Adb Instructions

Adb, short for Android Debug Bridge, is a versatile command line debugging tools, which has a variety of functions, such as tracking system logs, upload and download files, install and uninstall applications.

Preparation

In order to use adb, you need to:

1. Use the male to male USB cable to connect host PC with the lower USB OTG port of the board:

   

2. In Android running on the board, select Settings -> USB, and check on Connect to PC option.

3. Install adb driver and command, depending on your OS.

Adb Installation in Windows

1. Install Rockusb Driver.
2. Download adb.zip, then unzip it to C:\adb for convenience.

Open a cmd window and run:

C:\adb\adb shell

You are entering the adb shell if everything goes well.

Adb Installation in Ubuntu

1. Install adb tool：

   sudo apt-get install android-tools-adb

2. Add device ID:

   mkdir -p ~/.android
   vi ~/.android/adb_usb.ini
   # add the following line:
   0x2207

3. Add udev rules for non-root user use：

   sudo vi /etc/udev/rules.d/51-android.rules
   # add the following line：
   SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTR{idVendor}=="2207", MODE="0666"

4. Reload udev rules:

   sudo udevadm control --reload-rules
   sudo udevadm trigger

5. Restart adb with normal user:

   sudo adb kill-server
   adb start-server

The next you can invoke adb directly, for example:

adb shell

Frequently Used Adb Commands

Connection Management

List all connected devices and their serial numbers:

adb devices

If there are multiple connected devices, you need to use the serial number to distinguish them:

export ANDROID_SERIAL=<device serial number>
adb shell ls

Also adb can be connected via the tcp/ip network.

adb tcpip 5555

Adb will restart on the device side and listen on TCP port 5555. The USB cable can be disconnected from now on.

If the IP address of the device is 192.168.1.100, you the following command to connect:

adb connect 192.168.1.100:5555

Once connected, you can run adb command as usual:

adb shell ps
adb logcat

Until you explictly disconnect adb:

adb disconnect 192.168.1.100:5555

Debug

Getting System Log

Usage:

adb logcat [option] [Application label]

For example:

# View all logs
adb logcat

# View only part of the log
adb logcat -s WifiStateMachine StateMachine

Gathering Bug Report

adb bugreport is used for error reporting, which gathers useful system information.

adb bugreport

# Save to local, make it easy to use editor view
adb bugreport >bugreport.txt

Running shell

Open an interactive shell:

adb shell

Run shell command:

adb shell ps

Apk Management

Install Apk

adb install [option] example.apk

options:
-l forward-lock
-r Reinstall the application to retain the original data
-s Install to SD card instead of internal storage

For example:

# install facebook.apk
adb install facebook.apk

# upgrade twitter.apk
adb install -r twitter.apk

If install fails, check the common reasons below:

• INSTALL_FAILED_ALREADY_EXISTS: Try to add -r parameter to install again.
• INSTALL_FAILED_SIGNATURE_ERROR: APK signature is inconsistent, and it may be due to the different version of the signature and debug version. If you confirm the APK file signature is normal, you can use the adb uninstall command to uninstall the old application, and then install again.
• INSTALL_FAILED_INSUFFICIENT_STORAGE: There is not enough storage space.

Uninstall Apk

adb uninstall apk_name

For example：

adb uninstall com.android.chrome

The name of the apk package can be listed with the following command:

adb shell pm list packages -f
...
package:/system/app/Bluetooth.apk=com.android.bluetooth
...

The apk file path and package name are separated by =.