. This will require either a working ADB application, or a working terminal app. If you have a working ADB simply type adb shell and execute the following instructions. If you do not have a working ADB, download Android Terminal Emulator from Market and use it to execute the following instructions:

pm list packages -f

Identify the name of your keyboard from the list that replies. It will say something like:

package:/data/app/gbkb-en.apk=net.thinkindifferent.inputmethod.latin

the critical part is /data/app/theNameOfYourKeyboard.apk -- Make a note of that.

su
mount -o remount,rw /dev/block/mmcblk0p5 /system
cp /data/app/theNameOfYourKeyboard.apk /system/app 

Reboot your Nook Color again, then try to use Nook Color Tools to set it to the new keyboard. If for some reason it still does not work, try to install it from the market one more time, reboot again, and try Nook Color Tools once more. If it still does not show up, it's probably not going to work.

Technique two -- Side load the APK

Install KB with working ADB

1. Obtain an APK file of the keyboard app you wish to use.
2. Open your command prompt or console and remount /system as writable.

   adb mount -o remount,rw /dev/block/mmcblk0p5 /system

3. Push the KB file up to the nook color:

   adb push .apk /system/app

4. Make sure the permissions are okay:

   adb shell chmod 644 /system/app.apk

5. Reboot your Nook Color so the new keyboard is known by the system

   adb reboot

6. Use Nook Color Tools to change to your new keyboard!

Install KB without working ADB

If you have a copy of Root Explorer, you can use it to move your KB apk files from /data/app to /system/app If you do not have Root explorer you will need to download an android terminal app from Market. Simply search for "terminal" on Market and take the simple free "Android Terminal Emulator by Jack Pal.

Now, using your nook as a USB drive, copy your keyboard's apk into the root folder of the USB drive.

Bring up the terminal application and type the following:

su
mount -o remount,rw /dev/block/mmcblk0p5 /system
mv /media/.apk /system/app
chmod 644 /system/app/.apk
reboot

Note: If your newly installed keyboard doesn't work, browse to /system/app/KEYBOARDFILE.apk using your favorite file manager and install it.

Please note that if you are using AutoNooter, busybox is pre-installed and should be used instead of mv:

su
mount -o remount,rw /dev/block/mmcblk0p5 /system
busybox cp /media/.apk /system/app
busybox chmod 644 /system/app/.apk
reboot

• Note (You may have to use "busybox cp /sdcard/.apk /system/app" without quotes)

This should not affect your current keyboard, and should you have problems with the new keyboard, simply use Nook Color Tools to change back to the previous keyboard. Long-press on Input fields is known to not always work, but Nook Color Tools will.

If you cannot get your keyboard to work

First off, check with the Working Apps page to see if your keyboard is listed there. It's possible it's known to not work. Otherwise, you might try renaming the LatinIME.apk file with the instructions below and see if that helps. The idea here is that the LatinIME.apk file might be conflicting or interfering with changing the keyboard, so we rename it so it's no longer "available" to the system. This should already have been done by AutoNooter. If you didn't use autonooter, this step may be required.

1. Open your command prompt or console and remount /system as writable.

   adb shell
   # mount -o remount,rw /dev/block/mmcblk0p5 /system
   # cd /system/app
   # mv LatinIME.apk LatinIME.apk.bak
   # exit

2. Reboot your Nook Color
3. Try to set the keyboard in Nook Color Tools again