adb doesn't detect Android devices

Question

When I plug in a device via USB, adb devices comes up empty. I followed the instructions on the Android site[1] by adding the code below and restarting the adb server (I also restarted my machine since I couldn't get it to work). Both my Nexus One and Samsung Nexus are still undetected.

~ cat /etc/udev/rules.d/51-android.rules

# nexus one
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="18d1", SYMLINK+="android_adb", MODE="0666",    GROUP="wheel"
# samsung nexus
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="04e8", SYMLINK+="android_adb", MODE="0666", GROUP="wheel"

Any ideas?

1. http://developer.android.com/guide/developing/device.html

Answer 1

It turns out the problem was that when I initially installed the android sdk's there was an issue when doing it through eclipse and the solution was to run eclipse via sudo. This did allow everything to be installed, but I think it may have been responsible for my issues since all the files belonged to the sudo group. I re-downloaded the sdk and instead of installing the versions through eclipse I installed them by running the android terminal command. After installing, running the ddms detected my devices. ** I also notices that I pluralized the ATTR in my rules file. In the end below is what worked for me (after creating the adbusers group and adding myself).

# nexus one
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTR{idVendor}=="18d1", MODE="0666", GROUP="adbusers"
# samsung nexus
SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTR{idVendor}=="04e8", MODE="0666", GROUP="adbusers"

Answer 2

General answer is to verify / update the USB drivers.

I often find the USB driver that installs automatically from the device itself is either 1) out of date or 2) not intended for "true" application developer debugging support. (ie, more for "consumer" access to the device as a storage media rather than adb debugging support)

Android Developer page has a list of vendor links to get the USB drivers for the device

• http://developer.android.com/tools/extras/oem-usb.html

Answer 3

Try to:

1. Uninstall old Kies
2. Install: SAMSUNG Kies,PC Sync (Software) (ver.2.3.3.12085_7_5) from http://www.samsung.com/us/support/downloads/global#global_download_list

it worked for me :)

Answer 4

Why is your GROUP 'wheel'? Try changing it to plugdev