I bought a Nexus One with the infamous broken power button issue, and I am curious what would the effect be if I short the VCC and GND line in the charging port? Has anyone tried that? I am thinking that it will either fry the board or trick the phone to think that it is charging.
The reason I want to do this is because I travel a lot and I might not have access to USB charging if I want to swap the SIM card. I am familiar with the other tricks regarding remapping the trackball_center and I am going to install a version of CWM that doesn't support charging (that way the phone boots when I plug a charging cable).
So long story short... what do you think about attempting to short the micro USB charging/data port?
It won't fool the phone into anything, only ruin your USB socket and potentially fry any device into which you'll plug such phone, forgetting that it's shorted.
For charging detection 5V needs to be applied between VCC and GND - standard VBUS voltage.
Related
My HTC Diamond has developed an interesting problem
It will not charge from a mains supply but it DOES charge when connected to a USB port of a computer
Does the mains electricity pass through the same USB pins as the USB juice?
I am thinking a pin on the Mini USB socket on the Diamond might be broken?
Any other ideas? - is there anything software related that could be causing this?
I have stock ROM
Fanks
Bit of an (embarrassing) update
My mains powered docking station was not working (and still isn't)
To verify the problem I tried charging the device from the supplied mains charger in my kitchen - which also didn't work so I concluded the issue was with the HTC Diamond itself, especially as it charged from my laptop's USB port
HOWEVER - I just went to make a cup of tea and the kettle didn't work - the mains in the kitchen had tripped out - now reset the mains charger is working fine (PHEW!)
The issue is therefore my docking station and NOT the HTC Diamond
For info I did manage to find out the mains chargers DO use a different method to charge than USB connection
Mains is referred to as "Fast Charging" and shorts some pins to supply max power (and faster charging) of 1,000mA
USB power uses the standard 500mA from the USB supply so takes longer to charge and delivers it through the power pin on the USB pinout
Irrelevant now but it may help somebody else searching for a similar issue
I am now going to enjoy that cup of tea and hide my embarrassment!
Just reading up on USB chargers, and I found somewhere in a thread here about phones defaulting to smaller ma when charging via USB if the connector didn't have the data pins shorted or something.
So, I was wondering a couple of things:
1) If the default charger supplies 700ma, do you think that is the most the Nexus S can draw? Does anyone have one of these shorted USB chargers? Does it charge the NS faster?
2) If it does charge faster, how hard would it be to do something similar to shorting the data connections? I have a generic AC-USB cable which I currently use for my iPod touch.
3) Is there a way to check if it is already shorted out? The USB charging port looks similar to ones on my computer, but I'm not sure what to look for.
Thanks for any help! Maybe if we can sort out this stuff, we can provide a solution for those looking for faster charging!
it does work safely, i'm using a 1000 mAh charger at home, and a 2000 mAh charger in the car both are from aftermarket eBay/DealExtreme charges.
no overheating
and charges faster than stock
AllGamer said:
it does work safely, i'm using a 1000 mAh charger at home, and a 2000 mAh charger in the car both are from aftermarket eBay/DealExtreme charges.
no overheating
and charges faster than stock
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Click to collapse
Ok thankyou for that AllGamer, I'll think of possible ways I could mod the charger now
The only reason it is slow is because of the USB charging brick instead of just a charger.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
I know it's a wrong thread, but anyone has any pointers as to how to short a regular USB cable to make the phone think it's a power adapter cable?
XBOHDPuKC said:
I know it's a wrong thread, but anyone has any pointers as to how to short a regular USB cable to make the phone think it's a power adapter cable?
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Nah it's not the wrong thread that was one of my questions! I'm not sure exactly where you would do it, but maybe if you skinned the wire, then cut the data lines it would work?
Not sure which end you would do it on however, but that may not matter. Any other ideas?
The two center pins in the USB carry the data. If you pull them out, the cable won't be able to connect to the computer.
Sent from my Nexus S
Wow - you don't need to do this and you wouldn't want to in a computer anyway.
The USB specification says that 500ma (@ 5v) of current should be available from a computer's USB port. Of course, the actual wires can carry much more than this, so manufacturers can tell their phones to takes as much current as is offered.
Almost all computers limit their USB power output accordingly - this is why some opld usb-powered external hard drives needed 2 USB plugs to get enough power. The only computers that I am SURE emit significantly more than 500ma on their USB ports are first and second generation MacBook Airs.
Some phones, the N1 and every other HTC specifically, look for a specially shorted cable to "know if they are plugged into the wall adaptor" as opposed to a computer USB port. In reality, this is just a way to make you specifically buy HTC chargers as opposed to third-party off-brands, because plugging one of these phones into an off brand charger will limit the current draw to about 450ma.
If you want to know if your Android phone thinks that it is in "USB" mode or in "AC" mode, just plug the phone in, open the dialer, enter *#*#4636#*#* and then select battery info. If your phone is one that cares (not all do), it will say USB if it thinks it should be in USB charging mode, or AC if it thinks it should be in AC charging mode.
I would not try shorting out the middle pins in a cable and then plugging it into the computer. First, most will probably just disable the USB port completely, shutting off even power you could draw. Second, if it doesn't shut down, you run the risk that a badly-built USB port might not properly limit the current to 500ma - and since they are not designed to furnish more current than that, you might melt something expensive or start a fire. third, if you make a mistake, you risk shorting out either your phone or your computer, which might ruin your day, week or month, depending on your financial means to replace the system that cooks itself.
I would just run out to your local store, pay 15 bucks for a 2A third-party usb charger brick, and go to town. That will work perfectly - this is what I use, and it probably cuts the charge time by 30-40%. Obviously, this indicates that the NS is not capable of drawing a full 2A - I have not put a meter on it, but I would bet that it limits itself to somewhere just under an amp in.
I have recently bought both a 2A wall charger and car charger and my phone does not recognise either of these as anything more than a 500mA source.
Is it really just a case of opening the car charger up and shorting out pins 2 & 3? they are currently not connected to anything in the charger.
If it's indeed a matter of shorting the data lines, then I think you can skin the wire as suggested by others, but then cut the data lines, short the end that leads to the phone, leave the end to the computer open. I think it's the phone that tries to determine whether the data lines are shorted.
Edit: Can someone measure the continuity between the data pins with the stock charger? I wonder if they are shorted. I'm still waiting for my Nexus S to arrive, so can't test it.
Yup, the data lines in the stock Nexus S charger ARE shorted.
I just modified a cheap 1A car charger by popping it open, soldering the 2 data lines together and putting it back.
The report on the Nexus S before I did this (*#*#4636#*#*) said "USB", and afterwards it now says "AC".
I will report back after I make a road trip if this improves the GPS + Pandora + Screen in car situation. I suspect it will.
----------------
Yup, the car charger seemed to actually maintain and increase the battery this time. Seems good.
The NS supports chargers output to a max of 1000mA, as it says on the back of it, where the battery resides.
Hi!
I am building a special car charger for my galaxy s.
I put the 5V to MicroUSB VCC and also GND...
The phone is charging.
Here the problem:
I'm using tasker app to detect many phone states and automatically switch some features when pluging in some devices. I noticed that the normal galaxy s charger is detected as normal power supply. My method with just VCC=5V makes the phone think that there is a usb cable on it. So it says: Charging with USB power.
I started thinking about how the normal power supply tells the phone that it is no USB. First I thought of the 5th pin (pin 4: ID) on the micro USB connector. Later I noticed that it seems that the normal charger does not has this pin. So it should be open circuit like I have on my charger...
Does anybody know what the normal charger does to tell the phone it is a normal charger?
Additional story:
I found another usb device with micro usb which is charging with the normal charger only! With normal usb cable it is not possible to charge it. Right now I can't charge this device with my car adaptor.
What sets the charging type is the resistance between the data pins. USB charging will be limited to about 500mA, a plain charger can deliver more current, thus reducing charge time. Somewhere on XDA resistor values are listed for various modes but this site has a really bad search engine.
rogem_kk said:
... but this site has a really bad search engine.
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you are right!
normally nobody dares to say something bad about this site. Don't get me wrong... The information and the community is awesome but the search engine is awful.
But google works still OK
Refer to the thread: Click and look for post 60 to start from there are some interesting conclusions, e.g. in post 71 as well...
My defy+ cable has on the mirco side two metal pins on each side. Normale cables got only two metal pins on the wider side of the mirco side.
Do you follow me? I made picture below had to use * because spaces will disapere when posting
Defy+
**'***'**
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*\***/*
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**'**'**
Normal
**'***'**
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*\***/*
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Sorry, I don't understand you, but you can use standard microusb wires for data and charge with your Defy+ (I usually use a Samsung usb wire)
The cables i used on my htc Desire wont charge or are only use full for date transfer. When i trie to charge true my charger or car charger. It start charging and within a second i got a message that it is unconnectend and then connected again. And it loops.
taarmen said:
My defy+ cable has on the mirco side two metal pins on each side. Normale cables got only two metal pins on the wider side of the mirco side.
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Those aren't "pins" in the sense of providing data signals or charging current. They are more like small springs designed to improve the mechanical retention of the micro USB plug in the socket. They don't make any difference to the electrical or electronic function of the USB cable, beyond reducing the risk of a poor physical connection, or a loss of physical connection if the handset is moved which charging/transferring data.
My Blackberry charger's micro USB plug doesn't have them , but the short USB to micro USB cable which came with my noise-cancelling headphones does - and the only function of that cable is to charge the battery in the headphones. I think you will find that there are a number of subtle mechanical variations of this kind between micro USB plugs from different manufacturers.
taarmen said:
The cables i used on my htc Desire wont charge or are only use full for date transfer. When i trie to charge true my charger or car charger. It start charging and within a second i got a message that it is unconnectend and then connected again. And it loops.
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Click to collapse
I used with my Defy+ usb chargers and usb cables from Samsung Wave and Blackberry 8990 and all of these works property for charging and for data transfers.
Maybe your HTC usb cable don´t work propertly?
elTorres said:
Maybe your HTC usb cable don´t work propertly?
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Other possibilities are that the charger is faulty or providing a charge current which is slightly outside spec, or that there is a problem with the battery. I have seen problems caused by both of these kinds of fault (with third-party chargers and batteries) when using my Motorola USB cable.
I'm trying to make a fast charging cable for use in the car. The current charger I use seems to work fine, but the coiled cable annoys me. When I use a standard USB cable the charging reverts to slow mode which means the GPS and screen drain the battery faster than the cable can charge it.
The charging cable that works has a resistor between ground and the unused pin 4, but what I want to know, is this the only USB charging standard that the Droid4 supports, for example does it support the one where you put a resistor between the two data pins, or the one where you just join the data pins together?
If it supports either of those, then this project just got a lot easier as I can just chop the Type A connector off my USB cable and do all the work without having to solder a Micro USB connector.
Could you de-solder the coiled cord and solder in a micro USB cord or even a female USB cord for removal of OEM usb... or is that what you mean in the last paragraph... If you want I could give it a try as I have three rapid car chargers and several USB cables...
Lum_UK said:
I'm trying to make a fast charging cable for use in the car. The current charger I use seems to work fine, but the coiled cable annoys me. When I use a standard USB cable the charging reverts to slow mode which means the GPS and screen drain the battery faster than the cable can charge it.
The charging cable that works has a resistor between ground and the unused pin 4, but what I want to know, is this the only USB charging standard that the Droid4 supports, for example does it support the one where you put a resistor between the two data pins, or the one where you just join the data pins together?
If it supports either of those, then this project just got a lot easier as I can just chop the Type A connector off my USB cable and do all the work without having to solder a Micro USB connector.
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I'm not sure if this has anything to do with your question but try an ipad or tablet charger (2.1 Amp) which i use on my droid 4 and charges it fast.
Regular chargers use 0.7 to 1.0 Amp. I know tablet chargers are bulky but they tend to charge your device faster.
Also maybe this thread will work for you: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1984838
I'm using a 2amp car charger with a USB socket at the moment and I assure you it isn't charging at that speed. The other charger with the coiled cord does charge at the higher speed, but it also has the odd wiring.
That thread is interesting, is exactly the kind of thing I was talking about, but I'm looking for confirmation that it will actually work with the Droid 4 before I start hacking up cables. The Droid 4 seems to be fussy about which chargers it will work with, my 2amp charger worked fine with the HTC Desire Z, for example.
Another part of my reason for doing this is I want to use the right-angled USB plug that is on my USB lead, but that Micro USB connector is sealed and unmodifiable.
Lum_UK said:
I'm using a 2amp car charger with a USB socket at the moment and I assure you it isn't charging at that speed. The other charger with the coiled cord does charge at the higher speed, but it also has the odd wiring.
That thread is interesting, is exactly the kind of thing I was talking about, but I'm looking for confirmation that it will actually work with the Droid 4 before I start hacking up cables. The Droid 4 seems to be fussy about which chargers it will work with, my 2amp charger worked fine with the HTC Desire Z, for example.
Another part of my reason for doing this is I want to use the right-angled USB plug that is on my USB lead, but that Micro USB connector is sealed and unmodifiable.
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I'm not sure but there is a radio called ihome ic50 (Google it) i own it and it has a special switch which the manual says if the device has a proprietary charging protocol flip the switch. I made a quick test and it charges in both ways. I'm pretty sure your idea will work as long you know what you are doing. BTW the ihome ic50 is pretty cool for any android device.