Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Android Smartphone USB Tethering (Linux Mint 11)


This article is about how to tether your Android smartphone with Linux Mint 11 and similar operating systems via USB, meaning how to use your smartphone's network to access the Internet on your computer by linking them with a USB cable.
This tutorial comes without warranty of any kind.

1 Preliminary Note

The smartphone I use in this tutorial is the HTC Desire A8181, the screenshots originate from the same model. The guide should work for similar smartphones with Android installed. No extra software is needed to enable USB tethering on Linux Mint.

2 Setting Up USB Tethering On Your Phone

To access the Internet on your computer using your phone's network, first make sure the smartphone itself has a connection to a mobile network. If it does not, enable that first. If your phone is able to connect to a mobile network, go to Menu > Settings > Wireless & networks and make sure that Mobile network is turned on.
Having done that, plug your phone into your computer via USB. If your phone was turned on while doing so, the following screen will appear.


Choose USB tethering and tap Done. If that kind of screen does not show up while plugging in, or you plugged it in and turned it off, turn your phone on and go to Menu > Settings > Wireless & networks and enable USB tethering manually.




Your computer should now automatically connect to your phone's network. Please notice that it is not possible to take screenshots of your smartphone with Dalvik Debug Monitor while tethering. Tethering must first be disabled before your phone appears on the list of devices again.


You can see the connection by clicking on the networks symbol on the bottom right corner of the screen:

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