Connecting Smartphone to Laptop Running Windows 8

If you are doing the "Build A Simple Android Application" Project then you will eventually need to run the crystal ball app on your own device. At least for a newbie like me, this was one of the most exciting parts of my journey on the android developer track. But if your laptop is running Windows 8 then it is annoyingly difficult to get the laptop to recognize your phone. Here is what I did to get my laptop and Eclipse to recognize my phone:

The Equipment - Google Nexus smart phone (model SPH-L700) - Toshiba P75-A7200 laptop running Windows 8

The Process

First, find out the manufacturer and model number of your smartphone. The manufacturer is usually printed on the outside of the phone. For example, the Samsung logo is printed directly on the back of my Galaxy Nexus. The model number is printed in a white text box under the phone's battery. To find it, turn off the phone, take off the back, remove the battery and locate the model number in the white text box. Samsung Model numbers are usually in the following format XXX-X###. (X = letter, # = number).

Second, you need to activate USB debugging on your phone. This a developer option that is not immediately available to you. You need to activate developer options on your phone to be able to see it. To do this, (1) open the settings application, (2) scroll down to "About phone" and (3) scroll down again to "Build number" and tap that button seven times. This procedure will activate Developer options. Now, when you return to settings there will be a new Settings category called "Developer options." Click on Developer options and check yes for USB debugging. The phone is now capable of being connected to your laptop for development but you still need to get the necessary drivers because, for some reason, Windows 8 will not automatically find and install them.

Third, download and install the latest USB drivers for your phone. These can typically be found on the manufacturer's website. Samsung's driver download page is located here - http://www.samsung.com/us/support/downloads . Use the model number you found in the first step to locate the exact drivers you need.

Fourth, connect your phone to your laptop with its USB connector cable. Open the Device Manager on your computer. Find the phone within the device manager (it will show up under Other devices as "Android 1.0" or possibly "unrecognized"). Right click on the phone's icon within the Device Manager. Click "Update Driver Software" --> "Browse my computer for driver software" --> "Let me pick a list of device device drivers from my computer." Select device type as ADB Interface and then select Samsung Android ADB driver you downloaded earlier from the list of certificates that shows up. This is the most difficult step in the process and it might vary a little from computer to computer. For some reason, Windows 8 requires you to manually install the drivers and certify them.

How do you know if all of this worked? When you plug your phone into the laptop it will show up in "My Computer" as a mass storage device (mine showed up as a media device) and when you open Eclipse the phone should show up in the DDMS manager. Once it shows up in Eclipse you can run the Crystal Ball app on your phone, just like in the videos.

If you need more guidance check out the following articles:

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/16707137/how-to-find-and-turn-on-usb-debugging-mode-on-nexus-4

http://webtrickz.com/new-method-installing-adb-and-fastboot-drivers-for-galaxy-nexus-on-windows-7-windows-8/