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[HOW-TO] ADB for Dummies(How-To Learner's Guide)

Hi,
My name is Joe aka AndroidSamurai.. I will be releasing more guides and media content in the weeks to come.
I'm currently very busy with "life events(new baby)" and apologize for my absence.
I will be updating this post since it was my original with a new guide updated to new SDK and Android methods.
Thanks again,
AndroidSamurai
Android4D Inc

<golf clap>
Well done.
</golf clap>

What do i do if the new hardware device notification doesnt pop-up ? NM i got it. Thanks for the writeup

@King_tee: Assuming windows, you follow the following steps.
1. Start > Control Panel > System.
2. Hardware > Device Manager
3. Click on the last icon below the File menu. It should correspond to "Scan for Hardware Changes."
If that doesn't work, try unplugging / replugging USB cable, different USB cable, restarting phone, restarting computer, etc.

If you never see the notification, navigate to the Device Manager(inside "System" in the control panel in XP and inside Device Manager on Vista).
You will see ADB Android Device at the top of the list with a Yellow Icon beside it meaning the device is not working. Right-click on the device and select "Update Driver".
Follow the dialogs that pop-up and navigate to where the unzipped drivers are at...
You should be good to go from there...

ok, i need some help please... I downloaded the SDK and followed the instruction in this thread, but when i try to update my driver for the phone, it says the driver is not compatible with my phone.. I am using Haykuro's ROM 4.5 with FW 1.5.. would that be the reason for this issue?

devildogg2001 said:
ok, i need some help please... I downloaded the SDK and followed the instruction in this thread, but when i try to update my driver for the phone, it says the driver is not compatible with my phone.. I am using Haykuro's ROM 4.5 with FW 1.5.. would that be the reason for this issue?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you may need to uninstall the current driver for your phone if you have mounted it before downloading the SDK. if you don't have the SDK setup the first time you plug the phone in then your computer will auto-update the driver to a regular UMS driver and it won't help you when you try adb. i forget how to uninstall your current driver since i don't use windows, but i'm sure you can find a nice crash course online

tubaking182 said:
you may need to uninstall the current driver for your phone if you have mounted it before downloading the SDK. if you don't have the SDK setup the first time you plug the phone in then your computer will auto-update the driver to a regular UMS driver and it won't help you when you try adb. i forget how to uninstall your current driver since i don't use windows, but i'm sure you can find a nice crash course online
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I dont know if thats the problem because when i plug it in, it doesnt show up as a notification, and when i go to the device manager it shows the little yellow triangle.. I'll look again. Thanks for the quick reply though. I am no expert in linux, but i have it installed, let me see if i can figure it out there..

tubaking182 said:
you may need to uninstall the current driver for your phone if you have mounted it before downloading the SDK. if you don't have the SDK setup the first time you plug the phone in then your computer will auto-update the driver to a regular UMS driver and it won't help you when you try adb. i forget how to uninstall your current driver since i don't use windows, but i'm sure you can find a nice crash course online
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok, so i am in linux now, and i just noticed this guide was for windows.. lol can you or someone tell me how to install the SDK on linux?

devildogg2001 said:
ok, so i am in linux now, and i just noticed this guide was for windows.. lol can you or someone tell me how to install the SDK on linux?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Downloading
http://developer.android.com/sdk/1.1_r1/index.html
Installing
http://developer.android.com/sdk/1.1_r1/installing.html
Found through Google...imagine that.

as well as what xyrcncp said can you you can download it and just mv ~/Desktop/sdk/tools/adb /usr/bin/adb abd you should be able to run the adb commands from any directory. not too hard to cd to the correct directory but i personally don't like to type cd ~/Phone/tools/android-sdk/tools every time cause i tend to make typographical errors. let me know how it worked but you shouldn't have any problems at all

umm no offense but your writing a tutorial for people that are not sure on how to do this, so you must assume that they do not know how to run an executable file...... write yourself a better tutorial without actually bashing the self esteem of some people... tutorials are positive not negative. I already know all of this but still... dont degrade someone due to the fact they dont know how, thats the whole point of writing your tutorial. Nothing should have been left out (including how to run a .exe .com or .bat
" (If you do not know how to install a windows executable file, please kill yourself now! ) "
this isnt honestly written with any hatred towards you, it was a good tutorial. Just might want to think about how you write it next time.

The "bashing" comments in my tutorial are directed towards the people with a true sense of humor. My tutorial was written to tell you how to simply complete a task and not to make you feel better about yourself. I do not get pleasure in abusing people's self esteem nor do I enjoy putting people down.
Just because you got a little sand in your crack does not mean you need to come in a very honest and informative thread and start bashing the people who are bending over backwards to help everyone out.
The reason I created this "tutorial" in the first place was because all the other threads are full of "start searching and stop asking so many damn questions" comments.
So start looking in the mirror when you wake up in the morning and stop saying "My, I think I will run over to good ole' XDA and be an @$$ to everyone today".
I am sincerely sorry that a little sense of humor has caused so much hatred in my thread. Please contact the forum moderators and see if the think my tutorial is so hateful.

lol i dont see any hatred but anyway when i download the adb driver when extracting it says unknown method

@ Nabzilla1990
Are you using Windows or Linux?
Are you using the built-in Zip tool or 7-zip from the links I provided?
Are you using a 32 or 64-bit OS?

using the same operating system as you 64bit vista ultimate sp1 and using winrar to extract

Try using 7-zip man, I have been using it for 3 yrs now.
Basically what I am saying is that everything in my guide is guaranteed to work.

Just to add, if you take adb.exe and adbwinapi.dll and copy or move them to the \windows\system32 directory you can run adb from any dos directory prompt.

it worked with 7-zip thank you and also want to add if it doesnt work for some people plug in ur phone and update the usb mass storage with the usb driver from here and it should work i had that problem earlier

Okay, so I did everything and got up to run cmd, when I type in the cd C:\android-sdk-windows-1.1_r1\tools it says not a specififed folder, but when I type it without the \tools it doesnt work. can anyone help?

Cannot open ddms.bat in order to take screenshots on Nexus One

I wanted to take screenshots of my Nexus One (2.2 FRF91/T-Mobile/Stock) but I'm just a newbie so I followed the guide on andriodcentral Anrdroid 101 tips. (Sorry I can't link to it since I'm a new user on these forums
That guide led me to another guide on how to install the sdk
When I tried to pull my 3rd party apps, cmd didnt do anything it simply said "0 pulled, 0 skipped", however I was able to pull my standard apps. I'm confident the sdk was installed correctly though.
I'm using a laptop with Windows 7 64bit and an AMD processor, I'm not sure if that information is helpful or not
I've already downloaded and installed the android 2.2 sdk, java runtime environment, java development kit. I've also properly installed the ADB drivers for the Nexus One. I also downloaded Eclispe but when I tried to run it, the application won't open. I have a feeling its because I didn't install it properly.
My problem now is that the ddms.bat (Dalvik Debug Monitor) won't open when I double click on it. I tried to right click and run as administrator but that didn't work either. In both cases when I try to open it, a cmd windows opens for a fraction of a second and then closes before I can read it. So I googled it and found a website that seemed to be able to solve the problem but its geared towards linux users.
I specifically followed these directions "To fix this a replace of the bundled swt is needed. The file is located under android-sdk-linux_x86-1.5_r3/tools/lib/. Rename swt.jar to swt_32b.jar. Next download swt for your platform. I have used swt-3.4.2-gtk-linux-x86_64.zip. Unpack the file swt.jar in the zipfile to android-sdk-linux_x86-1.5_r3/tools/lib/ and finally start ddms" but that didnt work either. So now my android-sdk-windows/tools/lib/x86_64 is full of other files rather than just having that swt.jar file.
Can anyone please help on getting ddms.bat to open or on how to get eclipse to open?, I'm so close to being able to take screenshots.
Some notes:
1.I'm not interested in rooting (too worried about bricking my phone), so please don't recommend that I root first.
2. USB debugging was ON when I tried it

Open up a command prompt. (Start -> search "cmd")
use CD to get to the folder where you keep ddms.bat
open ddms.bat from the command prompt by simply entering "ddms.bat" then press Enter. That will keep it from closing the window.
Just to see if it gives any errors.

Thank you so much!
However the error message that cmd is now giving me is : WARNING: Java not found in your path.
Could you please tell me how I can do this? for the time being I'm searching the internet for help but the first thing I found seems super complicated

I finally got it to work, wish I could link the imgur pic, but I'm still a new user but here's the end of the imgur link code :ucBpY

TaeKwonDonkey said:
I finally got it to work, wish I could link the imgur pic, but I'm still a new user but here's the end of the imgur link code :ucBpY
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
how did you fix it?

Follow this guide....it may help you click me..!! :good:
thank you,
P.007

[Q] Question about Rooting on a Mac

I tried to post this in the "Beginners Guide for Rooting" but I do not have privileges. I am trying to root my new s3 on a mac so I am trying to follow the guidance in section one of the guide. However the links for samsung drivers are in an .exe format and the link to the java jdk files has expired. I downloaded the samsung drivers from the link and opened the (.exe) file and I attempted to install another version of the java jdk. When I connect Adam's casual the app recognizes my phone but I am unable to see it on my Mac through Finder. Am I ready to flash if the casual app can see my phone? Or do I need the osx compatible samsung drivers (not with a .exe filename) and a specific version of java jdk?
Thanks in advanced for any help. I tried to search for the answers but I have been coming up empty. Even though casual see's my phone, I'm still not sure if its ok to start flashing.

prescottc5 said:
I tried to post this in the "Beginners Guide for Rooting" but I do not have privileges. I am trying to root my new s3 on a mac so I am trying to follow the guidance in section one of the guide. However the links for samsung drivers are in an .exe format and the link to the java jdk files has expired. I downloaded the samsung drivers from the link and opened the (.exe) file and I attempted to install another version of the java jdk. When I connect Adam's casual the app recognizes my phone but I am unable to see it on my Mac through Finder. Am I ready to flash if the casual app can see my phone? Or do I need the osx compatible samsung drivers (not with a .exe filename) and a specific version of java jdk?
Thanks in advanced for any help. I tried to search for the answers but I have been coming up empty. Even though casual see's my phone, I'm still not sure if its ok to start flashing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't remember if my phone showed up on my Mac in finder, but Adam's casual recognized my phone, I rooted and unlocked using the tool and have been flashing ROMS ever since.

davefields3 said:
I don't remember if my phone showed up on my Mac in finder, but Adam's casual recognized my phone, I rooted and unlocked using the tool and have been flashing ROMS ever since.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you download the samsung drivers in the link ( the .exe files) and install them on your mac? Also do you still have a copy of the java jdk files? The link in the "guide " is dead or the files have been moved. Thanks.

Mine did not show up in finder. I did have to download another program to interface with the phone. Just run Casuals and you will be fine.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium

prescottc5 said:
Did you download the samsung drivers in the link ( the .exe files) and install them on your mac? Also do you still have a copy of the java jdk files? The link in the "guide " is dead or the files have been moved. Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If I remember correctly, you can't download the samsung drivers on a Mac. And no, sorry I don't have the files

There is no drivers for mac. The only thing that will show is a sdcard if you have one. You are good to use Casual.

fr8cture said:
There is no drivers for mac. The only thing that will show is a sdcard if you have one. You are good to use Casual.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine doesn't show the sdcard. I can use ADB but that's the only way I can communicate to my device over USB. I have't tried Casual.

Well I finally got home so I could use my Mac with my phone. Casuals worked great a couple of weeks ago as did adb. Now, I can't get either to work. I read that some are having issues with the usb ports on the newer MacBook Pros. I will do a little know testing and see if I can find a way to make it work post back. I tried rebooting, different cables, etc with no luck. If anyone knows anything, please chime in.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium

HHF2 said:
Well I finally got home so I could use my Mac with my phone. Casuals worked great a couple of weeks ago as did adb. Now, I can't get either to work. I read that some are having issues with the usb ports on the newer MacBook Pros. I will do a little know testing and see if I can find a way to make it work post back. I tried rebooting, different cables, etc with no luck. If anyone knows anything, please chime in.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay, after a lot of digging, I finally figured out what I did. I take no credit for this, I found it on here in reply to a thread somewhere. I can't remember where as I usually view this site on my cell phone.
sudo kextunload -v /System/Library/Extensions/EasyTetherUSBEthernet.kext
from a terminal. I forget if you have to reboot or not.
This will disable tethering, but you can now see your device via adb.
To renable tethering once you're done debugging, use
sudo kextload -v /System/Library/Extensions/EasyTetherUSBEthernet.kext
This is for EasyTether only, but I am sure that there could be another type of app that would do the same thing? If you could isolate the app, it should be as easy as replacing the EasyTether part of the command and running that. Good luck, I personally know how aggravating that things like this can be.

[Q] noon needs help figuring out how to root nexus 5 using a mac

Could someone help me figure out what I'm doing wrong when I try to root my nexus 5?
I've followed the many similar cf-autoroot instructions I've found online, but to be honest, I think that there must be some prerequisite steps I need to do before I can actually root.
Here's what I've done so far: I've downloaded the ADT bundle and installed the 4.4 SDK and recommended tools. I've also downloaded the cf auto root files and have them saved on my desktop. However, when I enter chmod +x root-mac.sh into terminal it says command not found. When I simply try to open the file from finder it opens the script in text editor, which obviously does nothing. I have no idea what I'm doing wrong. Everything i have seen online make it look so easy, but I'm getting nowhere... Could someone please help me figure this out?

Have a look here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2515640
Using a toolkit my be useful if you're not sure of things, but obviously caution is still advised if you aren't sure what you are doing.

I used this with absolutely no problems. I was originally looking forward to manually inputting the commands in terminal just to get familiar with it but saw the Android icon. in my curiosity I clicked it and it started the process for me. Took a couple of minutes.

It's done on Mac just like it's done on ANY os.
You need fastboot and adb in your PATH or you need to have all the files in the same directory.
Sent from my Nexus 5

[Q] Problems updating to Lollipop

Hi,
To make to perfectly clear I am not a developer and my understanding of such issues should be classed as "novice" but I have done a lot of reading up and believe I now need to post a question regarding my problem.
Here goes...
I bought a 32gb off Amazon before Christmas which arrive with 4.4.4. I assumed after a few days of running it would update itself to Lollipop but to no avail, no matter how many times I "checked for updates". I now believe this is probably due to it being a Japanese import. I suspect this as this is on the barcode sticker and the Android with the hatch open logo in recovery has Japanese text underneath.
Anyways I posted a few questions on the Google community and they have basically told me to sit tight as the update is still rolling out. Seems to me that I could be waiting forever so I started to look at doing the manually install myself, remember I'm a amateur here...
I successfully downloaded the ADK file from Google and, even though this came with the USB drivers, I downloaded these seperatly too. I've since deleted the duplicate files.
The problem I am getting is I cannot get the USB drivers to install for when the phone is in USB debugging mode. When I put the phone into both PTP and MTP mode I can direct the driver location towards the folder and everything works OK, when its debugging mode it says they cannot be installed. I think its important to note that I am using Windows XP.
I've tried removing, restarting and reinstalling but to no avail.
Suspect its an XP thing, how do I get around this?
Thanks in advance!

iainwith2is said:
Hi,
To make to perfectly clear I am not a developer and my understanding of such issues should be classed as "novice" but I have done a lot of reading up and believe I now need to post a question regarding my problem.
Here goes...
I bought a 32gb off Amazon before Christmas which arrive with 4.4.4. I assumed after a few days of running it would update itself to Lollipop but to no avail, no matter how many times I "checked for updates". I now believe this is probably due to it being a Japanese import. I suspect this as this is on the barcode sticker and the Android with the hatch open logo in recovery has Japanese text underneath.
Anyways I posted a few questions on the Google community and they have basically told me to sit tight as the update is still rolling out. Seems to me that I could be waiting forever so I started to look at doing the manually install myself, remember I'm a amateur here...
I successfully downloaded the ADK file from Google and, even though this came with the USB drivers, I downloaded these seperatly too. I've since deleted the duplicate files.
The problem I am getting is I cannot get the USB drivers to install for when the phone is in USB debugging mode. When I put the phone into both PTP and MTP mode I can direct the driver location towards the folder and everything works OK, when its debugging mode it says they cannot be installed. I think its important to note that I am using Windows XP.
I've tried removing, restarting and reinstalling but to no avail.
Suspect its an XP thing, how do I get around this?
Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Install the adb/fastboot drivers. Google is your friend

Firstly thank you for your reply.
I have tried your install but it hasn't worked. I can tell I have been following a smilar update route looking at the pictures you uploaded also, although these screen snaps were obviously from a new OS (windows 7 perhaps).
Whats interesting to note however, is that in my device manager the phone is clearly shown twice, at the top as "Android Device", with "Google Nexus ADB Interface" below it and then again further down as "Other Devices" with MTP below with the familiar yellow exclamation mark.
Significant?

You actually don't need debugging mode if you're intending to manually flash the ROM. Debugging mode is only an android setting and you flash the ROM using fastboot which is outside of android.
Also you don't need the SDK.
I would say go to general > sticky roll-up then read my adb and fastboot thread to start

Thanks for your reply.
I do indeed only want to install stock 5.0.1 Lollipop so your suggestion looks perfect.
However, I'm having problems predictably...
I've followed the adb and bootloader install instructions and this seems to have worked, I have also installed the driver suggested and it looks like this has worked to as when I look at the driver in device manager (remember I am using XP), the driver manufacturer is Clockmod (or something). However when I follow "Method 1" and execute flash.all.bat file the command window repeats the following lines until it times out:
"'fastboot' is not recognised as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file."
I have also tried opening another command window and typed in "adb devices" but the following error message appears:
'adb' is not recognised as an intern blah blah blah, you get the idea.
I guess I am still missing something and I'm sure its pretty obvious to you?
Thanks in advance.

iainwith2is said:
Thanks for your reply.
I do indeed only want to install stock 5.0.1 Lollipop so your suggestion looks perfect.
However, I'm having problems predictably...
I've followed the adb and bootloader install instructions and this seems to have worked, I have also installed the driver suggested and it looks like this has worked to as when I look at the driver in device manager (remember I am using XP), the driver manufacturer is Clockmod (or something). However when I follow "Method 1" and execute flash.all.bat file the command window repeats the following lines until it times out:
"'fastboot' is not recognised as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file."
I have also tried opening another command window and typed in "adb devices" but the following error message appears:
'adb' is not recognised as an intern blah blah blah, you get the idea.
I guess I am still missing something and I'm sure its pretty obvious to you?
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you used the adb and fastboot installer in my thread, did you use the "install system wide" option?
If not, do.
If you did and it did not work, read more of that section as the manual steps are also mentioned, which you'll need to follow.

iainwith2is said:
Thanks for your reply.
I do indeed only want to install stock 5.0.1 Lollipop so your suggestion looks perfect.
However, I'm having problems predictably...
I've followed the adb and bootloader install instructions and this seems to have worked, I have also installed the driver suggested and it looks like this has worked to as when I look at the driver in device manager (remember I am using XP), the driver manufacturer is Clockmod (or something). However when I follow "Method 1" and execute flash.all.bat file the command window repeats the following lines until it times out:
"'fastboot' is not recognised as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file."
I have also tried opening another command window and typed in "adb devices" but the following error message appears:
'adb' is not recognised as an intern blah blah blah, you get the idea.
I guess I am still missing something and I'm sure its pretty obvious to you?
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You don't have adb/fastboot set up properly. Google 15 second adb install xda.
Sent from my Nexus 9 using XDA Free mobile app

jd1639 said:
You don't have adb/fastboot set up properly. Google 15 second adb install xda.
Sent from my Nexus 9 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He should already have it from my thread. Its just a question whether he used it correctly or whether it doesn't set up the environment variables on xp properly

Yes installed the 15 second install, Y,Y,N, then installed the Clockmod driver.
I'll go back and read it again, guess I must've missed something.

Have you rebooted? Try that. Is still no, you'll need to manually populate the environment variables.

Right, I have re-read the manual section and I can tell you I HAD edited the path before as I was following another instruction, one where it required SDK tools. So I have deleted the text I added last time (platform-tools was part of it) and copied and pasted the test in the manual area, including the colon.
Still cannot see the adb in the command window though?

iainwith2is said:
Right, I have re-read the manual section and I can tell you I HAD edited the path before as I was following another instruction, one where it required SDK tools. So I have deleted the text I added last time (platform-tools was part of it) and copied and pasted the test in the manual area, including the colon.
Still cannot see the adb in the command window though?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't copy and paste it. The text is generic. You must put your text there....then reboot.

this is what I pasted:
;c:\adb_fastboot
?

iainwith2is said:
this is what I pasted:
;c:\adb_fastboot
?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which is generic. Is the folder your adb and fastboot executables are in called c:\adb_fastboot? If you used the installer, it is not.

Where would the installer put them? I've searched my computer for "fastboot" and its found the exe that I put in a folder on my desktop. This looks a similar address to what I changed the path to previously...

Oy vey
Sent from my Nexus 9 using XDA Free mobile app

jd1639 said:
Oy vey
Pardon?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

OK so my path is broken so I won't be able to run adb commands?

Did you look at the root of c:? C:\adb perhaps? Its all covered in my thread isn't it? Are you reading it or skimming it? You don't even *need* to put it in the path. Its just easier. Please read to the end of the thread
Also, you don't need to run any adb commands

Yes I've scanned c: drive.
I've read and understood what I can, I'm not an expert so I can only compute what I understand.
I have reinstalled the adb setup a few times and I have noticed that it clearly says "0 files copied" after I select the exe files and system wide options.
I have also tried to run the adb and fastboot devices commands in the command window which gives me the aforementioned error messages.
For some reason, these programs are not being installed onto my machine?