Guest FragMeister Posted April 4, 2005 Report Share Posted April 4, 2005 I wanted to get a USB Car Charger with a USB adaptor which plugs into the cigar lighter and then i plug in a USB cable. I got this one from ebay: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...item=5167291335 which said it was for the Jam/XDA Mini but wouldnt charge. I have left the charger connected for an hour, to see if the phone was infact charging even though it didnt show "charging" on the battery status screen. They sent me a replacement, but that was no better. By this time I had got a Jabra BT800 headset - which comes with a USB lead for charging - which worked fine. I have since got another one from a different ebayer, which is not better!! All I can assume is that the phone is not accepting the charge. two thoughts that spring to mind: 1: that the voltage/current is incorrect to allow the phone to charge? 2: that as well as power, the Jam needs some kind of "data" to initiate the charging process? Has anyone got a Car USB Charger Adaptor (i already have loads of USB cables, so dont really need another) which does work? - If so where did you get it from? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest adey_london Posted April 4, 2005 Report Share Posted April 4, 2005 I had a similar problem. The way around it is to plug the phone into the car charger, then switch off the handset, and switch it back on again. It should then start charging.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest FragMeister Posted April 4, 2005 Report Share Posted April 4, 2005 (edited) I had a similar problem. The way around it is to plug the phone into the car charger, then switch off the handset, and switch it back on again. It should then start charging.... <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Thanks for the tip. I have given it a try. Just pressing the power button wont suffice (as pocket pc's never really "turn off") I pulled the battery cover off - and then when i turned it back on, the amber charging light was on, and the battery status then showed "charging" Dont really want to have to keep doing a reset on the phone just to charge it in the car though!! Edited April 4, 2005 by FragMeister Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MitchellO Posted April 4, 2005 Report Share Posted April 4, 2005 I use a HP USB car charger (plugs into the lighter socket and has a USB port on it) that I connect my USB sync cable to and it works ok. Maybe the charger you bought isn't that good. My charger spits out 5.5V and 700mAh. Whats yours?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest adey_london Posted April 4, 2005 Report Share Posted April 4, 2005 Thanks for the tip. I have given it a try. Just pressing the power button wont suffice (as pocket pc's never really "turn off") I pulled the battery cover off - and then when i turned it back on, the amber charging light was on, and the battery status then showed "charging" Dont really want to have to keep doing a reset on the phone just to charge it in the car though!! <{POST_SNAPBACK}> You don't need to do a hard power cycle with my charger, just pressing the power button twice does the trick... I didn't think it would work, but it did... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MitchellO Posted April 4, 2005 Report Share Posted April 4, 2005 Turning the PDA off (ie. pushing the power buttons, phone is still on) would reduce the power consumption significantly because the screen is off, and the screen is the most (I think) power hungry part of the device. When off, power consumption would be much less, so that is probably why that works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest FragMeister Posted April 22, 2005 Report Share Posted April 22, 2005 Have now bought another USB charger (this time from Proporta - who assured me by email before I bought it that it would work) It is no better than the cheap ones from ebay!!! ARGHHHH!! :evil: :x Thinking that maybe I have a dodgy handset, as even I cant be *this* unlucky!! Has any one else bought one of these from Proporta and had it working ok??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MitchellO Posted April 22, 2005 Report Share Posted April 22, 2005 Could it be your car? Have you tried it in another car? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest flashflash Posted April 22, 2005 Report Share Posted April 22, 2005 Have now bought another USB charger (this time from Proporta - who assured me by email before I bought it that it would work) It is no better than the cheap ones from ebay!!! ARGHHHH!! :evil: :x Thinking that maybe I have a dodgy handset, as even I cant be *this* unlucky!! Has any one else bought one of these from Proporta and had it working ok??? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> right.. Ive got one of these and its not charging my C500!! I bought it for a Jam (which I am in the process of buying) and it should work with the C500, but no joy! Surposed to be standard USB voltage and current.. I will try turning phone off and see what happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest En_croute Posted April 22, 2005 Report Share Posted April 22, 2005 I bought one from eBay - and it was useless. They sent a different one and that was useless too. They are refunding now. They did say: Actually, we just find that the manufacturer of MDA Compact (The same company as the Orange SPV C500) may have done some software upgrade to the device. So no charging accessory made by other manufacturers can now work for the recently sold MDA Compact. Please read the following forum for reference : http://www.imate-user.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10 As a matter of fact, one of our customers find out that there is such "software upgrade" done by the manufacturer. The upgrade protects the interest of Orange, T-Mobile,....... as charging accessory from other suppliers cannot work for their products now. Orange, T-Mobile..... can now sell more charging accessories by doing this software upgrade. Here below is the finding of our customer: I have found if you connect the cable first and do a "soft Reset" on the MDA compact it will start to charge. This indicates that there is some sort of software protection on the MDA which does not allow recharging from third party item. Actually, the software protection inside the new MDA Compact is bypassed by his procedures (i.e. "Soft reset") as "soft reset" stops the running of software temporarily. This customer finds that he can now charge his MDA Compact by our product after doing the "soft reset". Certainly, it is undesirable for our customer to do "soft reset" every time for charging. But it can indicate that our product is not defective indeed. We are sorry that we are unable to serve you this time due to this unexpected revise of MDA Compact. Actually, we suggest you to buy charging accessories directly from Orange, T-Mobile, ..... as it seems that no charging accessory currently being sold in the market and made by other manufacturers can work for the new MDA Compact. I wasn't prepared to do a soft reset every time I went into the car. I've bought a charging cradle instead. Here's hoping that works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ianwood Posted April 23, 2005 Report Share Posted April 23, 2005 I bought one from eBay - and it was useless. They sent a different one and that was useless too. They are refunding now. They did say: Actually, we just find that the manufacturer of MDA Compact (The same company as the Orange SPV C500) may have done some software upgrade to the device. So no charging accessory made by other manufacturers can now work for the recently sold MDA Compact. Please read the following forum for reference : http://www.imate-user.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10 Go to the Orange shop and buy the car charging cable for the C500. It is not a USB charger but it is cable and cigarette lighter charger all in one. Works fine for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest FloatingFatMan Posted April 23, 2005 Report Share Posted April 23, 2005 They did say: Actually, we just find that the manufacturer of MDA Compact (The same company as the Orange SPV C500) may have done some software upgrade to the device. So no charging accessory made by other manufacturers can now work for the recently sold MDA Compact. Please read the following forum for reference : http://www.imate-user.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10 <{POST_SNAPBACK}> If they have indeed done this, then they've just broken all kinds of anti-competition and monopoly laws from all over the world... :shock: If this can be confirmed, then I suspect legal action will probably follow from the 3rd party makers of chargers... BTW: My old MPX200 car charger doesn't work on my MDAC (again, and standard USB charger), so that's another one struck off the list... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MitchellO Posted April 24, 2005 Report Share Posted April 24, 2005 I don't think they can afford the get legal with them. I mean, it costs a fair bit to take legal action. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest En_croute Posted April 24, 2005 Report Share Posted April 24, 2005 Legal action is never going to happen. What has probably happened is that the own brand chargers deliver a very specific current and voltage. The 3rd party ones are more generic (for ease of production and re-badging for different units), and for safety the phone isn't accepting a charge from these. As any USB to USBmini cable works to charge the MDA from a PC there is nothing in the cable to tell the MDA if its an official or 3rd party unit. It will only accept a charge from a clean accurate source. This is why 3rd party goods are so much cheaper. As for legal action it would have no legs - every manufacturer says to only use the official equipment as 3rd party equipment might damage your unit, and would not be covered by warranty. There is no legal case to answer in terms of competition, as they have not installed software, and anyone providing a correct specification charger will be able to sell it. Only if they had restricted the ability to produce such a unit and then denied the specs would there be a case - and that would be a weak one at best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MitchellO Posted April 24, 2005 Report Share Posted April 24, 2005 Your right there. Manufacturers do say that using other products may damage your unit and will void the warranty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest FragMeister Posted April 24, 2005 Report Share Posted April 24, 2005 I've bought a charging cradle instead. Here's hoping that works. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I am thinking of doing the same, Brodit do a good looking one, available from HandNav for £34 inc free P&P (although I dont think that includes a windscreen suction mount) I dont want to buy a c500 one from an Orange shop, as they are usually a coiled cable, and I have just spent ages routing a standard USB cable through so it pops out of the side of my dashboard just where my phone mount is. PS: My proporta one is rated as 5.4V dc / 850mA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest FloatingFatMan Posted April 24, 2005 Report Share Posted April 24, 2005 As any USB to USBmini cable works to charge the MDA from a PC there is nothing in the cable to tell the MDA if its an official or 3rd party unit. It will only accept a charge from a clean accurate source. This is why 3rd party goods are so much cheaper. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Actually, that's not QUITE true... I took my official, supplied with phone, USB charging cable to work the other day, intending to charge the phone there, and it just flatly refused to charge. I got it to charge eventually, but ONLY after I had installed ActiveSync. I tried uninstalling AS and it refused to charge again, thereby indicating the phone is definately looking for SOMETHING... I tried the trick mentioned a few posts above with my MPX200 charger (official charger from Moto). It will NOT charge if I just plug it in, but if I plug it in, then soft-reset the phone, it charges fine, right up until I turn off the ignition and therefore the power to the socket. Then it's right back to square one... Bear in mind this is an OFFICIAL moto charger (not a HTC or T-Mobile one I admit), but it has a clean power line (tested & verified by meter) so by your reconning, it should work perfectly, yet doesn't So, it seems there is DEFINATELY something in the phone that won't charge unless it's receiving a specific signal. Now I know manufacturers all say don't use 3rd party accessories & warranty void etc, but this is the first time I've ever come across them deliberately stopping you from using 3rd party stuff, and IMO, that DOES have anti-competitive issues which could provoke legal action if the 3rd party makers want to. In the end though, I suspect they'll just reverse engineer an official charger... It all makes it bloody annoying for the end user and not needed IMO... So, anyone have a link for a nice (not too expensive) charger, without blasted coiled cable, that definately works with the magician (preferably in the UK)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest En_croute Posted April 25, 2005 Report Share Posted April 25, 2005 it has a clean power line (tested & verified by meter) so by your reconning, it should work perfectly, yet doesn't<{POST_SNAPBACK}> It does sound like this could be the case, I have ASync on both PCs, so I didn't consider that. When I meant "Clean" I meant non variable. Some charger will deliver up to 1800Ma, and I supect the official one has a narrower band of tolerence (variable output rating) - and that could be the cause. Also car battery supply varies considerably when driving as the alternator re-charges thge car battery. This can cause spike in the DC supply, and this could be why the MDA is rejecting the charge. I'll mail HTC Europe and see if they have an answer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest FloatingFatMan Posted April 25, 2005 Report Share Posted April 25, 2005 It does sound like this could be the case, I have ASync on both PCs, so I didn't consider that. When I meant "Clean" I meant non variable. Some charger will deliver up to 1800Ma, and I supect the official one has a narrower band of tolerence (variable output rating) - and that could be the cause. Also car battery supply varies considerably when driving as the alternator re-charges thge car battery. This can cause spike in the DC supply, and this could be why the MDA is rejecting the charge. I'll mail HTC Europe and see if they have an answer. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Yeah, I know what you meant by clean ;) My car has a seperate power line for the rear, designed specifically for running electrical items, not a cigar lighter, and it's on this I tested it. This line is completely steady, even when running at different engine speeds :D The main cigar lighter socket DOES vary a little, but as I said, it charged the phone fine after a reset, right up until I shut off the ignition, thus cutting the power. I fairly sure they've put something in there, so it'll be interesting to see what reply if any you get from HTC... P.S: If you can, try charging from a PC which doesn't have AS installed. It'd be interesting if someone else finds what I did. If you try on a machine where you've uninstalled AS, make sure you delete all the drivers too so that it's no longer recognised as a USB mobile device. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest fallwood Posted April 25, 2005 Report Share Posted April 25, 2005 (edited) This is a well known problem with car chargers and the c500/jam/mda, the phone looks for a data signal from activesync before it will start charging, there is a cable hack that can be done to make any usb cable work as a car charger over in the c500 section, I use my c500 car charger with my mda and it works fine, i also tried the cable patch on a standard usb lead and universal usb car charger and it worked fine. Heres the thread on modding a standard usb cable http://www.modaco.com/index.php?showtopic=...20charger&st=20 Edited April 25, 2005 by fallwood Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest FragMeister Posted April 25, 2005 Report Share Posted April 25, 2005 Gave up and bought a c500 coil charger from my local Orange shop. Just need to unravel the coils so that i can get it wired into my dashboard. - at least the ebay one only cost a few quid! The Proporta one is going back!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mike-oh Posted October 20, 2005 Report Share Posted October 20, 2005 okay...old topic. My 2 peneth. I charge my MDA compact succesfully at work via USB on machines which don't have activesync installed. I plug the cable in and the PC tells me i can't install software as i don't have adminstrative privelages. That's fine as i don't want to sync.....just charge....and that's what it does. Occasionally i have to unplug it from the PC and plug it back in again to start charging as it does't work all the time. Four out of five times it's ok though. Now....i've just bought an MDA car charger of eBay. They sent a C500 one. I've plugged it into my car and it seems to be charging as the orange light comes on the phone. Does anyone know if the C500 and MDA mains chargers are the same voltage/current rating? I'll drive to work with the phone on charge tomorrow and report back on what's happened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nsp24 Posted October 21, 2005 Report Share Posted October 21, 2005 okay...old topic. My 2 peneth. I charge my MDA compact succesfully at work via USB on machines which don't have activesync installed. I plug the cable in and the PC tells me i can't install software as i don't have adminstrative privelages. That's fine as i don't want to sync.....just charge....and that's what it does. Occasionally i have to unplug it from the PC and plug it back in again to start charging as it does't work all the time. Four out of five times it's ok though. Now....i've just bought an MDA car charger of eBay. They sent a C500 one. I've plugged it into my car and it seems to be charging as the orange light comes on the phone. Does anyone know if the C500 and MDA mains chargers are the same voltage/current rating? I'll drive to work with the phone on charge tomorrow and report back on what's happened. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Not sure about the same voltage/current rating? but my C500 car charger does charge my M500 ok. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest the_evertonian Posted October 24, 2005 Report Share Posted October 24, 2005 I got my USB car charger from my local Orange shop as part of an accesories pack when I bought my C500. It works fine for my JAM and my C500. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest spangelsaregreat Posted October 27, 2005 Report Share Posted October 27, 2005 Had the same problem here with my MDA Compact and a USB car charger. I have to reset it to get it to work and if you allow the phone to go to sleep it also stops charging!!! I generally only need to charge in the car on a long journey which usually means I am using Tom Tom which keeps the phone on. It is a pain but I also have a Soft Reset option on my Start menu so I do not need to get the stylus out. After I found out the reason for it not working I decided NOT to buy a T-Mobile one out of principle!! Regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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