Related
I've had an o2 mini s for about a week now and i'm pleased with it on the whole. My only real concern is battery life. My mini seems to drain much quicker than by xda 2 s which I had before. I seem to drop about 10% in 1 hour 10 mins and that's just a few calls/txts and minimum fiddling.
8:20 100%
9:42 88%
I've dropped all the o2 software and don't have any tricky 3rd party apps installed only;
xbar3 ( great btw )
avantgo wireless
ebook reader
tcpmp
I've read quite a few posts about battery life being good on this phone but i'm not seeing it. I'm still in my 14 day cooling off period and i'm considering sending it back for a replacement.
Jeff
Is Wifi off, bluetooth off. Do you check your email every ... minutes over GPRS?...
With email checking every 10 minutes my qtek battery last at least 2 whole days.
wifi/gprs/bluetooth all off - not used today
Just phone today - maybe 12 calls.
Time now 14:21 battery at 61% !
Now i'm worried ......I reckon i'll be down to 30% by this evening.
16:32 - 49%
maybe there are problems with these batteries i had problems with charging the battery it didnt seem to show correct level, sent it back for another unit
17:26 - 38%.
If another goes we'll be up here all day.
My battery life seems to be utter rubbish every time I charge my MDA Vario over the USB link. I can go to bed with 100% battery and find it dead by morning. This has happened two or three times since I bought it on 5th November. Last Saturday morning I had the USB cable connected to download some music to my SD card with 100% charge at 10:00. I played music for about an hour through the supplied headphones and by 13:00 I was down to 50% battery. By that evening I was down to a few %. I've read reviews that you you should squeeze about 10 hours of continuous music from this thing on one full charge so an hour of music and 7 hours of standby/sleep seems pathetic.
If I charge using the mains charger and sync over Bluetooth I get a standby battery life of about 5 days. Obviously that is shortened with use so in practice I am charging it every 2-3 days (no point starting a day with only 20% left!).
I have no idea why USB charging is completely hopeless. I have tried soft resetting or closing all active apps after charging, to make sure ActiveSync isn't actively running and causing a drain (just as you are advised to with a Bluetooth sync) but that seems to make no difference. USB charging is rubbish. Mains charging is the only way to go, IME.
21.50 - 24 %
Charging over USB hopeless
tdodd said:
I have no idea why USB charging is completely hopeless. I have tried soft resetting or closing all active apps after charging, to make sure ActiveSync isn't actively running and causing a drain (just as you are advised to with a Bluetooth sync) but that seems to make no difference. USB charging is rubbish. Mains charging is the only way to go, IME.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I confirm USB charging IS rubbish. The reason seems to be that the power available out of that conector on a PC is not enough to charge properly... I had the same issue with BA and Himalaya...
Answer: get a USB charger / car charger that can deliver 1A minimum.
BTW I found a craddle for the Wizard in Dubai @ Plugins. It comes with USB port/cable + power adapter. Works like a charme.
Cheers,
Hal.
tdodd said:
My battery life seems to be utter rubbish every time I charge my MDA Vario over the USB link. I can go to bed with 100% battery and find it dead by morning. This has happened two or three times since I bought it on 5th November. Last Saturday morning I had the USB cable connected to download some music to my SD card with 100% charge at 10:00. I played music for about an hour through the supplied headphones and by 13:00 I was down to 50% battery. By that evening I was down to a few %.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My C500 Did that when I had it Plugged in the Front USB ports on my case, I normaly had it plugged in to the onboard USB at the back of my pc with a usb ext cable so I could have it on my desk but I went off to a lan party and when I plugged everything back in I put my USB cable to front usb port and found it was Discharging my Battery instead of charging it, got my usb in Back port all is fine again now
Maybe you have yours in to the front USB port or non onboard port?
I use a laptop, which only has two USB 1.1 ports but they each supply enough juice to power a USB ADSL modem (not that I'm using one of those these days), which is more than some PCs will manage and also my USB hard drive, which my Shuttle won't. So there is no lack of power from the USB ports on the laptop.
Of course, the USB spec only permits a maximum current demand of 500mA so any equpiment expecting more should not be using USB for its power supply. In any event, the phone does charge from the USB ports, albeit very slowly, but eventually the orange charge light does go green. So my situation is not one of discharging instead of charging.
I've just swapped my ROM from Vario to k-jam so I'll see if that makes any difference to the performance. I know it's given me 802.11g, which was missing before.
I had an M500 briefly (Magician) on Orange that had very poor battery life, it was one of the reasons I ebayed it, gave the contract sim to my wife and started a cheaper better value T-Mobile account with an MDA Compact, which
had better battery life. Typically overnight after a full charge the Orange unit went down to 75% and the T-Mobile one was at about 98% on standby.
My Vario I have now, my other T-Mobile account has very good battery life and charges very well off USB. If I sync it in the morning whilst reading my emails and stuff, let it charge USb for about 25 mins, it'll be full and by the night it will have dropped down to about 80%. This is with about 30 mins of calls, about seven or eight emails sent/received and maybe 15 mins with WIFI on.
tdodd said:
I use a laptop, which only has two USB 1.1 ports but they each supply enough juice to power a USB ADSL modem (not that I'm using one of those these days), which is more than some PCs will manage and also my USB hard drive, which my Shuttle won't. So there is no lack of power from the USB ports on the laptop.
Of course, the USB spec only permits a maximum current demand of 500mA so any equpiment expecting more should not be using USB for its power supply. In any event, the phone does charge from the USB ports, albeit very slowly, but eventually the orange charge light does go green. So my situation is not one of discharging instead of charging.
I've just swapped my ROM from Vario to k-jam so I'll see if that makes any difference to the performance. I know it's given me 802.11g, which was missing before.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
do you have a link to the imate rom? is the vario rom also available?
sundip said:
do you have a link to the imate rom? is the vario rom also available?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't remember for sure where I got the k-jam ROM ( I think someone saved a copy somewhere) but try here - ftp://ftp.clubimate.com/ - and then save file K-JAM_WWE_1010903_106_10110_ship.exe
That is a self installing upgrade that includes the whole k-jam ROM and k-jam extended ROM files.
I don't know where to get a Vario ROM from. I did back up my own copy (I hope) but the method is a bit whacky and as I only have a 1GB mini-SD card my ROM backup image is 1GB because the only way to secure the image is to dump the whole card to a file.
Before you go playing around do make sure you have your own backup of the ROM or if not the whole thing then the Vario extended ROM files at least. I'm using the k-jam ROM with the Vario Extended ROM.
Re: Charging over USB hopeless
hal said:
I confirm USB charging IS rubbish. The reason seems to be that the power available out of that conector on a PC is not enough to charge properly... I had the same issue with BA and Himalaya...
Answer: get a USB charger / car charger that can deliver 1A minimum.
BTW I found a craddle for the Wizard in Dubai @ Plugins. It comes with USB port/cable + power adapter. Works like a charme.
Cheers,
Hal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
Is there any way to disable USB charging? I didn't connect USB very often since it will charge automatically and I don't like the battery be charged very often. It might kill battery soon. I like to sync with bluetooth; however it is much slower than USB. It's amazing if there is any tool to disable USB charging. Because it will sync fast and will not hurt the battery. Thanks for the suggestions in advance.
Cheers!
Michael
Re: Charging over USB hopeless
Michael Lin said:
Is there any way to disable USB charging? I didn't connect USB very often since it will charge automatically and I don't like the battery be charged very often. It might kill battery soon. I like to sync with bluetooth; however it is much slower than USB. It's amazing if there is any tool to disable USB charging. Because it will sync fast and will not hurt the battery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are thinking of older batteries such as Nicads. Topping up often does not hurt Lithium batteries, in fact it's better for them. Their main enemies are deep discharge and heat - and that's exactly what you're subjecting it to by letting it run flat, then charging for hours to get it back to max.
Re: Charging over USB hopeless
Ineedtoys said:
You are thinking of older batteries such as Nicads. Topping up often does not hurt Lithium batteries, in fact it's better for them. Their main enemies are deep discharge and heat - and that's exactly what you're subjecting it to by letting it run flat, then charging for hours to get it back to max.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dear Ineedtoys,
Thanks for the reply. I understand that there is no so called "memory effect" on Lithium battery; however when I checked the battery spec, I always found that there is a "charging cycle limitation". For example, a specific battery claimed that it can be rechaged 10,000 times, then very USB charging will be counted also. It will reach 10,000 times faster. This is my concern. I don't know if this is right or wrong. Can somebody help to clarify this?
B. Rgds.,
Michael
Re: Charging over USB hopeless
Ineedtoys said:
You are thinking of older batteries such as Nicads. Topping up often does not hurt Lithium batteries, in fact it's better for them. Their main enemies are deep discharge and heat - and that's exactly what you're subjecting it to by letting it run flat, then charging for hours to get it back to max.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dear Ineedtoys,
Thanks for the reply. I understand that there is no so called "memory effect" on Lithium battery; however when I checked the battery spec, I always found that there is a "charging cycle limitation". For example, a specific battery claimed that it can be rechaged 10,000 times, then very USB charging will be counted also. It will reach 10,000 times faster. This is my concern. I don't know if this is right or wrong. Can somebody help to clarify this?
B. Rgds.,
Michael
Re: Charging over USB hopeless
Michael Lin said:
Ineedtoys said:
You are thinking of older batteries such as Nicads. Topping up often does not hurt Lithium batteries, in fact it's better for them. Their main enemies are deep discharge and heat - and that's exactly what you're subjecting it to by letting it run flat, then charging for hours to get it back to max.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dear Ineedtoys,
Thanks for the reply. I understand that there is no so called "memory effect" on Lithium battery; however when I checked the battery spec, I always found that there is a "charging cycle limitation". For example, a specific battery claimed that it can be rechaged 10,000 times, then very USB charging will be counted also. It will reach 10,000 times faster. This is my concern. I don't know if this is right or wrong. Can somebody help to clarify this?
B. Rgds.,
Michael
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's true. It's the same with Notebooks. The more you charge it, while it's in use, the faster the battery gets "killed"!
Re: Charging over USB hopeless
Michael Lin said:
Hi,
Is there any way to disable USB charging? I didn't connect USB very often since it will charge automatically and I don't like the battery be charged very often. It might kill battery soon. I like to sync with bluetooth; however it is much slower than USB. It's amazing if there is any tool to disable USB charging. Because it will sync fast and will not hurt the battery. Thanks for the suggestions in advance.
Cheers!
Michael
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Answer my own question.
I am quite sure that the USB charging can be disabled since I used to see the config on a HP device. I also believed that this can be done by 'registry' since it is Windows tradition. I finally found it after a short study. Please go to
HKLM\Drivers\BuiltIn\usbfndrv
and change the
EnableUsbCharging to '0'
then
soft reset => Bingo.
Hope it helps.
Michael
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.
All,
I'm looking for a company which is able to clean and repair my HERM300 device.
It got wet and now when I want to charge it the led turns red.....
When I leave my device on a warm radiator it works and I can use the device...
But it seems to fail when it gets colder....
Any suggestions?
Cheers and thanks,
Hellejoep
hellejoep said:
All,
I'm looking for a company which is able to clean and repair my HERM300 device.
It got wet and now when I want to charge it the led turns red.....
When I leave my device on a warm radiator it works and I can use the device...
But it seems to fail when it gets colder....
Any suggestions?
Cheers and thanks,
Hellejoep
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you say a bit more on "fail when it gets colder...."
I ask because soon maybe tonight I'm going to make a post on the charging and Red light problem but I'm just wondering exactly what you mean by "fail"
Cheers
Mike
mikechannon said:
Can you say a bit more on "fail when it gets colder...."
I ask because soon maybe tonight I'm going to make a post on the charging and Red light problem but I'm just wondering exactly what you mean by "fail"
Cheers
Mike
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It blacks out as soon as I connect it to my activesync via USB....
Is it a short circuit?
Or something else?
Cheers,
Hellejoep
mikechannon said:
Can you say a bit more on "fail when it gets colder...."
I ask because soon maybe tonight I'm going to make a post on the charging and Red light problem but I'm just wondering exactly what you mean by "fail"
Cheers
Mike
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would like to add something, may be you already know, to red led knowledge. I have a car charger (just plain chinese USB charger with usb cable) When I connect my HERMES I could have 3 conditions: orange (charging) Nothing (not charging) or RED (?). If I soft reset, with charger connected, I ALWAYS have orange, after Windows Mobile screen, But if I disconnect and reconect I have ALWAYS No Light
connecting hermes to charger without battery also enables red light.
Charging Problems - Red Light of Death (RLOD)
Battery Charging Problems, in particular the RLOD so called because the phone refuses to charge and the red LED shows, indicating that the battery is NOT charging.
Background
Problems with charging are not HTC or Windows Mobile specific. Similar if not identical problems are reported across many models and platforms. The issues centre around the state of charge of the battery and the interpretive circuitry in the device and charger. Typically a device will show a Red light rather than an Amber charging light. (NB: RED LED always shows when battery is absent or fails to charge). see also http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=1076879&postcount=28
Getting the battery to start charging once this light is shown is not always straightforward and is as unpredictable and temperamental as priming a water pump (those that have done this will know what is meant). In other words, and to put it crudely, you need to kick start the system. Unfortunately those that have managed to do this have usually tried lots of things before it starts working again. This makes it hard to be absolutely certain about the solution other than perhaps the last 4 or 5 actions taken.
Those that have managed to recommence charging have not reported that the problem recurs on a frequent basis. (possible exception of in-car charging issue). This issue requires patience and time, (time maybe critical, it is possible the issue would resolve itself perhaps as charges dissipate within battery and circuitry involved). However the following points seem probable solutions and were thought to work by some who resolved the problem.
Failure to Charge (Red LED Lit when charger connected)
Causes of this problem are unclear, but in practical terms events leading up to this issue have included:
1
Leaving the phone on charge overnight (possibly but not necessarily with certain programmes or connections running) It seems a fault occurs in the charging system, which causes the battery charge to drain rather than increase. Resulting battery charge is very low. (Another Blog will be added concerning an Active Sync issue which can cause the battery to drain over-night through repeated connection attempts)
2
Through heavy use or not re-charging often enough so that the battery is permitted to reach a sub 10% charge (not precisely known but likely to be very low)
Possible Solutions:
A
1.) Remove battery
2.) Connect the phone to the charger or USB
3.) Insert the battery while connected to charger
4.) Red light should turn Amber
5.) Soft Reset
If this does not work immediately it is suggested that the battery be removed from the phone for around 1 hour and the above steps repeated.
OR
B
It has been found with some phones charging can be re-started by:
1 ) Remove battery
2 ) Connect charger (Optional. I would try this potential solution without the charger connected the first time I try this. If it fails to work then I would repeat the steps with the charger connected)
3 ) Holding the battery, line it up wiith the phone's battery contacts.
4 ) Move the battery rapidly on and off the contacts
6 ) Repeat the above until the Amber charging light comes on. So after perhaps connecting/disconnecting 20 times, insert the battery properly and give it a few seconds to see if the LED turns Amber.
7.) Soft Reset
NB: I have seen two reports where those attempting this report a fairly loud "pop" sound following which the phone began to charge. However in one case the person reported that they then had subsequent problems of signal reception on the phone and thought the popping sound may have been related to this.
OR
C
If your problems remain after trying this a few times you could always try the following to manually charge the battery a little (enough to let the phone charger circuit detect the battery is present when you put it back in)
1) Remove the battery from the phone!
2) Take 3 fresh AAA batteries in series (total 3 x 1.5V = 4.5V)
3) Connected the (+) wire to (+) on the battery
4) Connected the (-) wire to (-) on the battery
5) Hold this in place for 60 seconds.(possibly longer you are trying to charge it enough for charging circuitry to recognise there is a battery installed.
6) Put the battery in your phone
7) Switch on phone and start charging (via USB)
Hopefully you will get the Amber charging light.It may be worth repeating this a few times if not successful on the first try.
The electrical contacts are all important, poor contacts will render this a worthless exercise.
I leave it to you to decide how you connect the wires. If you have no other means you could enlist the help of someone to hold the batteries and wires together while you connect to the phone battery! Warning - Do not connect a mains based transformer to the battery with an incorrect charge rate (mAh) and voltage (V). Any attempt to force charge using mains transformers could be extremely hazardous (explosive). Only a qualified/competent person should attempt to charge the battery in this way. Similarly, even if you are using batteries to do this task, do not leave them connected for more than a few minutes and stop immediately if either set of batteries become warm.If the problem persists:The final resort - a new battery.
Mike
╤
Very good article Mike, I linked it on the Hermes problems wiki page
i just want to add my 2 cents to this, there was an earlier post on here that mentioned the car charger deal where it wont charge unless you turn the phone off, plug it in, then turn the phone.. right now i am on my 2nd 8525 and it has done this, but its not only the car charger (cheap belkin car charger) but it sometimes does this with usb cradle i got from ebay, i have opened the cradle and there isnt anything different, its a straight usb connection, hmm except now that i think about it there is a blue LED, but it shouldnt be drawing enough current to cause this. Also i have a motorola charger in my office that i used with my wizard (i believe output is slightly different, if i remember correctly its a .5 amp where as the HTC charger is 1 amp) but it also behaves in the same manner... the only 2 methods that work constantly and consistantly of plugging in without turning off is either the factory charger, or a regular usb cable on the pc..
just seems weird since all of these problematic situations worked fine on the wizard and i believe they both have the power requirements...
let me toss another idea in the fire here on this, something that just occured to me... i wonder if this somehow could be related to the factory installed driver for this. what made me think of this is how the battery meter only goes by 10%.. could this funky driver be the source of the problem?
shogunmark said:
right now i am on my 2nd 8525 and it has done this, but its not only the car charger (cheap belkin car charger) but it sometimes does this with usb cradle i got from ebay
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If your cradle is not connected to your PC, or if your PC is off while you see the behaviour you described, then the likely reason is that pin 4 of the Mini USB connector isn't grounded on both your car charger and cradle. See here for more details.
Cheers
Daniel
pof said:
Very good article Mike, I linked it on the Hermes problems wiki page
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cheers pof.
Some of the type sizes are a bit strange (but readable!) serves me right for copying and pasting from Word formatting!
Tadzio's link is good/informative and I edited in a link to it in my post - though it's on this page anyway.
Mike
tadzio said:
If your cradle is not connected to your PC, or if your PC is off while you see the behaviour you described, then the likely reason is that pin 4 of the Mini USB connector isn't grounded on both your car charger and cradle. See here for more details.
Cheers
Daniel
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
cradle is connected to pc at all times, and i will deal with the car charger for now cause my HTC one should be arriving any week now, but thanks for the tip!
8525 (hermes) Charging may be voltage sensitive
I have noticed with my new 8525 (USA Cingular model of phone) that it came with a 5.5V charger. Whenever I connect to a 5.0 V USB source charging the phone is very "iffy". Given that the standard for USB is 5.0 V (4.75 - 5.25) there is a problem with the design. My question for the HTC crowd is can this be fixed via a ROM change or are we stuck with a bad design?
hellejoep said:
All,
I'm looking for a company which is able to clean and repair my HERM300 device.
It got wet and now when I want to charge it the led turns red.....
When I leave my device on a warm radiator it works and I can use the device...
But it seems to fail when it gets colder....
Any suggestions?
Cheers and thanks,
Hellejoep
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://www.america.htc.com/support/service-repairs.html
Since you got it wet, it is most likely not covered by the warranty, these and the numbers for out of warranty repair if you live in the U.S. I know that for cingular, you have to ship it to them yourself, and they will charge you a $28 diagnostic fee, before telling you how much is costs to fix the problem (if they even can)
heh here almost the same, providers are charging ~$29.5 USD as diagnostic fee but they are more polite, they first tell estimated costs, and only ask for the sum if you (usually) don't order the repair but need back your phone
Hellejoep:
if you are willing to send it abroad (inside EU) and you are either not need "overnight return" or such nonsense or cover the extra costs such operations really need, you may contact me. no diagnostics fee or anything such (though you will have a small loss.
about the charging problem:
the same issue occurs also in Wizard/Prophet, and Charmer (compactII) as well. though not in Magician, even so that they share the exactly same battery.
I believe it must have something to do with the charging controller. I don't have a disassembled unit at home with me now, but I suppose it should be a crap companion chip from Texas, to be interfaced with the ever-worst TI OMAP platform
(sorry, no hard feelings, pals, but someone using such one as an actual everyday phone must have some sorta mental problem )
strange battery issue
Hi all,
I've a similar issue with any charger.
It happened first with car charger (one cradle with an usb output): sometimes it charged, most of all it charged only when power was off.
Now I cannot charge with any method. (those described here: battery charging problems)
Usb cable (it's not original), original power supply, even with the y cable.
When i try to charge, it drain battery (i tried with a new one) and amber led blinks slowly instead to be firmly light.
There's anything I can do?
It's a SPV M3100 buyed two months ago on ebay.
I tried also with two roms WM6 official release ITA ver and Schap's 3.54b ITA ROM WM6
radio 1.48
Any suggestions?
Herm200/tytn problems
hi to all,
i read most of your post on possible problems with this PDA (HERM200/HTC TYTN).
i'll try to spent some few words to explain the story around my pda.
i live in italy and i bought the TYTN on december 2006 and for 6 months with his software problems i used it day by day in my business activity, untill one day, it falled down the ground from my and with all the leather cover (bundled with the pda, an hard black belt cover); then i took it and picked up a telephone number from my addres book and then putted it in charge for all the night; when, late in the morning, i took it, i noted that there was still the red light of the battery indicator and then PDA didn't turned on.
i tried to make soft/hard reset but nothing.
I carried to the italian warranty service of HTC and after 7 days they deliver to me the PDA in the same state that i carried; on the technical report there was: pcb damaged, battery connector pinouts damaged, pda not Repairable - out of warranty.
i thought: "i have had a lot of care for this PDA that still look like as new one"
and now i have a 700€ of unusefull PDA.
Last day i finally decided to open my PDA to find broken pieces and more.... but nothing.... i observed really well: NOTHING of wrong.
Now i will to know if somebody of you, can suggest me something to revive my PDA or suggest me any service center (affidable) in europe (not like the italian one) where to send it for maintenance: I DONT WANT TO THROW OUT MY PDA!
Thank you in advance for your attention and patience.
ps: sorry for my english, i hope it will be comprehensive.
therock-htc said:
Now i will to know if somebody of you, can suggest me something to revive my PDA or suggest me any service center (affidable) in europe (not like the italian one) where to send it for maintenance: I DONT WANT TO THROW OUT MY PDA!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If I understood you correctly, your TyTN still works - it just cannot charge the battery, right?
Then, probably one of the cheapest (although not perfect) solutions is to get a cradle that can charge a battery outside the TyTN (like this one on eBay). You will have to power down your TyTN, remove the battery and put it in the cradle every other night or so, so it's not very convenient. But it's cheap. Maybe you'll want to keep this as "plan B" in your mind while you look for a more perfect solution.
Cheers
tadzio
elehcimo said:
Hi all,
I've a similar issue with any charger.
It happened first with car charger (one cradle with an usb output): sometimes it charged, most of all it charged only when power was off.
Now I cannot charge with any method. (those described here: battery charging problems)
Usb cable (it's not original), original power supply, even with the y cable.
When i try to charge, it drain battery (i tried with a new one) and amber led blinks slowly instead to be firmly light.
There's anything I can do?
It's a SPV M3100 buyed two months ago on ebay.
I tried also with two roms WM6 official release ITA ver and Schap's 3.54b ITA ROM WM6
radio 1.48
Any suggestions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello!
I had also a battery charging problems with my MDA Vario II (TyTN; Hermes; HERM300):
1. Charging from the AC mains supply with the original miniUSB 5V charger: no problems.
2. Charging in the car with the non-original car lighter miniUSB 5V charger: it was charged only when the phone was OFF; no charging when the phone was ON.
3. Charging with the USB-miniUSB 5V cable connected to the notebook: it is charging only when the phone is OFF; no charging when the phone is ON.
So I asked myself: what is the difference between all these three cases? They are all miniUSB 5V power sources... And I found out an answer: It should be a matter of the USB current amperage.
Original AC miniUSB 5V charger delivered with the phone is 5V/ 1A. When I have bought the car 5V miniUSB charger with the 1A (one amper) amperage - there is no problem with car battery charging anymore... ;-) The phone is charged either way: ON or OFF.
But is it possible to charge the battery correctly from the notebook? I think not, because I have no influence on the current value from the 5V notebook USB.
Previously I had MDA Vario (Wizard): in this phone there were no battery charging problems... I wonder why the are some with the Hermes...
Take care,
Przemo
Przemo_55 said:
And I found out an answer: It should be a matter of the USB current amperage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is not correct. The problem is well understood and has been discussed several times.
The key is that your device tries to sense what it is connected to:
- if there is USB data traffic, it concludes that it is connected to a computer. It will then negotiate the current (power) it can draw from the USB port with that computer.
- otherwise, your device checks if pin 4 of the connector is pulled to ground. If yes, it concludes that is is connected to a dedicated USB charger, and starts charging, consuming as much power as it needs. This mechanism seems to work only if the device is on - and sometimes not even then (bug?). I guess the mechanism is implemented in software, so it can't function when it is off.
- otherwise, it doesn't know what it's connected to. Could be a computer in stand-by that didn't power off its USB ports or something. Your device concludes it may be unwise to start charging (could, for example, drain the other device's battery).
The cheap after-market chargers do not connect pin 4 to ground (pin 5), so your device doesn't charge. If you are really good with a soldering iron, try connecting pins 4 and 5 of the charger's USB connector, and you'll see that your device will start charging with it.
Cheers
tadzio
tadzio said:
If I understood you correctly, your TyTN still works - it just cannot charge the battery, right?
Then, probably one of the cheapest (although not perfect) solutions is to get a cradle that can charge a battery outside the TyTN (like this one on eBay). You will have to power down your TyTN, remove the battery and put it in the cradle every other night or so, so it's not very convenient. But it's cheap. Maybe you'll want to keep this as "plan B" in your mind while you look for a more perfect solution.
Cheers
tadzio
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank youu Tadzio,
but my PDA is DEAD !
I still don't try to charge the battery separetly.
The reason is that when i carried the PDA to service i leaved the PDA and Battery: i dont wanto to believe that service dont check the battery !??!?
However , i will try to charge the battery separetly and then i will know you the outcome.
Thanx and Cheers
Therock-htc
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
Yeah, i searched the forum, but I couldn't find anything relevant...
so, my battery drains really fast ... and when I put my phone (turned off) on charger, it glows red for a while and then it starts to charge up.
sometimes, when the phone isn't asleep, it shows some percent of charging for a long time ... when i just put it asleep, the led glows green.
wifi drains it in few minutes (and that's not radio related, afaik?), GSM (not 3G) isn't better too.
is it just battery itself? i've got two of them and both kinda suck ... buth both hermeses are second-hand, so dunno.
I do experience something similar though not as bad.
Read my battery related threads.
Anyway, I would suggest you try different ROMs and perhaps different Radios.
Turning off 3G helps.
Of course, WiFi will bring any Hermes to its knees on battery!
We don't even have 3G here ... well, i tried another radio and it's a little bti better - but still sucks. I'm gonna try another one.
Also, now i've noticed one thing - chargin from PC takes like ... forever. Maybe some electronic things are wrong? Or is just the battery dying?
And when there's bigger drain, the screen shimmers/blinks (not sure what the right word is) ... like there was some fluctuating voltage/current.
OK, here is a few more things to try:
1. Try turning off the radio altogether for a day & see if it helps.
This will isolate which part of the phone is draining the battery.
2. Has your phone always behave this way?
If not, something you loaded could affect it.
I just fixed a no-charging problem one of my Dopods caused by HTC Performance.cab.
3. You may also want to flash a few different ROMs.
Fixed it by flashing a new ROM which may have reseted something else inside.
4. Regarding slow charging, try some other cable.
Sometimes, I find a different cable makes some differences.
Not exactly sure whether it is a matter of cable quality or slightly differing wiring (something about a signaling pin).
1. Yeah, I'll try. But I'm almost sure it's the radio.
2. i got this phone recently (previous hermes got drown), so i dunno ... but owner says it lasted more - but i was unused for more about a year, so maybe the battery just got ****ed up
3. yeah, i'm trying different ROMs - radios and OS ... radio because i'm finding the best and OS because none really suits me ...
4. thanks, I'll try it ... maybe there will be some difference
I have done some efforts regarding battery capacity measurement Just lookup this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=5558383#post5558383
As far as charging from PC versus wall charger goes:
The USB port on your PC is current limited to 500ma
The wall charger could be rated anywhere from 500ma to 1000ma.
The wall charger that I have for mine runs at 850ma, and it charges rather quick.