[Q] Changing the charger connector - Xoom General

Can anyone who has opened up their Xoom tell me how much room there is around the charging connector? I would like to change it to a mini USB "B" if there is enough space.

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How to speed up USB charging in Touch HD

I was always wondering how to speed up this unacceptably slow USB charging (If you are in a low signal area with bluetooth ON then the battery is drained far more quicker than the laptop can charge it ending up with a flat battery ). Finally I tested the output from the pins of the wall charger and my Laptop. Even when the laptop is powered off (no data exchange) the USB charging is very slow. The HD seems to send a ~1v pulse through D+ channel when to connect it to USB port (even when powered off the device seems to check if it is a USB data port), but with the charger it does not!, so we need to break this communication.
So I put a thin plastic film over the D+ and D- terminals of the USB cable and voila the device charges much faster..(slightly slower than wall charger - 25% slower, can be accounted for by the lower power output of the laptop USB port, the voltage of laptop usb port is 150-200 mV lower).
While I am typing this my HD has gained 9% charge with screen on!! . Natively it charged atmost 1% by this time with screen off.
Now I am looking for a permanent mod for my spare USB cable hacking off the data lines.
For those in a hurry with nothing but a HD with flat battery USB cable and a computer at hand, worthwhile using a thin paper over the inner two pins of the USB cable on PC side and plugging it in. (You do this at your own risk).
Hope it helps others too. Let me know your experiences.
With my Desktop USB port, charge rate is better than wall charger if you block the data pins. The port seems to be capable of 1.5 amp at 4.96 v
Also ensure that the USB cable snugly fits the mini USB port on HD.
Could this be also the problem why (my) Blackstone doesn't receive a TMC-signal with HyperGPS & iGO8 while charging in my car?
It's a genuine car charger from HTC, so I should say these pins are already "shut" from connection, or am I wrong?
I have a usb cable that is dedicatet for charging. It dosent have D+/- wires. With this cable on my laptop the charge time form about 20% is more than half of regular USD cable..
The cable was supplied with a car BT handsfree.
Regarding the TMC issue Im not shure, Try asking the guys that developed HyperGPS they might know, if not they might be able to fix if they arent aware of the issue
Interesting tip, thanks... I've lost my charger and have been finding it a pain to charge it using the USB port on my laptop.
I cut a small strip of paper from one end of a sticky note, and stuck the adhesive end to the outer flat surface of the USB plug to secure the strip in place. Seems to have done the trick, because the charging light is on and the PC hasn't detected the device. As for how long it takes to charge... will have to wait and see.
Also, I was wondering if there was any difference in charging speed (i.e. when charging via USB normally without using this trick) between activesync and file transfer mode?

Custom charger?

I recently bought a custom 2 amp charger after the stock one died. Anyways, whenever I plug it in, I noticed that it would ask me whether I wanted to access the USB storage. Apps that need the SD card similarly, would terminate (ex: music).
Is there any way to solve this and to make the phone realize that this is a power outlet charger and not a USB charger? I think that the Epic drew about 650 milliamps or so charging and much smaller over PC (I think about 350 to 400 ish IIRC). It seems to currently only be charging at PC USB speeds as well and not the same rate as the stock charger.
Thanks in advance.
There's a way for the phone to tell if it's connected to a PC or AC adapter depending on a resistor shorting out two pins. Make sure you don't have anything other than the +5V and Ground connected.
I had the same thing happen with a car charger. Bridging / shorting the data pins causes the Epic to see the charger as a regular charger, and not usb for data or charging. This can also be done in the cable, itself, however, then you have the problem of having to cut part of your USB cable and re-tape or heat-shrink tube it.
There's a couple threads discussing similar problems/solutions:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=908363
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=709226

USB light: hard to maintain microUSB contact point

My microUSB adapter coupled with the USB light is too heavy. I have to hold the nook upside down so that gravity will push down on the microUSB port. Furthermore, as mentioned in other threads, Android 2.1 doesn't allow the screen to rotate 180 degrees.
Do microUSB ports have a lock like Apple's dock connector? People have attached wriststraps to the iPhone's dock connector.
Is there another type of microUSB adapter I can get?
Oh, supporting your light off the connector is not a good idea.
Somebody should do a teardown on the glowworm to see if the LED is fed off a spare regulator in the TPS65921B (TWL4030).
Then you could use the stock glowworm software to control your light.
You wouldn't be using the USB connector.
You could either hardwire it or put a jack at the top.
I should check out making all 4 orientations work.
Sorry I'm not familiar with electronics terms.
I used the microUSB port after seeing this guy's photo.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1568995
Does hardwire mean solder the light like
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1423367&page=3
And putting a jack at the top means creating a USB port by attaching one to the regulator?
All these require drilling the holes in the case...
I don't like putting stress on the poor little micro USB connector.
I wouldn't ever use one of those block adapters that you use.
See the adapter in the attachment photo here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=26286972#post26286972
How about clamping the light on the top edge of the Nook and running the cord in the back?
It looks like the Nook Glow uses additional hardware for the power supply of the glow.
Yep I've seen those adapters before for attaching peripherals to phones and tablets. Before this I didn't know OTG was a common type of microUSB to USB adapter.
I bought the block adapter without thinking of the weight factor because it fit. And that cost more than the OTG cables!
Don't do it!
Listen to Renate. Unlike "normal" USB (-A, -B, mini-) connectors, those micro-USB connectors are usually just soldered to the top of the circuit board, instead of with a hole-through. Thus it is extremely easy to rip the connector of your PCB, and then you have a serious problem...
Don't worry, I've bought a OTG cable from China off eBay for 3 USD.

Shorting the USB Port?

I bought a Nexus One with the infamous broken power button issue, and I am curious what would the effect be if I short the VCC and GND line in the charging port? Has anyone tried that? I am thinking that it will either fry the board or trick the phone to think that it is charging.
The reason I want to do this is because I travel a lot and I might not have access to USB charging if I want to swap the SIM card. I am familiar with the other tricks regarding remapping the trackball_center and I am going to install a version of CWM that doesn't support charging (that way the phone boots when I plug a charging cable).
So long story short... what do you think about attempting to short the micro USB charging/data port?
dcalpha said:
what do you think about attempting to short the micro USB charging/data port?
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Click to collapse
Not much.
Unless the unit is in USB host mode there will be no voltage on the Vcc line.
Even in USB host mode it should be current limited and do no damage.
Still, I wouldn't do it.
I don't know why you think that shorting it will do something useful.
Renate NST said:
Not much.
Unless the unit is in USB host mode there will be no voltage on the Vcc line.
Even in USB host mode it should be current limited and do no damage.
Still, I wouldn't do it.
I don't know why you think that shorting it will do something useful.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I actually do not know, thus I asked... just trying to think outside the box about a way to trick the phone to think it is charging short of carrying a portable battery charger with me (which can be problematic on carry-on luggage).
Another idea I am thinking about is building a small flex cable using a conductive ink pen that permanently connect to the phone's battery on one side and a cut down male micro-usb on the other side (to slim it down). Such cable would be small enough to fold under the battery cover and allow it to close.
My question is: Will the ~3.7v be enough to get the phone to start charging? and do you foresee any issues with feeding power from the battery right back into the phone's charge port?
dcalpha said:
Another idea I am thinking about is building a small flex cable using a conductive ink pen that permanently connect to the phone's battery on one side and a cut down male micro-usb on the other side (to slim it down). Such cable would be small enough to fold under the battery cover and allow it to close.
My question is: Will the ~3.7v be enough to get the phone to start charging? and do you foresee any issues with feeding power from the battery right back into the phone's charge port?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think 3.7 won't be enough. Coz usb giving ~5V. So phone won't charge at smaller voltage.

Nexus 7 (2012) dock charging performance

Hello everyone, After few failing attempts to make my own OTG Y cable for car mounting & couldn't find it anywhere down here (Egypt), I thought about changing the concept.... I'm thinking about using the pogo pins to charge the tablet & here is where my questions come:
- Are the pogo pins reliable & capable of charging the tablet as an alternative of usb charging?
- Does it take more time to charge rather than the usb cable?
Thanks in advance
USB is better
Adham L. Alfy said:
Hello everyone, After few failing attempts to make my own OTG Y cable for car mounting & couldn't find it anywhere down here (Egypt), I thought about changing the concept.... I'm thinking about using the pogo pins to charge the tablet & here is where my questions come:
- Are the pogo pins reliable & capable of charging the tablet as an alternative of usb charging?
- Does it take more time to charge rather than the usb cable?
Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
as far as I know. USB is faster.
nijom said:
as far as I know. USB is faster.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
USB is faster. I build in a dock drop for my car and while its cool, the charge connection pins are highly variable due to the fit and finish of the crafting I was able to achieve on the dock itself.
The warp and shrink with hot and cold is pretty much outside tolerance +90F and +40F. While I can get it to fit, at higher temps the connection is lose. This results in static and hiss as the connection wobbles back and forth. Im in Texas and not as hot as egypt is my guess.

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