[Guide][ARM now supported] Android development/debugging on ChromeOS - ADB & fastboot

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Quinny899

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Jan 26, 2011
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Salford, Greater Manchester, UK
quinny898.co.uk
[Guide][ARM now supported] Android development/debugging on ChromeOS - ADB & fastboot

What you need to know before we begin:
ChromeOS (Or Chromium OS if you installed it on a non-chromebook) is based on Unix, and you can access a terminal with button combinations. This part of the guide is easy, but if I can get apt-get working, that's where it gets really complex.

What you'll need
A computer running ChromeOS/Chromium OS
An internet connection on it, or the files on a USB drive (and you to copy them to Downloads)
A little Linux knowledge
Some patience

1.) Download the correct files for system:
ChromeOS/ChromiumOS on an x86 based PC
ChromeOS on an ARM based PC
2.) When the zip has downloaded, extract it so both the adb and fastboot files are in the Downloads folder
3.) It's now time to access the terminal mode. It might be a good idea to get this guide on a phone or some other device so you don't have to switch out at any time.
If you're using a chromebook or an official chromeOS build, you need to access developer mode. Note: this will wipe all your data for security reasons. Full info is here: Chromium Project: Developer mode
4.) Press Ctrl-Alt-F2 on your keyboard, and the whole screen will be a terminal. Read the info at the top, and then login
NOTE: If you're using Chromium OS vanilla builds, the username and password are as follows:
Code:
User: chronos
Pass: facepunch
5.) You now have a localhost terminal, with no root permissions.
6.) Run this code, to locate the location of your Downloads folder:
Code:
ls /home
7.) Mount the filesystem as follows:
Code:
mount -o remount,rw /
8.) Using the name other than "root" and "user", run these commands:
Code:
cp /home/<name>/user/Downloads/adb /sbin/adb
For example, the Chromium one would be:
Code:
cp /home/chronos/user/Downloads/adb /sbin/adb
Repeat for Fastboot (replace "adb" with "fastboot" without the quotes)
9.) Test that it has worked by running:
Code:
adb
It should result in adb working
10.) You're done, adb and fastboot should work. You might need to reboot in some cases for it to work fully
11.) For more stuff, like Java and ant, wait a while until I work out how to get apt-get installed from dpkg

Credits:
Thanks to KMyers for compiling Fastboot for ARM devices, thread here
 

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Last edited:

awacker89

Senior Member
Dec 9, 2010
54
5
Whenever I go to check my path I get this response:

"cat: /usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/opt/bin:/home/chronos/user/Downloads/android-sdk-linux/platform-tools: no such file or directory"

Help?
 

Quinny899

Recognized Developer / Recognized Contributor
Jan 26, 2011
9,413
8,746
26
Salford, Greater Manchester, UK
quinny898.co.uk
Whenever I go to check my path I get this response:

"cat: /usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/opt/bin:/home/chronos/user/Downloads/android-sdk-linux/platform-tools: no such file or directory"

Help?

That is perfectly normal, every Linux based thing says no file or directory after the path to my knowledge

Sent from my GALAXY NEXUS using Tapatalk 4 (VIP)
 

awacker89

Senior Member
Dec 9, 2010
54
5
That is perfectly normal, every Linux based thing says no file or directory after the path to my knowledge

Sent from my GALAXY NEXUS using Tapatalk 4 (VIP)

And so it seems! Now it appears that any adb command returns a "Permission denied" message. Ideas?

Update: Same response for fastboot commands.
 
Last edited:

Quinny899

Recognized Developer / Recognized Contributor
Jan 26, 2011
9,413
8,746
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Salford, Greater Manchester, UK
quinny898.co.uk
And so it seems! Now it appears that any adb command returns a "Permission denied" message. Ideas?

Update: Same response for fastboot commands.
Try this:
Code:
cd /home/chronos/user/Downloads/android-sdk-linux/platform-tools
chmod 755 adb
chmod 755 fastboot
Then exit back to the login screen on the terminal, login again and try running adb
 

awacker89

Senior Member
Dec 9, 2010
54
5
Try this:
Code:
cd /home/chronos/user/Downloads/android-sdk-linux/platform-tools
chmod 755 adb
chmod 755 fastboot
Then exit back to the login screen on the terminal, login again and try running adb

Still no dice :(

I'm starting to lose hope. I just keep getting "permission denied."

I thought maybe trying this would do the trick but still no response.
Code:
sudo ./adb devices
[code]

P.S. Guess I should mention that running just adb returns command not found, so I've been using ./adb. Maybe I just don't know what the hell I'm doing but I just can't get it to work.
 

evoschecter

Senior Member
Aug 10, 2011
81
11
Hmmm. Well, The SDKx86 (87mb) that were in the instructions so, I downloaded the ADT (399mb) instead, just a hint.
 

patmw123

Senior Member
Oct 28, 2010
148
34
Is there a specific branch that is required to be on in chromeos in order for terminal to act correctly? I never get any chance to login once i get into the "crosh" terminal.
 

crford

Senior Member
Jan 24, 2013
281
250
Dallas, TX
That is perfectly normal, every Linux based thing says no file or directory after the path to my knowledge

Sent from my GALAXY NEXUS using Tapatalk 4 (VIP)

Instead of doing

Code:
cat $PATH

you should do

Code:
echo $PATH

The cat command is trying to concatenate a file with the name of your full path, which obviously doesn't exist. echo tells you the value of the $PATH variable, which is what you're actually trying to do.
 
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jambamkin

Senior Member
Jun 22, 2010
435
67
Edinburgh
I was trying to get this to work on my Chromebook Samsung Series 5 550

Furst thing I noticed was the absence of an f2 key - tried a usb keyboard no joy

I assume what I am trying to launch is Shell which can only be accessed with a Chrome OS device in developer mode. I really want to get this working so I will try activating developer mode and report back.

Update:
So Developer Mode resets and wipes your device (doh!) back to Step 1

Update 2: (Dev Mode activated function key labelled as "->" works as f2 and launches shell successfully"

Has anyone got this working? I noticed that the folder coming out of the SDK zip is called "sdk" but all the commands listed in the guide use "android-sdk-linux"

I used "sdk" and just get the Permission Denied issue even after chmod on adb
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: evoschecter

evoschecter

Senior Member
Aug 10, 2011
81
11
I was trying to get this to work on my Chromebook Samsung Series 5 550

Furst thing I noticed was the absence of an f2 key - tried a usb keyboard no joy

I assume what I am trying to launch is Shell which can only be accessed with a Chrome OS device in developer mode. I really want to get this working so I will try activating developer mode and report back.

Update:
So Developer Mode resets and wipes your device (doh!) back to Step 1

Update 2: (Dev Mode activated function key labelled as "->" works as f2 and launches shell successfully"

Has anyone got this working? I noticed that the folder coming out of the SDK zip is called "sdk" but all the commands listed in the guide use "android-sdk-linux"

I used "sdk" and just get the Permission Denied issue even after chmod on adb
I had the same problems. And just stopped trying about 2 days of trying to figure it out.
 

awacker89

Senior Member
Dec 9, 2010
54
5
I was able to find a version of adb compiled for ARM but it was from an older version which made it a no go on my Nexus 4 (4.2.2 requires updated adb to work with the new security enhancements built in).
 

MontAlbert

Senior Member
Jan 10, 2007
2,655
198
I tried it on my Series 5 550 chromebook. Can't seem to get it to work.
I do all the commands and it shows up in echo $PATH but then when i try adb anything it says permission denied. I do the chmod 755 and still permission denied.

i tried to exit back to the login and then the folder wasn't in the echo path anymore. adb not working either. I tried rebooting chromebook and it wasnt there either.
 

moocow1452

Senior Member
Nov 16, 2011
348
112
Livonia
Would it be cheating to get it running with crouton? Because I did get that done.

Sent from my NookColor using xda premium
 

Hipcatjack

Member
Oct 21, 2010
31
10
yeah i've been having the same issue with my samsung 5 series chromebook. "permission denied" and all that. But on the fun side, i learned if you want to really make your chromebook bug-out; type cat adb whilst in /platform-tools.
 

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    [Guide][ARM now supported] Android development/debugging on ChromeOS - ADB & fastboot

    What you need to know before we begin:
    ChromeOS (Or Chromium OS if you installed it on a non-chromebook) is based on Unix, and you can access a terminal with button combinations. This part of the guide is easy, but if I can get apt-get working, that's where it gets really complex.

    What you'll need
    A computer running ChromeOS/Chromium OS
    An internet connection on it, or the files on a USB drive (and you to copy them to Downloads)
    A little Linux knowledge
    Some patience

    1.) Download the correct files for system:
    ChromeOS/ChromiumOS on an x86 based PC
    ChromeOS on an ARM based PC
    2.) When the zip has downloaded, extract it so both the adb and fastboot files are in the Downloads folder
    3.) It's now time to access the terminal mode. It might be a good idea to get this guide on a phone or some other device so you don't have to switch out at any time.
    If you're using a chromebook or an official chromeOS build, you need to access developer mode. Note: this will wipe all your data for security reasons. Full info is here: Chromium Project: Developer mode
    4.) Press Ctrl-Alt-F2 on your keyboard, and the whole screen will be a terminal. Read the info at the top, and then login
    NOTE: If you're using Chromium OS vanilla builds, the username and password are as follows:
    Code:
    User: chronos
    Pass: facepunch
    5.) You now have a localhost terminal, with no root permissions.
    6.) Run this code, to locate the location of your Downloads folder:
    Code:
    ls /home
    7.) Mount the filesystem as follows:
    Code:
    mount -o remount,rw /
    8.) Using the name other than "root" and "user", run these commands:
    Code:
    cp /home/<name>/user/Downloads/adb /sbin/adb
    For example, the Chromium one would be:
    Code:
    cp /home/chronos/user/Downloads/adb /sbin/adb
    Repeat for Fastboot (replace "adb" with "fastboot" without the quotes)
    9.) Test that it has worked by running:
    Code:
    adb
    It should result in adb working
    10.) You're done, adb and fastboot should work. You might need to reboot in some cases for it to work fully
    11.) For more stuff, like Java and ant, wait a while until I work out how to get apt-get installed from dpkg

    Credits:
    Thanks to KMyers for compiling Fastboot for ARM devices, thread here
    5
    Here's How I got it to work using Crouton (xfce): I issued the following commands in terminal:

    Code:
    sudo apt-get install python-software-properties
    sudo apt-get install software-properties-common
    sudo add-apt-repository ppa:phablet-team/tools && sudo apt-get update
    sudo apt-get install android-tools-adb
    sudo apt-get install android-tools-fastboot

    If it doesn't work, type

    Code:
    adb kill-server
    adb start-server

    It should work then :good:
    3
    I was able to install adb and fastboot on acer c720 in developer mode by doing something like
    - rootfs verification removal
    - reboot
    - remount / as rw
    - install nexus tools http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2564453 which installs into /usr/local/bin/
    2
    Here is and adb that works the one in the zip doesn't

    also run this so the partition is remountable

    sudo /usr/share/vboot/bin/make_dev_ssd.sh --remove_rootfs_verification
    2
    Unfortunately I'm using the ADB ARM build from this forum, which is out of date since no one has updated the binary. I'm trying to update it.

    Edit: I'm going to try taking the ADB binary from the Debian repository and see if it works on ARM Chromebooks.
    Have you tried pulling adb from an Android build? That's a new, ARM ADB binary, I'll see if I can get one