Develop Bugs

[PROJECT] Any Case Pogo Desktop Charging Dock

[EDIT 16th June 2012 at 05:30 PM] Built v2 of my dock. See this post for details.
[EDIT 3rd June 2012 at 09:30 PM] Woho! Built it. See the bottom of this post for pictures of the finished product + my tweaked SketchUp model based on the actual build.
First I'd like to thank 'chopper the dog' for his excellent [MOD][PROJECT] Pogo Charging Dock thread.
So far, I've only designed this dock in SketchUp - but it's so simple and straightforward that it will work.
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It was important to me to design a dock that is adjustable to any kind of case I may have on my GNex - thus negating the need to remove the case for use. I also wanted a dock that had a small footprint and also looked nice. And finally, it needed to be easy to build (minimal bells + whistles).
Thus, I came up with a system where the pogo pins are fixed on the horizontal plane and 6 adjustable posts hold the GNex in a vertical landscape position above them. Four of the posts (two on each side) prevent the phone from flopping on either of it's faces while positioning it latitudinal. The remaining two posts position the phone longitudinally. This setup will be tedious to initially adjust - but I believe it is a fair tradeoff for ease of build. Indeed, the most complex part of this build is the base-plate, which everything connects to.
FRONT
RIGHT
TOP
BACK
BOTTOM
Finally, for those of you wondering what that extra up-side-down nut and bolt combination is near the middle. It actually adjusts vertically to sit slightly higher than the power button. Thus, you can wake your phone by gently pressing down on the volume side of the device.*
*I got this last idea from a post I read in one of the other dock threads ... wish I could find it to properly thank the originator.
[EDIT] Pictures of the actual build + My SketchUp model based on it.
*I'm sorry it's so ... rough. I need to get myself a drill press. Or maybe a Dremel would do the trick ....

Great mock up you got here! It definitely gave me some ideas to do for my own. I will be sure to follow this one for sure.
One question I have is, how do you plan on securing the adjustable holders to their spot? Are those screws underneath I see?

Yup, those are screws holding the posts in their slots.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA

Great idea and overall, I like the design. Having the adjustable posts is fantastic for taking into account various case designs/thickness
Some tweaks i can see:
* Make the pogo pin height adjustable. Many cases are of differing thickness and should be taken into account
* The phone should probably be angled somewhat, either make the legs adjustable or have a rotating portion in the baseplate
* Allow for wiring of the middle pogo pin. There is some good info here on how to enable desk dock mode and AC charging through the third/middle Pogo pin without custom kernel/NFC tag. You might want to add the needed wiring/electronics to your design for those who want to add the extra pieces.

Great suggestions.
*I have been thinking about how to easily/simply make the pogo pins adjustable - that's definitely something that's required.
*You can either spread the top-back posts to allow the phone to sit loosely at an angle, or just get longer 'foot' posts for the front of the dock.
*That's a good point. And thanks for the awesome link, that thread is fantastic!
Matridom said:
Great idea and overall, I like the design. Having the adjustable posts is fantastic for taking into account various case designs/thickness
Some tweaks i can see:
* Make the pogo pin height adjustable. Many cases are of differing thickness and should be taken into account
* The phone should probably be angled somewhat, either make the legs adjustable or have a rotating portion in the baseplate
* Allow for wiring of the middle pogo pin. There is some good info here on how to enable desk dock mode and AC charging through the third/middle Pogo pin without custom kernel/NFC tag. You might want to add the needed wiring/electronics to your design for those who want to add the extra pieces.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Maaan if this goes on kickstarter for a reasonable price I'm in!
Maybe try and figure out how to add audio by the third pin.

Haha, thanks for the vote of confidence.
If it ever does get to that point, I'd probably just sell pre-cut kits for people to put together with a screw driver.
The link Matridom included in his post pretty much gets you half-way to audio.

Before I saw the underside, I imagined there would be rubber bands between the side retention post pairs to allow for easy placement/removal while keeping tension.
While building my dock I found it was very particular about pogo contact, but once you get it, it stays.
Something to note, since there is no backboard to place an NFC tag on, you will need to manually shift if you want desk dock features. i am digging the simplicity!

subvertz said:
Before I saw the underside, I imagined there would be rubber bands between the side retention post pairs to allow for easy placement/removal while keeping tension.
While building my dock I found it was very particular about pogo contact, but once you get it, it stays.
Something to note, since there is no backboard to place an NFC tag on, you will need to manually shift if you want desk dock features. i am digging the simplicity!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is it possible to toggle my home screen into landscape mode?

Mach3.2 said:
Is it possible to toggle my home screen into landscape mode?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You have a few options:
You can use a third party launcher like Nova that will auto-rotate to landscape regardless. (No AC charging)
You can use an NFC tag to force the rotation through usage of an app. (no AC charging), adding a custom kernel can allow you to use AC charging when combined with the NFC tag
You can enable the middle pogo pin for proper signalling, allowing you to use the official desk/car dock modes (with AC charging)

Matridom said:
You have a few options:
You can use a third party launcher like Nova that will auto-rotate to landscape regardless. (No AC charging)
You can use an NFC tag to force the rotation through usage of an app. (no AC charging), adding a custom kernel can allow you to use AC charging when combined with the NFC tag
You can enable the middle pogo pin for proper signalling, allowing you to use the official desk/car dock modes (with AC charging)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, thanks, I'm using Nova Launcher, din't really look around the settings to realise there is a rotation setting
A small question for subvertz, maybe Matridom too
What's your voltage when you charge your phone using the pogo pins, mine is around 3.822v, lower than USB or wall charger, although i connected the usb cable to my wall charger.
Used this to see the voltage and battery level, but not needed since i flashed AOKP yesterday.

Mach3.2 said:
Ok, thanks, I'm using Nova Launcher, din't really look around the settings to realise there is a rotation setting
A small question for subvertz, maybe Matridom too
What's your voltage when you charge your phone using the pogo pins, mine is around 3.822v, lower than USB or wall charger, although i connected the usb cable to my wall charger.
Used this to see the voltage and battery level, but not needed since i flashed AOKP yesterday.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If i read the voltage off the USB cable, i get the 4.95V, this is before connecting it to the phone, I've not checked the voltage during charging. When using the Pogo's, I set it so the phone is AC charging, so it draws full amperage from the charger.

Matridom said:
If i read the voltage off the USB cable, i get the 4.95V, this is before connecting it to the phone, I've not checked the voltage during charging. When using the Pogo's, I set it so the phone is AC charging, so it draws full amperage from the charger.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I checked again, seems that it's charging at 4.2v after leaving it to charge for about 30 minutes.
It's charging at AC rate so it's good, thanks

OK, my Kensington Powerbolt 12V USB adapter measured at 5.09 VDC with a multimeter.
With phone battery indicating 65% on notication bar, the battery measured 3.87 VDC with multimeter.
Phone test menu indicated 3900 mV when discharging, at 65%
On the car dock charging in USB mode phone test menu indicated 3933 mV.
On the car dock charging in AC mode phone test menu indicated 3931 mV.
I would have guessed forcing AC fast charge would have had a different voltage than USM mode, but no. But it does charge faster somehow. I don't have a good way to see current right now.
Hope this helps....what are you planning?

subvertz said:
OK, my Kensington Powerbolt 12V USB adapter measured at 5.09 VDC with a multimeter.
With phone battery indicating 65% on notication bar, the battery measured 3.87 VDC with multimeter.
Phone test menu indicated 3900 mV when discharging, at 65%
On the car dock charging in USB mode phone test menu indicated 3933 mV.
On the car dock charging in AC mode phone test menu indicated 3931 mV.
I would have guessed forcing AC fast charge would have had a different voltage than USM mode, but no. But it does charge faster somehow. I don't have a good way to see current right now.
Hope this helps....what are you planning?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmmmm, same here, the voltage seems lower than a direct microUSB connection to the wall, but it does charge at AC rate.

Took a few minutes to get myself back up to 65%.
Started playing with the micro USB from wall AC, got many different voltages.
Unplugged is around 3897 mV.
Plugging in gives anywhere between 3917 and 4120 mV. I think the charging circuit is trying to maintain a certain level over battery voltage to charge, by the phones power use is not steady.
Trying it during a Ti backup right now....

I tried out yesterday night, seems that the battery voltage is lower when the battery level is lower. And the voltage is the same as a direct connection to the wall.

Woho! Built it!
So I finally built my design. Of course I had to make some adjustments based on what parts I was able to get, and also the reality of pogo pin alignment ... without a drill press.
I've updated my SketchUp model to reflect how it was built.
And now, without further adieu,

Looking good! How does it work? What do you have the middle pin for? It hard to tell is a case on in the pic? What is that cool little andoid usb thing?

Looks good, Anyone can take a look at the 3 pin contacts on their gnex?
Mine is slightly depressed in after i use it on the dock.
Maybe my pogo pins are too stiff
---------- Post added at 08:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:41 PM ----------
subvertz said:
Looking good! How does it work? What do you have the middle pin for? It hard to tell is a case on in the pic? What is that cool little andoid usb thing?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Accidentally pressed the thanks button
the middle pin is for signaling what kind of dock the nexus is connected to, the side pins is +5v and ground from the usb cable.
Read this thread.

Car charger with enough juice to keep on charging regardless of whats running?

New to the Nexus, recently purchased from the Play store. On my commute I generally am running Waze (or google navigation) and Audible with screen on auto brightness. With these running I get a slow drain. With these running on my old iPhone 4s, I would get a slow charge (unless it got hot, then it drained). I am using the same charger (capable of enough power to charge a iPad) I guess I am worried about long trips, don't want to show up with an almost dead phone...
I did flash jelly bean last night, still a slow drain this morning on the way in.
Is this just the nature of the phone?
EDIT; disregard, found a prior thread...delete function does not seem to work??

$5 with Prime
http://www.amazon.com/Motorola-Vehi...41945128&sr=8-1&keywords=motorola+car+charger

ktownhero said:
$5 with Prime
http://www.amazon.com/Motorola-Vehi...41945128&sr=8-1&keywords=motorola+car+charger
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this

the reason your nexus is still draining with your car charger is that it's only recognized as a 500mah usb, look at charging state in the settings and it will say USB. you can either mod a micro usb wire or the car charger buy connecting the two middle D pins. with this mod your nexus will recognize as AC charger that you can see in the settings.
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i have the 5 dollar moto charger and it does really charge at 700mah, enough to charge while using maps, but the blue led is super bright and covers the entire circle. its very annoying at least for me to have a light that bright at night.
im using this one now, its an official motorola rapid charger that came with my Atrix's car mount. it charges at the same rate with 2 usb slots. http://www.amazon.com/Motorola-Rapi...42088485&sr=1-4&keywords=motorola+car+charger

Another +1 for Motorola charger, only charger I have found that keeps charging my nexus while using navigation
Rellikzephyr
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

I also use the Motorola charger, works great.

Out of curiosity, would there be any way to modify a USB port on the computer to induce the faster charging of an AC port? Is there an adapter for that?
I know there are kernels that allow for "fast charging,"but I don't know that there are any working with 4.1.1 yet

ktownhero said:
$5 with Prime
http://www.amazon.com/Motorola-Vehi...41945128&sr=8-1&keywords=motorola+car+charger
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
high recommend especially for the price. i almost always use the GPS while driving and this thing will charge it most defiantly while in use.

neotekz said:
the reason your nexus is still draining with your car charger is that it's only recognized as a 500mah usb, look at charging state in the settings and it will say USB. you can either mod a micro usb wire or the car charger buy connecting the two middle D pins. with this mod your nexus will recognize as AC charger that you can see in the settings.
i have the 5 dollar moto charger and it does really charge at 700mah, enough to charge while using maps, but the blue led is super bright and covers the entire circle. its very annoying at least for me to have a light that bright at night.
im using this one now, its an official motorola rapid charger that came with my Atrix's car mount. it charges at the same rate with 2 usb slots. http://www.amazon.com/Motorola-Rapi...42088485&sr=1-4&keywords=motorola+car+charger
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You saying just short the two middle pins together?
Edit; or better yet, is there a standard color code to the wiring? Will open the cable and tie them together in the middle... guess I could ohm them out as well

alias3800 said:
Out of curiosity, would there be any way to modify a USB port on the computer to induce the faster charging of an AC port? Is there an adapter for that?
I know there are kernels that allow for "fast charging,"but I don't know that there are any working with 4.1.1 yet
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
USB 2.0 ports are only designed to output 500mA. If you value your ports I wouldn't.

It is alway important to notice that, no charger will be able to keep the battery level or at least charge it a little bit if temperature is high and phone is hot... This is just the way Li Ion batteries are, their efficiency decreases exponentially when temperature is higher... So, sometimes charger is not the one to blame, but, the climate/sun shinning over the phone + screen on + 3G/4G + GPS = a phone that is smoking hot and a battery working in adverse conditions...

They're work ports so I wouldn't mind too much.
The truth is I don't really mind, because it does charge the phone, regardless of what I do. However, it does so slowly, and I was used to the fast charging of the iPhone. However, I've also +1 the Motorola charger in the car, it's a lifesaver. My battery never dies down in the car.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

videian said:
You saying just short the two middle pins together?
Edit; or better yet, is there a standard color code to the wiring? Will open the cable and tie them together in the middle... guess I could ohm them out as well
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i've never modded my wires so im not sure if they are color coded. for the chargers though i didnt even use any solder just open up the casing and i just bent the two D pins on the usb adapter that were soldered to the board so that they touch. but yah thats the basic idea just connect those two lines somehow and your phone will recognize the charger as AC.

I have the motorola charger. The other day, I was getting a slow drain while using navigation. I confirmed the phone said it was charging (ac). I'm running JB. Anyone else with JB see a slow drain while using navigation with the motorola charger?

nomisunrider said:
I have the motorola charger. The other day, I was getting a slow drain while using navigation. I confirmed the phone said it was charging (ac). I'm running JB. Anyone else with JB see a slow drain while using navigation with the motorola charger?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Working just fine for me, but it is a little bit cold in Brazil (about 58F, the higher the temperature, higher the battery temperature and higher the chances that battery efficiency is down the drain and/or phone just stop charging battery to avoid battery hitting dangerous temperature thresholds where it starts to degrade permanently and if temperature keep increasing, it might even explode).

alias3800 said:
Out of curiosity, would there be any way to modify a USB port on the computer to induce the faster charging of an AC port? Is there an adapter for that?
I know there are kernels that allow for "fast charging,"but I don't know that there are any working with 4.1.1 yet
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did a Palm Pre wireless charging mod on my nexus and HAVE to use a kernel with fast charge settings to get AC. Regardless of cables/chargers/whatever. Most kernels support it, and most popular kernels are running good on JB. My flavor is Trinity

nomisunrider said:
I have the motorola charger. The other day, I was getting a slow drain while using navigation. I confirmed the phone said it was charging (ac). I'm running JB. Anyone else with JB see a slow drain while using navigation with the motorola charger?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After reviewing the pictures on amazon uploaded by users, I've found I have the fake version. Blah

Interesting thanks for all the info about USB charging. Does the pogo car dock charge as AC or USB? My real question is will I experience battery drain in regular conditions (the phone isn't on fire so the battery is still relatively efficient) running nav + music + random?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app

nomisunrider said:
After reviewing the pictures on amazon uploaded by users, I've found I have the fake version. Blah
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Fake version???

fortesquieu said:
Fake version???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Read the reviews and look at the pictures at amazon.

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

[MOD] T-Mobile Note 2 wireless charging mod

This is a fork of the original N7100 Note 2 wireless mod thread found here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1951493
The purpose of this thread is to determine why the wireless charging pins on the T-Mobile Galaxy Note 2 (SGH-T889) are not working after installing the MOD above.
Please view the thread above for more details about the original MOD, and to see what you need to do first in order to continue with the work around below.
Updated method on 8-5-2013: Thanks to SGBE
The updated method has a better solder point. See that thread OVER HERE.
Results:
The Work Around: (verified working on multiple devices)
We have a mod to make wifi charging work! Regardless if the T-Mobile GN2 is missing hardware or not, the work-around is a low cost (free?) alternative to get wifi charging working. Our work around involves soldering a small wire to a tiny point on the micro usb board. You should be able to solder a very small connection (about the size of a pen tip) before attempting this.​The mod/workaround below is verified working with the stock charger and stock kernel. <- Pay attention to that last bit.
Workaround Known Issues:
Some kernels have a charge rate which is set too high for the PALM PRE Touchstone to work with. Likewise, some non-oem chargers can not deliver enough amperage to continuously charge the device wirelessly through the Touchstone. Therefore, if you have any problems (disconnect/reconnect proble), be certain that you are using a stock charging rate (kernel controlled) and a stock Galaxy Note 2 Charger (2,000mA). If you are still having problems check your mod for trouble, and finally post up and maybe someone can help you.
The Mod / Workaround:
(also attachment #3 on the list below)
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The full work around post is on page 3.​
New Information:
If you have new information on a hardware or software fix then it will be added here. Until that time, proceed with the workaround at your own risk. Once again, the work around instructional image is HERE.
WARNING: What was claimed to be a fix in the section below did not work, and ultimately people wasted money on bogus hardware. It is here for historical reference.
The Fix
You may need to purchase some missing hardware.
See page 7 for details (you need to replace the flex cable and micro-usb board): http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=34380437&postcount=65 The SKU number for the board is MBRPSS964.
(the false wifi charging image is only attached for historical reference)
Picture legend:
Sprint GN2 chip (the chip is missing on T-Mobile's version)
Sprint GN2 pin pads
Wifi Charging work around instructions
Completed work around example.
alternate view of work around charging pin
alternate view of work around +5vdc source
Picture of the wi-fi fix working (reported that this may be a fake!)
Older info:
Some steps that I've personally done:
Completed the wireless mod above, confirmed wireless voltage reading of 5.56vdc.
Tested continuity between USB positive, and wireless positive - no connection.
Tested continuity from the negative wireless charging pin to the negative USB, SIM slot, various screws - they are connected.
Jumped the positive post on the USB to the wireless charging positive pin, the phone charges but is not practical to have a wire hanging out of the USB port.
I plan to pull apart the phone and check the paths from the positive and negative ports on the wireless pins. Attached is a picture from a SPRINT GN2 that does not have the pins, but supposedly works for charging once contact is made with the pads. I'm going to be using this to compare the circuit against my T-mobile version.

I hope you find something with this in the next few days when the full dis-assembly takes place

vinas1 said:
Tested continuity between USB positive, and wireless positive - no connection..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now this makes sense. Because if both wireless and usb charging connections were directly connected together, the phone would have no way of knowing which charging system you were using. But we know from the tests on the international version that it does know. So this in no way tells us that positive is not connected at all.
Even though the phone doesn't detect wireless charging at this time in software, has anyone tried leaving it on the wireless charger to see if it still charges the battery?

xamindar said:
Even though the phone doesn't detect wireless charging at this time in software, has anyone tried leaving it on the wireless charger to see if it still charges the battery?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did this too, and waited for a while (waiting for the battery to drain on this phone is like trying to suck the ocean dry) - after a long time of playing video it dropped by 1% while on the wireless charger.

vinas1 said:
I did this too, and waited for a while (waiting for the battery to drain on this phone is like trying to suck the ocean dry) - after a long time of playing video it dropped by 1% while on the wireless charger.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So wait....does the T-Mobile version of the Note 2 actually charge on the wireless charger? or does it NOT charge?

elite-fusion said:
So wait....does the T-Mobile version of the Note 2 actually charge on the wireless charger? or does it NOT charge?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It does NOT charge...
Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk 2

farfromovin said:
It does NOT charge...
Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Got it. Well I hope the OP can figure something out Would be great feature to have the T-Mobile have it.

elite-fusion said:
Got it. Well I hope the OP can figure something out Would be great feature to have the T-Mobile have it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I dont see any options other than soldering to the micro usb. It wont register as "wireless charging", but it'll work.
Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk 2

Well that would be the last resort of course, but I hope that some dev or vinas1 can figure something out at least, this is one of the best features in my opinion

Subscibing... Stupidly ordered a wireless charging kit for the 7100 ASSuming that it would work for the tmob gn2, then noticed this thread ... DOH

Turbo4V said:
Subscibing... Stupidly ordered a wireless charging kit for the 7100 ASSuming that it would work for the tmob gn2, then noticed this thread ... DOH
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You and me both. I guess I should have known better from the past. At least the parts on amazon are rather cheap.

Turbo4V said:
Subscibing... Stupidly ordered a wireless charging kit for the 7100 ASSuming that it would work for the tmob gn2, then noticed this thread ... DOH
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like a lot of us did the same thing. Knowing that, any folks who can test with their modded or kit wireless will help speed up the research for everyone! I'm hopeful at this point, but have not had a chance yet to do a tear down. Been working late hours this week but I should have a chance to disassemble the Gn2 this weekend for sure. So far the plan is to do a visual inspection of the wireless charging circuit and compare it to the sprint pictures in the OP. I'm guessing that a bypass is in order and it may be as simple as using some foil tape or conductive marker; but that's all speculation at this point. :good:

KittyFae said:
You and me both. I guess I should have known better from the past. At least the parts on amazon are rather cheap.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
i ordered note 2 and wireless charging items (from amazon) the same time. I should've read it in detail. sighhhhhhhhh , cheaper to buy international note 2 also sighhhhhhhhh

seems like it may be hardware related, if you look to the left of the pins, there is something attached on the sprint board that is missing on ours i will circle it in the picture

perryh1 said:
seems like it may be hardware related, if you look to the left of the pins, there is something attached on the sprint board that is missing on ours i will circle it in the picture
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The pic is T mobile G2 right? Are you still going to try and see it will charge or not?

perryh1 said:
seems like it may be hardware related, if you look to the left of the pins, there is something attached on the sprint board that is missing on ours i will circle it in the picture
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't doubt your info, but it seems weird to me that other carriers (sprint specifically I think) can't access their pins, but would have added hardware that would make the phone capable of wireless charging, and we have access to the pins, but lack the hardware capability to take advantage of them.

perryh1 said:
seems like it may be hardware related, if you look to the left of the pins, there is something attached on the sprint board that is missing on ours i will circle it in the picture
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree. I got a chance to take some macro shot of this with my DSLR. Pics attached.

I have a wind mobile note 2. Identical to the tmobile version. I did poke around with my multi meter and couldnt find the positive charging pin connected to anything. Just to be clear im no expert I just took my phone apart so it may help others figure this out. Especially since I already ordered the palm touch stone stuff lol
Sent from my SGH-T889V using xda premium

As it stands now, I jumped the USB 5vdc internally with a tiny wire, over to the wireless positive pin. It's working, although it was a tough mod. But it is totally internal so I guess this will have to do for now. So I have wireless charging (kind of, it works teh same as USB) on the T-mobile Note 2 now. If anyone wants to do the same thing, post up a pic of the board by the USB plug and I'll label the connector that you can use for the 5vdc source. The reason it's a tough mod is because you have to solder a small connection to the board under the capacitive touch buttons. It took me about 4 hours to find a good power lead on the board and make it all work internally!

vinas1 said:
As it stands now, I jumped the USB 5vdc internally with a tiny wire, over to the wireless positive pin. It's working, although it was a tough mod. But it is totally internal so I guess this will have to do for now. So I have wireless charging (kind of, it works teh same as USB) on the T-mobile Note 2 now. If anyone wants to do the same thing, post up a pic of the board by the USB plug and I'll label the connector that you can use for the 5vdc source. The reason it's a tough mod is because you have to solder a small connection to the board under the capacitive touch buttons. It took me about 4 hours to find a good power lead on the board and make it all work internally!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please do. I might do the same thing... I have lots of touchstones and a couple Note2's that need some inductive lovin'!
Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk 2

[Q] Magnetic USB charging Cable Causing Shutdowns

Hi Guys,
I just received my USB charging cable.
But I was just wondering is this cable 1 way use only?
I noticed that if I rotate the magnetic head the other way and try connect it upside down it will turn off my phone.
Is this normal?
Thanks

of course
its the same like on the XZ if you ever build your own dock for it and you put the wires wrong than your XZ was shut down
you are charging a battery with + on + and - on -
and if you rotate the cable than youre going to discharge your battery
your phone noticed that very big mistake and shut himself down.
just dont do it, it will harm your battery
P.S. did you ever charged a normal battery? than you should know what i mean (LOL)

I have same problem!
Now when o connect my usb pt pc with normal cable he have behaves strangely. Very slow to move and crash sometimes the systemUI FC.
Very slow and always have the backlight blinked and dont charge correctly....
Is only me or have some people with this problem?
Thanks

Same problem here.
After plugging the magnetic cable by the wrong side, the phone literally died, and I had to charge it for a few hours until it came back to life.
After that, the orange led is always on after unplugging the charger and when I switch it on, keeps bootlooping in the Sony logo.
Any solution or suggestion?
Thanks!

inax22 said:
Same problem here.
After plugging the magnetic cable by the wrong side, the phone literally died, and I had to charge it for a few hours until it came back to life.
After that, the orange led is always on after unplugging the charger and when I switch it on, keeps bootlooping in the Sony logo.
Any solution or suggestion?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For bootloop keep power 5 seconds and he pass to bootanimation.

I have now tried four different magnetic charging methods with the Z1s: 2 docks and two cables... NONE of them can charge faster than the phone drains... They just don't work with the z1s! (must be the different 3000mah battery?) Very disappointing to have to keep that fragile little flap open for the usb cable

hellonasty said:
For bootloop keep power 5 seconds and he pass to bootanimation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Didn't work. The only way to exit the bootloop was by pushing the red button in the SIM slot.

HUH! you guys must be very talented, or have a very bad cable...
sony learnt thier lesson after XZ and made the magnetic connector non symmetric so that you won't be able to connect it the wrong way...
i have an original sony magnetic cable i took out from the charging dock, i can only connect it one way, if i try the other way the magnet and pins won't hold...
perhaps 3rd party cables are less idiot proof...

I have bought a couple of these Mini magnetic chargers (not from this vendor, the vendor I bought it look that its out of stock, but are the same)
It work great, and I dont need to bought another cable :highfive: just use the same, Its impossible to connect in the wrong way because as you can see in this pictures, in the first one pin connector its just in the middle of the hole (right one), the one in the left its a little moved to the left, just this little difference made imposibble plug it in a wrong way, because it doesn´t make contact, besides one side has like a logo, that always is in the same position to the screen, I'm very happy with these actually , the time to charge 100% the phone its about 3~4 hours
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I have bought Magnetic Charger Adapter. It only costs USD3.79. Great work when it held in place.

Upside down Magnetic Charger Cable
hellonasty said:
I have same problem!
Now when o connect my usb pt pc with normal cable he have behaves strangely. Very slow to move and crash sometimes the systemUI FC.
Very slow and always have the backlight blinked and dont charge correctly....
Is only me or have some people with this problem?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
I'm facing the same issue. Did you find a solution to your problem? What did you do to fix it?

Some one swapped used the magnetic charger on reverse
It shut down his phone. He didn't notice. He left it there over night. It damaged his battery so badly that it would only charge up again go 4%
Just don't do it
-----------------------------------------------------
Tapatalked from Sony Xperia Z1
Stock JB 4.4.4 | Root | Deodex | Cam Mods

Don't buy those terrible 2€ cables. Good cables can't be plugged in in the wrong direction!

For issues when plugging the usb will make the phone unusable due to unexpected behavior.
I plugged in the magnetic charger while usb cable was plugged.
It will make the phone usable.
Not sure about the consequences when plugging both, Do it at your discretion.

gilmerio said:
Hi,
I'm facing the same issue. Did you find a solution to your problem? What did you do to fix it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here also. Phone won't shut down properly now. It just reboots and bootloops. Need to hold down up volume and power to reset then press power to restart properly. Made the mistake of trying to connect my phone at night without looking at the phone and had it upside down and backwards. Luckily I had to get up shortly after and realised my mistake. The battery charges but only by usb cable now, and even that is twitchy. I'm thinking of replacing the battery myself. Not sure if my magnetic charger assembly is damaged as well as the battery. Thinking of buying a new magnetic charger, battery, back cover and adhesive all together to cover all my bases. Not sure if worth the effort if the bootloops are software related (already flashed new ftf files and started from scratch - didn't work).
Sigh ...

The solution is replacement...
I reached out to SONY and it seems that when you invert the magnetic charger there is an IC on the MB that gets fried. You need to return the phone to them (Obviously not telling them that you inverted the charger - since it won't be covered under warranty then) and say something like the phone isn't charging using my magnetic charger. (The folks at the India - Mumbai service center were ridiculous and had no knowledge whatsoever about the magnetic charger, so I gave them my charging cable as well), overall it took them 10 -15 days and i had my phone back with a brand new Motherboard.
Hope that helps!
scarshi said:
Same here also. Phone won't shut down properly now. It just reboots and bootloops. Need to hold down up volume and power to reset then press power to restart properly. Made the mistake of trying to connect my phone at night without looking at the phone and had it upside down and backwards. Luckily I had to get up shortly after and realised my mistake. The battery charges but only by usb cable now, and even that is twitchy. I'm thinking of replacing the battery myself. Not sure if my magnetic charger assembly is damaged as well as the battery. Thinking of buying a new magnetic charger, battery, back cover and adhesive all together to cover all my bases. Not sure if worth the effort if the bootloops are software related (already flashed new ftf files and started from scratch - didn't work).
Sigh ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Same with me.. but my phone cant on..cant connect pc & not charging if i charge with usb.. what should i do?? Pls help me

hellonasty said:
I have same problem!
Now when o connect my usb pt pc with normal cable he have behaves strangely. Very slow to move and crash sometimes the systemUI FC.
Very slow and always have the backlight blinked and dont charge correctly..
Same with me and now my Xperia z1 not charging more than 80 % with normal usb cable
Plzz anybody help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Yea this is the one time I would say its best to go with official Sony stuff here.
too much risk with the cheaper clone ones that you use like a cable since its sometimes anyone's guess which way its supposed to go and if you have plugged it in wrong enough times maybe the battery has gotten messed up or worse the charging circuit.
Id first try a backup full charge and fresh start of the rom just in case there is some sort of battery calibration in there, if that doesn't solve it then it could need service

hello i tried a mgnetic addaptor for microUSB cables witch when attached coud not hold but had a mark on witch way is up. When i inserted the addaptor the wrong way the phone gave a black screen and needed a reboot once i didnt notice that it is the wrong whay and it didnt whant to charge unless i let it fully discharge and then use the original microUSB cable and worked fine after that. I whanted a magnetic cabel for my phone but coudnt afford the verry verry expensive Sony OEM cabel (its worth more than 50 USD whare i live) so i both this guy http://www.geekbuying.com/item/Magn...-for-Sony-Xperia-Z3-Z2-Z1---Black-338682.html works like a charm is cheep and free delivery (to verywhare) and its hard to plug it in the wrong way as it is not semetric.