HTC Desire Tips, Tricks and Tweaks
Development
DOWNLOAD: Windows XP ADB Driver for HTC Phones
212 years ago
by MrBrightside
in Development
Background
Yesterday I was trying to install the adb drivers on my work computer, which runs Windows XP. Naturally, I tried the steps I posted up in a previous article but when it tried finding the drivers I got an error saying “Cannot install this hardware” because it could not find the necessary software. I correctly assumed that the problem was with the drivers themselves (which worked on my home XP install), and a quick search led me to a topic on XDA-Developers where one of the users has uploaded working ADB Drivers for HTC phones.
Download
You can download the drivers from here. Use the instructions in this guide to install them (skip steps 8-12)
sh500 on XDA-Developers. That’s the post which contained the working drivers.
HOW TO: Install The Android SDK
32 years ago
This guide was initially part of the How to Take Screenshots tutorial but has been separated out because it’s going to be referenced in a few upcoming tutorials.
Instructions – Mac users can skip to step 5
- Go to the Java Runtime Environment (or the JDK if you intend to develop your own apps) page
- Select your Operating System, agree to terms and click Continue
- Download the file shown below (the version number may differ, this is the latest at time of writing this article)
- When the download completes run the file to install it
- Get the Android SDK – free download available from here. Downloads are at the top of the page, just choose your relevant operating system – no need to follow the instructions on that page!
- When the download has completed extract the file:
- Windows – Right Click -> Extract All -> Follow the onscreen prompt.
- Mac – Double click the file
- Open the extract android-sdk-rXX-<os> folder, the android-sdk-<os> subfolder within it (if it’s there). You should see something like this:
- Windows: install the latest Android phone drivers using the instructions here
- That’s it. You’ve now got the Android SDK setup on your computer.
HOW TO: Install the ADB Driver On Windows
402 years ago
Here’s a clearer guide on how exactly to setup the ADB drivers on Windows, with screenshots for each step.
- Follow the installation section of this post. Ignore step 8 (“Windows: install the latest Android phone drivers using the instructions”)
- Browse to the android-sdk-windows folder:
- Run SDK Setup:
- Close the Refresh Sources box (pictured above) if it opens.
- Close the Choose Packages to Install box if that’s open too.
- Click the Settings option on the right
- Under Misc, check the box which says: “Force https://… sources to be fetched using http://…”
- Go on Available Packages and click the + (plus) sign next to the long URL (http://dl-ssl.google.com/android…) to expand it
- Select Usb Driver package and press Install Selected
- Select Accept under the terms and then press Install
- When the installation is completed, close the Installing Archives window
- IMPORTANT: In your SDK folder you’ll now have a new folder called usb_driver. This is the location to search in the rest of the tutorial when you’re required to locate the driver
- Make sure you have Device Debugging enabled on your phone by going to Settings > Applications > Development > USB Debugging and ticking the checkbox.
- Connect your phone via the USB cable. You’ll notice the Debugging icon in the notification bar, and opening the notification bar will show “USB debugging connected”
- If you’re on Windows XP, follow the steps described in the Perform A Fresh Installation section here
If you’re on Windows Vista or Windows 7, follow the steps described in the Perform A Fresh Installation section here
REMEMBER: Where it says “Click “Browse…” and locate the folder where you copied the installation package.” it’s the directory in Step 12 above - The drivers should now be fully installed.
Installing the drivers lets you connect your phone in debug mode. This allows you to take advantage of the SDK tools, such as ddms which lets you take screenshots. It also lets you easily install applications from your computer, browse files on your phone and if you start developing Android applications you can quickly test them out on your phone.
UPDATE: If the drivers don’t work for you then try using these drivers instead
HOW TO: Take Screenshots On Your HTC Desire
482 years ago
There’s no easy way to take screenshots with an Android phone. This is due to security issues that could arise if applications were capable of taking screenshots. For example, imagine an app that would run in the background, take a screenshot every 2 minutes and upload the image to a remote server. For now, two methods exist but neither are as straightforward as we’d like them to be:
1) Use a rooted phone. Rooting your phone gives you full access to your phone system and therefore it’s possible to access the screenshot functionality. If you’ve rooted your phone just download ShootMe from the Market and all you need to do is shake the phone to capture a screenshot.
2) Using the Android SDK and a USB cable.
This method involves a few steps but once you’ve completed the setup, taking future screenshots is very easy.
Installation
- Install the Android SDK using the instructions provided here
- On your HTC Desire go on Settings > Applications > Development. Check the USB debugging option
Taking Screenshots
- Browse to your SDK locations and open the tools folder
- Make sure your phone is connected via USB, and run the ddms tool. You should see something like this:
- Make sure you select your device from the box on the right, then go on Device > Screen Capture
- The new window will grab your current phone screenshot and display it:
- You can use the Refresh, Rotate, Save and Copy options to take the respective action with your screenshot.
Every time you want to take a new screenshot, just follow the 3 steps in the Taking Screenshots section.
