Finding Logs for Android Troubleshooting
To access this logging, perform the following steps:
Enabling Developer Mode and USB Debugging
- Navigate to Settings > About or About phone and tap on the Build number entry 7 times.
- Go back one level and select Developer options.
- Enable USB Debugging on this menu.
Accessing USB Debug Logs
Specific processes vary by OS/Device Manufacturer, but it's recommended to search for the phrase "fatal exception."
Note: The processes below can vary based on the computer manufacturer, end device manufacturer, and Android Studio / ADB version. This is meant to be used as a guide but specific variations may be present which might require support from the device manufacturer. It is recommended that, if a device is not recognized by either method mentioned below, the following items are verified.
- USB debugging is enabled (If the device is already enrolled, USB debugging may be restricted. Allow USB debugging by pushing an "Android Restrictions" profile from "SM -> Settings" with the option "Prevent Android Debug Bridge (ADB) access" unchecked
- Try different USB cables including one provided by the device manufacturer (especially important with Samsung devices)
- Multiple ports on the computer (devices may operate differently on different USB versions)
- Most up to date version of Android Studio / ADB
- Most up to date version of device drivers
Via Android Studio
If you'd rather not use command line tools to debug, you can install Android Studio and capture logs with the Android Device Monitor GUI.
- Install Android Studio.
- Launch the program. You may need to create a new empty project to see the monitoring interface.
- Connect the device via USB, and trust the computer signature to begin logging.
- Logs can be copied out of the monitor panel, or saved as described in this article.
Via ADB
- Download the Android SDK:
- Navigate to https://developer.android.com/studio...platform-tools and download the "SDK Platform-Tools" for the desired OS.
- Unzip the archive and place the "platform-tools" folder in an easily accessible location. These steps will assume use of the host machine's desktop directory.
- In a command line / terminal window, navigate to the "platform-tools" folder:
- Windows:
cd C:\Users\[USER]\Desktop\platform-tools - macOS:
cd ~/Desktop/platform-tools
- Windows:
- Ensure the device is populating as an ADB device:
- Windows:
adb devices - macOS:
./adb devices
- Windows:
- Modify the default logging values for ADB:
- Windows:
adb logcat -G 32M; adb shell setprop persist.log.tag.dpcsupport VERBOSE; adb shell setprop persist.log.tag.Finsky VERBOSE; adb shell setprop persist.log.tag.Auth VERBOSE; adb shell setprop persist.log.tag.PackageManager VERBOSE; adb shell setprop persist.log.tag.JobScheduler VERBOSE - macOS:
./adb logcat -G 32M; ./adb shell setprop persist.log.tag.dpcsupport VERBOSE; ./adb shell setprop persist.log.tag.Finsky VERBOSE; ./adb shell setprop persist.log.tag.Auth VERBOSE; ./adb shell setprop persist.log.tag.PackageManager VERBOSE; ./adb shell setprop persist.log.tag.JobScheduler VERBOSE
- Windows:
- Begin log output:
- Windows:
adb logcat > C:\Users\[USER]\Desktop\androidlogs.txt - macOS:
./adb logcat > ~/Desktop/androidlogs.txt
- Windows:
- Reproduce the issue during log collection
- Stop log streaming:
- Windows/macOS:
^C(control + C)
- Windows/macOS:
- The resulting file "androidlogs.txt" should appear on the desktop. These logs should appear similar to the below image:
