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MRS Android Automotive

ADB over Ethernet

This guide covers connecting adb to the board over Ethernet so you can debug, install apps, and pull logs without keeping a USB cable attached to the OTG port.

Before you start

Section titled “Before you start”

Make sure you have:

  • the board flashed and booted into Android (see Flash OS)
  • the board’s Ethernet port connected to the same network as your laptop
  • adb available on your laptop PATH
  • access to the micro-USB debug UART port on the board, or a working adb USB connection over the OTG port — you’ll need at least one of these the first time

How it works

Section titled “How it works”

The MRS OS build sets service.adb.tcp.port=5555 and persist.adb.tcp.port=5555 via PRODUCT_SYSTEM_PROPERTIES in os/mrs-physical.mk. On boot, adbd reads service.adb.tcp.port first and falls back to persist.adb.tcp.port, so it listens on TCP port 5555 in addition to USB.

This means a freshly flashed board with the MRS OS customizations should be reachable over the network without any per-boot setup.

Connect from your laptop

Section titled “Connect from your laptop”

Find the board’s Ethernet IP address

Section titled “Find the board’s Ethernet IP address”

You can find the IP address in two ways:

Option 1: Check via UART console or existing adb shell

If you have an existing USB adb connection, run adb shell to get a shell on the board.

Otherwise, connect to the board’s serial console over the micro-USB debug UART port. On Linux, picocom is a lightweight choice:

Terminal window
picocom -b 115200 /dev/ttyUSB0

Notes:

  • the debug UART typically enumerates as /dev/ttyUSB0 on Linux; if you have other USB-serial devices attached, check dmesg or ls /dev/ttyUSB* to find the right port
  • the console runs at 115200 baud, 8N1
  • press Enter after connecting to get a shell prompt
  • to exit picocom, press Ctrl+A then Ctrl+X

Once you have a shell (via either method), run:

Terminal window
ip -4 addr show eth0

Look for the line with inet (e.g., inet 192.168.1.100/24) to find the IP address.

Option 2: Check your router’s DHCP client list

If the board obtained an IP via DHCP, the MAC address and IP assignment may be visible in your router’s admin interface.

Connect via adb

Section titled “Connect via adb”

Once you have the board’s IP address, run from your laptop:

Terminal window
adb connect <board-ip>:5555
adb devices

You should see the board listed as <board-ip>:5555 device.