ADB for G Tab Step-by-Step

Iammuze over at xda-developers has put together a really nice, straightforward instruction set on getting ADB properly setup for the G-Tab.

Here it is:

1. open your device manager (right click My Computer -> Manage -> Device Manager)

if you haven't done anything to set up drivers yet, skip to step 4.

2. find your gtab. depending on your previous attempts, this may be under "Android Phone" at the top (Android ADB Interface, make sure it's your tab and not your phone), or under "Universal Serial Bus controllers" on the bottom (called Android somethingorother. should be at the top of the list.)

3. uninstall it. right click, uninstall. check the box that asks you if you want to delete driver software. i didn't need to use usbdeview to uninstall, but if you're running into issues on this step try it. search download.com for it.

4. unplug, and plug your tablet back in. now your device should be under "Other Devices" near the middle (will have a yellow exclamation icon, called NVIDIA harmony). good.

5. hopefully you have the android sdk installed. if you don't, go find a generic guide on setting up adb and then come back.

6. open the "usb_driver" folder in your sdk directory. right click "android_winusb.inf" and open it with notepad or your favorite text editor.

7. under the "[Google.NTx86]" section, paste the following:

Code:

;NVIDIA Tegra
%SingleAdbInterface% = USB_Install, USB\VID_0955&PID_7000
%CompositeAdbInterface% = USB_Install, USB\VID_0955&PID_7100&MI_01
save the file and exit.

8. go back into device manager. right click your tablet, select update driver, and click "browse my computer...", then "let me pick...", then "next", then "have disk"

9. browse to your android sdk, under the usb_driver folder, and select the "android_winusb.inf" file.

10. of the three choices, the bottom should say "Android Composite ADB Interface". choose it. click next, and allow the driver to install even though you get a big scary red warning.

11. open a command prompt, preferably in the tools directory of your sdk. type the following:

Code:

echo 0x955 > "%USERPROFILE%\.android\adb_usb.ini"

and hit enter. it will just return a new prompt line.

12. test it out.

Code:

adb kill-server
adb devices

you should see your device's serial number. all is well. congrats.

 

Intro: I guess I'd put myself one notch above a regular novice user--but several notches below someone like a dev--in that I'm the kind of guy who reads the how-to's carefully, twice, and then does the tweaking (without melting down when it doesn't work the first time!). Things have gone well for me so far with a Droid and Nook Color.

The point: In both cases I've found ADB to a super helpful tool. Let me provide the "for dummies" description (dwcunpluged's answer was beautiful, but probably pitched a bit high): think of ADB as a way to connect to your phone with your PC, and then send it system-level commands. By system-level, I mean things like (1) moving, deleting, or renaming files, (2) changing system settings, (3) installing apps, etc. In many cases, there are two ways "to skin the cat": either accomplish the task from your PC with ADB, or (assuming your device is rooted) use Android apps like Terminal Emulator and Root Explorer to accomplish the same things directly on the device.

The fine print: I prefer using ADB with a USB connection, but it can be tricky to get your device correctly set up in Windows Device Manager so that ADB sees it. An alternative is to use a wireless app that runs on the device directly, and allows you to connect to ADB through wifi. Another important concern is "why are you changing system files and settings, anyway?" For me, the problem pops up first (e.g., install a non-system keyboard, add a notification sound) and then ADB (or Root Explorer) is the tool to solve the problem. It's probably not a good idea to use ADB just to explore your device, unless you're comfortable with the system.

A final, dummy-level comment: dwcunpluged mentioned DDMS which is a neat little "application" (batch file) that comes with the Android Software Development Kit (SDK). Running it offers all kinds of information about how the device is functioning, and includes a cool tool for viewing your display and capturing a screen shot. Very handy utility.

-Matt

 

Ah well, you had me convinced (despite the link at the top of your post!). I still give you credit for a dev-level answer.

-Matt

 

It's magical, isn't it? I resisted for hours, thinking "I'm smart enough to do this myself. I figured it out on the Droid and the Nook...I can do this."

But I finally relented and it took...like 15 seconds with USBDeview. Stupid male pride.

-Matt

 

Is this thread "STICKY" material? - I hate sticking my own posts, i never know if people are really going to read them!

 

Stick it...

So I got everything installed and the commands run fine but... When I try to see my device via the "adb devices" command it says:

* daemon not running. starting it now on port 5037 *
* daemon started successfully *
List of devices attached


Nothing shows up...

Thoughts?

 

Here are two things to check:

(1) Remember to go to Settings -> Applications -> Development and check the "USB Debugging" option on

(2) Also, (if Windows) check that you have "Android Phone" showing up in your Device Manager, and "Android Composite ADB Interface" listed under it.



If you don't see the "Composite Interface" line, you should run USBDeview, completely delete the drivers for the gTab (I think it's the one that shows up under "Tegra") and reinstall the USB driver that was added to the Android SDK folder. Sorry if this is a repeat link:

[STICKY][GUIDE] adb for your gtab (windows) - xda-developers

-Matt

 

Ya mine is in the Android Phone category already. I reinstalled the driver and I'll reboot in the morning. See if that fixes it.

 

Yeah, I kind of worried my advice would be less than useful. I hope you get it working!

-Matt

 

Ok after reinstalling the driver 3 times it now works. Not sure why it took that many times for the driver to take.