Develop Bugs

Charging a TMobile MDA PRo in the Car

Hi, I have a TMobile MDA Pro and i have purchased an in car charger so that I can use it with TomTom satnav unit, slight problem, unit does not charge when in the car. Bizarre, as when I use the standard USB Charge & Sync cable with PC happily syncs and charges with no issues. Anyone any ideas, does there have to be a specific setting on the unit to enable it to accept charge via the cigarette socket in car?
Many thanks

I found that to charge the universal, pins 4 and 5 in the mini USB plug need to get joined together - by default pin 5 is not connected to anything (well, wasn't in the cable I had). I've made that modification, and am powering a couple of devices of of a 2 port hub in the car.
Cheers,
Steve

Hi, sounds like a problem I am having and meaning to ask about.
I've got a USB cigy lighter adapter and tried plugging in the sync lead to provide power when it's in the car. So if I have my Exec in standby the charge light will come on (I think it charges sitting on the today screen, but not to sure) but as soon as I fire up tomtom the charging light goes off....
Does this sound like your problem, or are you not charging at all?
I'm interested in finding out what I need to charge the Exec while it's running tomtom? Anyone have any ideas?
Cheers
Matt

I'm pretty certain that I didn't get a charge light at all with my cable until I modified it, then it works, as expected, including in TomTom.
To confirm what I've got is:
- A Ciggy to USB socket adapter
- A two port hub plugged into the adapter
- Modified cable into the hub (along with an unmodified cable connected to my BT-77 GPS unit).
Plugging the cable (prior to modification) directly into the adapter, rather than the hub, didn't work either. The Brodit all-in-one adapter/cable worked fine (and I still have it intact, but not in use), but if memory serve, pins 4 & 5 appear to be connected. I used a multi-meter to try and find out why that one worked, and my combination didn't.
All of this stuff is wired in behind the centre console, so I've not got any unsightly wires, or anything.
Cheers,
Steve.

I think you need a car charger that can output 1000mA to charge the Universal. Same requirement also for an AC charger. 1000mA is what's important. Cheers

Hi, We have had quite a few customers with this issue, we advised and they have opted for the brodit active mounts which have the inbuilt cig chargers and it has cured the problem, or for the neater solution they went for the Molex hardwired versions to stash the cables behind the dash area,
The codes are: 968649 for the cig charger version or 971649 for the Molex hardwired version, http://www.dsldevelopments.com/brodit/holder/T-Mobile+MDA Pro-Brodit-Holder.asp
Hope that helps, drop me a line if you need any advice,
Thanks again
Bryson

Found 1A 5V car adapter
this is the only place I found off ebay that has a 1A car adapter
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CAR-CIGAR-CIG...4QQihZ006QQcategoryZ15329QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
It works fine on my MDA Pro, just need to plug it in while it is off for it to start charging.. if turned on, then pluged in, then it won't start charging.
I even have an 800mA adapter, but that doesn't help the MDA Pro, it needs more power!

bryson said:
Hi, We have had quite a few customers with this issue, we advised and they have opted for the brodit active mounts which have the inbuilt cig chargers and it has cured the problem, or for the neater solution they went for the Molex hardwired versions to stash the cables behind the dash area,
The codes are: 968649 for the cig charger version or 971649 for the Molex hardwired version, http://www.dsldevelopments.com/brodit/holder/T-Mobile+MDA Pro-Brodit-Holder.asp
Hope that helps, drop me a line if you need any advice,
Thanks again
Bryson
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi there Bryson
The items you quoted are actually the charger and the holder for the PDA. I also notice from the link you provided that there are 2 cig chargers (items codes 942625 and 942650). Can I know what are the differences between these 2 models and would either of this chargers charge the Universal while it is running a navigation software such as TomTom or Garmin Que?
Also, do you ship to Singapore?

Survey - Cradle Charger that works

Hi,
For the benefit of others who are planning on getting a Cradle:
Was wondering if any of you have purchased any aftermarket HTC-Universal Cradle Charger that works or don't work?
I'll start off first:
Bought from this seller on ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/USB-cradle-char...060768QQihZ016QQcategoryZ146435QQcmdZViewItem
Cradle is not the same as pic. He sent this one instead:
http://www.suntekstore.com/usb-sync...9000---dopod-900.html?pkw=dopod&kw=cradle&pn=
Cradle AC Adaptor does NOT work (does not charge when PC is off).
Cradle USB Cable does work (USB cable is not removable).

Mine is exactly the same you received (second link), it works perfectly, just as stated.

kecido
Which make of HTC-Universal do you have? I wonder if it makes a difference.
Maybe I just got a lemon.
So far me this other fella in the thread :
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=282983
are having the same problem where it does not charge via AC adapter but charges via USB.
That's really odd.

Hey modem, been looking at other posts regarding batteries and charging problems in general and there had been a suggestion that it could be hardware revision issues. When did you buy yours? I got min dec05

modem_man said:
kecido
Which make of HTC-Universal do you have? I wonder if it makes a difference.
Maybe I just got a lemon.
So far me this other fella in the thread :
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=282983
are having the same problem where it does not charge via AC adapter but charges via USB.
That's really odd.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine is a german T Mobile, with the Rom changed to T Mobile UK.
I can tell you that the charging base's power supply does make a little buzzing sound whenever i plug the PDA to charge, it surely is a not so good product, reason is simple, even if I don't plug the power supply to the mains, the led on it glows, this means that the USB voltage is going through the base and arriving to the power supply, this means that whoever has the higher voltage between the computer's USB port and the base's power supply is driving the other; yet this is an easy to fix problem, a diode at the power supply's output should suffice.
Verify your chargers, voltage and load capability, if you want some help and/or advice, I'm here.

Blackberry wall charger for my Tilt

The charger for my Tilt just broke and I need a new Charger. I have two chargers left over from my Blackberry days, The mini usb will fit my Tilt. Will it work ? Or for some reason will it short my battery/phone.
I remember reading a thread about non HTC chargers months ago, but for the life of me I can't find it.

Have a BB charger working just fine on myTrinity.

any miniusb connector which follow the miniusb std will work
be it connected any usb pc cable or any charger
if it don't follow the usb std as in use higher volts then 5
or don't use the same pins for power and groud as spc'd in the miniusb
std
it could break the device
but few would break that std as lawsuits would likely follow

I use my old Motorola V3xx charger or a mini USB from a PC.

Lux Sit said:
I use my old Motorola V3xx charger or a mini USB from a PC.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have actually gone down that route and got a "fat plug" with a USB socket on the top for travel, then all i need is one plug and assorted USB charging cables for things.

Lux Sit said:
I use my old Motorola V3xx charger or a mini USB from a PC.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I decided to take a chance that trying the Motorola charger would not toast anything, I plugged it in, the amber light went on, but no charging icon and no charge.
I am currently using a mini USB cable and charging from the computer, but that requires leaving the computer on all nite, which as we are trying to be green, wastes more electricity than a simple charger.

Possibly the Motorola charger isn't pushing enough current to charge.

My blackberry charger is working fine, but my sprint isn't so good!

Fast car and home chargers (full 1 amp)?

So I bought a car usb charger that claimed it was rated at 1 amp. Using both my blackberry and HTC oem usb cables it will only show up as a USB charger (500ma).
This is not exactly enough to charge the phone while using 3g, gps, full screen brightness, etc. I'm looking for a good confirmed 1 amp hardwire (not using a usb cable) car charger and home charger. I used my sisters Samsung charger (rated at 700ma) and it charged it quicker than with the OEM htc charger.
And I would like to try and get ones that are confirmed to show up as fully charging the phone. I would appreciate some insight
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

And now that I think about it,
I would like to be able to use my Amazon prime for a change, so amazon links would be nice
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

I went through a few different car chargers, so I can help you out here. I bought the Belkin car charger recommended here in another thread, low profile and rated at 1A, but my phone only recognized it as USB and charging was fairly slow, extended road trips using video recording and navigation while plugged in would drain my battery over time.
I used my friend's palm pre home charger and it worked very well, so I went on to Amazon and bought the "palm vehicle charger". The one I got in the mail (from Park Deals) was DOA, wouldn't turn on at all (I emailed Park Deals and they sent me a new replacement free of charge, didn't even have me ship back the defective one). I called the local radio shacks and found one in stock at $9.99 (radio shack isn't carrying palm anymore, so the accessories are on closeout but hard to find in stock). Works like a charm, the phone recognizes as AC charging, the phone still charges while running navi or recording video.
My friend got a cheapo car kit on ebay, came with rubberized case, mount that fits the evo with the same case on, and a cheap unlabeled car charger with a bungie type cord. I tried this on my phone, my evo recognizes it as AC also, so I assume it would charge well if it's rated at 1A. I've seen several other cheapo car chargers rated at 1A as well.
Another thread here on XDA says that if you modify your charger/cable by altering the middle data pins you can get the phone to believe the usb port is plugged into the wall and draw full current from the charger. I tried covering the two middle pins with a piece of paper and plugging it in, but this didn't work for me. The other methods involved shorting the two data pins together, I didn't really want to waste a cable or mess up a charger and potentially my phone so I just bought a different charger. Another thread mentioned buying a specific rocketfish usb cable had a similar effect.

nhutpham said:
I went through a few different car chargers, so I can help you out here. I bought the Belkin car charger recommended here in another thread, low profile and rated at 1A, but my phone only recognized it as USB and charging was fairly slow, extended road trips using video recording and navigation while plugged in would drain my battery over time.
I used my friend's palm pre home charger and it worked very well, so I went on to Amazon and bought the "palm vehicle charger". The one I got in the mail (from Park Deals) was DOA, wouldn't turn on at all (I emailed Park Deals and they sent me a new replacement free of charge, didn't even have me ship back the defective one). I called the local radio shacks and found one in stock at $9.99 (radio shack isn't carrying palm anymore, so the accessories are on closeout but hard to find in stock). Works like a charm, the phone recognizes as AC charging, the phone still charges while running navi or recording video.
My friend got a cheapo car kit on ebay, came with rubberized case, mount that fits the evo with the same case on, and a cheap unlabeled car charger with a bungie type cord. I tried this on my phone, my evo recognizes it as AC also, so I assume it would charge well if it's rated at 1A. I've seen several other cheapo car chargers rated at 1A as well.
Another thread here on XDA says that if you modify your charger/cable by altering the middle data pins you can get the phone to believe the usb port is plugged into the wall and draw full current from the charger. I tried covering the two middle pins with a piece of paper and plugging it in, but this didn't work for me. The other methods involved shorting the two data pins together, I didn't really want to waste a cable or mess up a charger and potentially my phone so I just bought a different charger. Another thread mentioned buying a specific rocketfish usb cable had a similar effect.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That was me on both accounts. Love my rocket fish cable. Bought the 12v/usb converter for the car and whether or not i use the pc or car to charge, it shows as ac charger on the phone. I use this cable on all my pc's as well as the usb outlet in my vehicle.

This is the charger that I bought from amazon. It shows up as charging from AC (instead of USB) charging. It's available for Amazon Prime for under $6:
The Motorola P513 micro-usb charger.

Ok so I ended up with the Moto 513 charger as well (950ma rated)
http://www.amazon.com/Motorola-Vehi..._1_5?ie=UTF8&s=wireless&qid=1280759739&sr=8-5
But I cant find any AC chargers under prime that are 1000ma

investinwaffles said:
Ok so I ended up with the Moto 513 charger as well (950ma rated)
http://www.amazon.com/Motorola-Vehi..._1_5?ie=UTF8&s=wireless&qid=1280759739&sr=8-5
But I cant find any AC chargers under prime that are 1000ma
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this one works great. I have it.

Ok, so I found an OEM Nokia for the N97 that is rated at 1200ma. Is this safe to buy for my phone?
http://www.amazon.com/Nokia-Origina..._1_2?ie=UTF8&s=wireless&qid=1280760676&sr=8-2
Auction with more specifics of the charger:
http://cgi.ebay.com/NOKIA-US-AC-10U...ccessories&hash=item414e190fa7#ht_2800wt_1026

There's a nokia micro usb charger for $6.99 available for Amaazon Prime. The model number is AC 6U. ASIN: B0030T0ULW

I'm charging with the scosche reviveII at 2.1 amps without any problems.

linhpham2 said:
There's a nokia micro usb charger for $6.99 available for Amaazon Prime. The model number is AC 6U. ASIN: B0030T0ULW
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Click to collapse
From this ebay listing it looks like the AC-6U is only a ~600ma charger:
http://cgi.ebay.com/NOKIA-CELL-PHON..._Accessories&hash=item5639f88b1c#ht_500wt_721
I think ill spend the extra few bucks on the 1200ma charger, I don't think ill have any problems (and i have the best buy warranty also so I'm not too worried).

linhpham2 said:
I'm charging with the scosche reviveII at 2.1 amps without any problems.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How fast does it charge?

One the 2.1 amp port, the Evo only charges at 1 amp. The Evo doesn't charge any faster with this charger than any other 1 amp charger.

linhpham2 said:
One the 2.1 amp port, the Evo only charges at 1 amp. The Evo doesn't charge any faster with this charger than any other 1 amp charger.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Gotcha, thanks for the info.
I just ordered a Rocketfish cable. We'll see how that works.
Would be nice if they made a Y-cable to get 1amp from 2 USB ports in a PC. I mean, I know they MAKE cables like this but I read somewhere that HTC phones were designed to still only charge at 500mAh even with one of those.
Dunno.

It depends on what you're using as a charging source. When usb charging on my home pc or car, it's AC charging at 1 amp.. But if I'm charging with my Energizer external battery, it's only USB charging at 0.5 amp. This is using the same usb cable.

iGo
Would anyone happen to know what an iGo tip (A97) delivers? I am trying to rig up a custom solution that is hard-wired, but uses iGo tips so I don't have to use the cigarette lighter plug and I have the flexibility at the corner of my windshield to swap tips for different devices.
Right now, I have a 4-port USB hub installed under the dash that is 12v powered. I then use a proprietary iGo cable that uses a standard PC style USB connector on one end and then terminates into an iGo tip connector at the other end. That USB cable runs up to the corner of the windshield so I can swap tips at will.
If I use the iGo A97 tip on their cigarette lighter adapter, it seems to charge, but I am not sure at what rate. If I try to use the A97 tip on the USB hub, it charges for about 2 seconds, and then the light goes out. The Evo does not seem to like the custom arrangement, yet all my other micro usb devices do not seem to have any issues and charge just fine...
Thanks,
-Rob

I can attest to the Moto 513 working fine - it has served me very well on my Evo and the Treo Pro before it.
Unfortunately it is a big ass charger though - wish there was a good micro option.

How do u determine how much power its actually charging at or if its not using the full 1amp rating?
_______________________________
Sent from my EVO 4G

robroy90 said:
Would anyone happen to know what an iGo tip (A97) delivers? I am trying to rig up a custom solution that is hard-wired, but uses iGo tips so I don't have to use the cigarette lighter plug and I have the flexibility at the corner of my windshield to swap tips for different devices.
Right now, I have a 4-port USB hub installed under the dash that is 12v powered. I then use a proprietary iGo cable that uses a standard PC style USB connector on one end and then terminates into an iGo tip connector at the other end. That USB cable runs up to the corner of the windshield so I can swap tips at will.
If I use the iGo A97 tip on their cigarette lighter adapter, it seems to charge, but I am not sure at what rate. If I try to use the A97 tip on the USB hub, it charges for about 2 seconds, and then the light goes out. The Evo does not seem to like the custom arrangement, yet all my other micro usb devices do not seem to have any issues and charge just fine...
Thanks,
-Rob
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Should pull 1A off the Igo

how do i determine if its recognizing a charger as ac versus usb? could this be rom specific? it seems to charge much faster with cyanogen than it did with damagecontrol

Change your charger from USB to AC

I have been on the hunt for a charger for my car and home that shows up as an AC charger so that I can get a faster charge. After a bit of tinkering I have found that all you need to do to get ANY charger to show up as a AC charger is to have 5V on the standard USB + & - leads and simply connect the two data wires together. This will tell the phone that this is an AC adaptor.
I actually bought a cheapo 1A USB car charger from DealExtreme and it was supposed to show up as an AC adaptor but it didn't. So I carefully opened it up and de-soldered the resistors that were connected to the data pins on the PCB and verified that there were no more connections going to the two data pins on the USB connector (the two middle pins) and then put a small dab of solder across them. I plugged my MonoPrice USB cable into it and went to my car. Lo and behold it shows up as an AC adaptor AND actually charges at the full 1 AMP capacity!
Just wanted to share this with you guys. If people want to send me their chargers I would be happy to mod them for you (just pay shipping). I was also thinking about picking up a bunch of the USB 1A car chargers from DealExtreme, modding them, and then re-selling them. Would anyone be interested?

houseofbugs said:
I have been on the hunt for a charger for my car and home that shows up as an AC charger so that I can get a faster charge. After a bit of tinkering I have found that all you need to do to get ANY charger to show up as a AC charger is to have 5V on the standard USB + & - leads and simply connect the two data wires together. This will tell the phone that this is an AC adaptor.
I actually bought a cheapo 1A USB car charger from DealExtreme and it was supposed to show up as an AC adaptor but it didn't. So I carefully opened it up and de-soldered the resistors that were connected to the data pins on the PCB and verified that there were no more connections going to the two data pins on the USB connector (the two middle pins) and then put a small dab of solder across them. I plugged my MonoPrice USB cable into it and went to my car. Lo and behold it shows up as an AC adaptor AND actually charges at the full 1 AMP capacity!
Just wanted to share this with you guys. If people want to send me their chargers I would be happy to mod them for you (just pay shipping). I was also thinking about picking up a bunch of the USB 1A car chargers from DealExtreme, modding them, and then re-selling them. Would anyone be interested?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the post! I just wanted to add to it a link which includes some more information about performing this "mod." I haven't done mine yet, but I intend to soon.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=767961

Sb22 said:
Thanks for the post! I just wanted to add to it a link which includes some more information about performing this "mod." I haven't done mine yet, but I intend to soon.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=767961
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for that link! I didn't know if anyone else tried this yet. But I can verify that it works perfectly! The best part is that my car charger looks stock as I used 2-part epoxy to glue it back together.

i have said it before and i will say it agai , fast full 1amp charges a bad for your battery and do not allow proper charges this you get **** for battery life.
nice mods but not good for battery life
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

v_lestat said:
i have said it before and i will say it again , fast full 1amp charges are bad for your battery and do not allow proper charges. you get **** for battery life.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i heard you say that before, and i thought you were full of crap. after trying it for several charge cycles, it is plain as day. your battery charge WILL last longer from a slow usb half amp charge. seriously.
sometimes, however, it isn't worth waiting for. in a "non-primary" charging location such as a car, I can see the benefit in catching a quicker "top-off" charge.

I know your post is old, but THANK YOU MAN !!, i was having trouble obtaining only 100mAh from a AA-battery portable charger, modded a cable and now it's working so fine !!

Hmm, I could probably modify one of my short USB extension cables and cut off the data pins and keep that cable somewhere for cases where i'd prefer the turbo charge... Just snap on this usb extension cable (or maybe even an adapter) and boom you're getting the 1A charge
PS: my old WinXP box actually complains and shuts off the usb port if it sucks more than usual 500 mA, you would need to solder two usb connectors in parallel to fix that