Can't find android device using "adb devices" command

Question

I am developing Android application on macOS and my application runs well on the emulator. I want to run it on the device, but when I run adb devices I get nothing.

localhost:platform-tools BF$ adb devices 
List of devices attached 

localhost:platform-tools BF$

I have checked the documentation in the reference about "Setting up a Device for Development". I have done everything step by step.

In the documentation, there are some words: Setup your system to detect your device. If you're developing on Mac OS X, it just works. Skip this step.

Now, I can't find any solution. Does it need special drivers for Android Devices?

Solution 1

I know this thread is old, but I think this could still help. Almost all the time "it just works" on OS X, but sometimes new/prototype or obscure devices aren't picked up. Try to help it out with these steps (I'm not near my Mac right now, but I did this last night and think I remember):

1. Open System Profiler and find the device on USB. View it's details to find the Vendor ID. For example, Motorola devices will show 0x2bb8. Or just Google for your vendor's hardware id.

   If nothing shown, make sure to try different cables. Android File Transfer is good for detecting the device if you have a valid cable.

2. Edit ~/.android/adb_usb.ini to include that Vendor ID. If the file doesn't exist, create it with that line only.

3. Restart ADB

   adb kill-server 
   adb start-server
   

4. Maybe unplug/plugin your phone.

And hopefully you see your device.

Solution 2

Are you by any chance also using the app EasyTether while connected to your Mac? If you happen to use this app, you're in luck, because the solution is to call:

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

Of course, if you're not using EasyTether, then hopefully someone else has an idea....

Solution 3

Same problem here. osx 10.6.6 and adb devices giving $ ./adb devices List of devices attached ...empty....

Rebooting the phone didn;'t help although it was listed with adb devices just for a second during the booting process.

Debugging was turned on in adroidsettings->applications

What finally made it tick: turning debugging mode off and on again.

Solution 4

If you're struggling with such an issue using Lollipop (Android 5.*) probably you guys should do one simple step that I'd done before my ADB (I use Ubuntu) got my phone:

Change USB PC connection type to "Send images(PTP)" (before I've been using "Media device(MTP)")

Just like this:

And don't forget to activate checkbox "USB debugging".

Solution 5

I had this problem today where the phone was charging when connected, but wasn't seen by the Mac. It turned out the micro USB cable that I was using was for charging only and didn't do data. Once I changed the USB cable it started working fine.

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