[GUIDE *WITH VIDEO*] ADB/Fastboot Easy 5 minute setup (Great for nOObs)

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TrueBlue_Drew

Retired Recognized Developer
Jun 10, 2010
1,323
1,389
Salt Lake City, Utah
AT&T Samsung Galaxy S7
Ok there are some other guides here on the forums for this but they all require you to download the Android SDK. That can be very time consuming and confusing if you run into issues. I have been looking at a way to have the capability to push and pull files using my laptop but i really didnt want to go through downloading and setting up the whole SDK just to use adb.

If anyone has followed any of my threads, you know I am all about trying to get things done in the easiest way possable to help the people that are new to Android. This method has worked for me but there is no guarentee that it will work for you and I am no way responsable for anything that happens to anything ;) unless it works great for you. Then I will take all credit :p j/k. With that being said:

The first method is for Windows based OS. I have tested it on XP but I would imagine it will work on any Windows OS. If I am informed of something different I will update it here. The Mac version is in post #2 and takes less than 1 minute to do. Much thanks to kwbdc and stlouie65 for the help on this.

Instructions for setting up Adb/Fastboot (windows)

1. On your phone go to Settings/Applications/Development and make sure USB debugging is ON and plug it in via the usb..

2. Install drivers on your PC. This is done on the MT4G/HTC devices by going onto your sd card and clicking on the HtcDrivers.exe file while viewing the files on your PC. It should automaticly install them to your PC. If you are using another phone or have trouble installing the ones from your sd card you can try pda.net or HTC Sync for the drivers. Here are links for pda.net 32-bit Windows 7/Vista/XP and for 64-bit Windows 7/Vista. Install the program by hitting "Run" and follow the instructions. You can remove it at a later time.

3. Download the file at the bottom of these instructions to your desktop and extract the contents. There is 1 folder and a install note (these instructions) that should extract. You can use a program called 7-ZIP (google it, its free and a great tool).

4. Open your "Start" menu and click on "My Computer". Then choose "Local Disk C:".(You can now click and drag the adb folder you extracted to the C: drive.

5.Open a command prompt and type cd\adb and hit enter. You should now see something that looks like this C:\adb>

6.Type adb devices then hit enter in the command prompt and it should list your device.

7. You can also type fastboot devices then hit enter in the command prompt an it should list your device. (you must be in the bootloader for fastboot to recognize your device)( adb command= adb reboot bootloader )

You should now be ready to send commands to your phone via ADB or Fastboot. You will need to repeat steps 5-6 anytime you want to use ADB/Fastboot. To send a file using Adb or fastboot make sure to put the file in your "adb" folder before giving the command to send it to your device.

If this helped you please use the "Thanks" button to show your gratitude.

____________________________________________________________________

Please feel free to ask any questions you want and I will help in any way I can.




DOWNLOAD MIRROR



Here are some commands for Adb/Fastboot.
DO NOT USE ANY COMMANDS THAT YOU ARENT SURE OF OR DONT KNOW WHAT THEY DO. I AM NOT RESPONSABLE FOR ANYTHING THAT YOU DO TO YOUR PHONE.

ADB Commands
adb devices - list all connected devices
adb push <local> <remote> - copy file/dir to device
adb pull <remote> [<local>] - copy file/dir from device
adb sync [ <directory> ] - copy host->device only if changed
(-l means list but don't copy)
(see 'adb help all')
adb shell - run remote shell interactively
adb shell <command> - run remote shell command
adb emu <command> - run emulator console command
adb logcat [ <filter-spec> ] - View device log
adb forward <local> <remote> - forward socket connections forward specs are one of: tcp:<port>
localabstract:<unix domain socket name>
localreserved:<unix domain socket name>
localfilesystem:<unix domain socket name>
dev:<character device name>
jdwp:<process pid> (remote only)
adb jdwp - list PIDs of processes hosting a JDWP transport
adb install [-l] [-r] [-s] <file> - push this package file to the device and install it
('-l' means forward-lock the app)
('-r' means reinstall the app, keeping its data)
('-s' means install on SD card instead of internal storage)
adb uninstall [-k] <package> - remove this app package from the device
('-k' means keep the data and cache directories)
adb bugreport - return all information from the device
that should be included in a bug report.
adb help - show this help message
adb version - show version num
DATAOPTS:
(no option) - don't touch the data partition
-w - wipe the data partition
-d - flash the data partition
scripting:
adb wait-for-device - block until device is online
adb start-server - ensure that there is a server running
adb kill-server - kill the server if it is running
adb get-state - prints: offline | bootloader | device
adb get-serialno - prints: <serial-number>
adb status-window - continuously print device status for a specified device
adb remount - remounts the /system partition on the device read-write
adb reboot [bootloader|recovery] - reboots the device, optionally into the bootloader or recovery program
adb reboot-bootloader - reboots the device into the bootloader
adb root - restarts the adbd daemon with root permissions
adb usb - restarts the adbd daemon listening on USB
adb tcpip <port> - restarts the adbd daemon listening on TCP on the specified port
networking:
adb ppp <tty> [parameters] - Run PPP over USB.
Note: you should not automatically start a PPP connection.
<tty> refers to the tty for PPP stream. Eg. dev:/dev/omap_csmi_tty1
[parameters] - Eg. defaultroute debug dump local notty usepeerdns
adb sync notes: adb sync [ <directory> ]
<localdir> can be interpreted in several ways:
- If <directory> is not specified, both /system and /data partitions will be updated.
- If it is "system" or "data", only the corresponding partition is updated.

environmental variables:
ADB_TRACE - Print debug information. A comma separated list of the following values
1 or all, adb, sockets, packets, rwx, usb, sync, sysdeps, transport, jdwp
ANDROID_SERIAL - The serial number to connect to. -s takes priority over this if given.
ANDROID_LOG_TAGS - When used with the logcat option, only these debug tags are printed
.

Fastboot Commands
usage: fastboot [ <option> ] <command>
commands:
update <filename> reflash device from update.zip
flashall flash boot + recovery + system
flash <partition> [ <filename> ] write a file to a flash partition
erase <partition> erase a flash partition
getvar <variable> display a bootloader variable
boot <kernel> [ <ramdisk> ] download and boot kernel
flash:raw boot <kernel> [ <ramdisk> ] create bootimage and flash it
devices list all connected devices
reboot reboot device normally
reboot-bootloader reboot device into bootloader
options:
-w erase userdata and cache
-s <serial number> specify device serial number
-p <product> specify product name
-c <cmdline> override kernel commandline
-i <vendor id> specify a custom USB vendor id
-b <base_addr> specify a custom kernel base address
-n <page size> specify the nand page size. default: 2048
 
Last edited:

TrueBlue_Drew

Retired Recognized Developer
Jun 10, 2010
1,323
1,389
Salt Lake City, Utah
AT&T Samsung Galaxy S7
Mac Instructions

Download THIS FILE Extract the 2 files inside it and place them on your Macintosh HD root. Plug in your phone to the usb, open terminal and type /adb devices.
It should now give u a serial #

To send a file using adb/fastboot the file must be placed in your mac HD Root or you must give the location in your command path.
 
Last edited:

92drls

Senior Member
Jul 25, 2009
755
143
Behind you
Wow this is so easy, thanks man. Only thing is, you said download the contents at the bottom of the post. where'd it go?

Edit: Oh the big Download spinning button.. I don't know how I missed it. Thanks again
 
Last edited:

92drls

Senior Member
Jul 25, 2009
755
143
Behind you
Just got back home and tried it. I'm prolly doing it wrong but it says exactly: c:\adb> push c: \adb\480x800_animationparticles1_blue.zip / data/local/bootanimation.zip hit anter and its done, gives me the size and seconds it took to transfer. I type adb reboot and it does but no go on the boot animation, same ol htc stuff

Rom: eViL-4g HD v.0.2.3

Sounds like I have adb successfully setup I just cant seem to figure out how to change the bootanimation. Know of a sure fire ways on the 4g? I could find several through other builds but not for the 4g specifically. I also tried through root explorer and emulator but no luck. Still boots the same, any help?
 

TrueBlue_Drew

Retired Recognized Developer
Jun 10, 2010
1,323
1,389
Salt Lake City, Utah
AT&T Samsung Galaxy S7
Just got back home and tried it. I'm prolly doing it wrong but it says exactly: c:\adb> push c: \adb\480x800_animationparticles1_blue.zip / data/local/bootanimation.zip hit anter and its done, gives me the size and seconds it took to transfer. I type adb reboot and it does but no go on the boot animation, same ol htc stuff

Rom: eViL-4g HD v.0.2.3

Sounds like I have adb successfully setup I just cant seem to figure out how to change the bootanimation. Know of a sure fire ways on the 4g? I could find several through other builds but not for the 4g specifically. I also tried through root explorer and emulator but no luck. Still boots the same, any help?

Put the file you are trying to push in the same folder you created.
ReName it bootanimation.zip
To push your file use this command after you cd into the folder you created.
You also need to be in recovery with your system mounted.

adb push bootanimation.zip system/customize/resource/bootanimation.zip

That is the location of the bootanimation on that rom.
Hope this helped ;)
 
Last edited:
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92drls

Senior Member
Jul 25, 2009
755
143
Behind you
Worked great thank you, know how to do the splash screen image too??!

Back on topic, your adb method was very easy and well instructed. I'll be thanking you on payday ;)

Edit: I found the thread about the splash screen by iriscience.. Thanks again
 
Last edited:

TrueBlue_Drew

Retired Recognized Developer
Jun 10, 2010
1,323
1,389
Salt Lake City, Utah
AT&T Samsung Galaxy S7
Worked great thank you, know how to do the splash screen image too??!

Back on topic, your adb method was very easy and well instructed. I'll be thanking you on payday ;)

Edit: I found the thread about the splash screen by iriscience.. Thanks again
I do know how to change it but would rather you have the fulfillment of learning how to do it yourself :p You can find a great guide and splashscreens in the thread by Iriscience. Make sure to thank him for it.

Back on topic, I'm glad this worked good for you. It really is pretty simple. I dont have have a donation link (I do this for the love of helping people mod their phone) but I would appreciate it if you hit the "Thanks" button at the bottom of any post that have helped you.
 

geoffott

Member
Nov 21, 2009
32
10
Lakeland, FL
Thanks for this... after two years owning android phones you finally got me to jump into adb instead of relying on the terminal emulator. I had tried before, but my PC never downloaded the SDK correctly, and I could never get it set up. Your download and instructions worked flawlessly.

Question: What is everyone's favorite mod using adb/fastboot? I already changed my splash screen, but I am hooked on trying out my new tool. :)
 

30Glock

Senior Member
Aug 29, 2009
580
10
@trueblew, Thank you for this I follow all your threads and your always posting good Information, Your Instructions are simple and usefull. I am now ready to use adb, something I thought I would never venture In, Again Thanks.
 

TrueBlue_Drew

Retired Recognized Developer
Jun 10, 2010
1,323
1,389
Salt Lake City, Utah
AT&T Samsung Galaxy S7
@trueblew, Thank you for this I follow all your threads and your always posting good Information, Your Instructions are simple and usefull. I am now ready to use adb, something I thought I would never venture In, Again Thanks.
Thanks for this... after two years owning android phones you finally got me to jump into adb instead of relying on the terminal emulator. I had tried before, but my PC never downloaded the SDK correctly, and I could never get it set up. Your download and instructions worked flawlessly.

Question: What is everyone's favorite mod using adb/fastboot? I already changed my splash screen, but I am hooked on trying out my new tool. :)

:D Thanks Guys, I appreciate the kind comments! My whole intention of this thread is to help people that couldnt or didn't want to set up the Android SDK have a good solid way of pushing and pulling files to their phone.
 

Vinsane

Senior Member
Jul 23, 2010
1,293
115
Dallas
Great guide Drew! I'll finally be giving adb a shot! I've always been intimidated by it.

This helps for sure.

Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App
 

dominicanman912

Senior Member
Jan 7, 2009
600
38
Savannah, Georgia
thank you! i hate the sdk tools! this works much quicker for me! my only question is that when i type in "adb devices" it lists my device but when i type in "fastboot devices" it doesnt list or do anything. it just basically drops to another line for me to enter another command. does that mean that i cant fastboot?
 

TrueBlue_Drew

Retired Recognized Developer
Jun 10, 2010
1,323
1,389
Salt Lake City, Utah
AT&T Samsung Galaxy S7
thank you! i hate the sdk tools! this works much quicker for me! my only question is that when i type in "adb devices" it lists my device but when i type in "fastboot devices" it doesnt list or do anything. it just basically drops to another line for me to enter another command. does that mean that i cant fastboot?
You must be in fastboot (bootloader) for fastboot to recognize your device. You can get there by by turning off your phone then holding down the volume down button and the power button at the same time. Our you can use this command via adb (usb plugged in):
adb reboot bootloader
Your device should automatically go into fastboot from the bootloader. If it doesn't you can scroll to fastboot using the volume button and hit the power button.
 

dominicanman912

Senior Member
Jan 7, 2009
600
38
Savannah, Georgia
Thank you for answering my question! I have been reading a lot about adb over the past few days and I feel more comfortable with this way than the pain in the ass sdk method! When I get back on the pc, I will be sure to hit that thanks button because you have been a great help.

Sent From my ICE COLD HTC Glacier aka MyTORCH4G!
 

TrueBlue_Drew

Retired Recognized Developer
Jun 10, 2010
1,323
1,389
Salt Lake City, Utah
AT&T Samsung Galaxy S7
How do I flash a recovery using fastboot.

I have an Evo Shift and I was told I could use this method.

The recovery is here along with the vague directions. 2nd Post. http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=932153

Set up adb/fastboot using the instructions in the first post. put your recovery in the folder you created and make sure it is namesd recovery.img . When you have done that and adb will recognize your device you can type these commands pressing enter after each one:

adb reboot bootloader

fastboot flash recovery recovery.img
 
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koolkid09

Senior Member
May 16, 2010
204
3
Set up adb/fastboot using the instructions in the first post. put your recovery in the folder you created and make sure it is namesd recovery.img . When you have done that and adb will recognize your device you can type these commands pressing enter after each one:

adb reboot bootloader

fastboot flash recovery recovery.img

Thank you so much!! I have been trying to do this for the past hour now! lol
 

kirkcody

Senior Member
Jun 23, 2009
458
47
Milwaukee,WI.
error

I feel like an idiot, idk what im doing wrong, in command prompt i get this message, 'adb' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file......what am I doing wrong?
 

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    Ok there are some other guides here on the forums for this but they all require you to download the Android SDK. That can be very time consuming and confusing if you run into issues. I have been looking at a way to have the capability to push and pull files using my laptop but i really didnt want to go through downloading and setting up the whole SDK just to use adb.

    If anyone has followed any of my threads, you know I am all about trying to get things done in the easiest way possable to help the people that are new to Android. This method has worked for me but there is no guarentee that it will work for you and I am no way responsable for anything that happens to anything ;) unless it works great for you. Then I will take all credit :p j/k. With that being said:

    The first method is for Windows based OS. I have tested it on XP but I would imagine it will work on any Windows OS. If I am informed of something different I will update it here. The Mac version is in post #2 and takes less than 1 minute to do. Much thanks to kwbdc and stlouie65 for the help on this.

    Instructions for setting up Adb/Fastboot (windows)

    1. On your phone go to Settings/Applications/Development and make sure USB debugging is ON and plug it in via the usb..

    2. Install drivers on your PC. This is done on the MT4G/HTC devices by going onto your sd card and clicking on the HtcDrivers.exe file while viewing the files on your PC. It should automaticly install them to your PC. If you are using another phone or have trouble installing the ones from your sd card you can try pda.net or HTC Sync for the drivers. Here are links for pda.net 32-bit Windows 7/Vista/XP and for 64-bit Windows 7/Vista. Install the program by hitting "Run" and follow the instructions. You can remove it at a later time.

    3. Download the file at the bottom of these instructions to your desktop and extract the contents. There is 1 folder and a install note (these instructions) that should extract. You can use a program called 7-ZIP (google it, its free and a great tool).

    4. Open your "Start" menu and click on "My Computer". Then choose "Local Disk C:".(You can now click and drag the adb folder you extracted to the C: drive.

    5.Open a command prompt and type cd\adb and hit enter. You should now see something that looks like this C:\adb>

    6.Type adb devices then hit enter in the command prompt and it should list your device.

    7. You can also type fastboot devices then hit enter in the command prompt an it should list your device. (you must be in the bootloader for fastboot to recognize your device)( adb command= adb reboot bootloader )

    You should now be ready to send commands to your phone via ADB or Fastboot. You will need to repeat steps 5-6 anytime you want to use ADB/Fastboot. To send a file using Adb or fastboot make sure to put the file in your "adb" folder before giving the command to send it to your device.

    If this helped you please use the "Thanks" button to show your gratitude.

    ____________________________________________________________________

    Please feel free to ask any questions you want and I will help in any way I can.




    DOWNLOAD MIRROR



    Here are some commands for Adb/Fastboot.
    DO NOT USE ANY COMMANDS THAT YOU ARENT SURE OF OR DONT KNOW WHAT THEY DO. I AM NOT RESPONSABLE FOR ANYTHING THAT YOU DO TO YOUR PHONE.

    ADB Commands
    adb devices - list all connected devices
    adb push <local> <remote> - copy file/dir to device
    adb pull <remote> [<local>] - copy file/dir from device
    adb sync [ <directory> ] - copy host->device only if changed
    (-l means list but don't copy)
    (see 'adb help all')
    adb shell - run remote shell interactively
    adb shell <command> - run remote shell command
    adb emu <command> - run emulator console command
    adb logcat [ <filter-spec> ] - View device log
    adb forward <local> <remote> - forward socket connections forward specs are one of: tcp:<port>
    localabstract:<unix domain socket name>
    localreserved:<unix domain socket name>
    localfilesystem:<unix domain socket name>
    dev:<character device name>
    jdwp:<process pid> (remote only)
    adb jdwp - list PIDs of processes hosting a JDWP transport
    adb install [-l] [-r] [-s] <file> - push this package file to the device and install it
    ('-l' means forward-lock the app)
    ('-r' means reinstall the app, keeping its data)
    ('-s' means install on SD card instead of internal storage)
    adb uninstall [-k] <package> - remove this app package from the device
    ('-k' means keep the data and cache directories)
    adb bugreport - return all information from the device
    that should be included in a bug report.
    adb help - show this help message
    adb version - show version num
    DATAOPTS:
    (no option) - don't touch the data partition
    -w - wipe the data partition
    -d - flash the data partition
    scripting:
    adb wait-for-device - block until device is online
    adb start-server - ensure that there is a server running
    adb kill-server - kill the server if it is running
    adb get-state - prints: offline | bootloader | device
    adb get-serialno - prints: <serial-number>
    adb status-window - continuously print device status for a specified device
    adb remount - remounts the /system partition on the device read-write
    adb reboot [bootloader|recovery] - reboots the device, optionally into the bootloader or recovery program
    adb reboot-bootloader - reboots the device into the bootloader
    adb root - restarts the adbd daemon with root permissions
    adb usb - restarts the adbd daemon listening on USB
    adb tcpip <port> - restarts the adbd daemon listening on TCP on the specified port
    networking:
    adb ppp <tty> [parameters] - Run PPP over USB.
    Note: you should not automatically start a PPP connection.
    <tty> refers to the tty for PPP stream. Eg. dev:/dev/omap_csmi_tty1
    [parameters] - Eg. defaultroute debug dump local notty usepeerdns
    adb sync notes: adb sync [ <directory> ]
    <localdir> can be interpreted in several ways:
    - If <directory> is not specified, both /system and /data partitions will be updated.
    - If it is "system" or "data", only the corresponding partition is updated.

    environmental variables:
    ADB_TRACE - Print debug information. A comma separated list of the following values
    1 or all, adb, sockets, packets, rwx, usb, sync, sysdeps, transport, jdwp
    ANDROID_SERIAL - The serial number to connect to. -s takes priority over this if given.
    ANDROID_LOG_TAGS - When used with the logcat option, only these debug tags are printed
    .

    Fastboot Commands
    usage: fastboot [ <option> ] <command>
    commands:
    update <filename> reflash device from update.zip
    flashall flash boot + recovery + system
    flash <partition> [ <filename> ] write a file to a flash partition
    erase <partition> erase a flash partition
    getvar <variable> display a bootloader variable
    boot <kernel> [ <ramdisk> ] download and boot kernel
    flash:raw boot <kernel> [ <ramdisk> ] create bootimage and flash it
    devices list all connected devices
    reboot reboot device normally
    reboot-bootloader reboot device into bootloader
    options:
    -w erase userdata and cache
    -s <serial number> specify device serial number
    -p <product> specify product name
    -c <cmdline> override kernel commandline
    -i <vendor id> specify a custom USB vendor id
    -b <base_addr> specify a custom kernel base address
    -n <page size> specify the nand page size. default: 2048
    4
    Mac Instructions

    Download THIS FILE Extract the 2 files inside it and place them on your Macintosh HD root. Plug in your phone to the usb, open terminal and type /adb devices.
    It should now give u a serial #

    To send a file using adb/fastboot the file must be placed in your mac HD Root or you must give the location in your command path.
    3
    Worked great thank you, know how to do the splash screen image too??!

    Back on topic, your adb method was very easy and well instructed. I'll be thanking you on payday ;)

    Edit: I found the thread about the splash screen by iriscience.. Thanks again
    I do know how to change it but would rather you have the fulfillment of learning how to do it yourself :p You can find a great guide and splashscreens in the thread by Iriscience. Make sure to thank him for it.

    Back on topic, I'm glad this worked good for you. It really is pretty simple. I dont have have a donation link (I do this for the love of helping people mod their phone) but I would appreciate it if you hit the "Thanks" button at the bottom of any post that have helped you.
    1
    Wow this is so easy, thanks man. Only thing is, you said download the contents at the bottom of the post. where'd it go?

    Edit: Oh the big Download spinning button.. I don't know how I missed it. Thanks again
    Not a prob...Please let me know if this works good for you.
    1
    Just got back home and tried it. I'm prolly doing it wrong but it says exactly: c:\adb> push c: \adb\480x800_animationparticles1_blue.zip / data/local/bootanimation.zip hit anter and its done, gives me the size and seconds it took to transfer. I type adb reboot and it does but no go on the boot animation, same ol htc stuff

    Rom: eViL-4g HD v.0.2.3

    Sounds like I have adb successfully setup I just cant seem to figure out how to change the bootanimation. Know of a sure fire ways on the 4g? I could find several through other builds but not for the 4g specifically. I also tried through root explorer and emulator but no luck. Still boots the same, any help?

    Put the file you are trying to push in the same folder you created.
    ReName it bootanimation.zip
    To push your file use this command after you cd into the folder you created.
    You also need to be in recovery with your system mounted.

    adb push bootanimation.zip system/customize/resource/bootanimation.zip

    That is the location of the bootanimation on that rom.
    Hope this helped ;)