Cannot run app on Sony Xperia SP and AVD on Android Studio

Question

I'm currently trying to do this tutorial

http://developer.android.com/training/basics/firstapp/running-app.html

but I'm having trouble getting the simple "Hello World" app to run. Here's what I'm facing.

1) The AVD I'm using has been displaying the shiny "android" loading image you would associate with a boot-up for ages and I cannot get it to progress beyond that despite leaving it to run for an hour.

2) Trying to search for a device also yields nothing. I've connected my 1 year old Sony Xperia SP, entered USB debugging mode and have made sure the device can be seen on my device manager. Yet, the device does not appear on the device selection menu.

Is there something I'm doing wrong? It's really frustrating to get stuck at the first hurdle in my Android Developer journey, so would really appreciate any help I can get.

EDIT: Managed to fix #1 with a Genymotion simulator. The problem with the Xperia is still there though, even though I got it running with the Sony PC Companion... Anyone got any tips?

EDIT #2: Finally figured found out from a friend I needed to change the USB Connection mode to "Mass Storage". Wow such a simple change that is barely documented anywhere really cheeses off beginners -_-

Oh well, onward!

Answer 1

1) See this

2) If you follow android's instructions clearly, using your phone as a developers tool should work. You might need to install some drivers and you should be able to get it going through ADB.