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I'm trying to use adb from a Ubuntu(+Cinnamon) machine. The problem is that I get following message from adb devices:

List of devices attached
TA8830OIVO  no permissions

Where TA8830OIVO is my Motorola G device.

I changed android rules in /etc/udev/rules.d/51-android.rules

SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTR{idVendor}=="22b8", ATTR{idProduct}=="2e76",
MODE="0666", GROUP="plugdev", SYMLINK+="android_adb", OWNER="axel"

I also restarted udev service and adb being installed on my personal laptop I'm the only user with all the priveledges needed (plugdev group and so on).

Is there a way to run adb without invoking sudo?

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7 Answers 7

Reset to default
83

Change the USB mode in your phone to File Transfer. That's what worked for me.

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6
  • The opposite is true for me: USB debugging does not work during file transfer mode on some old devices.
    – Miha_x64
    Jul 16, 2018 at 11:18
  • 1
    Update: just noticed that in my phone (android one), usb debugging can also be enabled while in charging mode in Developer Settings.
    – NuttLoose
    Jan 17, 2019 at 13:12
  • 3
    Changing to file transfer mode worked for me. On android 7
    – Abrar
    Mar 22, 2019 at 1:20
  • Kindle Fire 8 2019 - "MTP mode" which is in USB configuration in Developer Options.
    – Bill McGonigle
    Jul 2, 2019 at 15:46
  • 1
    I changed and then i was prompted on the device to allow usb debugging :D
    – Maxwell s.c
    Jul 26, 2019 at 2:53
31
  1. Remember to run sudo udevadm trigger to get the changes applied (or reboot, but where's the fun in that).
  2. Instead of writing your own rules use https://github.com/M0Rf30/android-udev-rules
  3. Make sure you have the latest ADB version (1.0.35 102d0d1e73de-android). Earlier ones didn't work with USB-C for me.
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  • Thanks but it's kinda old question. I switched to Mac 2 years ago. I find it stupid to do stuff like lsusb and then modify rules when it should be done automatically... I gave up after so many years of ubuntu use. Can't find a decent Linux Desktop system.
    – shadox
    Apr 8, 2016 at 21:06
  • 1
    The question is 6 months old and still valid for posterity. 1y ago I dumped OS X after a 3y affair and went back to Linux for similar reasons ;). Linux has parts where it gets frustrating but there's a similar amount of tinkering required in OS X if you use homebrew+zsh+iTerm2. The difference is that stuff if mostly closed-source or outdated versions of FOSS but with a nice GUI and UX (for the most part). Using the rules from the repo makes it mostly a one-time setup step. Considering the arcana of getting the Android SDK to work in a sane way it's toddlers-play.
    – zamber
    Apr 10, 2016 at 0:08
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    Running this and service udev restart didn't work for me. I had to restart the computer and then it worked just fine.
    – Rafael Xavier
    Feb 19, 2018 at 19:21
  • On ubuntu 16.04 setting the udev rules, changing the usb mode on phone to file transfer worked like a charm. No restart needed.
    – Gautam
    Jun 22, 2018 at 14:13
  • On ubuntu 16.04 with a Pixel 2 adding the rules from the gitbub of point 2 works without even going in to file transfer mode.
    – Mike Hanafey
    Oct 24, 2018 at 15:21
6

If you restart the ADB server with sudo, it will work.

sudo adb kill-server
sudo adb start-server
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1

For Amazon Fire OS 8, an Android based OS, you can go to "Settings > Device Options > Developer Options". You may need to enable it.

Ensure "USB Debugging" is on (in your case, it is).

Then go to "Networking > Select USB Configuration". Choose "MTP (Media Transfer Protocol)". This allows the computer to send files back and forth.

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remove adb package installed via apt

$sudo apt remove adb

download latest adb from
https://developer.android.com/studio/releases/platform-tools

set the path to platform tools(better put these two lines in ~/.bashrc file)

export PATH= /<path-to-android-sdk-folder>/android-sdk/tools/bin<br>
export PATH= /<path-to-android-sdk-folder>/android-sdk/platform-tools

run

$source ~/.bashrc

check adb path

$which adb

start adb in sudo(I needed to give absolute path to adb when running in sudo )

$sudo /<path-to-android-sdk-folder>/android-sdk/platform-tools/adb kill-server
$sudo /<path-to-android-sdk-folder>/android-sdk/platform-tools/adb start-server

$adb shell

DONE.
it works irrespective of what USB mode( MIDI, transferring files, charging) of android phone. It works in all.

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0

Define custom gradle function:

task _adb_restart {
def adb = android.getAdbExe().toString()
group '__custom'
  doLast {
    exec {
      commandLine 'bash', '-c', '/bin/echo **root_password** | sudo -S ' + adb + ' kill-server'
    }
    exec {
      commandLine 'bash', '-c', '/bin/echo **root_password** | sudo -S ' + adb + ' devices'
    }
  }
}
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Best solution and what worked better for me is to install adb from Ubuntu package. This gives you a community-maintained default set of udev rules for all Android devices.

example:

$ sudo apt-get install adb
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