Auto-enable USB Debugging on User Builds

After flashing a user build onto a device, you will need to re-enable USB debugging. Android Test Station can automate this step using AOA device actions, which send a series of simple UI commands to a device.

Note: This procedure uses the Android Open Accessory protocol, which supports Android 4.1+ and does not require ADB.

Recording the AOA commands

First, use the WebAOA command editing tool to record the list of commands to enable USB debugging.

Figure 1. Link to the WebAOA command editing tool in Android Test Station

It is also accessible at http://localhost:8000/webaoa by default.

WebAOA lets you manipulate a local device using a simulated touchscreen and record your UI interactions.

Figure 2. Editing the commands for enabling USB debugging in WebAOA

Four types of commands are supported:

• Clicking and swiping on the touchscreen (click X Y and swipe X1 Y1 DURATION X2 Y2)

• Pressing device buttons (back, home, and wake)

• Writing text and pressing key combinations (write TEXT and key [KEY ...])

• Waiting for a specified duration (sleep DURATION)

When you are finished recording commands, you can copy them to your clipboard or save them to a file.

Creating an AOA device action

To automatically re-enable USB debugging, the recorded commands need to be added to a device action.

Create a new device action and add a TF Target Preparer with its class name set to com.android.tradefed.targetprep.AoaTargetPreparer. Copy the commands recorded in WebAOA into its action option.

Figure 3. AOA device action for enabling USB debugging on Android 10 GSI

Using an AOA device action

When scheduling a test run, add your AOA device action and place it directly after your device-flashing action.

Figure 4. Scheduling a run to flash a user build and re-enable USB debugging