React-Native, Android, Genymotion: ADB server didn't ACK

After more research I've realized that Genymotion uses by default its own adb.

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I switched to my main adb (the same used by react-native) and it solved the issue. I guess that because Genymotion's adb was launched first I got the Address already in use error message.


I am using genymotion, but Paul's solution alone did not fix the error (for Mac).

I had to:

Update Android SDK to the latest version (24.4.1) via the SDK manager

Type android in the command line

In the SDK manager find the latest SDK tools and install.

Once installed the SDK path should update the new SDK location like below.

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Then update the $ANDROID_HOME to use the new SDK

export ANDROID_HOME=/usr/local/Cellar/android-sdk/24.4.1_1

export PATH=$PATH:$ANDROID_HOME/tools:$ANDROID_HOME/platform-tools

Confirm it has been added by viewing your path with echo $PATH

Then in genymotion do what @Paul says above and point genymotion ADB to use the same sdk

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System: Windows 10

My issue: Setting Genymotion to point to the custom SDK didn't have any affect. I still received the:

Couldn't start project on Android: could not install smartsocket listener: cannot bind to 127.0.0.1:5037: Only one usage of each socket address (protocol/network address/port) is normally permitted. (10048) could not read ok from ADB Server * failed to start daemon * error: cannot connect to daemon

What I discovered was there was a difference in ADB versions being used throughout the system. Here is the command I used to find them:

where /r C:\ adb.exe

This produced the results:

C:\Program Files\Expo XDE\resources\app\node_modules\xdl\binaries\windows\adb\adb.exe
C:\Program Files\Genymobile\Genymotion\tools\adb.exe
C:\Users\kyle\AppData\Local\Android\Sdk\platform-tools\adb.exe
C:\Users\kyle\AppData\Local\Android\Sdk\platform-tools\adb backup\adb.exe

Navigating to each directory and running:

adb.exe version

Allowed me to see that Expo was running ADB version:

Android Debug Bridge version 1.0.36
Revision fd9e4d07b0f5-android

While Genymotion using the custom SDK had version (c:\Users\kyle\AppData\Local\Android\Sdk\platform-tools\adb.exe):

Android Debug Bridge version 1.0.39
Revision 3db08f2c6889-android

As a test I took the adb files (adb.exe, AdbWinApi.dll, AdbWinUsbApi.dll) from

c:\Users\kyle\AppData\Local\Android\Sdk\platform-tools\adb.exe

and placed them into a backup folder. I then moved the adb files located at

c:\Program Files\Expo XDE\resources\app\node_modules\xdl\binaries\windows\adb\adb.exe

into that same location. I killed adb with:

adb kill-server

which caused a restart of the adb server automatically due to having my Genymotion device already running. I hit the "Restart" button inside of the Expo XDE and it immediately began working. Here is the log where I hit the restart button at 1:13:04 AM:

12:45:53 AM
could not install *smartsocket* listener: cannot bind to 127.0.0.1:5037: Only one usage of each socket address (protocol/network address/port) is normally permitted. (10048)
could not read ok from ADB Server
* failed to start daemon *
error: cannot connect to daemon
1:13:04 AM
Restarting project and clearing packager cache (Hold shift while clicking restart to avoid clearing cache).
1:13:11 AM
Starting React Native packager...
1:13:17 AM
Scanning 543 folders for symlinks in C:\Users\kyle\git\betalog\node_modules (49ms)
1:13:17 AM
1:13:19 AM
Couldn't adb reverse: closed
1:13:20 AM
Project opened! You can now use the "Share" or "Device" buttons to view your project.
1:13:26 AM
Couldn't adb reverse: closed
1:13:26 AM
Downloading latest version of Expo
1:13:28 AM
Installing Expo on device
1:13:33 AM
Opening on Android device
1:13:56 AM
Building JavaScript bundle: finished in 59643ms.
1:14:01 AM
Dependency graph loaded.
1:14:03 AM
Your JavaScript transform cache is empty, rebuilding (this may take a minute).

Conclusion: Genymotion and Expo may need to use the same version of adb so that Expo can properly communicate with the simulated device. Pointing Genymotion to your android SDK location as well as ensuring Expo XDE has that same version will allow correct communication between devices. I moved the Expo XDE version to the SDK location, but you might be able to go the other way (take the sdk ADB files and place them in the Expo XDE resource location).

P.S. I've been all through the stackoverflow posts related to this issue. Just so you guys know my task manager shows three instances of adb.exe running. If you kill any of them they just come back.

Hope this helps /cheers