OS X 10.6.6 and “adb devices” fails to list android devices

Question

adb devices was working fine last year, but after upgrades and new software installs, adb devices no longer recognizes USB attached Android devices.

Her

Answer 1

If you have installed EasyTether on OS X, the EasyTetherUSBEthernet.kext can prevent adb from communicating with your mobile device.

If you use Easy Tether, BEFORE you plug in your phone run:

sudo kextunload /System/Library/Extensions/EasyTetherUSBEthernet.kext

(or unplug/plug your phone in after)

If you are done debugging and want to use EasyTether again, either restart or:

sudo kextload /System/Library/Extensions/EasyTetherUSBEthernet.kext

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If you want to remove the EasyTether kext so it never hassels you again:

sudo kextunload /System/Library/Extensions/EasyTetherUSBEthernet.kext
sudo rm -rf /System/Library/Extensions/EasyTetherUSBEthernet.kext

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Reference/Credit: http://www.intohand.com/post.php?s=2011-02-17-android-debug-bridge-not-just-working-on-mac

Answer 2

Having just connected a brand new Motorola Atrix 2 to my Mac running 10.6.8, I had to pull down the menu from the top of the screen, tap on "USB Connection", and change it from "Motorola Phone Portal" to "Charge Only" before it would show up in my list of devices from adb. Hope this helps!

Answer 3

If none of the above works for you just as it didn't for me, just try using a different cable. The cable I was using was my friend's cable but it was only meant to charge over USB, not to pass data over USB. I don't know how to tell the difference between micro USB cables that do or don't support data over USB but it's worth a try! Good luck!

Answer 4

I was having the same issue and tried connecting as charge only, but that didn't solve the problem, then unchecked the "Unknown sources" option to allow installation of non-market applications, tried it again and it recognized the device. I'm running android 2.2.3.

Answer 5

I just ran into this problem using my HTC Inspire (Android 2.3.3) and Mac OS 10.6.8.  The phone did not enter USB debugging mode when I connected it to my USB hub, but it did start USB debugging mode when I connected it directly to my MacBook Pro.

... and then, of course, it showed up in the list of devices attached.

Answer 6

I had this problem today with my HTC mytouch phone and OS 10.6.8. At the same time, the phone reported a damaged SD card. The solution was to remove the Micro SD card and erase/format it using disk utility as FAT 32. The name I gave the SD card volume appeared in the Finder when I tried connecting again (charge only). For some reason, Android reported the card as damaged but could not format it. I used a Micro SD USB adapter. My Macbook didn't see the card until I carefully slid it out and back into the adapter slot. This is a known problem with HTC android phones.