While Fastboot cannot flash a whole custom ROM, it provides some really useful stuff that you cannot do with ADB. It means that you can modify or flash custom recoveries, file system, or an unsigned partition image to the Android devices right from your computer over a USB connection. One can send commands to the bootloader from the Fastboot mode. It is a special diagnostic and engineering mode that your device can boot into. What is Fastboot?įastboot is a handy tool to tinker directly with the firmware of your Android device. While ADB is usually known in relation to rooting and tinkering with the Android device, you can also use it to send terminal commands to an unrooted device as well. ADB required USB debugging to be enabled on your Android device. It can also be used to take a complete backup of your phone or tablet. ADB is often used to send shell commands, install or remove apps, reboot the device, transfer files between computer and the phone, reboot into recovery or bootloader and much more. It is a command-line tool that comes bundled with Android SDK and allows you to send a good number of terminal commands to an Android device connected to your computer through a USB connection. What is ADB?ĪDB is short for Android Debug Bridge. In this guide, we’ll try to make it as simple as possible to setup and install Fastboot and ADB drivers on your Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux running computers.īefore getting our hands dirty with the installation procedure, let’s get a basic understanding or what the ADB and Fastboot tools are. While both the ADB and Fastboot are powerful tools when it comes to tinkering with your Android device, but it gets a bit frustrating when comes to installing and setting them up.

ADB, ADB drivers, and Fastboot are one of those Android terms that you are bound to encounter when rooting your Android device, unlocking the bootloader, installing a custom recovery or flashing a custom ROM on it.

Linux install adb and fastboot