Database Develop

Friend purchasing nook for me. Should I get anything else?

I have a friend who is visting the US (I'm from Canada) and I asked him to pick me up a nook. Not finding clear info in some of the reviews, mainly concerned about charging.
This charges over usb when hooked up to your computer right? Just want to make sure it doesn't use a proprietary cable for charging. I read on the ipad side, that older computers don't give out enough power to charge over usb, is that an issue with the nook?
What adapters/cables does it come with exactly? And is it just a standard mini-sub for the charging?
Also, this has a headset jack correct? I've read no bluetooth, I guess there's no way to get a mic working on this then.

Micro USB, will charge VERY slowly using a computer. Includes a 2amp wall socket and special cable to quick charge (still micro usb, just more pins). Has a headset port but does not come with a headset.

I've only had a few mobile devices. I read the ipad can charge over usb if the mobo supports giving out that extra juice. Some mobo's have a new firmware update to enable this.
The connector is micro-usb but just more pins. Hmm. so if the cable breaks or I misplace it no other micro-usb will charge it?
edit: i read a little more and found that it's 30 pin proprietary cable to speed up charging. I also read the galaxy tab does something similar.
Does anyone know if they use the same pin configuration? probably not, but I can get tab usb cables here.

I know you didn't ask for it but I'll tell you anyway
In case you are worrying about registering your device (mandatory at initial setup).
I'm NOT in the US and it worked fine.

Good to know. Thanks.
But I'm more concerned about charging it and relying solely on their cables.
I read the ipad can trickle charge on newer computers but some wouldn't provide enough power. Asus et al have released utilities to increase the power to the usb ports.
I can't post the links but endgadget has an article about it providing links to those utilites. They just talk of apple devices but does this work with the nook?

It comes with a charger for US-type sockets and only if you charge your nook with this (and yes, it is proprietary ) it'll charge quickly. It does seem to charge when you connect it to a standard PC USB port but at an extremely low rate.
On the device Micro-USB (not Mini) is used.

You say it does seem to, do you mean from personal experience? How slow? It sounds like that if you do own one it was so slow you didn't let it finish.
Like if it's 8hrs overnight, I can live with that, but I want to confirm that there is a plan b and not solely rely on their cables.
And as I mentioned asus and others released utils to give more power output to the usb (although these seem like their were only created for ipads). Wondering if those utils speed things up.
for ex, google asus ai charger to see what I mean.

I received my nook Color a mere few hours ago so I can't tell you a lot about its charging behavior It "seems" to load slower via standard USB... if you want to know about the details check one of the large threads on the NOOK and its rooting. I remember reading some information about the USB connector and its peculiarities there.

Ah you just got it. I see.
I found this on the root thread:
'
"There are 12 pins coming off the connector. It looks like there are no pins for the standard micro USB portion, only the extended 12 pins. 2 pins are used to bring in +5V, 2 pins are for signal ground providing a hefty circuit for the 2A charging. USB takes up two pins, and as far as I can tell 2 more are for each LED via current limiting resistors. Two more pins go to discretes that I haven't identified, and two more pins are unconnected. I'll take my scope to them when I have some time."
Not sure what he means when he says no pins for the standard micro portion...

Maybe the plug doesn't have standard USB pins, but the NOOK itself does have standard USB pins as well as the proprietary ones. Because I have trouble inserting the original B&N plug, I went out earlier today and bought a standard Micro USB cable...
I connected it to the nook and it said "not charging", so I went out to do some shopping (10-20 minutes max) and left it at 89%... when I came back it was at 93 %.
So it DOES in fact seem to charge albeit slowly.

Thanks. It's weird, lots of comments of its own cable not fitting properly.
As long as it charges with a normal cable I'm good.

I guess it is charging... however there is a slight chance, that it's NOT charging and the battery charge display is lying (de-calibrated). I don't think so, but I'll only know for sure after a few more days of using only the standard USB charger cable.

[Q] micro usb connectivty problems

My nook coolor has worked perfectly since the day I got it, the second day after release. Last night when I put it in the charger I noticed that if the cable was pushed a little bit up when then nook lay flat it lost connection. It actually been charging itself up to 50% untill it stopped charging beacause of the cable.
I'm thinking that the micr usb port is the probleme here, is this a known issue?

I've seen reports of this being a problem. Usually the cord is at fault. You should be able to exchange it at a B&N

The USB port on the NC has two stages. The first stage has the standard 5 pin connections, but the second stage has 12 pins that are specific to charging the Nook. If you don't push the cable all the way in, it won't engage the 12 pins and won't charge properly...
Sent from my NookColor using Tapatalk

I've noticed this too on my NC. The cable plugs into the device easy enough but the slightest movement of the cord causes it to cycle between charging and not charging (orange and green 'n' on the cord). This makes it virtually unusable while plugged into AC power...not a deal breaker but a pretty annoying little bug. Will a new cord really fix this issue and will B&N replace them for free?

On similar hardware, often times that is an issue with the internal jack being tweaked too often and breaking the solder connections, or the copper traces themselves. From the tear-down pics, it's all surface mount, which means if it IS the jack, you're most likely SOL if not under warranty.

I've had my NC for about 3 weeks. My micro usb connector is no longer connecting reliably. I have to lay the NC on its face for the connector to maintain a data connection. The power connection is more reliable, but not 100% either.

[Q] Cheap replacement USB cable?

Hi guys, I accidentally left my charger and USB cable at a friend's house 700 miles away during a visit. She sent it back to me, but it's been a bit over two weeks and I'm tired of being Nookless, especially with all of the new stuff developing (cyanogen on the way? AWWW YEAH!!).
Neither of the two BN stores near my house have replacement charger/cables in stock and it appears that the BN website does not either (not even a price listed, just a pic/description).
What is the cheapest way for me to get some power in this thing? I wouldn't mind charging solely through USB. Is the stock NookColor USB cable any different than a normal micro-usb cable? Can I just order a normal $2 cable from amazon and expect it to charge?

The cable that comes with the NookColor differs from a standard micro usb in a couple of important ways: It has extra pins to deliver a higher charge. OK, I guess by "a couple" I meant "one that I am aware of." Alright, maybe one more: The charger itself is rated at .5A, which is higher than the standard plug for usb chargers.
You might be able to trickle charge from a standard usb. I was able to get some power, but not much.
Here's one more thing to do:
Ask the manager at B&N if she has any extra chargers and cables in the back. Here's why I say this: I had to return my cable yesterday because it wasn't making proper contact with the pins and thus was not properly charging. The manager told me that he has a heap of NookColor plugs and cables in a box because when they send units back to wherever they send them for repair or reconditioning, they are instructed to send only the Nook, and not the cables.
It's worth a try.
Good luck.

It does charge very slowly when connected to the PC...It will charge overnight if not in use..

I have some Nokia cables (from my mobile) with Micro-USB, they are loading the Nook nearly as fast as the original one. Very handy for charging in the car.

I have been charging my nook with only a standard cable since day one. My nook came with a bad cable and at the time was one of the last nooks in my area. I have been calling B&N almost weekly for over a month and they keep saying they will send me a cable but I have not received it yet. I have had no problems charging my Nook overnight. I even emptied the battery once and it still charged fully over night.

A regular microUSB cable will eventually charge the NC, if it's sleeping. No 3-hour quick-charging, though.

Does the slow charging really have to do with the cable?
On high draw devices (e.g. iPhone or Palm Pre) the charger shorts the data pins to signal the capacity for higher current draw. The cable has nothing to do with it.
I have noticed the Nook plug is longer than a standard micro USB plug, but that only means you can't use the Nook cable on another device's micro USB port.

Anybody know the potential problems trying to root with a non-standard Cable?

mageus said:
I have noticed the Nook plug is longer than a standard micro USB plug, but that only means you can't use the Nook cable on another device's micro USB port.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is this confirmed to be true? If so, what allows a non-Nook USB cable to be used with the Nook?
I'm sure the cable itself is different, either by using the data lines as additional power lines for higher current capacity, or perhaps by adding some resistors to pull the data lines to certain voltages so that the Nook can identify when the "right" cable is connected, so that fast-charging can be enabled. I just can't quite grasp the idea that the cable is not physically compatible with other micro-USB devices.

I am able to use the original nook usb cable, my samsung moment usb cable, and others for data purposes, no issues

I have two other devices that also use M-USB for data transfer, and they work just fine.
I picked up a few of these a while back and they work as well:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...&cm_re=micro_usb_cable-_-12-119-265-_-Product

It seems that you can call B&N support for a new one if you had issues with your original. Not the OP's problem, but Some have had the issue.
Here is a thread about it:
http://bookclubs.barnesandnoble.com...t-to-slide-charger-into-Nook-Color/m-p/809920

nootered said:
I have two other devices that also use M-USB for data transfer, and they work just fine.
I picked up a few of these a while back and they work as well:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...&cm_re=micro_usb_cable-_-12-119-265-_-Product
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So the idea is that these could be used only for data and trickle-charging? Even if it's connecting the Nook to its official power-thingy (is there a name for those?)

markiejones said:
So the idea is that these could be used only for data and trickle-charging? Even if it's connecting the Nook to its official power-thingy (is there a name for those?)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am just using it for data transfer and charging with the stock wall unit. As far s using these cables or other USB devices that using the MicroUSB interface would require some type of software driver (USB Host) in order to make that work. As far as I know at least.

manchucka said:
Alright, maybe one more: The charger itself is rated at .5A, which is higher than the standard plug for usb chargers.
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Click to collapse
Actually... .5A is the minimum for all plain jane USB ports.
If I remember right, when I flipped the charger over when I first got the NC, it is rated at 1.9A, which would make sense considering the size of the battery we are charging and at the speed we are charging it at. Hell, my Epic uses a 1A charger and it is only 1500mAh battery vs the NC's 4000 mAh.

danbutter said:
It seems that you can call B&N support for a new one if you had issues with your original. Not the OP's problem, but Some have had the issue.
Here is a thread about it:
]
Wow thanks for that link. From the day I got my Nook I couldn't use the included USB cable to move data, but it would charge like a charm. Now I'm getting a replacement.
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danbutter said:
It seems that you can call B&N support for a new one if you had issues with your original. Not the OP's problem, but Some have had the issue.
Here is a thread about it:
http://bookclubs.barnesandnoble.com...t-to-slide-charger-into-Nook-Color/m-p/809920
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
True but.... I have been calling for well over a month and first they could not ship me one because I bought it at Best Buy and they did not have the warranty info yet from Best Buy. I finally got past that and since the week after Christmas they have been shipping me one each time I call. I have yet to receive one. I am going on 2 months now trying to get the cable shipped to me.

TainT said:
Anybody know the potential problems trying to root with a non-standard Cable?
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Click to collapse
I don't think there are any.. I do all my ADB work using a "non-standard cable". The usb cable that came with my nook wont let ADB work right. When I type ADB devices with my factory cable I get the serial number but instead of device it shows suspended or something like that.

http://www.rdi.us/USBCC.pdf
Here is a link for a Hi - Power USB Car Charger. It's 2100mA and can run and charge an Android Tablet or iPad at the same time. Also the microUSB cable they offer, shows "Charging ( AC) ” When plugged into my Captivate. Most just showed "Charging ( USB) ".
Sent from my Samsung Captivate with Perception 10.3, Firebird2 v0.8 #77 Kernel, Firmware 2.2.1, Modem T959TLJL3 using XDA App

.5A is nothing. Most phone chargers now are rated at 1A with ones for tablets going above 2 as someone else mentioned. Most BT headset chargers are rated at .2-.5A in comparison. Some GPS units have charges rated over 1.5A. My Dash unit had a 2A.
And if I'm not mistaken, if you're connected to a computer you will only get a tricklish charge as it's limited to .2 or .25A (I believe).
In regards to actual cables, any microUSB cable will work. I've used stock ones from Samsung and Palm phones as well as cheap 50 cent ones from Meritline. And if the Nook one is actually longer? Why wouldn' it work in something else? The cable will just stick out further.
manchucka said:
The cable that comes with the NookColor differs from a standard micro usb in a couple of important ways: It has extra pins to deliver a higher charge. OK, I guess by "a couple" I meant "one that I am aware of." Alright, maybe one more: The charger itself is rated at .5A, which is higher than the standard plug for usb chargers.
You might be able to trickle charge from a standard usb. I was able to get some power, but not much.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

DealExtreme - charging cable - mini review

So, I bought one of those $4 charging cables from Deal Extreme. Not bad, actually. A couple of initial thoughts:
#1) Shipping: 3 weeks from order to delivery. This is not some next day, in-house job. This is coming from Hong-Kong or some area in China and it will take the full 3 weeks from the time you order to it arrives at your door.
#2) It works. Charges just fine, plugs into the existing wall adapter. No worries.
#3) It crashed my PC. I don't know if it was the pulling of it out or the putting of it in, but my PC crashed, and my PC never crashes.
#4) It does not have the top labeled like the stock one does. No little white arrow / triangle.
#5) Fits just like stock. Once you get the orientation correct (little black tabs guide you), it fits in solidly with no worries.
For four dollars, I am extremely pleased. I'll use it with the wall socket, and I'll use my stock one for delicate operations like PC-to-Phone transfers.

Thank's for the review... I was wondering when mine would get here, it had been about a week and a half already.

[[ UPDATE ]]
My charging cable has stopped working. I think.
I let the battery completely drain, and then I tried using the Deal Extreme cable plugged into the wall. The phone threw up an icon for bad connection to cable. I unplugged and replugged several times. Eventually I left it all night. It did NOT charge.
I don't know if it just can't do it when it was completely dead battery, or if the cable itself just is broken or if it is just poor quality. I will keep experimenting.

i have had the same problems with 6ft cables from yourcharger on ebay, none work with my pc to sync and when charging one killed my battery like it was wired wrong and the phone started freaking out and the home screen froze and i had to remove the battery, and the other it doesnt even show i have a cable connected to the phone

I've experienced bad battery/charger error with $4 dealextreme cable.
The cause is extremely thin conductors inside the cable.
The solution is simple. You have to make it shoter. Just cut 55cm off, and connect the rest.
As a result - 20cm cable, which can be made longer with any quality usb extender.

I recently purchased the car charger that came with a usb/charger for $6.50 the build quality for the car lighter charger is pretty outstanding it even has all the safety and mfg. Stamps on it. The usb charger on the other hand is quite shabby and it took me a few tries to get the pin to go in correctly. Also didn't have an arrow to differentiate which side was which so I had to take a bright marker n mark it. All in all for the price and the usual long delivery time it was well worth the 7$ now I don't have to log around my stock usb cord everywhere
Sent from my Dell Streak using Tapatalk

NookColor USB cable disected

Today I managed to get my NookColor cable caught in my car door while I was getting in my car to head to work. This mangled the cable up pretty good. After much swearing and a trip to Barnes and Nobles I purchased a replacement cable. With the new cable in hand I figured I might as well take the end apart on the broken one to see how it was wired up. Using a pocket knife I forced the joint where the two pieced of plastic are joined together apart. The end result is rather interesting.
The first image is of the top side of the connector. This is where the little LED is located. The second image is of the bottom side of the connector. The third is of the bottom side of the connector with the shield removed.
The interesting thing is that the connector does not actually have the four standard pads for connecting to the normal USB pins in the NC's socket. It only connects to the twelve extra pins at the back of the NC's socket. Two of those extra pins must be for the standard USB communications. At least two more are used for the power connection to the NC. That leaves eight unknown pins. One or two of which probably controls the LED on the cable. As soon as I can find my multimeter, I plan on doing a continuity check between the USB cable wires and the pins in the connector. Any other suggestions of things I should be looking for?

I read in passing that the deeper socket on the nc, that makes regular microUSB cables not charge the nc, relates to the extra contacts needed to charge the bigger battery more quickly. Will try to find the reference-

Regular cables DO charge... At 500mha, the stock rom does not she charging but it does around 10%/hr if idle.

There are certainly several ground pins which should be ready to find. finding those will help narrow it down.
Sent from my NookColor using XDA App

Khaytsus: i stand corrected. Found the reference: barnes& noble 'book clubs' (ie forums) thread on "things that you should know about the NookCOLOR." A non nook color USB won't charge it when in a wall socket, but may keep the battery from at least going down.
Even a NC branded USB isn't officially expected to charge a NC, if plugged into a pc USB port. Neverrtheless, some say it trickle charges when left atrached to a computer all night (like 8hrs). In a wall socket it supposed to charge in 4 -5 hours.
Interestingly, NC won't charge at all if turned entirely off while plugged in.

The same thing happened with me too(my cable also broke, and i decided to experiment with it). Here's what i found out.
1. Three wires in the usb cables are solely meant for charging.
2. If only two (ground an one live) wires are connected, the stock cable charges nook like a ordinary usb cable(very slow).
3. The nooks usb cable tip had 3-4 more outputs which were not connected to any wires in the usb cable(they could be anything from mic input to video output).
I was trying to get more info on these extra outputs by soldering some wires to them but it needs very fine soldering, i couldn't achieve that and i broke mine entirely.
That reminds me can anyone send me a extra cable as am not in U.S(so B&N won't send me one) and am sick of waiting for 10 hours before i can play with my nook again.

mjf0000000 said:
Interestingly, NC won't charge at all if turned entirely off while plugged in.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Uummm... Don't think this is true as I charged my Nook just last night with it turned off.

I'm sure you have this, but for anyone else who would like to look at the standard USB pinouts.
While I'm on the topic, did the Nova disection help in determining the Nook end of the connections?

the last time i looked, Nova hadn't really looked that close at the USB...they were focusing on the wifi/BT chip.
very nice was planning on doing this myself one day soon...any chance you can go in a bit closer and get clearer pics of the traces on the pcb? Would really help to decipher it.

Interested to see a breakdown of a standard micro usb vs nooks for comparisons sake

A couple of things:
-The NC connector has a row of 12 pins, but does not have any pins that match with the "legacy" microusb pins. At least 4 of the signals on that connector duplicate the microusb pins (gnd, d+, d-, +5). IIRC there are two +5 pins on that row and three grounded pins.
-Hooking only +5 and gnd to the USB end of the stock cable causes the NC to charge at max current draw. I made a short USB interposer that does this. I suppose you could put some carefully applied tape over the middle pins if you wanted to try. Here are some measurements I did of various ways of powering the NC a while back:http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=9410625&postcount=243

mjf0000000 said:
Khaytsus: i stand corrected. Found the reference: barnes& noble 'book clubs' (ie forums) thread on "things that you should know about the NookCOLOR." A non nook color USB won't charge it when in a wall socket, but may keep the battery from at least going down.
Even a NC branded USB isn't officially expected to charge a NC, if plugged into a pc USB port. Neverrtheless, some say it trickle charges when left atrached to a computer all night (like 8hrs). In a wall socket it supposed to charge in 4 -5 hours.
Interestingly, NC won't charge at all if turned entirely off while plugged in.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have one interesting finding to note. Most USB wall adapters are 500mA. I happened to have a USB wall adapter that is 1A. With my 1A, I was able not only able to keep the battery from draining, but I was able to replenish it (although it was very slow) As a comparison, the USB adapter from B&N is capable of 2A.

I will try and get closer pics of the PCB when I get home from work. I just need to get better lighting than my dark home office.