Some questions regarding apps on a rooted Nook Color

Question

This is basically a follow-up to my previous question regarding the Nook Color. While my first question was regarding some of the specifics of the root process, I also have two questions about installing apps on a NC after obtaining root:

• The tech specs seem to indicate that the NC has 8 GB of internal memory. Approximately how much of this would be available to me after rooting for apps and data? I'm willing to repartition if this is possible/necessary.
• Is it generally safe to assume that apps from the Market will work on a NC after it's rooted and the Market and so forth have been installed, or are there some gotchas associated with this? (Assume for the sake of this question that I'm talking about a 2.3 or earlier ROM, not a ripped-from-the-SDK 3.0 one)

Answer 1

Below is the output of "df -h -a" command on my Nook Color running CyanogenMod 7.0 ROM (2.3.3) which gives you a break-down of the mounted partitions:

Filesystem                Size      Used Available Use% Mounted on
tmpfs                   244.2M     44.0K    244.2M   0% /dev
devpts                       0         0         0   0% /dev/pts
proc                         0         0         0   0% /proc
sysfs                        0         0         0   0% /sys
tmpfs                   244.2M         0    244.2M   0% /mnt/asec
tmpfs                   244.2M         0    244.2M   0% /mnt/obb
/dev/block/mmcblk0p2     69.5M    107.0K     69.4M   0% /rom
/dev/block/mmcblk0p5    440.5M    142.8M    275.0M  34% /system
/dev/block/mmcblk0p6    941.9M    347.7M    594.2M  37% /data
/dev/block/mmcblk0p7    341.8M     39.3M    284.9M  12% /cache
/sys/kernel/debug            0         0         0   0% /sys/kernel/debug
/dev/block/vold/179:17    7.5G      5.7G      1.8G  76% /mnt/sdcard
/dev/block/vold/179:17    7.5G      5.7G      1.8G  76% /mnt/secure/asec
tmpfs                        0         0         0   0% /mnt/sdcard/.android_secure
/dev/block/vold/179:8     5.0G     57.0M      4.9G   1% /mnt/emmc

Out of 8 Gigabytes of internal memory ~500 MB is reserved for the ROM itself (/rom and /system), ~1.5 GB is for app storage (/data and /cache), 5 GB is for data storage (/mnt/emmc) and another ~500MB reserved for other miscellaneous Android operations. You can also see my 8GB SD Card mounted on /mnt/sdcard.

Keep in mind that these partitions can be (and usually are) remapped based on the needs of a given ROM.

In terms of your question regarding apps from the Market, there are some limitations that mostly depend on the type and version of the ROM you are planning to run. The biggest concern the screen resolution and LCD density. Several apps, including the Market itself (Vending.apk) are quite picky about how well (or even if) they will work properly. Most common side-effect is apps displaying in a tiny window instead of properly scaling. Most can be fixed by disabling Compatibility Mode in Spare Parts, but some (e.g. Google Reader) will only function with a certain LCD density that could be in conflict with other apps.

Keep in mind that most of the custom ROMs for Nook Color are works in progress, so expect to see better compatibility with all apps going forward. Also, if rumors of Froyo (2.2) update for the official Nook Color firmware are true, we could see better performance once the official display/video/audio/etc. driver upgrades are rolled into custom ROMs.

Answer 2

1. A vast majority of it. My device says I have up to 5gb of internal storage that I can use. Additionally you can throw in an SD card.
2. In my experience about 98% of the apps on the Market will work on your rooted (stock) Nook Color. If you flash CyanogenMod 7 or similar, then they all should work. If you remain with stock, there are some minor quirky issues because there are a few things missing from the OS. For example, trying to create a "shortcut" will cause a Force Close.