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Ever since I upgraded my Samsung Galaxy S3 to android 4.3 (from 4.1.2) I am unable to use Chrome's remote debugging for android (more details here).

I have the developer options and USB debugging enabled on my phone, and this worked perfectly fine on android 4.1.2. Now, when I connect my phone to my PC, it simply connects as a media storage device and is not discovered as a USB device by chrome.

I am ruling out any problems with chrome as I could USB debug with a Google Nexus4, also, looking at some other thread (here and elsewhere) it seems to be a problem with Samsung's 4.3 upgrade.

Any pointers to get this working?

Alphonso
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    I was developing for android using Android Studio. So I had almost everything installed but Chrome didn't show me the list of devices. The solution was to find `adb.exe` which was already on my PC, and to run `adb.exe devices`. That did the trick for me. – Saeed Neamati Nov 25 '15 at 19:41
  • How do you run this? I downloaded the "standalone Android SDK Platform-Tools package" from [here](https://developer.android.com/studio/releases/platform-tools.html) for Windows, extracted the zip file contents and double-clicked `adb.exe` and it just opened and closed a terminal. I then opened a terminal and ran `adb.exe devices` and it said `'adb.exe' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file`. I don't have Android Studio installed as it is around 2GB and I am on limited connection. – user1063287 Aug 08 '17 at 04:57

10 Answers10

167

My devices stopped working as Chrome de-activated the now depracated ADB plugin as it's built in dev-tools now.

I downloaded the SDK and followed the instructions at Chrome Developers. How ever I found the instructions served by Alphonso out not to be sufficient and I did it this way on Windows 8:

  1. Download Android SDK here ("SDK Tools Only" section) and unzip the content.
  2. Run SDK Manager.exe and install Android SDK platform tools
  3. Open up the Command prompt (simply by pressing the windows button and type in cmd.exe)
  4. Enter the path with ex: cd c:/downloads/sdk/platform-tools
  5. Open ADB by typing in adb.exe
  6. Run the following command by typing it and pressing enter: adb devices
  7. Check if you get the prompt on your device, if you still can't see your phone in Inspect Devices run the following commands one by one (excluding the ") "adb kill-server" "adb start-server" "adb devices"

I had major problems and managed to get it working with these steps. If you still have problems, google the guide Remote Debugging on Android with Chrome and check for the part about drivers. I had problems with my Samsung Galaxy Nexus that needed special drivers to be compatiable with ADB.

Update

If you are using Windows 10 and couldn't find the link to download Android SDK; you may skip #1 and #2. All you need is activate "Android Debug Bridge". Go straight to #3 - #7 after download and execute "platform-tools"(https://developer.android.com/studio/releases/platform-tools.html)

foo
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Valross.nu
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    Worked great but unfortunately it took me a while to find this answer. I hate the fact that even with Chrome updates Galaxy Nexus users still have to download the huge SDK for remote debugging. – radu.luchian Aug 06 '14 at 08:47
  • @Valross.nu Could you please elaborate on this comment: "Run the following command by typing it and pressing enter: adb devices." I am on Mac and at the max I can get to the adb executable(equivalent to adb.exe on windows). On double clicking the adb executable, I get a terminal window with description about adb. Now where do I enter the commands like adb devices? Doing it on a normal terminal window(with the path as the android sdk folder) gives: adb command not found. Please help! – Manish Giri Sep 29 '14 at 09:40
  • @Manish On Windows I used CMD and I guess you should use the built in Terminal in the same way as described for Windows (do not double-click as this fails also on the Windows executable, just exits the program after startup). You need to stand in the folder path as described to use any commands after executing adb.exe – Valross.nu Oct 15 '14 at 13:26
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    Worked for me after Lollipop update messed up with debugging and drivers. – Mahn Dec 11 '14 at 13:06
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    Same for Samsung Galaxy S3 (Android 4.4). No other ways worked but this one. +1 – Austin Feb 25 '15 at 20:57
  • thanks for the answer this worked for me as well. every time I restart my computer I have to launch this though which is a little annoying so I wrote an AutoHotKey script for it. if anyone else is using Windows and needs to run this command every time here's my script: run cmd.exe Send cd C:\Users\Calvin\AppData\Local\Android\sdk\platform-tools{enter} ;Make sure to find the right directory on your machine! Send adb.exe{enter} Send adb devices{enter} – Calvin Schemanski Apr 08 '15 at 13:26
  • Thank you for that addition Calvin! I use Ubuntu nowadays and do not have this problem anymore, but would have needed that script before =) Great! – Valross.nu Apr 09 '15 at 14:00
  • I just created a shortcut which I pinned to my start menu, meaning you can skip steps 2-5, and made the target: "C:\Program Files\AndroidSDK\adt-bundle-windows-x86_64-20140702\sdk\platform-tools\adb.exe" devices – 99 Problems - Syntax ain't one May 15 '15 at 12:20
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    On Unix based systems you need to supply a path to the executable or it won't work, even when you are in the same folder. So if you are in the same folder, just use `./adb devices`. – Stijn de Witt Nov 06 '15 at 11:09
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    That worked great for me on a Galaxy S5 under Windows 10 with Android 5.0. I couldn't find my device in Chrome Inspect but after following these steps it appeared. I installed _Android SDK Tools_, _Android SDK Platform Tools_ and _Google USB Drivers_. – Oliver E. Nov 29 '15 at 09:12
  • Thank you. Just running the command 'adb devices' prompted the authorization window on my device and now the i can remote debug – KC Coder Aug 26 '16 at 15:15
  • Just installing the Android SDK platform tools worked for me – dude Jan 06 '17 at 08:08
  • I've downloaded sdk-tools-windows-3859397.zip (is that the right file?), but in the zip I don't see a SDK Manager.exe. Any pointers on what I might be doing wrong? – moosefetcher Jul 14 '17 at 08:51
  • I struggled to get the Android SDK installed on my Windows 10 machine. I found a helpful article at https://www.androidcentral.com/installing-android-sdk-windows-mac-and-linux-tutorial which got me through steps #1 and #2. I then followed the remaining steps listed here from #3 on (using the new paths from the article) and I was able to get this working. – jg314 Aug 03 '17 at 21:52
  • On Win10, if you've installed the SDK, you can open the GUI and enable ADB by going to `Tools > Android > Enable ADB Integration` – Dpeif Sep 20 '17 at 17:47
  • Worked Great with Windows 10 and Samsung Galaxy S8, but Android USB driver was installed in addition: Install Windows USB driver http://developer.samsung.com/android/tools-sdks/Samsung-Andorid-USB-Driver-for-Windows The reference for debugging steps: https://developers.google.com/web/tools/chrome-devtools/remote-debugging/ – am0wa Dec 08 '17 at 16:41
  • Using my Galaxy 7, I had to also install the Samsung USB drivers (google ones did not work). http://developer.samsung.com/galaxy/others/android-usb-driver-for-windows – Hobbes Dec 27 '17 at 23:09
33

Having attempted to follow Valros.nu's answer, i discovered that the sdk download is now bundeled with androind studio, in an 840MB exe installer.

As all you need for this particular program is the adb program, you can get this in a standalone installer from the xda guys:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2317790

Note that you do not need to type adb.exe, simply type adb devices into the command prompt that is launched after install.

Also, i had to unplug and replug in my samsung s4 to get the remote debugging prompt to appear on the phone

Steve
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    Hours of struggle... found this answer... installed the app... angels singing and life filled with wonder and awesomeness. –  Oct 11 '15 at 15:57
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    Didn't need full SDK for some simple remote debugging on Chrome. This solution is great. Vote this answer up! – Adrian Moisa Dec 25 '15 at 18:10
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    I tried this and can see my device as "unauthorized" but I don't get any pop-up on the phone to authroize. I have already enabled usb debuggin on handset. What have I missed? – Guerrilla Jan 28 '16 at 01:20
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    I disabled it in options and then re-enabled and it is recognising device. I think this is the best answer here. – Guerrilla Jan 28 '16 at 01:25
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    This answer was the difference between a 750kb download and a 1.2GB download (3+GB unzipped!) for me. Thank you! – Jeremy Penrod Feb 25 '16 at 01:02
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    This should be the selected answer. One step and one install. Thank you!! – b3tac0d3 May 23 '16 at 03:32
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    Man I was almost going crazy and just out of despair I tried this and it's worked. Thanks a lot! No idea though why I haven't received the authorization popup on my phone before but it works. – Ondrej Tokar Jun 27 '16 at 11:52
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    Oh dear god finally. Steve you're the hero we need. So much stress has just been fixed. – Dominic Woodman Dec 15 '16 at 17:19
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    Meanwhile, that bundled download has grown to 1.8 GB. – O. R. Mapper Mar 03 '17 at 12:27
  • Just a question - what is the 'remote debugging prompt' and is it possible that I wouldn't notice it on my device somehow? I'm just trying to think why this answer seems to have worked for others. – moosefetcher Jul 17 '17 at 08:53
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    Amazing. I've tried countless times to get my phone to be recognized and this worked in less than a minute. Currently on a Samsung Galaxy Note 4 w/ Android version 6.0.1. THANK YOU! – George Inggs Jan 14 '18 at 23:20
18

After looking around a little longer I came across this. Apparently, there isn't a solution to this issue yet, but there is a workaround - going back to the legacy workflow.

The legacy workflow did work for me, and the only additional thing I had to do was to go to the platform-tools folder from android SDK download, open a command window here and run command "adb devices". This caused the computer RSA key fingerprint panel to pop on my mobile screen, and after granting permission, the device showed up under Chrome's Inspect page.

Turns out that it was not an issue caused by mobile OS upgrade but by Chrome (I was thrown off by the fact that it worked on my Nexus4 somehow). In the older versions of Chrome there was't a need to download the 500 odd mb Android SDK, as it supported an ADB plugin. But with latest version of Chrome, I guess, going legacy is the only way to go.

Alphonso
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  • Worked for me, and I'm quite grateful it did! Exact same issue on my Galaxy Nexus: device shows as connected, including "USB debugging connected" notification on the device, but doesn't appear in the chrome://inspect "Devices" list, nor am I prompted on the device to "Allow USB Debugging," which is what is supposed to happen when you connect to a PC. When I ran `adb devices` on my PC, it listed my device, and then on the device screen the "Allow USB Debugging" prompt came up. From there on out, it worked! – Josh Jul 28 '14 at 18:04
  • It's probably not quite fair to describe running `adb devices` as "going back to the legacy workflow," which involved port forwarding and navigating to a particular URL in Chrome on the PC. Running `adb devices` is pretty simple :-) – Josh Jul 28 '14 at 18:07
  • @Josh - glad it worked for you. Also, I did not choose to call it "legacy workflow", Google did - it's legacy in the sense there is another workflow in place where you don't need adb binary from Android SDK. – Alphonso Jul 30 '14 at 10:52
  • what I meant is that the full "legacy workflow" as described by Google is more involved than just running `adb devices`. So what we're stuck with is something between the legacy workflow and the "modern workflow". – Josh Jul 30 '14 at 13:51
  • Just a side note, in the platform-tools folder of my download, I had the "adb.exe" file, but none named "adb devices". Just in case someone reads this and thinks it might be old info, I would just add that the way I ran "adb devices" was to open a command window, navigate to the platform tools folder and execute the command "adb devices". – Zachary Kniebel Dec 01 '14 at 19:27
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    @Zachary - incorporated your suggestion. – Alphonso Dec 02 '14 at 14:59
  • You are super awesome – abelabbesnabi Oct 21 '15 at 06:11
7

I have Samsung Galaxy S3 and it was not showing in the "Remote devices" tab nor in chrome://inspect. The device did show in Windows's Device Manager as GT-I9300, though. What worked for me was:

  1. Plug the mobile phone to the front USB port
  2. On my phone, click the notification about successful connection
  3. Make sure the connection type is Camera (PTP)
  4. On my Windows machine, download installer from https://github.com/koush/UniversalAdbDriver
  5. Run it :)
  6. Open cmd.exe
  7. cd "C:\Program Files (x86)\ClockworkMod\Universal Adb Driver"
  8. adb devices
  9. Open Chrome in both mobile phone and Windows machine
  10. On Windows's machine navigate to chrome://inspect - there, after a while you should see the target phone :)

I'm not sure if it affected the whole flow somehow, but at some point I've installed, and later uninstalled the drivers from Samsung: http://www.samsung.com/us/support/downloads/ > Mobile > Phones > Galaxy S > S III > Unlocked > http://www.samsung.com/us/support/owners/product/galaxy-s-iii-unlocked#downloads

qbolec
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4

For me the solution was to download the Android SDK and launch adb devices which started the adb daemon.

alexwenzel
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I know this is an older question, but I thought I would also post my solution:

  • Update your Chrome on your phone and on your PC.
  • Even if it says you have the latest driver for your device inside Device Manager, you may need an alternative. Google latest Samsung drivers and try updating your drivers.
satyrFrost
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1

I had success after using ade.exe as explained above, plus using the latest version of Chrome Canary. Apparently your desktop version of Chrome has to be higher than the version running on your Android device.

Benson
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For me, the menu item Inspect Devices wasn't available (not shown at all). But, simply browsing to chrome://inspect/#devices showed me my device and I was able to use the port forward etc. I have no idea why the menu item is not displayed.

Phone: Android Galaxy S4

OS: Mac OS X

mrmuggles
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0

In case it helps anyone I will post what worked for me.

I had to plug my S3 into a direct USB port of my PC for it to prompt me to accept the RSA signature. I had my S3 plugged into a hub before then.

Now the S3 is detected when using both the direct USB port of the PC and via the hub.

NOTE - You may need to also run adb devices from the command line to get your S3 to re-request permission.

D:\apps\android-sdk-windows\platform-tools>adb devices
List of devices attached
* daemon not running. starting it now on port 5037 *
* daemon started successfully *
9283759342847566        unauthorized

...accept signature on phone...

D:\apps\android-sdk-windows\platform-tools>adb devices
List of devices attached
9283759342847566        device
Paul Grime
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-6

Those who updated their device to Android 4.2 Jelly Bean or higher or having a 4.2 JB or higher android powered device, will not found the Developers Options in Settings menu. The Developers Options hide by default on 4.2 jelly bean and later android versions. Follow the below steps to Unhide Developers Options.

  1. Go to Settings>>About (On most Android Smartphone and tablet) OR

Go to Settings>> More/General tab>> About (On Samsung Galaxy S3, Galaxy S4, Galaxy Note 8.0, Galaxy Tab 3 and other galaxy Smartphone and tablet having Android 4.2/4.3 Jelly Bean) OR

Go to Settings>> General>> About (On Samsung Galaxy Note 2, Galaxy Note 3 and some other Galaxy devices having Android 4.3 Jelly Bean or 4.4 KitKat) OR

Go to Settings> About> Software Information> More (On HTC One or other HTC devices having Android 4.2 Jelly Bean or higher) 2. Now Scroll onto Build Number and tap it 7 times repeatedly. A message will appear saying that u are now a developer.

  1. Just return to the previous menu to see developer option.

Credit to www.androidofficer.com

Uee
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  • Thanks but that was not really the question. I have the developer options and USB debugging enabled on my phone already. – Alphonso May 26 '14 at 10:49
  • In the OP question he said: "I have the developer options and USB debugging enabled on my phone". Consider read entire question before trying any answer. – rochasdv Aug 31 '15 at 13:25