[Q] Droid 4 charging standards - Motorola Droid 4

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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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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Click to collapse
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.

Related

Kaiser/Universal mini usb

Before i got HTC Tytn2 i had qtek9000. I had also Brodit car holder and instalation in car with cool hidden cable for charging qtek. After i bought Kaiser i also bought Brodit holder for Kaiser. I thought that this miniUSB should charge battery but it is very strange. Kaiser shows "charging" but battery is not charging. On normal 220v original Kaiser charger it works like charm. Are pin combinationfor these two smartphones different?
As far as I know the pinouts are the same.
There is a blog here which describes the HTC ExtUSB socket and also mentions that there are 2 charging modes. The faster charging, higher curent, needs 2 pins to be jumpered. Without this fast charge the current is limited and may not be sufficient to actually charge the device if you are actively using it. eg. GPS, 3g, Music etc. Try using the charger with the Kaiser in GPRS only mode, or Radio off, and with no apps running, this will enable you to see if in fact it is charging but at the slower rate. The Kaiser may need more power than your Qtek needed.
do you maybe know which two pins?
joe_s said:
do you maybe know which two pins?
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Click to collapse
Quoting from the blog...
As for the power pins question this is simple a case of juice.
If I plug the USB cable into a HTC device, then plug that usb cable into a usb port and just wire that up to a bench power supply... the device draws a few hundred milliamps. (As much as USB spec allows).
This device, much like other mobile devices I have used which USB charge, can barely draw enough power of the USB to run itself let alone charge the battery.
However, if you close the A/B pins you are telling the phone "This is not a USB port, its a 1A power brick" so the phone charges the battery at its maximum safe rate.
This behaviour is stop the phone frying your usb ports.
...
Hope this helps
I had problems with some cables and some car chargers. It turns out that when I use a cable for sync that is fully USB 2.0 compatible everything works. For charging in my car I bought a universal car 12v to USB converter. Then I am usinging the same USB 2.0 sync cable with it. It works.
When i first got my kaiser, i used the car-charger from my old MiO A701. For a period of 1,5 month, it worked just fine. After that, for some reason, kaiser shows that is charging but it really does not!
I thought it would be a charger malfunction, but after reading the posts above i have my doubts...

[Q] Faster USB Charging?

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
Click to expand...
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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Click to collapse
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.

usb cable defy+ different than normale ones

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+
**'***'**
----------
*\***/*
------
**'**'**
Normal
**'***'**
----------
*\***/*
------
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
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?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.

Make non-motorola charger work?

So this is my first motorola and I had heard of the issues they have with non motorola chargers. Now I am experiencing it first hand. With the same ac charger I have charged many phones with and is capable of 1 amp output (D4 charger is only rated at 850 mA) my D4 struggles. With the device off it charged painfully slowly. While on it cannot even charge. It discharges while plugged in despite the charging indicator and reporting "charging (AC)" in status.
How does it know it is not a moto charger? Is it just about the resistance between the data pins? For most other phones shorting the data pins on the charger indicates to the phone that it is a high current charger and not a computer USB port. Is there a similar trick for motorola phones? I would rather not have to purchase an overpriced moto oem car charger. I have a perfectly fine 1.2 amp car charger soldered directly into my car's 12v system behind the dash. Can I make it work?
Thanks!
On a regular basis I successfully charge my D4 using both a charger from a Samsung Reality feature phone and from a B&N Nook Simple Touch, in addition to the one that came with it. I've also used a variety of car chargers.
Sent from my DROID4 using XDA
Actually, so far I have only one charger that had any trouble charging the phone (it was a $3 charger with 2 USB ports), but the $3 charger with ONE USB port works fine, as does the Nook Color charger, Blackberry charger, and Samsung charger I have tried it with, as well as both my old car charger and Lenovo's always-on charging port on their laptops.
JKingDev said:
So this is my first motorola and I had heard of the issues they have with non motorola chargers. Now I am experiencing it first hand. With the same ac charger I have charged many phones with and is capable of 1 amp output (D4 charger is only rated at 850 mA) my D4 struggles. With the device off it charged painfully slowly. While on it cannot even charge. It discharges while plugged in despite the charging indicator and reporting "charging (AC)" in status.
How does it know it is not a moto charger? Is it just about the resistance between the data pins? For most other phones shorting the data pins on the charger indicates to the phone that it is a high current charger and not a computer USB port. Is there a similar trick for motorola phones? I would rather not have to purchase an overpriced moto oem car charger. I have a perfectly fine 1.2 amp car charger soldered directly into my car's 12v system behind the dash. Can I make it work?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure how it knows one way or the other. I've successfully used a few LG chargers to charge my D4. The only really hickup I've ran into is the usb cables from those lg chargers won't sync data to the phones when plugged into a computer, they'll still charge off the usb port but won't read as a usb connection to the computer.
Heh, captcha is trynply.
Every charger I've used, including an old charger for an EN-V, kindle, supplied, and various other phone chargers works just fine with this phone. Probably have a bad charger, guy.
Thanks for the replies. I guess I was wrong. My modded car charger works just fine. I guess its just time to retire the old charger that I have been using. I think it might be my old nexus one charger.
A more important question would be does the thing charge over computer-bound USB ports?
When you're without a charger, but there's a USB cable that fits your phone, sometimes a regular USB data port is the only that is around... even though it might take a really long time.
Try a computer bound USB port, then try your actual charger, again. Or do the hard reset (vol down plus power, hold until it actually does it), which is just like pulling the battery.
See how that goes.
Chris
RueTheDayTrebek said:
A more important question would be does the thing charge over computer-bound USB ports?
When you're without a charger, but there's a USB cable that fits your phone, sometimes a regular USB data port is the only that is around... even though it might take a really long time.
Try a computer bound USB port, then try your actual charger, again. Or do the hard reset (vol down plus power, hold until it actually does it), which is just like pulling the battery.
See how that goes.
Chris
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It does in fact charge via USB port. In fact, it has a 'charge only' mode. Depending on how much juice your port puts out, and what you are doing with the phone, it will charge slowly/not at all, though.
from my experiences, the droid 4 will not accept lg microusb cables, the charging bricks work tho. i use a blackberry microusb on mine along with a Logitech and the stock moto ones. 1.2 amps is a bit high but not crazy sounding. personally, I charge at 1 amp.

Looking for a retractable USB cable that support Quick Charge 2.0, any out there?

i've been looking high and low for a retractable usb cable that support quick charge for the galaxy s6 edge. i travel a lot and a retractable cable will help reducing the mess in my backpack .. thank
http://www.aliexpress.com try them
dinopeyton said:
http://www.aliexpress.com try them
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
nothing there. thanks for the reply though
the guitarist said:
nothing there. thanks for the reply though
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From Qualcomm FAQ...
Q6: Does it matter what type of charging cable is used with a Quick Charge adapter?
A: Quick Charge is designed to be connector-independent. Quick Charge can be implemented with a variety of formats, including USB Type-A, USB micro, USB Type-C, and other proprietary connectors.
Quick Charge high-voltage operation is designed to minimize charging issues associated with long or thin cables, allowing for a superior charging experience, independent of cable type.
So i believe you only need a standard retractable cable. Perhaps something like...
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Imustech®-...-1-catcorr&keywords=retractable+s6+edge+cable
Mobzter said:
From Qualcomm FAQ...
Q6: Does it matter what type of charging cable is used with a Quick Charge adapter?
A: Quick Charge is designed to be connector-independent. Quick Charge can be implemented with a variety of formats, including USB Type-A, USB micro, USB Type-C, and other proprietary connectors.
Quick Charge high-voltage operation is designed to minimize charging issues associated with long or thin cables, allowing for a superior charging experience, independent of cable type.
So i believe you only need a standard retractable cable. Perhaps something like...
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Imustech®-...-1-catcorr&keywords=retractable+s6+edge+cable
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a quick charge charger in my car with 2 ports. One has a standard USB cable, the other has a retractable cable. Both cables charge but only the standard straight one allows my phone to fast charge. I also noticed that the retractable one gets warm to the touch when charging.
sdotagain said:
I have a quick charge charger in my car with 2 ports. One has a standard USB cable, the other has a retractable cable. Both cables charge but only the standard straight one allows my phone to fast charge. I also noticed that the retractable one gets warm to the touch when charging.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
cable sounds dodgy. anyway how about this one then
http://www.dracodesign.com/usb-2-1a-fast-charge-and-data-sync-retractable-cable-white/ ?
Mobzter said:
From Qualcomm FAQ...
So i believe you only need a standard retractable cable. Perhaps something like...
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Imustech®-...-1-catcorr&keywords=retractable+s6+edge+cable
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is incorrect. The cable also needs to support Quick Charge. I've yet to find any retractable cables that do support it. I think this is because the conductor needs to be thin in order to retract.

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