adb devices return error: protocol fault (no status)

This typically means, that your ADB service or your driver is outdated.
Since the drivers aren't updated most of the time, make sure you've installed the latest version of your Android SDK Platform-tools via the SDK Manager:

I had the same issue and found the problem: Android Studio.

Open the Android Studio menu Tools -> Android and uncheck Enable ADB integration.

adb devices should work (you might need adb kill-server first).

Then you can re-enable ADB integration in Studio.