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using adb

I feel like an idiot. I keep reading posts and instructions on how to use the adb/adb shell. Everything I read seems to indicate that the knowledge on how to open the adb command window is something that any idiot should be able to do... So much so, that no one explains how! I must be missing something!
I have installed eclipse and the sdk, the ADT plugin, etc. I run adb.exe and a command window flashes on my screen and immediately fades away. I can't even read what was posted in the window.
I know I am missing something but I guess I am just too inexperienced to know what that is. I can't find anything on the web that will tell me what file to open or sequence of files to open to access the adb command window.
Someone please help out a hopeless nuub!
Thanks
I am running Windows Vista 64 and have installed the 64bitUSB drivers. I can open an emulator, I can run the terminal on my G1, have installed the JK modified r30 on my phone.

add the whole path to your sdk/tools folder to your windows environment path: (right click my computer, click properties, select "advanced" select "environment variables" and look for "Path" in the bottom list, select "Path" and click "edit" then at the end of the existing path info, add a semicolon, and then paste in the complete path to your sdk/tools folder, click save, and close all the windows.
now, goto start, run, and type cmd.exe, a command line window will appear, type "adb" and it should work.
cheers,
-- michael

you can also use google to search the forum when you are looking for 3 letter terms (the forum search function is 4+ characters)
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=site:http://forum.xda-developers.com/+android+adb
--M

you don't use adb by pressing adb.exe in the tools folder you use it with command prompt go to programs and to accessories and look for command prompt now you can use adb like adb remount and pull push so on with your phone connected to the pc can you see your phone in ddms you open it from the sdk tools folder where the adb.exe is and if you can use adb.exe to open command prompt it don't work for me ether

I'm guessing that when I get all the ADB info after typing "adb" in the command window that it is working correctly?

If you run adb with no args, it will simply return a short summary of available args and terminate. In Windows if the window is opened by a program using the command line rather than directly calling cmd.exe, it will automatically close when the program terminates. The solution is to use cmd and then adb from within that.

Jashsu - Thanks! that was what I needed to know! LOL I am such a noob!!!
I had access to adb all the damn time! I just didn't know it! DUH!
I now have Koush's auto rotating browser installed! AWESOME.
Thanks to all who responded! I am learning pretty quick. But, some things are just so commonly known by dev's that they just aren't explained very well.
I found a couple of books I'm going to purchase so I don't have to keep bugging all of you. But, you guys are the greatest. Thanks for the help!

Tired of cd'ing to your SDK tools folder? :p

This is some easy stuff, but I thought I'd share one of my old "tricks" to work faster for the 'lazy' people .
So let's say if you work a lot with adb within the SDK tools folder this might come in handy if you currently cd to the folder each time you open a command prompt window.
Just download and extract the batch file to your desktop or where ever you like and open it with notepad then change the directory in the last line after cd.
The first lines makes sure the command prompt window stays open after you execute the batch file so you can start inputting. So don't worry, it does not include harmful codes for those who don't know batch commands.
Hope you will find this useful.

You could always copy "adb.exe", "AdbWinApi.dll", and "AdbWinUsbApi.dll" to "C:\windows\system32" and then you can use adb from any folder in command prompt. If I'm using any adb commands use them straight from the windows 7 search/run box on the start menu.

[Q] Not able to install the SDK packages, coz SDK blinks for a sec and then closes.

So, I am sorry, if this is a stupid question, I am novice here. I am trying to run SDK manager on windows 7, 32-bit os. It's already installed. Whenever I try running SDK manager, It flashes for a sec and disappears. When I tried executing android.bat from tools, what I got was :
C:\Program Files\Android\tools>android
[INFO] Starting Android SDK and AVD Manager
'xcopy' is not recognized as an internal or external comman
operable program or batch file.
No command line parameters provided, launching UI.
See 'android --help' for operations from the command line.
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError:
ts/Display
at com.android.sdkmanager.Main.showMainWindow(Main.
at com.android.sdkmanager.Main.doAction(Main.java:2
at com.android.sdkmanager.Main.run(Main.java:99)
at com.android.sdkmanager.Main.main(Main.java:88)
I have java 6 up date 25 already installed and the path is already added to environ var. Also I am interested in developing for android, If anybody is interested in showing me how, I wud be very greatfull. Thanks in advance. Plzzzzzzz........ HELP.
Currently Using : HTC Desire Z.
And yes, I am having eclipse 3.2 already installed on my system. PLzz help................................., somebody......................, anybody.

General tip
If you double click some techie program on Windows and see it just appear and disappear like that, it usually means that this program is meant to be run in a command line window.
So go to All Programs -> Accessories -> Command Prompt and open that
Then go to wherever that program is installed and run it from there.
Oh, and note that Android development needs the JDK, not the JRE version of Java, The JDK contains all the extra parts needed for Java software development in general, including key parts needed by the Android SDK.
While the JRE can be downloaded from www java com , the JDK is only available from java.sun.com .
P.S.
Sorry for not making proper links, but I have not made enough posts to allow them yet.

SDK tools

i a newbie developer and im learing how to develop applications from developer.android.com and it keeps telling things like Create a Project with Command Line Tools and i dont know where is the Command Line Tools which i enterthe commands i want

android app

Top cmds that you need to know

There are servel cmds which we can use
But I post only top 10 cmds to help that ones who need
###############
If I make a mistake so please reply with your suggestions
And if you want a cmd in the list .submit your reply with cmd and features ( full detail as you know.).
########cmds###########
For a lot of us, the fact that we can plug our Android phone or tablet into our computer and interact with it is a big plus. Besides the times when we've broken something and need to fix it, there are plenty of reasons why an advanced Android user would want to talk to his or her device. To do that, you need to have a few tools and know a few commands. That's what we're going to talk about today. Granted, this won't be the end-all be-all discussion of adb commands, but there are 10 basic commands everyone should know if they plan to get down and dirty with the command line.
The tools are easy. If you're a Mac or Linux user, you'll want to install the SDK as explained at the Android developers site. It's not hard, and you don't have the whole driver mess that Windows users do. Follow the directions and get things set up while I talk to the Windows using folks for a minute.
If you're using Windows, things are easier and harder at the same time. The tools themselves are the easy part. Download this file. Open the zip file and you'll see a folder named android-tools. Drag that folder somewhere easy to get to. Next, visit the manufacturers page for your device and install the adb and fastboot drivers for Windows. You'll need this so that your computer can talk to your Android device. If you hit a snag, visit the forums and somebody is bound to be able to help you through it.
Now that we're all on the same page, enable USB debugging on your device (see your devices manual if you need help finding it, and remember it was hidden in Android 4.2), and plug it in to your computer. Now skip past the break and let's begin!
1. The adb devices command
The adb devices command is the most important one of the bunch, as it's what is used to make sure your computer and Android device are communicating. That's why we're covering it first.
If you're a pro at the operating system on your computer, you'll want to add the directory with the Android tools to your path. If you're not, no worries. Just start up your terminal or command console and point it at the folder with the tools in it. This will be the file you downloaded earlier if you use Windows, or the platform-tools folder in the fully installed Android SDK. Windows users have another easy shortcut here, and can simply Shift + right click on the folder itself to open a console in the right spot. Mac and Linux users need to navigate there once the terminal is open, or install an extension for your file manager to do the same right click magic that's in Windows by default.
Once you're sure that you are in the right folder, type "adb devices" (without the quotes) at the command prompt. If you get a serial number, you're good to go! If you don't, make sure you're in the right folder and that you have the device driver installed correctly if you're using Windows. And be sure you have USB debugging turned on!
Now that we have everything set up, let's look at a few more commands.
2. The adb push command
If you want to move a file onto your Android device programmatically, you want to use the adb push command. You'll need to know a few parameters, namely the full path of the file you're pushing, and the full path to where you want to put it. Let's practice by placing a short video (in my case it's a poorly done cover of the Rick James tune Superfreak) into the Movies folder on your device storage.
I copied the superfreak.mp4 file into the android-tools folder so I didn't need to type out a long path to my desktop. I suggest you do the same. I jumped back to the command line and typed "adb push superfreak.mp4 /sdcard/Movies/" and the file copied itself to my Nexus 4, right in the Movies folder. If I hadn't dropped the file into my tools folder, I would have had to specify the full path to it -- something like C:\Users\Jerry\Desktop\superfreak.mp4. Either way works, but it's always easier to just drop the file into your tools folder and save the typing.
3. The adb pull command
If adb push sends files to your Android device, it stands to reason the adb pull command gets them out. That's exactly what it does, and it works the same way as the adb push command did. You need to know both the path of the file you want to pull off, as well as the path you want it placed into. You can leave the destination path blank and it will drop the file into your tools folder to make things easy.
In this example, I did it the hard way so you can see what it looks like. The path of the file on the device is "/sdcard/Movies/superfreak.mp4" and I put it on my Windows 8 desktop at "C:\Users\Jerry\Desktop". Again, the easy way it to just let it drop into your tools folder by not giving a destination, which would have been "adb pull /sdcard/Movies/superfreak.mp4". Remember your forwards slash for the Android side, and you'll have no problems here.
5. The adb reboot-bootloader and adb reboot recovery commands
Not only can you reboot your device, you can specify that it reboots to the bootloader. This is awfully handy, as sometimes those button combos are touchy, and if you have a lot of devices you can never remember them all. Some devices (the LG Optimus Black comes to mind) don't even a way to boot to the bootloader without this command. And once again, being able to use this command in a script is priceless. Doing it is easy, just type "adb reboot-bootloader" and hit the enter key.
Most devices can also boot to the recovery directly with the "adb reboot recovery" (note there is no hyphen in this one) and some can't. It won't hurt anything to try, and if yours can't nothing will happen.
6. The fastboot devices command
When you're working in the bootloader, adb no longer works. You're not yet booted into Android, and the debugging tools aren't active to communicate with. We use the fastboot command in it's place.
Fastboot is probably the most powerful tool available, and many devices don't have it enabled. If you're does, you need to be sure things are communicating. That's where the fastboot devices command comes into play. At the prompt, just type in "fastboot devices" and you should see a serial number, just like the adb devices command we looked at earlier.
If things aren't working and you are using Windows, you likely have a driver issue. Hit those forums for the answer.
7. The fastboot oem unlock command
The holy grail of Android commands, fastboot oem unlock does one thing, and one thing only -- unlocks your Nexus device (or an HTC device using their official tool). If you're using a phone from a different manufacturer, you have a different method of unlocking things -- maybe with ODIN or .sbf files -- and this won't apply to you. We're including it because even if you don't need it, it's an important part of Android's openness. Google doesn't care what we do with phones or tablets that we've bought, and include this easy way to crack them open. That's something you usually don't see from any tech company, and a big part of the reason why many of us choose Android.
Using it is easy enough. Once you've used fastboot devices to make sure everything is communicating, just type "fastboot oem unlock" at the prompt and hit enter. Look at your device, read carefully, and choose wisely.
Protip: Using "fastboot oem unlock" will erase everything on your device
8. The adb shell command
The adb shell command confuses a lot of folks. There are two ways to use it, one where you send a command to the device to run in its own command line shell, and one where you actually enter the device's command shell from your terminal. In the image above, I'm inside the device shell, listing the flies and folders on the device. Getting there is easy enough, just type "adb shell" and enter. Once inside, you can escalate yourself to root if you need to. I'll warn you, unless you're familiar with an ash or bash shell, you need to be careful here -- especially if you're root. Things can turn south quickly if you're not careful. If you're not familiar, ash and bash are command shells that a lot of folks use on their Linux or Mac computers. It's nothing like DOS.
The other method of using the adb shell command is in conjunction with one of those Ash commands your Android device can run. You'll often use it for more advanced tasks like changing permissions of files or folders, or running a script. Using it is easy -- "adb shell <command>". An example would be changing permissions on a file like so: "adb shell chmod 666 /data/somefile". As mentioned, be very careful running direct commands using these methods.
9. The adb install command
While adb push can copy files to our Android devices, adb install can actually install .apk files. Using it is similar to use the push command, because we need to provide the path to the file we're installing. That means it's always easier to just drop the app you're installing into your tools folder. Once you've got that path, you tell your device to sideload it like this: "adb install TheAppName.apk".
If you're updating an app, you use the -r switch: "adb install -r TheAppName.apk". There is also a -s switch which tries to install on the SD card if your ROM supports it, and the -l switch will forward lock the app (install it to /data/app-private). there are also some very advanced encryption switches, but those are best left for another article.
And finally, you can uninstall apps by their package name with "adb uninstall TheAppName.apk". Uninstall has a switch, too. The -k switch will uninstall the app but leave all the app data and cache in place.
10. The adb logcat command
The adb logcat command is one of the most useful commands for some folks, but just prints a bunch of gibberish unless you understand what you're seeing. It returns the events written to the various logs in the running Android system, providing invaluable information for app developers and system debuggers. Most of us will only run this one when asked by one of those developers, but it's very important that we know how to use it correctly.
To see the log output on your computer screen, just type "adb logcat" and hit enter. Things can scroll by pretty fast, and chances are you won't find what you're looking for. There are two ways to handle this one -- filters, or text output.
You also have to specify the cmds properly.
Hope it help you .
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