OS X 10.6.6 and "adb devices" fails to list android devices

Question

adb devices was working fine last year, but after upgrades and new software installs, adb devices no longer recognizes USB attached Android devices.

Here is what I have tried:

adb kill-server adb devices  adb usb   error: Device not found 

Answer 1

If you have installed EasyTether on OS X, the EasyTetherUSBEthernet.kext can prevent adb from communicating with your mobile device.

If you use Easy Tether, BEFORE you plug in your phone run:

sudo kextunload /System/Library/Extensions/EasyTetherUSBEthernet.kext 

(or unplug/plug your phone in after)

If you are done debugging and want to use EasyTether again, either restart or:

sudo kextload /System/Library/Extensions/EasyTetherUSBEthernet.kext 

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If you want to remove the EasyTether kext so it never hassels you again:

sudo kextunload /System/Library/Extensions/EasyTetherUSBEthernet.kext sudo rm -rf /System/Library/Extensions/EasyTetherUSBEthernet.kext 

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Reference/Credit: http://www.intohand.com/post.php?s=2011-02-17-android-debug-bridge-not-just-working-on-mac

Answer 2

Having just connected a brand new Motorola Atrix 2 to my Mac running 10.6.8, I had to pull down the menu from the top of the screen, tap on "USB Connection", and change it from "Motorola Phone Portal" to "Charge Only" before it would show up in my list of devices from adb. Hope this helps!