Database Users

XDA II charge or not to charge

Having major issues with my 3 month old XDA.
1. Will charge when using the home charger
2. Will charge when using cradel connected to 1 of my 2 PC's
3. Will not charge when using cradel connecting to my other PC
4. Will not charge when using cradel connecting to my MAC
5. Will charge when using cradel connecting to my PC Laptop
6. Will not charge when using the O2 supplied car charger
In every case the phone thinks it is charging i.e. the green charging light comes on and if you go to the battery control panel, it even says "charging".
XDA repair centre have had it for 2 weeks, flashed the rom and returned it. Still doing it.
Have demanded a new phone form onestopphoneshop.com who have refused due to it being more than 28days old although it has done this from new.
Aaarrrrgggghhhh!!!!!!
Can anyone help?

Have you tried another battery?
Since the hardware 'logic' seems to be doing something (light goes on, software gets charging signals) the chances are the battery is faulty . . .
Why some chargers do work and others dont: Could be the charging current that is higher on chargers (incl USB port of one of your pc's) that make this battery charge.

Battery...could be I suppose, but I have been digging further into this and have found the following.....suspicious!
www.ppcw.net/?itemid=1646

Hello,
I have a very similar problem to that described in the website you listed.
My phone works fine with its supplied cradle and charger, and charges fine with my work and home PC's, with only the USB cable plugged in.
I bought a charger/ sync cable off the web hoping to not have to carry my cradle home each day and it causes huge problems.
First off it doesn't sync at all - but does cause problems with activesync giving me error messages once it is unplugged saying 'Can't access COM1'
Worst of all though it turns the LED to orange for charging, and when you go to the battery screen it says charging, but instead it actually discharges the battery! This is also the case when I use the cable with the wall socket plugged in.

Just spoke to XDA Repair centre, they have done a total cop out and said that they do not support anything that does not come in the box!!!! That means my car and my computers!!!
[email protected]@rds!!!

Have just bought a new 1400mah battery, will be here in a couple of days, will keep you posted.

I have found that the battery will charge if the xda 2 is about 70% full but lower than this and it will discharge the battery via usb.

conaero said:
Have just bought a new 1400mah battery, will be here in a couple of days, will keep you posted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just want to make sure, is it 1400 mAh? because the standard one in the imate (xda2) is 1200 mAh.

GoldenSands said:
conaero said:
Have just bought a new 1400mah battery, will be here in a couple of days, will keep you posted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just want to make sure, is it 1400 mAh? because the standard one in the imate (xda2) is 1200 mAh.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is indeed a 1460 battery to be precise, I have been told that they are very rare, think they are the ones that are going in the new XDA II i, s, III or what ever it is going to be called.
It should last 25% longer, cost £25GBP. Will let you know how I get on with it on Monday after a weekend of testing.
Back to the charging problem, do you others who have the same charging problem all use the O2 supplied USB cradel. Is there anyone else using an alternative charge and sync cable that works better???
Just a thought.
I have been told more by the XDA repair centre. It seems that the output through various USB ports vary in ampage, surely some sort of regulation should be made into the cradels/chargers???

not sure if this is relevant but
if one does not connect the power connecter to the cradle
then the xda will be forced to charge using usb
and some motherboard have issues giving enough stable power
more so if you have connected more then one usb device
to ports which share the max 500mA that usb can give
also not all motherboard can charge over usb when
the pc is off it all comes down to if usb is powered with vsb+ 5v
some motherboards have jumpers to control this

canaero - Where did you buy the battery from? Is it exactly the same size, or is it slightly thicker?
I have ordered a mini-sync charge cable from boxware in the states; on their website, it says it is compatible with my ORange SPV M1000, but we'll see when it gets here.

Rudegar said:
some motherboard have issues giving enough stable power more so if you have connected more then one usb device
to ports which share the max 500mA that usb can give.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I am using the cradle and I do not connect it to the power supply, here it goes, it takes a lot of time to charge my imate (xda2) if it is connected to my notebook, while it takes about less than an hour to charge the imate if the cradle is connected to my PC!!
Conaero said:
It should last 25% longer, cost £25GBP. Will let you know how I get on with it on Monday after a weekend of testing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's really good price and I guess the battery performance should be better, I heared the xda3, or xdaIIi or whatever (the new model), the battery power is 1490mAh. Please let us know your experience with the new battery.

The new battery has just arrived and I am charging it now. It says 1400 on the front plus a made in china sticker on it.
I got if off ebay from SIANS Mobiles spares and repair Tel: 07743 787858 or www.siansmobiles.co.uk
Good luck

IT WONT CHARGE!!!
just a quick one, i arrange for around 60 XDA's to be used in my company and i can tell you that not one of them will charge in any of our company vehicals or charge via the cradle.

Re: IT WONT CHARGE!!!
bpinder2002 said:
just a quick one, i arrange for around 60 XDA's to be used in my company and i can tell you that not one of them will charge in any of our company vehicals or charge via the cradle.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yikkkes, O2 must listen to you as you have bought so many, say you will send them all back and cancel the contract and see them squirm. Let me know what the outcome is, because leagaly you can send them back and get our of your contract under 'not fit for purpose'. Do it around the time of the new XDA, who knows!!!!
There really is an answer to this somewhere, I have bought this new high capacity battery and it is still not charging when it says it is. I am off to the Microsoft site to see if I can get them to point the finger and the XDA.

Used the new 1400mah battery all weekend, performed very well considering I used it as a sat nav for 6 hours on Saturday continuously with the backlight on for all of those 6 hours.

Power requirements of Universal

When I plug my MDA Pro into my PC it draws 460mA of current at 4.75V and the orange charging light always comes on.
I have bought a car charger - when the MDA Pro is plugged into that it also draws 460mA at 5.04V but the Pro doesn't always seem to realise it is being charged - the orange charging light doesn't come on and the backlight switches off so I cant see the SatNav! (when the light goes off the current goes down to 430mA)
The charger was bought of eBay from shop4hardware/PCglobe for £9.99 and it looks well made.
Any ideas what is going wrong? Has anyone got a 12V charger they are happy with - if so where did it come from and how much??
ceemjay the tight fisted

I bought a car charger off eBay, and while the orange light does come on and stay on, it doesn't seem to charge very effectively. If i'm using something like TomTom the charger manages to keep the battery charge level just about constant, rather than building up charge.
Is this a problem with the Universal? I had a Blue Angel before the Universal, and the car charger I had for that was very effective.
Cheers
Rowan

I had this problem too and solved it by purchasing an "orange" (UK mobile phone operator) branded charger for 10 quid from one of their shops. I have no issues now.
What i did notice when I had the problem was by ensuring the xda was off prior to plugging in the old charger, it would continue to stay orange when turned on. I think this problem is a common one with the usb cable & car charger adaptors combo.

i bought one from expansys, what i noticed:
1. It takes a lot of jiggling, pushing, pulling and twisting to get it recognised by the device (organge light on)
2. When it charges, it does so slowly, i think about 1% per 10 minutes or so, or about 10% per hour.
My two bobs worth anyway.

Many of the mini USB car chargers are simply not powerful enough to charge these devices. They all have the same voltage but the amps are different. I read somewhere that good M5000 car chargers should be rated at 1amp, I'm not sure about this but I've certainly had trouble with ones at around 600mah.
With the under powered chargers you often have to plug them in while the device is switched off. Even then it's not going to charge as well or as quickly. Getting them to start charging without turning you device off is just down to luck and patience.
My advice is to look for chargers that are specific for the M5000 etc. If it also mentions Motorola phones etc, then it's not going to have the required power output.
I hope this helps...
I bought an ORA one from a service station (phone bitz type shop), it was a bit expensive but I needed one in a hurry and you can test them in the store.

as per my earlier post - m5000 is orange branded htc universal, aka o2 xda exec. I believe mine stated it was for the spv500 and it still worked fine...

The universal wants a 2 amp charger really. the 0.5 amp from most chargers including USB ports just is not enough to do much more than stop your battery draining whilst your universal is in use !! other useful alternatives include the charger meant for the newish blackberry

Thanks for all the comments.
The charger that comes with the Pro is rated at 1A however I believe the USB spec only allows up to 500mA to be drawn (as I orginally posted it draws just below that) and I have never had a problem with charging via USB. Hence my confusion!
Is the charging software controlled and might there may be a bug which manifests itself under circumstances?
Clive

The Brodit active holder charges the universal first time everytime, and is a very good place to store the phone on the move. I've got a 3.5mm input on my car stereo and use my phone as my in car music source. If I could get a 3.5mm 4 pole to 3.5mm stereo plug and breakout mic it would be perfect since I could use it as decent handsfree solution, voice command can still use the built in mic when the stereo connection is inserted but the phone app doesn't.

The Brodit holders are nice. I prefer the unpowered version, so I use a separate charger cable. But I agree good holders.

Unsufficient charging

Hi commumity,
was using my Ameo today in my car. BT and phone activated, screen maximum brightness.
I have a 12V / 230V converter installed providing 160W continously. While using phone and contacts throughout the day, battery power dropped more and mmre though my device was connected to power supply. In the afternoon it ran out of power starting with loosing the connection to vodafone.
Who has similar experiences, who has a better way of charging in car?
best regards
dieter

My old car charger which works fine with all my old WM devices does not supply enough power for my Ameo.
My Brodit powered holder does.

Confucious said:
My old car charger which works fine with all my old WM devices does not supply enough power for my Ameo.
My Brodit powered holder does.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I second that. This has been discussed numerous times - you need to check the ampage of your charger. If it's niot supplying enough, turn the screen brightness right down.

Well i guess its time for a little electrical networks lesson.
this phone consumes, under typical use about 300mAh, so if you have the screen on bright and the phone on with bluetooth your going to be using more than that and don't forget you still need to charge the battery and to top it all off your device will start to get hot and nothing kills a battery more than heat.
Solution: you need to make sure that you get a car charger that has an output of at least 1A... remember it will work with less but it won't charge as fast. usually but not always, you can find this information somewhere on the charger.
hope this helped

Output of 1A is one thing, but it seems that HTC devices (the Athena for one) more ways for charging. The orignal car charger from HTC does power the device fast(I have the charger for a few days now and can confirm that). There is also adapter cable available that allows fast charging. See the following post and post. It looks like the original HTC connectors use different pins on the connector for fast/powerfull charging

dpbakker said:
Output of 1A is one thing, but it seems that HTC devices (the Athena for one) more ways for charging. The orignal car charger from HTC does power the device fast(I have the charger for a few days now and can confirm that). There is also adapter cable available that allows fast charging. See the following post and post. It looks like the original HTC connectors use different pins on the connector for fast/powerfull charging
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, you're right. The original car charger does charge very well my Dopod with the screen turns to maximum, phone, bluetooth and GPS all are turned on.

Would anyone please care to post a direct link to a fast 1A car charger in the UK? I tried looking at the HTC ones at expansys but wasn't sure which were official and which weren't. Thanks

Yeah, a link for a good charger in The Netherland would be apriciated as well!
Thank in advance.

The official HTC car charger
for NL: http://www.expansys.nl/p.aspx?i=145177
for UK: http://www.expansys.com/p.aspx?i=145177

yaughan said:
Would anyone please care to post a direct link to a fast 1A car charger in the UK? I tried looking at the HTC ones at expansys but wasn't sure which were official and which weren't. Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Brodit mount has car charging built in and is also extremely sturdy. Available from Brodit dealers

dieterpapa said:
Hi commumity,
was using my Ameo today in my car. BT and phone activated, screen maximum brightness.
I have a 12V / 230V converter installed providing 160W continously. While using phone and contacts throughout the day, battery power dropped more and mmre though my device was connected to power supply. In the afternoon it ran out of power starting with loosing the connection to vodafone.
Who has similar experiences, who has a better way of charging in car?
best regards
dieter
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have seen the ameo using over 1.2A
Device turning to hot to handle...
But then again mineis back with T-mobile for repairs...
Wich sucks bigtime
had the device 1 week
T-mobile has it 3 weeks
Told me it would take 2-3 weeks, now they say they don't know when it will be ready

Car charger does not work

Q: Suddenly my car charger (cigarette lighter plugged) is not working anymore. After 5 mins. my device stops charging..... is there anybody having the same problem and knows how to solve it?

If it's after a period of time maybe a battery contact issue?
vincentvdvelde said:
Q: Suddenly my car charger (cigarette lighter plugged) is not working anymore. After 5 mins. my device stops charging
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you've already read the sticky posts relating to car chargers and your (mystery brand) charger isn't one of those, then maybe your phones battery terminals and connectors need careful cleaning with a cotton bud moistened with contact cleaner or IPA. I had a problem with my mains charger ceasing to charge my TyTN II after a minute or two a long time ago and after cleaning as described, the problem went away. Be sure not to spray the contact cleaner or IPA onto the phone or battery, only the cotton bud/Q-tip and then gently rub that on the spring contacts and battery terminals. How does charging via mains adapter or PC USB port go?

Flying Kiwi said:
If you've already read the sticky posts relating to car chargers and your (mystery brand) charger isn't one of those, then maybe your phones battery terminals and connectors need careful cleaning with a cotton bud moistened with contact cleaner or IPA. I had a problem with my mains charger ceasing to charge my TyTN II after a minute or two a long time ago and after cleaning as described, the problem went away. Be sure not to spray the contact cleaner or IPA onto the phone or battery, only the cotton bud/Q-tip and then gently rub that on the spring contacts and battery terminals. How does charging via mains adapter or PC USB port go?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats the thing: adapter/ USB port works for recharging.... v strange

vincentvdvelde said:
Thats the thing: adapter/ USB port works for recharging.... v strange
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It still could be a battery contact issue as voltages may differ slightly when using the car charger compared to the other forms of charging. As an example if the Kaiser is set to stop charging when the supply voltage drops below a certain value and the car chargers voltage is lower to start with (and fluctuates with normal driving/electrical usage) then that may explain things. It's well worth doing this cleaning every so often anyway as a matter of course so give it a try and see what happens.
Additionally, could heat be a factor eg if it's sitting on a hot dash or near heater vents (the device is designed to not recharge above certain temperatures)?

Flying Kiwi said:
It still could be a battery contact issue as voltages may differ slightly when using the car charger compared to the other forms of charging. As an example if the Kaiser is set to stop charging when the supply voltage drops below a certain value and the car chargers voltage is lower to start with (and fluctuates with normal driving/electrical usage) then that may explain things. It's well worth doing this cleaning every so often anyway as a matter of course so give it a try and see what happens.
Additionally, could heat be a factor eg if it's sitting on a hot dash or near heater vents (the device is designed to not recharge above certain temperatures)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the advice, i will give it a try

if you have any adapters that allow for another usb input, nice a headphone adapter, or the HTC Multifunction Audio Cable YC A300, a ycable or anything with a USB in, try that first.
if that doesn't work, take the unit into your retailer and they will give you a new (or refurbed) unit, as your USB port may have a pin or two out of whack.

This may be weird, but my tilt used to charge just fine from most USB chargers(car, AC, usb cords). One fine day it quit charging off most chargers except the official AC charger from AT&T. I tried to fiddle with the USB pins inside as one looked like it might be a bit bent/damaged. No luck.
However, yesterday I noticed that My Settings->System->Power->Advanced settings page had following option checked:
'When device is turned on, do not charge the battery when connected to the PC'.
Once I unchecked it, it started charging of PC USB cables (obviously), but strangely enough also charging from my car charger(s). Hope this works out for you or someone else...

jrd said:
This may be weird,
'When device is turned on, do not charge the battery when connected to the PC'.
Once I unchecked it, it started charging of PC USB cables (obviously), but strangely enough also charging from my car charger(s). Hope this works out for you or someone else...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is probably because your normal USB pin 4 and 5 in the cable of your other chargers are not shorted to signal that there is no data connection. So your phone thinks it is connected to a PC (or a device which might send it data), hence not charging the battery according to that setting

I have a similar infuriating problem, i have had a MDA VArio III for over a year now, had an issue with my last one and had a replacement issued in October. Now i have used the Brodit active holder (ciggy lighter version) since day one over a year ago and wit the new MDA as well. now all of a sudden phone will not charge in the holder, borrowed a friends active cradle still no charge, used a no brand usb ciggy ligther charger and charges fine!!!!
When phoe n is placed in the holder orange charging light comes on but phone does not charge and the light goes out 5 mins later!!!
any ideas anyone???
thanks
Matt

Mattcity said:
I have a similar infuriating problem, i have had a MDA VArio III for over a year now, had an issue with my last one and had a replacement issued in October. Now i have used the Brodit active holder (ciggy lighter version) since day one over a year ago and wit the new MDA as well. now all of a sudden phone will not charge in the holder, borrowed a friends active cradle still no charge, used a no brand usb ciggy ligther charger and charges fine!!!!
When phoe n is placed in the holder orange charging light comes on but phone does not charge and the light goes out 5 mins later!!!
any ideas anyone???
thanks
Matt
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Problem solved - Pin 5 on my phone was ever so slightly out of alignment, bent back into place and all is now well! strange it only affected the brodit holders, nothing else!

Car charger failure explained
I also experienced this same problem and actually broke my phones mini usb plug in frustration at lack of charging. Got it fixed again though
The reason for this problem has become apparent since my phone was repaired. In your car, like my car when the heater is switched on it will gradually heat up the cigarette lighter socket. My charger cable like yours has a thermal safety circuit built into it. So when the ciggy socket heats up the heat is transferred to the charger plug and breaks the elec charging circuit. You might see me driving around London with my charger plug hanging out of my window (to cool it down) on a Winter's day!!! Honk if you do.
The solution would be a cheaper charger without the thermal circuit built in. Go into Maplins or PC World and ask them for that..... They dont know what your talking about, because I have already tried.......! Good luck

You just need to make sure to enable your phone to charge when connected to PC.
Start->Setting->System->Power->
UN-CHECK the box that said "When device is turned on, DO NOT CHARGE the battery when connected to PC"

Galaxy Tab charging issue + solution

Hey guys - I've been dealing with a Tab charging issue for a few days, and finally solved it... but I thought I'd post the problem and solution here in case it can save someone else a load of frustration if they run into the same problem.
From what I've read, we know that the Tab only draws .5A power from a USB socket, but that it draws ~2A from the wall, and that it knows the difference by testing for a short on the TX/RX USB data wires. (Correct me if I'm wrong on the details, but that's the general impression I've gotten.) We also know that the iPhone/iPad/iPod uses a pair of resistors instead (per the USB spec) to determine the current-delivery capability of the source. (I'm no EE, so I'm a little fuzzy on how that works from a technical perspective.)
So to set the stage: I had brought the USB cable for my Tab with me, but had neglected to grab the USB->outlet adapter for the mains. Similarly, a friend who was on vacation with us had forgotten the charging cable for his iPhone. Thinking I was killing two birds with one stone, I bought an aftermarket USB charging cable for the iPhone which had a separate USB->outlet adapter. His iPhone charged swimmingly, and when I charged my Tab overnight (screen off, starting at ~89% charge) using my cable and the aftermarket adapter, it worked flawlessly. No problem, great solution, or so it seemed...
...until I got home. Suddenly, my Tab wouldn't do more than a trickle charge - the same charge it gets when connected to the USB port on my laptop. (I could tell this was the case because of the small red 'x' next to the charging symbol in the battery icon - which I hadn't noticed while on vacation.) A 2.5-hour car trip using Navigator (screen on the whole time), even with the car charger connected, killed the battery completely. No matter what I did - shutting down apps, rebooting the device, resetting every option I could find - I could not get a fast charge to happen. Even leaving the device plugged in overnight resulted in *less* charge than what I started with if I didn't turn the screen off. I called T-mobile, talked to Samsung tech support twice... and all they could offer was to have me send the Tab back for replacement.
I was at a loss. I nearly did a hard reset in frustration, thinking I had screwed something up royally.
Then I saw the resistors in the pictures in this post:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=845844&page=3
and something clicked. I had been assuming that the *cables* were the difference between the iPhone and Tab chargers... but there isn't enough room for resistors in the cables! (Well technically, there is, but regardless...) The resistors must live somewhere else... and, I reasoned, that somewhere must be inside the USB->outlet adapter. So I pulled out the 'proper' Samsung adapter, plugged in the Tab, and voilà... a perfect fast charge.
So this is why the Tab won't charge with an iPod (or Sony-Ericsson, as it turns out) mains USB adapter OR USB-port car charger: the circuitry to let the device know it's capable of a full 2A delivery doesn't live in the Samsung cables; it's only present in the adapter. If that's not there, the device thinks it's connected via USB (and will, in fact, say "USB Connected" every time the charger is plugged in) and won't charge more than a trickle.
So that's my story, and hopefully it can save someone else some pain and frustration. Thanks for giving me the floor.

mattcelt said:
Hey guys - I've been dealing with a Tab charging issue for a few days, and finally solved it... but I thought I'd post the problem and solution here in case it can save someone else a load of frustration if they run into the same problem.
From what I've read, we know that the Tab only draws .5A power from a USB socket, but that it draws ~2A from the wall, and that it knows the difference by testing for a short on the TX/RX USB data wires. (Correct me if I'm wrong on the details, but that's the general impression I've gotten.) We also know that the iPhone/iPad/iPod uses a pair of resistors instead (per the USB spec) to determine the current-delivery capability of the source. (I'm no EE, so I'm a little fuzzy on how that works from a technical perspective.)
So to set the stage: I had brought the USB cable for my Tab with me, but had neglected to grab the USB->outlet adapter for the mains. Similarly, a friend who was on vacation with us had forgotten the charging cable for his iPhone. Thinking I was killing two birds with one stone, I bought an aftermarket USB charging cable for the iPhone which had a separate USB->outlet adapter. His iPhone charged swimmingly, and when I charged my Tab overnight (screen off, starting at ~89% charge) using my cable and the aftermarket adapter, it worked flawlessly. No problem, great solution, or so it seemed...
...until I got home. Suddenly, my Tab wouldn't do more than a trickle charge - the same charge it gets when connected to the USB port on my laptop. (I could tell this was the case because of the small red 'x' next to the charging symbol in the battery icon - which I hadn't noticed while on vacation.) A 2.5-hour car trip using Navigator (screen on the whole time), even with the car charger connected, killed the battery completely. No matter what I did - shutting down apps, rebooting the device, resetting every option I could find - I could not get a fast charge to happen. Even leaving the device plugged in overnight resulted in *less* charge than what I started with if I didn't turn the screen off. I called T-mobile, talked to Samsung tech support twice... and all they could offer was to have me send the Tab back for replacement.
I was at a loss. I nearly did a hard reset in frustration, thinking I had screwed something up royally.
Then I saw the resistors in the pictures in this post:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=845844&page=3
and something clicked. I had been assuming that the *cables* were the difference between the iPhone and Tab chargers... but there isn't enough room for resistors in the cables! (Well technically, there is, but regardless...) The resistors must live somewhere else... and, I reasoned, that somewhere must be inside the USB->outlet adapter. So I pulled out the 'proper' Samsung adapter, plugged in the Tab, and voilà... a perfect fast charge.
So this is why the Tab won't charge with an iPod (or Sony-Ericsson, as it turns out) mains USB adapter OR USB-port car charger: the circuitry to let the device know it's capable of a full 2A delivery doesn't live in the Samsung cables; it's only present in the adapter. If that's not there, the device thinks it's connected via USB (and will, in fact, say "USB Connected" every time the charger is plugged in) and won't charge more than a trickle.
So that's my story, and hopefully it can save someone else some pain and frustration. Thanks for giving me the floor.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've recently seen (somewhere) a usb pigtail cable that shorts the pins to make the tab (or any other usb chargable phone) think it's hooked up to a wall charger, rather than a trickle charging usb port.... I need to find that again and just order a few to have in my various cable bags.

If you do find it again, please post it here. Definitely something I'd like in my bag of tricks as well.

Just as an FYI, the 2A charger that came with my Nook Color charges the Tab just fine from mains, even indicates charging. Makes sense, since both devices have a 4000mAH battery.
It's also a nicer unit for travel, it's nicely rounded, the prongs fold into the body of the charger, and you can pick it up from Barnes and Nobles stores just about anywhere in the US. Still doesn't solve the Tab cable issue though.

Croak said:
Still doesn't solve the Tab cable issue though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm planning on hacking apart a spare Tab cable so that it goes to a female microUSB; no more multiple cable types then. The stock Tab cable doesn't appear to have more than 6 pins, of which I'm sure a few are grounds.

Someone recently posted a link to the first cheap 3rd-party cables:
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.51931
Get those with a 6' USB extension cable and the Nook charger, and that may be a winning combination. I ordered four the the charging cables yesterday, and I'll try to remember to post whether or not they work out well.

Resonance, what are you planning on using for a car charger, if any? I really like the Navigator app, but it's just not practical if I can't keep the Tab charged while using it.
Does anyone know if there are any USB->12v adapters that have the right circuitry for the Samsung? For that matter, do any other devices use the same amperage detection setup the Tab does? It would be good to know what components are cross-compatible.

Thanks for the info.
How about a list of chargers that work fine on the GTab.
1. Garminfone charger (1amp - works great and I use it as my primary charger)

mattcelt said:
Resonance, what are you planning on using for a car charger, if any? I really like the Navigator app, but it's just not practical if I can't keep the Tab charged while using it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A 12V inverter, attached to the standard wall charger. :/
I bought the Duragadget 12V->USB charger, since it was advertised specifically as a 2A charger for the Galaxy Tab, but it DOES NOT work as advertised (the Tab treats it like a any other low-current USB port, and even offers to mount mass storage, heh).
Using the inverter and the wall charger worked just fine, though it was a bit clunky and unstable (on mine, the prongs aren't tightly gripped, so it bends out of place easily).
Does anyone know if there are any USB->12v adapters that have the right circuitry for the Samsung? For that matter, do any other devices use the same amperage detection setup the Tab does? It would be good to know what components are cross-compatible.
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Click to collapse
I'd been contemplating giving the Duragadget charger with integrated cable a try, but having been burned once by Duragadget, I'm a bit hesitant to do so.

ResonanceZero said:
Someone recently posted a link to the first cheap 3rd-party cables:
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.51931
Get those with a 6' USB extension cable and the Nook charger, and that may be a winning combination. I ordered four the the charging cables yesterday, and I'll try to remember to post whether or not they work out well.
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OMG...I bought a charger cable from amazon SOLD BY AMAZON marketed as OEM samsung charger and I got the same one in the deal extreme page. WTF...paid $12 for it too.

ResonanceZero said:
A 12V inverter, attached to the standard wall charger. :/
I bought the Duragadget 12V->USB charger, since it was advertised specifically as a 2A charger for the Galaxy Tab, but it DOES NOT work as advertised (the Tab treats it like a any other low-current USB port, and even offers to mount mass storage, heh).
Using the inverter and the wall charger worked just fine, though it was a bit clunky and unstable (on mine, the prongs aren't tightly gripped, so it bends out of place easily).
I'd been contemplating giving the Duragadget charger with integrated cable a try, but having been burned once by Duragadget, I'm a bit hesitant to do so.
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looks like that car charger is the same as the one you bought with a USB cable included.

nacron said:
looks like that car charger is the same as the one you bought with a USB cable included.
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Good eyes. I thought it was a different unit with an integrated cable.
Has anyone found a functioning 12v charger?

yes, the verizon store has a 12v charger for the galaxy tab, but that was the only place I was able to find one... other than online.

Hi,
Can anyone else confirm that the Nook charger works for the Tab?
I've tried other high current (2.0+ amp) chargers. Some designed for the ipad and some not, and I always get the trickle charge icon and it's treated as a computer USB connection (Mass storage device options, etc).
How much was the Verizon charger?
Thanks!

stock wall charger works for me.

knowthenazz said:
Hi,
Can anyone else confirm that the Nook charger works for the Tab?
I've tried other high current (2.0+ amp) chargers. Some designed for the ipad and some not, and I always get the trickle charge icon and it's treated as a computer USB connection (Mass storage device options, etc).
How much was the Verizon charger?
Thanks!
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Google the gobatt 2 charger. It comes with a usb adapter that charges the tab on any charger.

texasreb said:
Google the gobatt 2 charger. It comes with a usb adapter that charges the tab on any charger.
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Hi,
Thanks for the tip. I can't find much information about the Scosche GoBatt 2 charger, or the adapter that comes with it. Today I tried other Scosche chargers, including their iPad charger, and it didn't seem to work.
Can you give some more details on the adapter that comes with the GoBatt 2?
Thanks!

Got this travel adapter by ZipKord with 2 - 1 amp outlets. Works with the OEM cord and also the Gomadic tip made for the Galaxy Tab. Just need to be careful it's not the older version that only has the lower power outlets. Cheapest I could find was $13+, so if it's less, it's the lower power. With the Gomadic tip and reractable cord, it says it's charging.
EVO 4G 9292 - Travel Adapter By ZipKord
Also this Scosche battery pack seems like it would work. Has 2 - 1 amp USB ports. I ordered one and should get it tomorrow.
Scosche IPDBAT2 Portable Back Up Battery for iPad and iPod
Oops - can't do links. Just search in Amazon. It's where I got both.
Gomadic cord and tips from Gomadic. Love losing the excess clutter (cords).

galaxy tab 7 charging while turned on
can someone explain well how to build the adaptor for charge galaxy tab 7 while it turned on?
is it possible to have a scheme with picture and some photos which describe the work to do?
thanks. and excuse me for bad english.
mattcelt said:
Hey guys - I've been dealing with a Tab charging issue for a few days, and finally solved it... but I thought I'd post the problem and solution here in case it can save someone else a load of frustration if they run into the same problem.
From what I've read, we know that the Tab only draws .5A power from a USB socket, but that it draws ~2A from the wall, and that it knows the difference by testing for a short on the TX/RX USB data wires. (Correct me if I'm wrong on the details, but that's the general impression I've gotten.) We also know that the iPhone/iPad/iPod uses a pair of resistors instead (per the USB spec) to determine the current-delivery capability of the source. (I'm no EE, so I'm a little fuzzy on how that works from a technical perspective.)
So to set the stage: I had brought the USB cable for my Tab with me, but had neglected to grab the USB->outlet adapter for the mains. Similarly, a friend who was on vacation with us had forgotten the charging cable for his iPhone. Thinking I was killing two birds with one stone, I bought an aftermarket USB charging cable for the iPhone which had a separate USB->outlet adapter. His iPhone charged swimmingly, and when I charged my Tab overnight (screen off, starting at ~89% charge) using my cable and the aftermarket adapter, it worked flawlessly. No problem, great solution, or so it seemed...
...until I got home. Suddenly, my Tab wouldn't do more than a trickle charge - the same charge it gets when connected to the USB port on my laptop. (I could tell this was the case because of the small red 'x' next to the charging symbol in the battery icon - which I hadn't noticed while on vacation.) A 2.5-hour car trip using Navigator (screen on the whole time), even with the car charger connected, killed the battery completely. No matter what I did - shutting down apps, rebooting the device, resetting every option I could find - I could not get a fast charge to happen. Even leaving the device plugged in overnight resulted in *less* charge than what I started with if I didn't turn the screen off. I called T-mobile, talked to Samsung tech support twice... and all they could offer was to have me send the Tab back for replacement.
I was at a loss. I nearly did a hard reset in frustration, thinking I had screwed something up royally.
Then I saw the resistors in the pictures in this post:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=845844&page=3
and something clicked. I had been assuming that the *cables* were the difference between the iPhone and Tab chargers... but there isn't enough room for resistors in the cables! (Well technically, there is, but regardless...) The resistors must live somewhere else... and, I reasoned, that somewhere must be inside the USB->outlet adapter. So I pulled out the 'proper' Samsung adapter, plugged in the Tab, and voilà... a perfect fast charge.
So this is why the Tab won't charge with an iPod (or Sony-Ericsson, as it turns out) mains USB adapter OR USB-port car charger: the circuitry to let the device know it's capable of a full 2A delivery doesn't live in the Samsung cables; it's only present in the adapter. If that's not there, the device thinks it's connected via USB (and will, in fact, say "USB Connected" every time the charger is plugged in) and won't charge more than a trickle.
So that's my story, and hopefully it can save someone else some pain and frustration. Thanks for giving me the floor.
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potential solution
found this on youtube, looks like it has great potential:
forum won't let me post url links, but this is the video code in you tube. We're all geeks here (I think) so you know where this goes :
=uPc-ZA3t5aY
hope it helps!