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Charging: PC weak, wall strong

jefboyardee

jefboyardee

Extreme Android User
Charging my Optimus from the wall or the car lighter with the supplied chargers takes a couple hours.

Charging via USB to my ancient HP m7160n PC takes forever, even loses charge if continue using the droid.

I presume it
 
Hey there jefboyardee, this is because a USB port from a computer doesn't supply as much power as directly from the wall.

There is no way to fix this as it is how it has always been.

Sorry if this isn't what you were looking for, but it's why i never plug my phone into my computer because it barely increases charge.
 
I was under the impression there were kernel modifications that could be made for root users. I'll have to dig into that more. Maybe I'm thinking of something else
 
jefboyardee said:
Charging my Optimus from the wall or the car lighter with the supplied chargers takes a couple hours.

Charging via USB to my ancient HP m7160n PC takes forever, even loses charge if continue using the droid.

I presume it’s because the HP is delivering pathetic amperage, but wonder if I’m missing some magical cure.
Click to expand...

The supplied chargers are 'express' chargers. They are meant to charge fast. While convenient this also 'wears' out the battery's lifetime faster. It's a double-edged sword.
USB charging is actually 'drip charging'. A lot slower, but better for your battery's general health in the long run.
 
I think, your wall charger has 1A output and has jumpered data pins. This jumpered pins let the phone know that it is able to charge fast with high current.

Harry
 
jefboyardee said:
Is there such thing as a pin jumper-er that leaves data connected but delivers the magic one amp?
Click to expand...

Well ... yes, there is. The phone would need to "see" the jumpered pins only for a moment when the charging starts.

Some USB host devices might be able to do this, it is known as a simplified kind of USB enumeration.

Harry
 
I don't think it would mattery. The output of the USB host itself is just .5 MA not because of the phone it reads, but because that's all the motherboard supplies to it. I have no idea where you are going to get the additional current you want. You could probably use one of those dual USB cables which connects to two USB ports and has only one mini/microUSB output, but not sure how well that would work.

For the record, your HP m7160n is still probably using USB 1.0, so that's like 0.2MA?
 
chanchan05 said:
I don't think it would mattery. The output of the USB host itself is just .5 MA not because of the phone it reads, but because that's all the motherboard supplies to it. I have no idea where you are going to get the additional current you want. You could probably use one of those dual USB cables which connects to two USB ports and has only one mini/microUSB output, but not sure how well that would work.

For the record, your HP m7160n is still probably using USB 1.0, so that's like 0.2MA?
Click to expand...

That's probably what it is. Even if the ports are USB 2.0, the OPs HP laptop is probably coming on for almost 8 years old now. In those days you just didn't charge devices from USB ports, so high power on the USB ports was not really required. USB was mainly used for mice and keyboards and webcams and things. Power hungry USB devices like DVD/CD burners, would have had their own AC adapters, instead of relying on USB power. Some devices had a Y-cable so they could take additional power from a second USB port, e.g. certain 3G modems and USB hard-drives.

According to the Wiki..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Serial_Bus#USB_2.0
The USB Battery Charging Specification of 2007 defines new types of USB ports, e.g., charging ports.[48] As compared to standard downstream ports, where a portable device can only draw more than 100 mA current after digital negotiation with the host or hub, charging ports can supply currents above 500 mA without digital negotiation. A charging port supplies up to 500 mA at 5 V, up to the rated current at 3.6 V or more, and drop its output voltage if the portable device attempts to draw more than the rated current. The charger port may shut down if the load is too high.

The OPs ancient HP laptop predates this, and that's why it's failing to charge a phone. There's just not enough power available from the laptop's USB ports.
 
Thanks all. My HP PC’s port is USB 2.0, but like you’ve said, probably .1 amp due to its age. There’s no getting around that, outside of installing new motherboard, which I’m not willing to attempt.

I’m back to my earlier quest for a split charger, delivering 1 amp for charging and offering a second port for data pass-through... not that such a thing ever existed.
 
You might try an active USB 2.0 hub like this ... with 1A output for each USB socket.
http://www.linkedin.com/company/vau...-brick-high-peformance-usb-hub-675483/product

But the PC might not recognise your phone through such a hub ... maybe it's worth for you to try this :)

EDIT: Sorry, I've forgotten the important thing ;)
This hub is able to provide 1A, but your phone would just take .5A for charging ... because the phone won't "see" the jumped data pins :(

Harry
 
Thanks all again. I ended up using a 4-port USB hub that has a powered/bus switch, set to powered. Doesn’t increase droid battery level, but doesn’t allow it to decrease either. Apparently delivers somewhat higher amperage than the PC ports.

A step in the right direction...
 
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