Guest Paul [MVP] Posted January 21, 2003 Report Share Posted January 21, 2003 Yes, it can be done! I'm gonna give it a go this weekend... http://membres.lycos.fr/smarphone/usb.htm P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Monolithix [MVP] Posted January 21, 2003 Report Share Posted January 21, 2003 Yeah someone posted it here on modaco yesterday. Seeing as i havent got the kit, and dont fancy melting my SPV just yet i'll stick with an xda usb charger ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest sganatra Posted January 23, 2003 Report Share Posted January 23, 2003 I've just tried it and it seems to work fine. ;) Now i can charge and sync straight from the cradle. BTW i suggest cutting and soldering straight to the red wire. This will insure that if you do accidently plug the power adapter in, that u do no damage to the phone or your motherboard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Will Posted January 23, 2003 Report Share Posted January 23, 2003 use the black rubber ariel cover from a nokia (or nick a friend/relative/passer-by's) into the power socket, and you'll be fine! Will (working on a cradle car kit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest awarner [MVP] Posted January 23, 2003 Report Share Posted January 23, 2003 I've just tried it and it seems to work fine. ;) Now i can charge and sync straight from the cradle. BTW i suggest cutting and soldering straight to the red wire. This will insure that if you do accidently plug the power adapter in, that u do no damage to the phone or your motherboard. Works fine for me :lol: but my suggestion is to tuck the charger socket inside the unit so it's out of the way. It does fit and all you need to do is lift the socket out of it's housing as it's not fixed in anyway :lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Firaas Posted January 24, 2003 Report Share Posted January 24, 2003 How thick was the solder iron you guys used? I think I've got a 5mm lying around somewhere - too big? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest HelloDave Posted January 24, 2003 Report Share Posted January 24, 2003 On the bottom of the cradle (and on the PSU) it says the power supply is 1A max, but USB can only supply 500mA per port. Could this be why the cradle uses an external PSU in the first place? Doesn't really explain why charge & sync cables work though! Anyone who tries this mod - can you post and say how you got on? I'd love to try it because the squeaky charger drives me nuts; I can hear it over my PC! Only problem is toasting my computer (or SPV!) isn't top of my wishlist at the moment, and my motherboard is heavily loaded as it is power-wise with 4 USB ports and 7 USB devices, two drawing 500mA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest sganatra Posted January 24, 2003 Report Share Posted January 24, 2003 How thick was the solder iron you guys used? I think I've got a 5mm lying around somewhere - too big?That should be fine. The pin that you need to solder onto is on the end so you just have to be careful not to cause any shorts. On the bottom of the cradle (and on the PSU) it says the power supply is 1A max, but USB can only supply 500mA per port. Could this be why the cradle uses an external PSU in the first place? Doesn't really explain why charge & sync cables work though! Under Device Manager my USB ROOT HUB device is using 64mA. So i guess the SPV only draws the power it needs rather than the full 500 mA. Unfortunatly i dont know too much about power and all that, but i work in a school and my mates down in the Physics Department recon that it would be fine and that why the done the mod for me in the first place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest HelloDave Posted January 24, 2003 Report Share Posted January 24, 2003 Under Device Manager my USB ROOT HUB device is using 64mA. So i guess the SPV only draws the power it needs rather than the full 500 mA. It probably does draw what it needs, i'm just worried what would happen if it "needed" more than 500mA! Device manager on my PC tells me my SPV cradle is using 64mA too, so I don't think your reading is accurate, or the SPV wasn't charging at the time. I'm not sure how the power going to USB devices is measured - it could be the power consumption is simply read from the device or its driver upon installation and not actually measured by the hub in which case it would always stay the same figure (since most people don't mod their USB devices!). My external 5 port USB hub draws 0mA according to Device manager, when I know its drawing power because it has 3 devices attatched to it. If I open up that hub's properties it tells me the power consumption of each device attatched to it, which presumably it can't measure since a) the hub itself apparently draws "0mA", ;) it only has one USB connection to the PC, so it would have to meter the load on each port seperately and transmit the results c) my hub only cost £14.99! So I don't think we're any closer to finding out the SPV's power draw when charging. Anyone fancy connecting an ammeter up?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest sganatra Posted January 24, 2003 Report Share Posted January 24, 2003 If it needs more than 500mA then how do the charge/sync cables work?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest HelloDave Posted January 24, 2003 Report Share Posted January 24, 2003 Doesn't really explain why charge & sync cables work though! Like I said; I haven't got a clue, but remember that these cables are designed for the XDA, not the SPV. I'm just going by what the specs on the charger and docking cradle say, nothing more! I expect they work because its 1A peak current but normal draw would be much lower. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Matt Whitfield Posted January 24, 2003 Report Share Posted January 24, 2003 Heh, that rocks - nice one. Now I can leave the charger at home all the time - thank god. I think I'll wait until Monday to get the bloke here who can do mil-spec soldering to do it, cos the last time I soldered anything was a very long time ago... and now I think about, it didn't look too impressive either!... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Roamer Posted January 24, 2003 Report Share Posted January 24, 2003 To avoid any risk of accidental damage it you plug in your charger to the cradle, why don't you use a diode to make the link instead of a simple wire (insulated of course) this will block the current from the charger going to the USB connection, sorted! ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Firaas Posted January 25, 2003 Report Share Posted January 25, 2003 So I don't think we're any closer to finding out the SPV's power draw when charging. Anyone fancy connecting an ammeter up?! Got an ammeter/voltmeter lying around. Not got any spare chargers though, and after having seen the prices on Orange Accessories, I think I might leave cutting one up for a bit ;) Might give opening the cradle a go, although it would probably no longer be covered by Orange Care (reasonable care clause?)... If it had needed more than 500mA, I would presume it would turn to the battery for the power, and power down if it needed the 500mA that desperately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest HelloDave Posted January 25, 2003 Report Share Posted January 25, 2003 If it had needed more than 500A, I would presume it would turn to the battery for the power, and power down if it needed the 500A that desperately. 500A, now that would screw up your PC ;) I'm not sure quite how USB works with this - does it limit whatever's connected to it to 500mA, or is it up to the device not to draw too much current? If it's up to the device then there could potentially be a risk to the PC motherboard/USB hub. I did read in another thread that charge & sync cables wouldn't charge the SPV if the battery was really flat because they couldn't supply more than 500mA. Sorry to go on about this point, I just don't want to cook my PC! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Firaas Posted January 25, 2003 Report Share Posted January 25, 2003 Gimme a break - it was the morning! The USB ports are definitely limited. You often get devices powering down short if you have a device that draws too much current from a 4-port USB PCI hub (and have all plugged in) etc. Think about it - if it was possible to draw unlimited current via USB, wouldn't we have printers etc powered directly? The phone will not be physically able to draw 1mA, and so it'll cut out. Presumably the USB ports have diodes in as standard just in case a printer messes up and starts sending current down the wire to the PC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest HelloDave Posted January 25, 2003 Report Share Posted January 25, 2003 Think about it - if it was possible to draw unlimited current via USB, wouldn't we have printers etc powered directly?That wasn't really my point - the USB specification says you can't draw more than 500mA, so obviously printers wouldn't be bus powered because then they wouldn't meet the specification and probably couldn't carry the USB logo etc etc. The cradle mod is obviously not going to be done according to USB specs, so I just wondered how USB deals with devices that don't play ball, but your next part of the post answers that question - You often get devices powering down short if you have a device that draws too much current from a 4-port USB PCI hub (and have all plugged in) etc. I've never had this happen becuase I've always been careful what I plugged into my hub, but I suppose they have to build in protection for normal users who don't think what power their device uses when they plug it in (and fair enough - not many people would do!). It might vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, but I would expect protection as standard, as ports need to be able to cope with overloaded hubs connected to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Firaas Posted January 25, 2003 Report Share Posted January 25, 2003 I've never had this happen becuase I've always been careful what I plugged into my hub I have a set of USB ports which came with my PC as standard, four in the back, two in the front. I had a wireless LAN card plugged in the back, and a MS motion-sensing gamepad in the front. I also had a printer plugged in, but that stayed idle most of the time. I found almost every time I played, the gamepad was fine until I started pushing several buttons at once. It powered off then back on within half a second, and this was visible by the light. Was told this was because four of the ports were allocated either 500mA or 1A altogether, and gamepads tended to draw quite some current. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Paul [MVP] Posted January 26, 2003 Report Share Posted January 26, 2003 Damn, I haven't got a torx bit small enough to take the cradle apart! Arse! P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Will Posted January 26, 2003 Report Share Posted January 26, 2003 just my $0.02 my phone takes longer to charge to full, using the sync and charge usb cable, (in the car and on the usb). Not timed it, but I do notice it! Will Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest awarner [MVP] Posted January 26, 2003 Report Share Posted January 26, 2003 "]Damn, I haven't got a torx bit small enough to take the cradle apart! Arse! P I have but it was at work :lol: So I used a small precision screwdriver ;) sorted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest HelloDave Posted January 27, 2003 Report Share Posted January 27, 2003 my phone takes longer to charge to full, using the sync and charge usb cable, (in the car and on the usb). Not timed it, but I do notice it! That's because the USB port can only supply half the current the normal charger can. Proves Firaas' theory anyway! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest leo-balou Posted January 27, 2003 Report Share Posted January 27, 2003 Tried the USB cradle charge faq - works brilliantly!! Thanks who ever sorted this one out. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Hax Posted January 27, 2003 Report Share Posted January 27, 2003 "]Damn, I haven't got a torx bit small enough to take the cradle apart! Arse! P Me neither :cry: Anyone know what size it is - don't want to try buying another set only to find out that all the bits in that are too small also! Cheers for any help, Adam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Kallisti Posted February 12, 2003 Report Share Posted February 12, 2003 Anyone got a working URL for this mod? The first link doesn't seem to give me anything....? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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