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Charging

Is there any way to get my X7510 to be more efficient at charging?
It seems recently that even from the straight charger it's taking almost all incoming power to run leaving next to nothing for charging.
USB Sync has always been like this, but straight charge used to be quite quick.

Are you using the original charger that came with it?
I've also found that the Flint is much more fussy about charging than any other device, including the previous X7500. USB charging takes an age, especially if the device is left on. My 'power pack' emergency charger hardly charges it at all, despite being able to fully charge my Advent 4213 netbook. My Diamond's wall socket charger hardly charges it at all, despite being technically the same spec as the Flint's one.
My original charger, and my Brodit car cradle both still charge mine pretty well- the Brodit will charge it up from 50% to 100% in about 1 hour, even with SatNav operating.
With my external power pack, or if I can only access a USB charge, I now use a screen-off application (built into PocketPlus) to keep it turned on, but on a very low battery drain.

Yes, it's the original charger. It appears to have had a knock though, the plug is a bit bent. I wonder if that's damaged something :-/

Can you guys recommend a small portable power recharger that works well with the X7510?
I would be taking a long flight soon and I would like for my X7510 to last the trip.

I can't really suggest anything because neither of my 'emergency packs' work properly with the X7510.
Perhaps you could check with the airline whether they have 'in-seat' charging/power facilities? Some have a powered USB charging socket and some have proprietary connections, but might have a suitable adapter?

Power source detection

I'm not sure, but would it be possible for the G1/Android to detect what power source it's plugged into? From what I understand, a lot of wall-warts speak somewhat to the device. If minute differences could be found, they could be "labeled". Applications for this would be power based setting changes. For example, plugged into my computer-> screen on, bedside charger-> backlight off/ringer silent, Car charger-> GPS, bluetooth on, blah blah, etc. Anyone have any thoughts about this?

Sounds like a neat locale plug in if this is possible.
I know devices can tell the difference between a USB plug and an electrical outlet
Not sure about the car charger though.

doesnt the app power manager do the job?? idk about the car charger one tho

Z
The reason I think this may be possible is that I had a RAZR a few phones ago, and it would only work with Motorola power supplies, but my BB pearl I got after it would work with it as well. And if I recall, iPhones require some kind of handshake to work with a usb plug. Just an idea and was wondering about it's plausibility.

kingcliff00 said:
doesnt the app power manager do the job?? idk about the car charger one tho
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I looked at power manager, and it does change settings depending on whether it is plugged in or not. The real point of my inquiry is not whether setting can be changed, but can power sources be ID'd. Setting change is just an application of the information. You could also have it launch an app too if plugged in, IE a navigation or music app starts when plugged into car charger.

Detecting the difference between the USB cable and wall/car charger should be simple enough - only one of those has a computer on the other end, and the phone already detects that. It even shows up in the spare parts app on CyanogenMod as "charging (AC)" and "charging (USB)".
Not sure if there is a way to differentiate between car and wall charger. (Though you could always hack something together using the GPS and define the car charger as "any non-USB charger outside a set location". If you're not travelling much, that is.)

If you use "Spare Parts" and bring up the battery info screen, it will indicate (AC) or (USB) when the phone is charging...
Using the AC charger makes a big difference on these phones. I run Wifi Tether on 3G all day long at work. Using the USB charger, the phone will die. Using AC, it will stay on 100 charge even if I'm streaming music all day...
I think the max output on a USB cable is 0.5 amps. The HTC charger is labeled as max output 1 amp. I'm no electrician, but the AC cable could in fact be twice as good as USB charging.

[Q] USB fast charging for Nexus?

Hello everyone, I just have a question in regards to USB fast charging for the Galaxy Nexus.
I'm about to install a JVC head unit in my car (model KD-R810) and it proclaims to have 500ma available for charging Apple devices. My fear from my research is this will not be enough power to charge my Nexus while using GPS, so I am looking into other methods.
What I am thinking to do is use a Sirius car charger that is no longer needed (that puts out 5v 2a charging capability) and use this to keep the phone charged.
Now my question is, if I have the data portion of the USB cable connected to the above mentioned car stereo head unit and the power portion of the USB cable connected to the Sirius charger, can anyone suggest any reason why this is not a good idea?
Also, will I need to trick my nexus into charging "AC" rather than "USB" even while connected to a USB charger that can supply 2a?
I've read articles about having to short the data lines on a USB to get it to charge in AC..?
I am wondering if doing something like this is needed? I currently have a rocketfish charger rated at 600ma that charges the nexus in "AC" mode, however I'm wondering if having 2a available using the Sirius charger will charge the phone that much faster, or if this is dangerous for some reason? I did read somewhere that the nexus will only draw as much power as needed and should be safe with higher rated chargers, however I wish to confirm before risking frying anything.
So my question is, if I wanted to use my Nexus with GPS and with my above mentioned JVC stereo as a storage place for music, would I benefit from using a hacked cable on a switch for example to be able to switch between GPS charging mode and "Data" mode for use with the head unit?
Perhaps a switch for the data portion of the USB to switch between going to the headunit and being shorted for fast charging?
Any guidance would be appreciated!

There is a kernel patch know as Fast-charging. It's implemented in Matr1x and air kernel i believe. This should do the trick.

Sorry i didn't see this before, don't know how i missed it. Here is the rundown:
-Data mode uses 500mA
-AC mode exceeds this, stock charger rated at 750mA
-Excess amperage should be limited by the Nexus S with no problem
-FastCharge forces AC mode, so the phone will attempt to draw the max current it can handle. NO DATA TRANSFER is available in this mode, so can't use it as a USB for your deck
Essentially, i would be using a kernel with FastCharge with the 2A charger and get the Nexus S to decode and output music through a 3.5mm jack to the AUX input on the deck. I hear it can get quite hot while charging and using GPS, so make sure to check it's heat every so often just in case. Decoding music will put practically no extra strain in comparison to everything else it'll be doing, it won't slow the charging by any noticable amount.

Heat can be a problem when using GPS and charging at a high current, my NS gets hot doing these two things at same time!
Try putting the device near a cold air flow inside the car.

[Q] List of Nexus 5 car chargers that charging in AC mode

Hi,
I would like to create list of car chargers that are able to charge N5 in AC mode.
Till now I have found only one review on Amazon on: "PowerGen Dual USB 3.1A Car charger".
Sorry, but I still can't post links.
I want to buy something that works for sure.
So, please share your real life experience...

armourer1 said:
Hi,
I would like to create list of car chargers that are able to charge N5 in AC mode.
Till now I have found only one review on Amazon on: "PowerGen Dual USB 3.1A Car charger".
Sorry, but I still can't post links.
I want to buy something that works for sure.
So, please share your real life experience...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got this one http://www.amazon.co.uk/Anker-Dual-...5839252&sr=8-1&keywords=anker+usb+car+charger is working fine, it has 2 ports one of which says it is for apple but works just fine on any device both ports charge over 2 Amps.

Ady1976
Thanks for replay,
Can you please Goto Settings -> About -> Status -> Battery Status: and verify that you see Charging (AC) ?
I am also able to charge with old Griffin charger, but it only works with "Charging (USB)" - 0.5A.
Thanks...

armourer1 said:
Ady1976
Thanks for replay,
Can you please Goto Settings -> About -> Status -> Battery Status: and verify that you see Charging (AC) ?
I am also able to charge with old Griffin charger, but it only works with "Charging (USB)" - 0.5A.
Thanks...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, yes it does say charging by (AC)

Ady1976
Thanks a lot !
Now I have one more charger to choose from -

0.5A is USB level so that's why that one doesn't work, anything that charges at 1A or over should be fine.

b1g1an said:
0.5A is USB level so that's why that one doesn't work, anything that charges at 1A or over should be fine.
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Click to collapse
My charger is capable of driving more than 0.5A, but the phone don't "understand' it.

Android determines that a charger is a wall charger (as opposed to a computer) by the fact that the data ports are shorted together. Apple chargers don't do this, so most chargers made for Apple products will only charge Android devices at 0.5A. Heck, almost no car chargers do, unless they were made specifically for an Android device. Here's what I did:
I ordered this Griffin car charger, mainly because of the size. It just BARELY sticks out of the car's charging plug. Then, I ordered the Nexus Wireless Charger, and used the cable it came with (minus the wall plug). Presto... Qi wireless charging in my car. The magnets hold the N5 in place nicely so it doesn't slide off the charger in my center console, and the charger I linked easily supplies the 1.8A that the Nexus Charger expects.
The catch is that this charger was designed for an Apple product, so I had to carefully pry it apart and short the center two USB pins with solder using a soldering iron (those are the data pins).
EDIT: I should point out here that the Nexus charger may work fine without shorting the pins. I didn't test it. I wanted the ability to quick charge via cable if necessary, since Qi charging is a bit slower, so I shorted the pins, but if all you're interested in is Qi charging, you may be able to get by without modifying the charger. If someone wants to test this, please let us know.

jt3
Thanks for the info. I have some kind of Griffin charger with 2 USB ports.
So, I will try to do the same - shorten data pins inside the charger.
I will post it works

Just an FYI, I was charging with a charger that listed AC mode last weekend yet it wasn't charging faster than the power was draining.
Not all the AC modes officially charge at a faster pace unfortunately. My Galaxy Nexus car dock charger though did charge it at a proper AC pace.

What took me a little while to figure out is that this issue may not be as related to the charger as it is to the cable. I tried 3 different car chargers and none of them would keep up with GPS battery drain in the car. I figured out that common to all 3 chargers that I was trying was the cable. So I bought this cable and now all 3 of the same chargers work great. I am finding that even at 1.0A you can keep up with the gps battery drain. At 1.5 amps or greater you can charge the battery in the car while using GPS full time.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0088HTYUE/ref=ya_aw_oh_pit

jalanjkcarp said:
What took me a little while to figure out is that this issue may not be as related to the charger as it is to the cable. I tried 3 different car chargers and none of them would keep up with GPS battery drain in the car. I figured out that common to all 3 chargers that I was trying was the cable. So I bought this cable and now all 3 of the same chargers work great.
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Click to collapse
This is because some "charge only" cables don't have data pins at all (usually, because they came with a charging dock of some sort, or were designed for devices other than Android). Remember, I said earlier that Android notices that it's on a charger when the data pins are shorted. If they're missing completely, then it will only charge at 0.5A.
My rule of thumb is to stay far - far away from charge-only cables.

I bought a "2.1A Car Charger" with a single USB port (made by PNY....Amazon for about $6 shipped)... opened it up and soldered a bridge between the middle 2 USB pins.
Previously it reported Charging (USB), now I get Charging (AC). Confirmed with a widget that showed charging amps, the number went way way up.
Presumably any of these chargers claiming high-amp output will only work with iDevices, I guess they ignore the USB standard that if the two middle pins are bridged, its a power-only connection and full power can flow.
I did test this on an HTC One X running 4.2 and it reports Charging USB though, so there is a dependency on one of the newer Android kernels (my N5 runs 4.4.2)
Edit: oh yea... with my newly modded charger, I tested turning on Bluetooth streaming audio to my car, GPS on, navigation running, screen on, 100% bright, and wifi tethering enabled, and i STILL had a net charge going.

I've just bought a Blackberry Premium In-Vehicle Charger and my N5 recognizes it as an AC charger. The phone pulls around 1A from it (it's good for up to 1.8A). This is it, though I purchased mine from a local store.

What would happen if I wirelessly charge AND AC/USB charge at the same time?

I was just curious, lol. Would the phone break or something? Thanks.

patsimeon said:
I was just curious, lol. Would the phone break or something? Thanks.
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Oops, wrong section...Sorry! I don't know how to move or delete this. Anyway, my curiosity stays.

I think qi charging overrides USB charging, but it could be the other way around. Either way, the phone knows to deactivate one.

According to the battery monitor, wired charging (USB or A/C) overrides wireless charging. So, if you plug it in, it doesn't matter if you place it on the wireless charger or not.

I seem to recall someone at Google (on one of their product QA's for this phone) that even though it makes logical sense for the AC charger to take precedence (faster, less heat generation) but the QI charger is the one actually doing the charger.
I realize this contradicts what the battery status would indicate, but it is plausible that the indicator does not report it correctly.
Either way, the only time I can really see this being a factor for me even REMOTELY, is in the extremely rare event I have the phone plugged into my computer via USB, and sitting on my qi charger. But that almost never happens, I sync data to/from the phone over wifi just because, well, it's easier. It's not faster, but since it happens automatically it takes less effort.
In that case, I'd actually prefer the qi charger to work, since it's a faster charge than my USB port.
imagine the hilarity if both charging circuits worked though...sounds good in theory but I think we'd all have broken phones

I've plugged in my USB cable (hooked up to my computer via USB 3.0), while my phone was sitting on my Qi charger (nokia, 750mah), and the usb cable takes priority over the charge.
When wireless charging is in effect, you hear the NFC tone from the phone. Also the light on the charger turns on when its charging. It doesn't play when you lay a phone with USB plugged in, and the light doesn't turn on in front of the charger, so.

I'm pretty sure this would disrupt the space-time continuum.

xybur said:
I've plugged in my USB cable (hooked up to my computer via USB 3.0), while my phone was sitting on my Qi charger (nokia, 750mah), and the usb cable takes priority over the charge.
When wireless charging is in effect, you hear the NFC tone from the phone. Also the light on the charger turns on when its charging. It doesn't play when you lay a phone with USB plugged in, and the light doesn't turn on in front of the charger, so.
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I can confirm that while setting on the wireless charger, the "charging" light is on on the charger, but if I plug the cable in, the light goes out. The wired charger is DEFINITELY overriding the wireless charger.

For people using OTG cables or external storage adapters on the microUSB slot they do require wireless charging to work while being "plugged in".

awesome question...I have a S5, which has a galaxy charging current app
does one exist for the nexus? if so, you could tell by the amps it is charging at