Develop Bugs

Modding the Uselss Dock into the Ultimate Media Dock!

Ok, I ordered my first useless dock also from NewEgg.com, only to discover that the HDMI output is (as later specified on the website), only a passthrough HDMI and the HDMI adapter is sold separetly!!!. But none the less, I did received my UD and at least I have the 10.1" slider into which the tab can fit. I will connect this to the new 7" True HDMI dock I also ordered. Wasting money??, well, I'll limit my amount of StarBucks coffees and make up for it.
That was besides the point Have anyone every opened the Dock (7" or useless 10.1") too see what is inside? I got as far as removing the four screws from the bottom on my UD (useless dock) and probably need to pray it open a bit. But have not gotten that far yet, before I started typing ('cause I did a search with not any applicable results) - next time someone is going to ***** at me again for 'have you tried search????' - I'm gonna tell them to let the forum know to get a better search engine - one that actually works. - Again, off the topic. (LOL)
My whole idea is the make the "Ultimate Multimedia Dock" (**** Samsung for selling everything separately if they darn well know it could be one device!) I especially need a SD-card reader (since I sit now with two 32GB cards and a 10.1" tab that cannot read them!)
My idea is to add a USB surface mount female plug inside the dock (after I prayed it open, I will get picks and let you know if it will work) - Something like this.
Slimmer if I can get one - still needs to shop around a bit more. If anyone knows of anything slimmer than the above one let me know, please.
But that is not what I need help with so much..... According to this thread, one can create your own USB Host dongle. I want to build that into the dock.
So that means that whatever the connectors are between the two 30-pin connectors of the dock, needs to be intercepted with the USB connector (pins 1,3,4 &6) and the 20K resistor between 13 & 15.
The idea is mainly to have access to the USB female port as a card reader, while the tab is on the dock and maybe while the charger is connected. I am not so much interested to use the USB port while the HDMI is playing (modding the 7" dock). I would hate to send my 50" TV up in smoke - or the tab for that matter, if both devices are both connected and does not like being together......
Anyone have some diagrams or experience to help figure this out - it is highly appreciated.
Thanks guys & gals!

Got some pics to share.....
Useless dock, inside and out........
Guys, Let's take this thing apart and make it better.....
(will upload soon...)

bert269 said:
Useless dock, inside and out........
Guys, Let's take this thing apart and make it better.....
(will upload now - first have to reboot to get my FTP server on my laptop working.....wbrb)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Samsung has another new Media dock coming, its not like the one thats currently out which sells for $34.99
The new one is supposed to have HDMI out so you don't need the adapter to use it.
The new dock will run $50 and should be available in the fall along with the new bluetooth keyboard case and some new attachments.
This is what Engadget has to say:
Today's Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 event in NYC wasn't just about software -- okay, it was mostly about software, but the company also unveiled a slew of accessories for its slick Android tablet. High atop the list is a number of new docks for the slate, including a $50 Multimedia Dock, which props the device up in landscape mode while charging it and offering HDMI out. The $80 Ultra Productivity Tool, meanwhile, also charges the device and includes a full-sized keyboard with Android shortcut keys. The $150 Premium Protective case turns the Tab into a makeshift notebook with a full-size Bluetooth keyboard and a hinge that lets the user adjust the tab's viewing angle.
A new $40 HDTV adapter gives the tablet full 1080p HDMI output. The company also announced a $40 SD card adapter and a USB adapter for easy accessory input. For $60, Tab owners can pick up the Premium Book Cover, a high end case for the device that lets you prop it up for typing or viewing movies. And somewhere in the distance, you could hear Steve Jobs audibly shudder when the company unveiled a pen stylus for the device. The stylus has an aluminum body and a silicon tip, for when you need to give your fingertips a break. It'll run you $20, and sadly won't include meat.
Engadget sucks with pictures lately, here's a pic of the new dock:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4avPDtNJ30&feature=player_embedded
New accessories galore!
Including a speaker dock!?

Pictures as promised...of the opened dock....
OK here are some pictures. I'm sure you all know how the media dock looks, So, I'll skip that one.
Here is a picture of the dock opened. See the huge piece of metal to add some weight not to flip over once the tab is inserted. This will probably need to be replaced with something else (lead?) if I am going to use some room of that for the FemaleUSB socket.https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/J7Inf00abt9o0Nf-Gm7gg_Ix_Iq3rFxo94LvnO8xF0c?feat=directlink
Next, a closer look at the bottom of the dock - the part we are actually more interested in, right?https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/CwqnYp8FNvxAY4kue68JU_Ix_Iq3rFxo94LvnO8xF0c?feat=directlink
Now I removed the three black screws that keep the metal weight in place - not hard at all:
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/8O15xTNYWKv5LgWhSsAnXvIx_Iq3rFxo94LvnO8xF0c?feat=directlink
Ah-ha - this opens up a new dimension to the project. Now we can actually see what we are dealing with.
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/zXx7uDAbMHMuaFHn1cJ5d_Ix_Iq3rFxo94LvnO8xF0c?feat=directlink
Look at the space at the bottom of the circuit board...hmmmm, I am sure we can fit a 1/4Watt 20k resistor in here (or more if we need to). But let me first remove that circuit board to see what's cook'n down there:
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/zrInv-Skb5adgNjayj0MZvIx_Iq3rFxo94LvnO8xF0c?feat=directlink
And the circuit board flipped over.....
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/1LbhnrVErUO7TqINqazybvIx_Iq3rFxo94LvnO8xF0c?feat=directlink
I can't really decide what is better, to solder onto this board or to make the USB Host adapter cable directly onto the 30-pin plug. I already messed up one connector for trying to solder onto those microscopic, tiny pins (and ended up with a piece of solder INSIDE the connector). I almost think here are more work-space on the bottom of this circuit board - for a resistor - or two-
What does the experts think ??
Look at that - my prediction was right. Look at all the space underneath the board:
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/tsndKQRzvPv2mOjS3dau-vIx_Iq3rFxo94LvnO8xF0c?feat=directlink
OK, so where do we go from here?
NOW I need some experts to tell me the best option to get the USB host adapter connected between the two 30-pin connectors.....
!!!! HELP !!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Some good news.....surely....
NCX Designs said:
Samsung has another new Media dock coming, its not like the one thats currently out which sells for $34.99
The new one is supposed to have HDMI out so you don't need the adapter to use it.
The new dock will run $50 and should be available in the fall along with the new bluetooth keyboard case and some new attachments.
This is what Engadget has to say:
.....
Engadget sucks with pictures lately, here's a pic of the new dock:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4avPDtNJ30&feature=player_embedded
New accessories galore!
Including a speaker dock!?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
...and spending more money while limiting yourself......only one device at a time connected - you cannot add the sd-card adapter AND charge your device at the same time - or watch a movie when the juice is low.....That is why I want to expand the USB Host cable idea a bit further, by getting that into the dock. The dremel tool can do wanders.
But first I need to know what to do, then I can decide where. As you can see from my pictures, there are space in there to park a Ferrari also....LOL
Thanks for this update - appreciated.

bert269 said:
OK here are some pictures. I'm sure you all know how the media dock looks, So, I'll skip that one.
Here is a picture of the dock opened. See the huge piece of metal to add some weight not to flip over once the tab is inserted. This will probably need to be replaced with something else (lead?) if I am going to use some room of that for the FemaleUSB socket.https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/J7Inf00abt9o0Nf-Gm7gg_Ix_Iq3rFxo94LvnO8xF0c?feat=directlink
Next, a closer look at the bottom of the dock - the part we are actually more interested in, right?https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/CwqnYp8FNvxAY4kue68JU_Ix_Iq3rFxo94LvnO8xF0c?feat=directlink
Now I removed the three black screws that keep the metal weight in place - not hard at all:
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/8O15xTNYWKv5LgWhSsAnXvIx_Iq3rFxo94LvnO8xF0c?feat=directlink
Ah-ha - this opens up a new dimension to the project. Now we can actually see what we are dealing with.
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/zXx7uDAbMHMuaFHn1cJ5d_Ix_Iq3rFxo94LvnO8xF0c?feat=directlink
Look at the space at the bottom of the circuit board...hmmmm, I am sure we can fit a 1/4Watt 20k resistor in here (or more if we need to). But let me first remove that circuit board to see what's cook'n down there:
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/zrInv-Skb5adgNjayj0MZvIx_Iq3rFxo94LvnO8xF0c?feat=directlink
And the circuit board flipped over.....
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/1LbhnrVErUO7TqINqazybvIx_Iq3rFxo94LvnO8xF0c?feat=directlink
I can't really decide what is better, to solder onto this board or to make the USB Host adapter cable directly onto the 30-pin plug. I already messed up one connector for trying to solder onto those microscopic, tiny pins (and ended up with a piece of solder INSIDE the connector). I almost think here are more work-space on the bottom of this circuit board - for a resistor - or two-
What does the experts think ??
Look at that - my prediction was right. Look at all the space underneath the board:
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/tsndKQRzvPv2mOjS3dau-vIx_Iq3rFxo94LvnO8xF0c?feat=directlink
OK, so where do we go from here?
NOW I need some experts to tell me the best option to get the USB host adapter connected between the two 30-pin connectors.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Based on what you can find in this thread that discusses the creation of a USBhost/USBpower combo from the 30pin male connector you can buy, the MHL pins, which is what transports the HDMI signals, are left unused. The HDMI adapter samsung sells has the MHL chip that decodes to HDMI. I have been unable to find a female 30pin connector, but if you had that, you could pass those pins, probably with a connection to power and ground (from the same pins that are used for USB power, through to the samsung hdmi adapter. This would give you a connector that had the ability to charge, use usbhost, and still pass through HDMI, all at the same time. If I could find that female connector, I would build that in a heartbeat.
The other option you have is to take a razor, or something equally as sharp, and start cutting traces on the board that go to the female port on the back of the useless dock. You could then install the previously mentioned host and charging ports on the dock and solder them to the cut traces inside the dock. Then you would just need the hdmi adapter outside of the dock.
I'm gonna look at your pics again, and then I'll post one other idea I have.

used2hvatreo said:
...I have been unable to find a female 30pin connector, but if you had that, you could pass those pins, probably with a connection to power and ground (from the same pins that are used for USB power, through to the samsung hdmi adapter. This would give you a connector that had the ability to charge, use usbhost, and still pass through HDMI, all at the same time. If I could find that female connector, I would build that in a heartbeat.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I contacted Kineteka (who sells the male connector and pin-out connector right now) and here's the reply on the female connector:
Female Galaxy Tab connectors are not available at the moment. When they are we will have them.
Regards,
Mike Eber
www.kineteka.com
800-635-6058

cleblanc92 said:
I contacted Kineteka (who sells the male connector and pin-out connector right now) and here's the reply on the female connector:
Female Galaxy Tab connectors are not available at the moment. When they are we will have them.
Regards,
Mike Eber
www.kineteka.com
800-635-6058
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thats hilarious, I just called them to ask the same question.

thanks for your valueable feedback
used2hvatreo said:
Based on what you can find in this thread that discusses the creation of a USBhost/USBpower combo from the 30pin male connector you can buy, the MHL pins, which is what transports the HDMI signals, are left unused. The HDMI adapter samsung sells has the MHL chip that decodes to HDMI. I have been unable to find a female 30pin connector, but if you had that, you could pass those pins, probably with a connection to power and ground (from the same pins that are used for USB power, through to the samsung hdmi adapter. This would give you a connector that had the ability to charge, use usbhost, and still pass through HDMI, all at the same time. If I could find that female connector, I would build that in a heartbeat.
The other option you have is to take a razor, or something equally as sharp, and start cutting traces on the board that go to the female port on the back of the useless dock. You could then install the previously mentioned host and charging ports on the dock and solder them to the cut traces inside the dock. Then you would just need the hdmi adapter outside of the dock.
I'm gonna look at your pics again, and then I'll post one other idea I have.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am much more interested in the second option you have mentioned, since I do not care that much about HDMI at this stage. (I have ordered the 7" true HDMI device for this). My main plan is to add the USB Host into the useless dock. Since it looks like there will be more than enough room for the 20K resistor, my concern was if it is going to work, to intercept the signal between the two 30pin adaptes currently in the useless dock, using the plans for the USBHost?
I will see if I can find the time this weekend to work on it.
Again, thank you!
Curious to know what other idea you have too - let me know.

I'm going to follow this. because I had the same thing in mind. I've got 2 of those desktop dochs an the keyboard dock.
If I sucessfully mod one of the desktop docks I would also consider doing the same to the keyboard dock.

so, the 10.1 useless dock is just a pass through on a blank circuit board with breakouts for the power adapter.
you can easily put the usb host port on to this doc. i would probably solder to either of the connectors' mount points.
the hdmi dock and dongle etc use a silicon image chip which you can't get without signing an NDA
semiconductor store
however, there are several generic micro usb to hdmi dongles which were created for the mhl compatible phones. you can rip off the micro usb port and map it to the mhl pinouts on the 30pin connector. you're pushing $20 at that point which is near the best prices of what you can buy the 7" dock for.

This project looks like a great idea, I have just ordered related componenets from Kineteka to build this up my self. I have 2 questions though - can anyone confirm if there is any issue plugging in a USB MicroSD/SD card reader into the USB host?
My intention:
Mod the Dock - USB Host /w Charging Capabilities
1x USB Female Port -
1x SD/MicroSD Card reader
Im aware that having 2x USB reliant ports will require external power onto a USB Hub but to have this functionality would be worth having extra power.
Second question slightly related - Im looking at buying the samsung book cover case for this device - can anyone confirm if it fits within the UD with the cover attached?
Any comments/ideas welcome.

tff2011 said:
This project looks like a great idea, I have just ordered related componenets from Kineteka to build this up my self. I have 2 questions though - can anyone confirm if there is any issue plugging in a USB MicroSD/SD card reader into the USB host?
My intention:
Mod the Dock - USB Host /w Charging Capabilities
1x USB Female Port -
1x SD/MicroSD Card reader
Im aware that having 2x USB reliant ports will require external power onto a USB Hub but to have this functionality would be worth having extra power.
Second question slightly related - Im looking at buying the samsung book cover case for this device - can anyone confirm if it fits within the UD with the cover attached?
Any comments/ideas welcome.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Book cover case does not fit the standard dock, I had to chop mine up to make it fit.

bert269 said:
Ok, I ordered my first useless dock also from NewEgg.com, only to discover that the HDMI output is (as later specified on the website), only a passthrough HDMI and the HDMI adapter is sold separetly!!!. But none the less, I did received my UD and at least I have the 10.1" slider into which the tab can fit. I will connect this to the new 7" True HDMI dock I also ordered. Wasting money??, well, I'll limit my amount of StarBucks coffees and make up for it.
That was besides the point Have anyone every opened the Dock (7" or useless 10.1") too see what is inside? I got as far as removing the four screws from the bottom on my UD (useless dock) and probably need to pray it open a bit. But have not gotten that far yet, before I started typing ('cause I did a search with not any applicable results) - next time someone is going to ***** at me again for 'have you tried search????' - I'm gonna tell them to let the forum know to get a better search engine - one that actually works. - Again, off the topic. (LOL)
My whole idea is the make the "Ultimate Multimedia Dock" (**** Samsung for selling everything separately if they darn well know it could be one device!) I especially need a SD-card reader (since I sit now with two 32GB cards and a 10.1" tab that cannot read them!)
My idea is to add a USB surface mount female plug inside the dock (after I prayed it open, I will get picks and let you know if it will work) - Something like this.
Slimmer if I can get one - still needs to shop around a bit more. If anyone knows of anything slimmer than the above one let me know, please.
But that is not what I need help with so much..... According to this thread, one can create your own USB Host dongle. I want to build that into the dock.
So that means that whatever the connectors are between the two 30-pin connectors of the dock, needs to be intercepted with the USB connector (pins 1,3,4 &6) and the 20K resistor between 13 & 15.
The idea is mainly to have access to the USB female port as a card reader, while the tab is on the dock and maybe while the charger is connected. I am not so much interested to use the USB port while the HDMI is playing (modding the 7" dock). I would hate to send my 50" TV up in smoke - or the tab for that matter, if both devices are both connected and does not like being together......
Anyone have some diagrams or experience to help figure this out - it is highly appreciated.
Thanks guys & gals!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting. I was just having a conversation in a different thread about this. I'm considering design the HW for this. I'm going to create a block diagram and then a schematic. My thought is exactly what you are saying. Being able to us a USB Hard drive while the device is charging from the wall. I think that will also give you the ability to use a non powered USB hard drive with this as well. I can't say for sure. I still have to look some things up but I think its possible.

Bxsteez said:
Interesting. I was just having a conversation in a different thread about this. I'm considering design the HW for this. I'm going to create a block diagram and then a schematic. My thought is exactly what you are saying. Being able to us a USB Hard drive while the device is charging from the wall. I think that will also give you the ability to use a non powered USB hard drive with this as well. I can't say for sure. I still have to look some things up but I think its possible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You might run into an issue power wise. I have not looked thru the threads in awhile, but my guess would be that the power you need to run the hard drive (amps wise) might be too much and cause the tablet not to charge at regular speed. I can help with a power circuit design if you need any help.

used2hvatreo said:
You might run into an issue power wise. I have not looked thru the threads in awhile, but my guess would be that the power you need to run the hard drive (amps wise) might be too much and cause the tablet not to charge at regular speed. I can help with a power circuit design if you need any help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is sorta what I thought but i'm not 100% sure of the current output of charger and at the same time I'm thinking a 500mA draw would be like charging the device through any USB port which I agree would be slower but might still be adequate for this use since i'm thinking if you are using this configuration it will be sitting for a while. Maybe if I could even balance the power draw with the power output. Then it wouldn't charge but it would die either. Who knows....
I'm trying to get some information on the signals on the 30pin. I'm not sure if the pin 7 and 8 are inputs for the charging circuit. I might just have to buy a cable and break it down and find out.

Bxsteez said:
That is sorta what I thought but i'm not 100% sure of the current output of charger and at the same time I'm thinking a 500mA draw would be like charging the device through any USB port which I agree would be slower but might still be adequate for this use since i'm thinking if you are using this configuration it will be sitting for a while. Maybe if I could even balance the power draw with the power output. Then it wouldn't charge but it would die either. Who knows....
I'm trying to get some information on the signals on the 30pin. I'm not sure if the pin 7 and 8 are inputs for the charging circuit. I might just have to buy a cable and break it down and find out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is this information what you are looking for?

I've found this so that pretty much answer my questions. I will get started on a block diagram and schematic. I have to do a little research on the power consumption of USB Hard drives.
---------- Post added at 09:44 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:44 AM ----------
used2hvatreo said:
Is this information what you are looking for?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
haha that is hilarious. That is exactly what i was just posting about lol..

Let me know what you think of this.... It is a rough idea of how I think the circuit should work.
****EDIT***(FIXED ERROR)
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Bxsteez said:
Let me know what you think of this.... It is a rough idea of how I think the circuit should work.
****EDIT***(FIXED ERROR)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't completely analyze it, but with a quick look, it looks pretty good.
I don't see any serious circuit issues that could really mess something up. (there could be data connectivity issues, i don't know much about all that)

Need cheap car charger that charges full current

Can anyone recommend a car charger that is cheap and charges the unit like its on AC power? Some of the cheaper ones I've purchased in the past charged my phone like it was on usb power.
TIA!

Just open up one of your cheap chargers and short the middle two pins of the USB jack. A drop of solder worked on mine. There are only four pins, so it should be easy to follow and find a place on the circuit board to do it.
Once you get it done, plug in the phone and it will show that it's charging on AC, which means it's pulling 1 amp.

Plenty different ones available, but I use this one. There are cheaper ones, but this one is a quality build that charges at 1 full amp! Motorola brand for around $6 including shipping.
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i've had android phones since year one. i've always bought my accessories from cellphoneshop.net and never had a problem

Dude, go to wallymart or somewhere and get an AC converter. I bought one with 2 AC outlets and 1 USB for fairly cheap at wallymart. You wont regret it. It charges my laptop, phone, and gf's phone just fine.

Monoprice has a 1a usb charger for $1.33. I was looking at it yesterday but don't have the link handy at the moment. They're also the best place to buy usb cables too.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

mrpickem said:
Plenty different ones available, but I use this one. There are cheaper ones, but this one is a quality build that charges at 1 full amp! Motorola brand for around $6 including shipping.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 I have this Motorola charger and it's great. There was even a whole thread full of people repping it a few forum pages back

$1.40 cheaper, $5.07 right now and Prime shipping.
http://www.amazon.com/Motorola-Vehi..._1_2?s=wireless&ie=UTF8&qid=1323803924&sr=1-2
Thanks for the original link!

The best car chargers I've found are the Palm chargers for the Pre. For some reason they seem to work much better than any other car charger that I have used. You just need to make sure you get model number 3453WW, because there is also an older model that looks the same but doesn't provide the full 1A charge.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Palm-OEM-Ve...386850?pt=PDA_Accessories&hash=item2eb9e680e2
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk

Damn. I was wondering WHY in the world this phone took SO STINKING LONG to charge. I mean OVER NIGHT and still not quite done sometimes (extended battery)
Gonna stalk me some good chargers

so instead of starting my own thread.. thought id bump this up...
any new chargers out there.. for car... can be either the usb one (as i have the cig lighter to usb plug... )..or cig lighter..
just feeling out there if anything has changed..
we went on a LONG drive.. 376miles.. and using gps and my phone in my infuse dock.. it was charging.. but draining more than charging... by 1/2 way it was below 50%.... so the road i needed to take was super long so just turned phone off for a while...
was using the charger from my wifes incognito so i figured maybe that car charger didnt have enough A to it.. so bought a new charger from walmart.. and it didnt do any better...
thanks guys...
p.s. on my way home from work (1hr drive) im going to plug straight into my phone instead of the infuse dock and run the gps and see if it charges any different...

Even if the car charger says it can put out 2A the phone will only draw 500mah unless the two inner pins are shorted. Samsung does their chargers this way to identify to the phone that its plugged into a wall charger instead of a computer. (computers are only rated for 500mah on the USB port, although some can go higher)
You could open up the charger and short the pins, or if the charger is the kind where you plug your own cord in you can modify the cord itself. I have a "charging only cord" for when the phone needs a fast boost.

R1ptide said:
Even if the car charger says it can put out 2A the phone will only draw 500mah unless the two inner pins are shorted. Samsung does their chargers this way to identify to the phone that its plugged into a wall charger instead of a computer. (computers are only rated for 500mah on the USB port, although some can go higher)
You could open up the charger and short the pins, or if the charger is the kind where you plug your own cord in you can modify the cord itself. I have a "charging only cord" for when the phone needs a fast boost.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do I short these two pins? Any thing with pics?

Still using my Palm Pre car chargers. Had them since the Pre days back in 2009 and they still work great. Buy.com has them for $6.95 with free shipping.
http://www.buy.com/pr/product.aspx?sku=210687470&ic=1
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

proxy0 said:
How do I short these two pins? Any thing with pics?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
drop of soder in between them, sorry I don't have pics because I do the cord
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S2

mrpickem said:
Plenty different ones available, but I use this one. There are cheaper ones, but this one is a quality build that charges at 1 full amp! Motorola brand for around $6 including shipping.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i use same charger. it is call motorolla rapid charger .

Hey, as the only verified genius here I wanted to share a great and cheap way to charge your phone. As i understand it you want the speed and current of AC out of your car's 12 volt dc system. They currently make something that works with ALL phone models. It is called an inverter. You just plug your stock phone charger into it. It will work fine for your phone but it wouldnt be wise to try use this it watch a 42" plasma tv. Here is one for 6 bucks that plugs in your lighter socket.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B003C2YE8M/ref=redir_mdp_mobile
By the way, I can't endorse this product. I hope you get the general idea. As always you get what you pay for. Read the reviews and look for the inverter that you think would work best for you.
Sent from Team KC's founding member HTC Evo 4G LTE.

R1ptide said:
drop of soder in between them, sorry I don't have pics because I do the cord
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just want to make sure I'm not going to blow up when I do this.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

supdawg said:
Can anyone recommend a car charger that is cheap and charges the unit like its on AC power? Some of the cheaper ones I've purchased in the past charged my phone like it was on usb power.
TIA!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would recommend getting the AC/usb adapter for an iphone or ipad, because they tend to run on a higher voltage (5v) than many cheap AC/usb adapters you can probably find off-brand one pretty cheap all over. If anything just make sure your adapter runs on about 5v. I just recommened iphone ones because there are more accessory manufacturers for i-products and you can generally find a wider selection of what you are looking for regarding this topic. I would check walmart first if money is an issue.

JimSmith94 said:
Just open up one of your cheap chargers and short the middle two pins of the USB jack. A drop of solder worked on mine. There are only four pins, so it should be easy to follow and find a place on the circuit board to do it.
Once you get it done, plug in the phone and it will show that it's charging on AC, which means it's pulling 1 amp.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The 1 amp charger i got from the dollar store already had this in place. I cant say I would have recommended anyone to get one from the dollar store. Ive checked out the components on this one its not too bad.
kc_exactly said:
Hey, as the only verified genius here I wanted to share a great and cheap way to charge your phone. As i understand it you want the speed and current of AC out of your car's 12 volt dc system. They currently make something that works with ALL phone models. It is called an inverter. You just plug your stock phone charger into it. It will work fine for your phone but it wouldnt be wise to try use this it watch a 42" plasma tv. Here is one for 6 bucks that plugs in your lighter socket.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B003C2YE8M/ref=redir_mdp_mobile
.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Note that most cheap inverters use a modified sine wave to gain efficiencies over 80%. Most phone chargers will work okay you might get a little buzzing. But you will often run into chargers, power supplies etc that will only operate properly on a pure sine wave inverter.

DIY docks & hacking docks tripping dock mode & AC charging mode

Update: Desk dock resistor value found & additional connector sources found thanks to mikejr83
I went through all of this with my Captivate a year or 2 ago, and figured it might be nice for Galaxy S 3 owners as well. You can see the history at http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=12169590
Dock mode
Samsung phones will trip their dock mode when they sense a resistor of a particular value between the ID (pin 4) & Ground (pin 5) pins on the micro USB connector
Car mode - 619k ohm (Validate on my Galaxy S 1 & Galaxy S 3)
Desk mode - 365k ohm (confirmed finally thanks to mikejr83 cracking open the SGS3 dock his wife got him. 1k ohm for SGS1 & 1k or 365k for the SGS2)
Parts
The only appropriate solution I was able to find (a year or 2 ago messing with my old Captivate) was a USB MicroB Plug Breakout Board which was pretty decent at $4 + shipping.
mikejr83 found some slightly different micro USB connectors at Digi-Key ($0.66 each + reasonable shipping, $2 is the minimum Digi-Key order) and on E-bay (10 for $4 + $1 shipping) as well.
The Zenis SGS2 dock fits the SGS3 reasonably well & runs about $10 on Ebay (free shipping, but it takes about 2 weeks to come over from asia), It does not trip dock mode & just has micro USB passthrough connectors. According to this XDA thread it's easy to pull appart & looks to be very hackable.
Chopping up a micro USB connector will not work, they only have 4 wires & the pin #4 you need access to is buried inside the connector at the end so far you have to destroy the whole connector to get to it
I have a roll of maybe a couple hundred 619k resistors I picked up from a local electronics recycler in my Captivate days. I might start packaging em up and selling them off after I get back from DEFcon if anybody is interested & having a hard time finding them.
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For just dock mode & no other usefulness (like actually charging), you can see what doing a poor job of jamming the resistor in there on the Spark Fun breakout board for testing gets us (photo of my old Galaxy S1 because I'm to lazy to get dig it up and transfer the photos if I take any of my Galaxy S 3 showing the same thing).
AC charging
In order to get "AC charging" which goes up to 750ma instead of "USB charging" which only goes up to 500ma, you merely need to short out the 2 data pins (pin 2/white & pin 3/green) on a normal USB cable. Most people find it easy to short them (the center 2) on the big flat rectangular end (Type A) of a normal USB cable. Given my approach with the breakout board I just soldered a jumper across the 2 data pins on the board.
For my first (and only properly documented) dock build I used Friendly Plastic. Technically called Polycaprolactone it's really easy to work with and melts at around 60 degrees Celsius (140 F), also known as almost the temperature of the dash of my grey truck on a 70-80 degree day.... Oops. It would make a good desk dock, but not a car dock.
Commercial docks & potential mods for them
Given the dirt cheap Infuse dock I picked up I probably won't be working on another car dock unless I decide to put a case on my phone making it not fit in the dock. I have some oven bake modeling clay I'll probably try for that.
At $10-15 it's hard to beat the Zenis dock. On the 2nd page somebody cracked it open and the micro-USB plug looks very similar to the SparkFun one. I don't believe it trips any dock mode, but soldering in the appropriate resistor would be pretty easy. I hope to find the value to trip Desk or Media center dock mode & use Tasker to turn off E-mail and other non-essential noise during the night so as to not roust the wife.
Further information needed
If anybody has any more resistor values for various dock modes or other information to add, let me know.

Can you do both car mode and AC mode at the same time? And any idea if that would be a bad idea off a USB port that's built into a car?

KeithLM said:
Can you do both car mode and AC mode at the same time? And any idea if that would be a bad idea off a USB port that's built into a car?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Standard USB is rated up to 500ma.
AC mode is rated up to 750ma.
You need to make sure your power supply is rated to at least 750ma to safely trigger AC mode. You will have to check with the manufacturers specs on what that USB port is rated for. You can trigger AC mode and any of the dock modes at the same time (verified on my old SGS1 Captivate and I'm 99% sure the SGS3 is the same), they don't use the same pins.
If you are plugging into anything that actually expects data (USB port on a stereo as opposed to just a USB charger) I would disconnect the data (center 2) pins from that end, leave them shorted at the phone end.

Thanks for the info. My car reportedly has an extra USB port behind the dash I was hoping to use, but I can't locate it. So I might have to resort to using a power adapter. If I do that I'll use the 2.1A model from monoprice.com. So I'll use the power option based on which port I end up using.

Let me make sure I'm getting this straight: Using the two values for resistance you have you were only able to get the S3 to trigger into car dock mode, correct? There could possibly be another value which triggers desk dock mode.
My thought would be to get a rheostat and chop up a micro USB cable and adjust the level of resistance till the effect was achieved. Obviously I may have to get more than just a rheostat to achieve the correct range of resistance to try, but eh...
Once I figured out the resistance level I could then make a "desktop dock cable" by placing the resister inline in the micro USB cable. That would be a great solution for me. Thoughts?

mikejr83 said:
Let me make sure I'm getting this straight: Using the two values for resistance you have you were only able to get the S3 to trigger into car dock mode, correct? There could possibly be another value which triggers desk dock mode.
My thought would be to get a rheostat and chop up a micro USB cable and adjust the level of resistance till the effect was achieved. Obviously I may have to get more than just a rheostat to achieve the correct range of resistance to try, but eh...
Once I figured out the resistance level I could then make a "desktop dock cable" by placing the resister inline in the micro USB cable. That would be a great solution for me. Thoughts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The SGS1 resistor value for car dock worked on the SGS3, no luck with the desk dock resistor.
Resistors are used in that location for non dock stuff too... Jigs to trigger bootloader and recovery mode, etc. I wouldn't try the rhestotat thing personally. Previous values were found in Samsung or the CPU vendors documentation somewhere. I'd start there or use an OHM meter on a dock we know trips desk or media mode.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

Fallon said:
Resistors are used in that location for non dock stuff too... Jigs to trigger bootloader and recovery mode, etc. I wouldn't try the rhestotat thing personally.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the heads up! :good: I got out my breadboard last night. Had a bit of down time at work and was just getting ready to call a few RadioShacks around town to see if they had some pots in stock (didn't expect them to, but they list a few on their website) so I could hack up a cable this weekend.
One question though, if I had the phone powered on and was to start with a linear taper pot and go from 0 to say 1M ohms (found one that would cover the entire range without me having to add resisters in there) I could possibly trip the phone into bootloader or recovery mode?
It would seem to me that in essence what I would be "doing" is plugging in various USB cables which had a different resistance in that location. It seem odd to be able to take a powered on (even screen unlocked) phone and have it just dump to recovery or bootloader with the plugging in of a cable (assuming that I had the real version of the cable/dock/jig).
That said, I'm glad you gave me a heads up as I might want to do a bit more research on this before I just sit around with my multimeter and a pot going through various resistances just to see what happens. I suppose what "happens" might be something I really, really do not want! Or, maybe I end up finding a way to unlock a VZW phone by accident! Yea, like that'd ever happen!
EDIT:
This new phone has me not writing code and doing more searching around the internets for information! I found this post http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=20710266&postcount=14 The poster shows that they use a 365k resistor for car dock. Preceeding posts indicate this was for a S2. I still have to go through my resistor "collection" to see what I have sitting around. I may still hack up a cable this weekend.

Ok. So I got a pot and was setting up a test bed when I cut the end of a mini USB cable. I realized it only has 4 pins. My thought was to use one of the dozens of mini USB cables instead of my limited amount of micro ones for my first tests. Basically I was going to take the A side and plug it into the charger to power my breadboard.
When I saw that there were only 4 pins on the mini B side and hence four wires inside the shielding it got me thinking about the micro B end. Both the micro's and mini's A side have 4 pins. If the micro B side has 5 pins where does that 5th id pin go? Does a micro cable have 5 conductors the length of the wire which the id conductor terminates to ground at the A side?
Now I'm confused on how the accessories are manufactured so as to make the phone go from USB charge mode to A/C mode. I'd really like to sit around now that I have this pot to test various resistances in order to see the outcome. Quick Googling hasn't found any negative side effects (yet...).
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

Micro USB has 5 pins with the new 5th pin only existing on one end to use as an ID pin for what end of the cable it is. Makes it easy for the resistors that Samsung uses to trip the various modes.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda premium

I was just looking into what all the pins do because I planned to make a small board with A and B connectors and wire the resistor in there. Now I see that's pointless. I figured the shielding on other connectors was equivalent to the 5th pin.
I'm going to have to strip down a micro USB cable and see what I find in there.

I'd recommend looking at that breakout board from Spark Fun I linked up top.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda premium

http://forums.androidcentral.com/epic-4g-accessories/64959-what-triggers-car-dock-mode.html#anb
Mentions 365k as well as 1k to trigger desk dock. will try it when I get a chance.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk 2

I've stripped down a micro-USB connector on one of my monoprice.com cables. I've found that the pin is there on the backside of the connector and just not connected to anything. Unfortunately I did too much damage in the process to try and reuse it. I think if I can strip another and be more careful I can expose just the one pin I need, then expose some of the wiring further from the connector and very carefully slice open the ground and connect the two with the resistor. It's also possible the shielding is connected to ground, so I might be able to attach it directly to that. Unfortunately my voltmeter is out of commission so I can't check that at the moment.

KeithLM said:
I've stripped down a micro-USB connector on one of my monoprice.com cables. I've found that the pin is there on the backside of the connector and just not connected to anything. Unfortunately I did too much damage in the process to try and reuse it. I think if I can strip another and be more careful I can expose just the one pin I need, then expose some of the wiring further from the connector and very carefully slice open the ground and connect the two with the resistor. It's also possible the shielding is connected to ground, so I might be able to attach it directly to that. Unfortunately my voltmeter is out of commission so I can't check that at the moment.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok. To clarify, the ID pin doesn't have a wire/conductor that runs the length of the wire?
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

mikejr83 said:
Ok. To clarify, the ID pin doesn't have a wire/conductor that runs the length of the wire?
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Definitely not in the cable I pulled apart. I've looked around for a micro-USB extension cable, but haven't found one so far. Potentially such a cable would have the fifth wire.

Straight from the land of the rising sun! Straight from China! http://www.ebay.com/itm/10Pcs-USB-T...ltDomain_0&hash=item20c49dfc46#ht_2925wt_1163
DIY Micro 5pin male USB connector! $4 for 10 of them. I just ordered a set. Once I get these it should be easy to build a test connector that will run through my pot so we can try different resistances.
This is what I was hoping of finding. I wanted to take a 1.5-3ft USB cable and put an end on it that would put the phone into desk dock mode. That way I could connect the cable to my keyboard and set my phone in a cradle that I previously purchased.
EDIT:
Shipping is a $1. Total paypal amount was $4.99
EDIT 2:
I'm a tard. Also got shipping confirmation. Could take up to 30 days . Hopefully it's on the shorter side of their estimate of 7 days. I guess that gives me some time to put together a monoprice order for some cables.

mikejr83 said:
Straight from the land of the rising sun! http://www.ebay.com/itm/10Pcs-USB-T...ltDomain_0&hash=item20c49dfc46#ht_2925wt_1163
DIY Micro 5pin male USB connector! $4 for 10 of them. I just ordered a set. Once I get these it should be easy to build a test connector that will run through my pot so we can try different resistances.
This is what I was hoping of finding. I wanted to take a 1.5-3ft USB cable and put an end on it that would put the phone into desk dock mode. That way I could connect the cable to my keyboard and set my phone in a cradle that I previously purchased.
EDIT:
Shipping is a $1. Total paypal amount was $4.99
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Japan is the land of rising sun but otherwise great find

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Serial_Bus#section_4
USB 1.x/2.0 Mini/Micro pinout
Pin Name Cable color Description
1 VBUS Red +5 V
2 D− White Data −
3 D+ Green Data +
4 ID None Permits distinction of host connection from slave connection
* host: connected to Signal ground
* slave: not connected
5 GND Black Signal ground
So definitely only 4 wires in a standards compliant cable, not 5. Pin gets left free or shorted directly to ground (or shorted via a resistor in Samsung's case for dock mode)
Nice find on the cheap micro USB connectors.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk 2

Now that I'm at work and doing nothing really important I've had time to dig through digikey for a similar part. I just don't think I can wait that long to get those other pieces!
The only thing I've been able to find that is close is this:
http://www.digikey.com/scripts/dksearch/dksus.dll?lang=en&mpart=10104109-0001LF&vendor=609&cur=USD
I ordered 3 and had them shipped USPS First Class. That will give me something to test with hopefully by the end of the week.
BTW, it's been such a long time since I ordered anything from digikey that I didn't realize they dropped their minimum order size requirement. It's awesome that they'll ship a $2 order!

Check GPS USB cables... they have all 5 leads
The USB extension cable is common for GPS units. My car radio has garmin built in, and when I added the fm traffic antenna, I needed a Mini USB (not micro) cable and quickly found out that "standard" off the shelf cables only have 4 wires, when the mini and micro usb ends actually have a 5th pin, but it either gnd or n/a at all - the standard extension cables off the shelf are extremely cheap, but useless for an application where the 5th pin is needed. BUT when I search for a GPS cable, it has all 5 pins. Its also about 5x more expension - When I bought mine it was like $25 or something online, but I can't remember where... it was from a GPS outlet place I found online. Just posting my limited experience for those to consider, and maybe prices have changed since then?
GOOD LUCK
(btw: I love this thread, I love building stuff too....)

Not charging anywhere near 1A using official SGS3 charger according to my ammeter?!

Using the official SGS3 Samsung charger & micro usb cable that came with my SGS3, I plugged a male to female USB cable that I had spliced so I could check current, voltage, etc of various usb devices. Anyway, I put my ammeter in series with the + power (red) line and I'm only seeing around 200-250ma on my meter! What is going on here? I've tried this with another meter (with the same result) so it doesn't seem to be anything wrong with my ammeters. Also, my phone was at 37% battery last time I tried this.
Here's a picture of how I have it setup...charger on the left, usb cable going to phone on right, ammeter is attached to the alligator clips.
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Any help is greatly appreciated! Thanks!

I had same problem and it was just the longer USB cable I used that couldn't handle the full 1A current, so just try another.

your setup is wrong.
you are seeing what the charger is supplying, MINUS what the phone is taking.

scarrmrcc said:
your setup is wrong.
you are seeing what the charger is supplying, MINUS what the phone is taking.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Huh? How so? My ammeter is in series between the charger and the phone. Any current drawn from the charger would pass through the ammeter, no? The phone is drawing the current from the charger, if the phone isn't "taking" all the current, then what could possibly be drawing this additional current you speak of, from the charger?

Geordie Lad said:
I had same problem and it was just the longer USB cable I used that couldn't handle the full 1A current, so just try another.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm using a pretty short cable already, but I've also tried it with another set of plugs with no change in result.

scarrmrcc said:
your setup is wrong.
you are seeing what the charger is supplying, MINUS what the phone is taking.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
umm.. please pardon my outrage, but did you spend the few milliseconds required to read his post before replying?
If he's running his meter inline on the USB +5v wire, it's only measuring the current flowing across that wire - regardless of what that current is being used for.
On the other hand, I do think there's a typo in his message: probably should be 200-250mA - not maH... maH would be a capacity, not a current.
To the OP:
You should be seeing around 900-950mA in the case of the stock wall charger. Can you try the same test using a standard computer USB port? Does your kernel support showing charging current either in kmsg or via a sysfs interface? If so, it'd be interesting to see that. I have seen cases where the kernel THINKS it's charging at one rate, but it's actually pulling quite a bit less current from the wire (on other devices.)
It's possible that the USB cable your using is flawed. I realize that your post claims to be using the stock USB cable, but your photo is showing a white USB plug when the stock cable is black.
If the kernel can show charging current, it'd be useful to log that, and then try a different USB cable and see if the kernel see's a different current then. If so, it'd point to a USB cable flaw.
Another thought: When your charging, go into settings->battery. It should show that it's charging... does it dispaly charging via (USB) or (AC)?

salils said:
Using the official SGS3 Samsung charger & micro usb cable that came with my SGS3, I plugged a male to female USB cable that I had spliced so I could check current, voltage, etc of various usb devices. Anyway, I put my ammeter in series with the + power (red) line and I'm only seeing around 200-250maH on my meter! What is going on here? I've tried this with another meter (with the same result) so it doesn't seem to be anything wrong with my ammeters. Also, my phone was at 37% battery last time I tried this.
Here's a picture of how I have it setup...charger on the left, usb cable going to phone on right, ammeter is attached to the alligator clips.
Any help is greatly appreciated! Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You may need to short the white and green data wires together which should tell the S3 to charge at FAST rate. I am guessing the S3 thinks it is seeing a PC USB rate. I know this for a fact with my HD2 but probably our S3's are the same. Good you mentioned 37% because we also know that the charge rate will slow down the closer the battery gets to full charge...which means we cannot do these tests once battery is over 80% or so.

I can confirm the need to short white & green.
Disclaimer: That's is just what I knew about my old Captivate. Shorting those two wires on that setup could blow up your phone, so make sure you setup a video camera to catch the the explosion if you try this.

try using your original cable, different cable do get different results.

garyd9 said:
umm.. please pardon my outrage, but did you spend the few milliseconds required to read his post before replying?
If he's running his meter inline on the USB +5v wire, it's only measuring the current flowing across that wire - regardless of what that current is being used for.
On the other hand, I do think there's a typo in his message: probably should be 200-250mA - not maH... maH would be a capacity, not a current.
To the OP:
You should be seeing around 900-950mA in the case of the stock wall charger. Can you try the same test using a standard computer USB port? Does your kernel support showing charging current either in kmsg or via a sysfs interface? If so, it'd be interesting to see that. I have seen cases where the kernel THINKS it's charging at one rate, but it's actually pulling quite a bit less current from the wire (on other devices.)
It's possible that the USB cable your using is flawed. I realize that your post claims to be using the stock USB cable, but your photo is showing a white USB plug when the stock cable is black.
If the kernel can show charging current, it'd be useful to log that, and then try a different USB cable and see if the kernel see's a different current then. If so, it'd point to a USB cable flaw.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I doubt my kernal supports that...just running stock except I rooted it. Do you know if the stock rom supports this? Haven't had time to look into all the stuff needed custom roms, tweaks, etc. Another reason to start researching that stuff...arg
The reason for the white usb cable: I didn't want to splice up the stock cable...My setup is Stock Charger>Male USB plug>Female USB plug>Stock SGS3 Micro USB cable---Essentially a very short M-F usb A extension that I use for testing purposes. I also tried some different physical plugs with the same result. Also tried at different battery % levels with the same result. No problems as far as charging times are concerned using the stock charger/cable. Not sure I'm ready to rip open the charger and stock cable and show it to one of my EE friends, because I might be selling off this phone not too far into the future if the new Nexus is good enough for me...
Another thought: When your charging, go into settings->battery. It should show that it's charging... does it dispaly charging via (USB) or (AC)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I checked this, it says AC...strangely, it also says AC when I plug into an Apple charger, which as you might know carries specific voltages on the data lines as opposed to having the data lines shorted. Just to check that it wasn't detecting everything as an AC source, I plugged my my SGS3 into my Macbook Pro and it did recognize it as USB source, not AC.
Thanks, for the heads up on the typo.
FYI: My phone seems to be charging reasonably fast in practice - about 3 hours for around a full charge (haven't been able to do this perfect 0-100% because I use my phone so much so 3 hrs is a bit of an estimate) using stock charger/cable/battery (2,100mAh). I haven't really tested it much on other chargers but I recall it being very slow when I used a USB extension cable once (everything else stock). Also, last night I was using my SGS3 while plugged in and it was charging very slow as per my observation (not measured)...I was using it for close to 2 hours for web browsing, youtube videos, google play store, text editing, etc (no games) and my battery was basically at the same place below 5%, sometimes it even dropped to 2%. I checked the OS task manager and there didn't seem to be anything that would be draining the battery especially. I restarted my phone and it started charging fast again (while using). I wasn't able to bust out my ammeter during that time unfortunately because of where I was.

whosy said:
I can confirm the need to short white & green.
Disclaimer: That's is just what I knew about my old Captivate. Shorting those two wires on that setup could blow up your phone, so make sure you setup a video camera to catch the the explosion if you try this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've tried this, but according to what I've read and via testing, the stock charger already has the data lines shorted-this is how it signals the SGS3 to draw more than 500mA. Data lines don't really carry much of any current so blowing up or damaging a phone seems highly unlikely...though if you shorted the data lines on an Apple charger it could be bad for the charger since they carry specific voltages on Apple wall chargers.

salils said:
I've tried this, but according to what I've read and via testing, the stock charger already has the data lines shorted. Data lines don't really carry any current so blowing up or damaging a phone seems highly unlikely...though if you shorted the data lines on an Apple charger it could be bad for the charger since they carry voltage on Apple chargers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed.
Also, the last CONNECTION in the chain....I mean the one that physically plugs into the S3....needs to either see or have the data wires connected/shorted to each other. Example: the charger has white/green data wires shorted...it's plugged into a desktop cradle...but the cradle is wired to bypass the white/green data wires....then the S3 will not get the message to fast charge.
UPDATE: all the above possibly depending on Kernel? I say this because I am using a charger and cable that has NO data pin wires 2 and 3, but I still measure fast/full charge rate.

salils said:
I doubt my kernal supports that...just running stock except I rooted it. Do you know if the stock rom supports this? Haven't had time to look into all the stuff needed custom roms, tweaks, etc. Another reason to start researching that stuff...arg
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try this to see if it works: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.manor.currentwidget (current widget.) If your kernel shows charging current, this widget will show it (CurrentWidget.) I don't know which type of SGS3 you have (i9300 or a North American version?) If you have the i9300, almost all the custom kernels support showing the current. For the Qualcomm based ones, I have no idea. (My wife won't let me hack her AT&T SGS3.)
salils said:
Yes, I checked this, it says AC...strangely, it also says AC when I plug into an Apple charger, which as you might know carries specific voltages on the data lines as opposed to having the data lines shorted. Just to check that it wasn't detecting everything as an AC source, I plugged my my SGS3 into my Macbook Pro and it did recognize it as USB source, not AC.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Then the kernel should be kicking the phone into higher current charging mode. Odd... (I never actually measured the current on the USB wire myself, so no idea what THAT might be showing..)

Has anyone figured out what the deal is with the S3's strange charging rates? I've seen some other people report similar issues of their ammeter showing under 300mA rates on the stock charger even when the battery was awfully depleted (one would assume a faster charger when the battery isn't very full).

Have you tested the charging time while charging through that setup? I bet it takes longer than without it. If it does... Try cleaning and soldering the wires together. I don't know what they've been exposed to or for how long, but even slightly corroded wires twisted together with oily/salty fingers could cause power loss and more corrosion. Then you factor in the alligator clips, the unknown quality wiring attached to them and the other alligator clips clipped onto you multimeter.... Could explain it all right there. Drain it to a known batt percent (say 40) and charge it up... Then do the same with your testing setup. Leave the meter powered on the whole time if it's batteries can take it for a real test of your setup. Then report your findings.
Sent from my SGH-T999

Your setup might also introduce considerable resistance with your ammeter cables and all additional connections made to messure. There can easily be extra 2meters of wire + at least 6 extra connections (usb --> aligator clip --> wire --> ammeter --> wire --> aligator clip --> usb).
But that should not account for 600+mA.

Anyone uncover this mystery yet? Any leads? I lost my official Samsung charger, so I'm starting to get desperate again.

resistance
Twisting the wires together is probably interfering with the detection of the charger capabilities. Try soldering the connections instead of just twisting them. Take a look at the specs on how charger ICs detect the charger and apply the appropriate power: http://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/bq24392.pdf

Ammeter
I agree the resistance you've accumulated between the bad connections, alligator clips and the ammeter itself might be showing the phone enough resistance that it lowers the charge rate. I just finished building a little analog inline ammeter and I am reading just a fraction under 1 amp. I got the 5 amp meter from amazon and split the red on a 2.5 foot oem (knock off) cable. I wanted a short cable to eliminate any added resistance. All connections are also soldered.
Hope this helps mate

[SOLVED] Is MHL working for anyone?

I've ordered a new S3 11 pin MHL cable for my Note 2 (stock, rooted), however when I try to plug in the HDMI cable nothing happens, this is the second cable I've tried so I'm starting to suspect there is something wrong with the TVOut service in my phone. The phone is charging but no image, I ran a logcat during the event and saw the following:
Code:
D/20:57:36.250 STATUSBAR-Clock( 2734)
onReceive() - ACTION_SCREEN_ON
E/20:57:36.245 SecTVOutService( 1934)
virtual void android::SecTVOutService::setHdmiStatus(uint32_t): :mSecHdmi.connect() fail
D/20:57:36.245 ( 1934)
bool android::SecHdmi::connect()::m_flagHWConnected() fail
D/20:57:36.245 SecTVOutService( 1934)
virtual void android::SecTVOutService::setHdmiStatus(uint32_t) HDMI cable status = 1
D/20:57:36.245 SecTVOutService( 1934)
virtual void android::SecTVOutService::setSuspendMode(uint32_t) TV suspend mode = 0
which makes think the phone is recognizing the HDMI cable but for some reason it is not able to output the image.. can any developer or experienced android guru help with this?
Tried with 3 different TVs, 3 usb cables and 2 HDMI cables. I need to decide if I have to return the cable or not within a few hours
EDIT: Solved, turns out both cable I tried from the online shop were fake. Bought original one from the mall and works fine.

gabster21 said:
I've ordered a new S3 11 pin MHL cable for my Note 2 (stock, rooted), however when I try to plug in the HDMI cable nothing happens, this is the second cable I've tried so I'm starting to suspect there is something wrong with the TVOut service in my phone. The phone is charging but no image, I ran a logcat during the event and saw the following:
<SNIP>
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The S3 11 pin adapter works fine for me. It needs to be powered, so hopefully you are plugging in a power adapter in the micro usb port on the adapter as well.
Edit: I guess you are using the power adapter since you mentioned its charging. Anyways, it worked out of the box for me on a Samsung TV at least.

seltaeb said:
The S3 11 pin adapter works fine for me. It needs to be powered, so hopefully you are plugging in a power adapter in the micro usb port on the adapter as well.
Edit: I guess you are using the power adapter since you mentioned its charging. Anyways, it worked out of the box for me on a Samsung TV at least.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply, tried it on 2 Samsung TVs and 1 LG but no dice. Wish I had another S3/N2 to rule out my phone's HDMI Service being broken somehow.
Any other troubleshooting steps I can follow? Already tried leaving everything plugged in and restarting the phone, turning TV on/off.
btw I'm not getting the "HDMI cable connected" when plugging in the adapter, just "USB adapter connected" or something like that.

Are you plugging your stock 2amp power adapter to your AC to the MHL adapter?

Lucidmike said:
Are you plugging your stock 2amp power adapter to your AC to the MHL adapter?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, tried with the stock power adapter (says 1A on the adapter) and plugging it into the PC USB port as well, same result.
EDIT: Also not working with my TF100's 1.2A charger, phone status shows charging 'USB' when going through the MHL adapter, and shows 'AC' when plugged in directly.

Strange...I am using the MHL adapter I purchased for my S3...plugged the N2 in and worked like a charm. Perhaps your N2 is faulty?

gandalf21502 said:
Strange...I am using the MHL adapter I purchased for my S3...plugged the N2 in and worked like a charm. Perhaps your N2 is faulty?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could be, but everything else is running like clockwork..
About the adapter, when I plug it in all the way it says "USB plug connected" but doesn't charge. When I plug it in half way it doesn't say anything but charges.

Are you using any custom kernel. Happened to me with a cuqtom kernel and once flashed another one it worked fine. So might be this if you are in luck
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda app-developers app

bouzoubaa said:
Are you using any custom kernel. Happened to me with a cuqtom kernel and once flashed another one it worked fine. So might be this if you are in luck
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, thought about that.. but I'm using all stock (albeit rooted), could that be the issue? I tried reflashing the latest official firmware and trying it without root, still didn't work (retained all my apps though).. don't know if an app/setting could interfere with the HDMI service.
This is my second adapter, the first one I returned because of a loose usb connector it would only hold power for 1-2 seconds at a time and at least would display a "HDMI adapter connected" on my phone but never showed an image on the TV either. This one holds power but completely ignores the HDMI cable.
Same setup works perfectly with my Galaxy Nexus and its MHL adapter.

Strange mine worked like a charm, i dont see you doing anything wrong so am assuming there is either a problem with device or mhl... True formatting the device if finding another s3 or n2 is really difficult
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda premium

I think that the reason is that the Nexus for example use a 5 pin connector, the S3 work also with 11pin and 5 pin connector indifferently but Note 2 use only the 11 pin connector..
I've tested my MHL for Nexus adapter that work with my girlfriend S3 but don't work with my Note 2..so there's something strange..
Inviato dal mio GT-N8000 usando XDA Premium HD app

Is it a stock cable? Either or the cable might be broken. I've had this happen to me with my computer's mini hdmi out port. One cable was broken, the next one worked. Bad cables are common.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda app-developers app

I am running stock rom/kernel and rooted...same as you. No issue with MHL. From all you have tried, I would guess the phone itself, hardware wise, is having an 'issue'.

Hi all, just a quick update.. tried the cable today with a colleague's Note 2 and got the same behavior:
- When cable pushed in all the way, a notification comes up and says "USB connector connected" but no charge, no image
- cable pushed in half way: no notification but phone charges, no image
Conclusion: it's the freaking adapter! Thanks to everyone who helped debug the issue.

Update: Just bought the original cable from a shop in the mall and it's working like a charm! Can't believe I spent all these hours troubleshooting and almost reformated my phone because of this cheap imitation crap I got online (requested a refund btw).
Thanks to everyone and sorry for wasting your time!

Good to hear you got it working!

gabster21 said:
Update: Just bought the original cable from a shop in the mall and it's working like a charm!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you post the part number plz?

gabster21 said:
Update: Just bought the original cable from a shop in the mall and it's working like a charm! Can't believe I spent all these hours troubleshooting and almost reformated my phone because of this cheap imitation crap I got online (requested a refund btw).
Thanks to everyone and sorry for wasting your time!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad you got it working, mine should be arriving tomorrow so was hopeful there wasn't a bug somewhere I needed to avoid
I don't think you wasted anyone's time, I've picked up a few things to watch for thanks to this thread.

Fake vs Original
sleebus.jones said:
Can you post the part number plz?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Both have the same part number (EPL-3FHUBEGSTD | 159) and look almost identical, almost.. since I still have both boxes I took side by side comparisons (see pic).
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The fake one:
- Uses black font instead of grey
- Doesn't use special characters for foreign languages (highlighted in red in the pics)
- Box uses matte finish instead of glossy (hence the reflection of the flash on the original)
Very difficult to tell if you're buying from an online source, but once you receive it look for one of the three signs above to make sure you're not getting duped!

gabster21 said:
Both have the same part number (EPL-3FHUBEGSTD | 159) and look almost identical, almost.. since I still have both boxes I took side by side comparisons (see pic).
The fake one:
- Uses black font instead of grey
- Doesn't use special characters for foreign languages (highlighted in red in the pics)
- Box uses matte finish instead of glossy (hence the reflection of the flash on the original)
Very difficult to tell if you're buying from an online source, but once you receive it look for one of the three signs above to make sure you're not getting duped!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for raising awareness. I wonder if anyone has bought a 11 pin generic adapter to work successfully. And if the ones you got was just poorly assembled or if they are just blatantly made without the intention of it working at all. The OEM ones are seriously over priced.