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Configure Google Nexus 7 to work with Android SDK Tools / ADB.exe

I wanted to deploy my first “hello world” Android application from Eclipse on Windows 8 to my Google Nexus 7 tablet. I plugged the Nexus 7 into my development PC using the USB cable and then I used adb.exe to list the devices, but no devices were found.

The summary of steps I took to get the device to show with ADB:

  1. Enabled the USB debugging setting on the tablet
  2. Changed the USB connection mode to Camera (PTP)
  3. Updated the Google USB Driver in Windows

Initially Adb.exe shows no devices:

01-adb-shows-no-devices

If the Android emulator is running, it shows as the only device:

02-adb-shows-only-emulator

The first step is to enable the Developer options the Nexus 7. Go to Settings –> About tablet. Then tap the “Build number” 7 times!

02-tap-build-number-7-times

Now you will see the “Developer options” setting. Go into Developer options and enable the “USB debugging” setting:

02-enable-usb-debugging

When you get the “USB debugging connected” notification, tap the “Connected as a media device” option.

02-usb-connected

The default USB mode is “Media device (MTP)”, change this to “Camera (PTP)”:

02-select-camera-ptp-mode

Install the Google USB Driver using Eclipse / ADT: Window –> Android SDK Manager. In the Android SDK Manager, select Extras –> Google USB Driver. This installs the driver to your android SDK folder under sdk\extras\google\usb_driver.

Now update the device driver using Device Manager in Windows 8:

03-open-device-manager-win8

Find the “Nexus 7” device in the Device Manager under “Other devices”, then right click and select “Update Driver Software…”:

04-device-manager

Provide the path to the Google USB Driver:

05-select-driver

Select “Always trust software from Google Inc” and install the driver:

06-install-driver

Now the “Android Composite ADB Interface” will show in the Device Manager:

07-android-device-in-device-manager

Run ADB.exe again and confirm the new device is available. It may show as offline:

08-adb-shows-new-device

If the device shows as “offline”, then make sure to confirm on the tablet that you allow USB debugging:

08-allow-usb-debugging

Now the device is online:

09-nexus-online

That’s it!

I’m using Windows 8 64bit, Android Developer Tools (ADT) v21.1.0-569685 and the Nexus 7 is running Android 4.2.2. I used the information on this StackOverflow post to figure everything out.