C500 charging on WinNT

[Guest stunno]

Hi,

I've just got a C500 and, rather than buy a charger to use at work, I was wondering if there was any way to get it to charge on an NT based PC?

I know NT doesn't support usb, but the pc has two usb ports that do put out power, as a colleague charges his mp3 player on his.

Is there a particular type of mini usb lead that I could buy that will allow it to charge without a Activesync data connection?

Thanks

Steve

[Guest DomConway]

I'm in a similar situation but haven't found a way round it yet. I thought it was to do with the fact that NT doesn't support USB, so was quite surprised to read that your colleague charges his mp3 player using it. Did he have to install a seperate USB driver?

[Guest stunno]

No there is no driver at all.

If the 'thought police' would let me I could install Win2000 on the pc and use activesync with the usb ports, its not a pc hardware problem. The usb ports are 'live' and putting out power, its just that NT will not recognise anything plugged into them

Edited February 24, 2005 by stunno

[Guest dharbige]

I don't know if it will work with other USB devices, but IO Networks have USB devices that work with NT4 via their own USB stack.

You could try installing their Drivers, and see if that allows you to use the usb port for ActiveSync.

[Guest xenophobe]

W2K SP4 has USB Support.

Go to Windows Update, and update to SP4 and you'll have your USB 2.0 support and then should be able to install activesync.

[Guest stunno]

Thanks for the replies, guys. But my problem is that I am stuck with NT and the firms IT 'thought police' will not let me install any 'non approved' software.

My original question was whether there is a mini usb lead that I can buy that will allow me to charge my c500 from a pc without activesync installed? Or, if not, is there a way to modify an ordinary lead to allow this?

Presumably the car chargers fool the c500 into thinking that there is a data connection, so can it be done with a lead?

[Guest xenophobe]

Microsoft W2000 Service Pack 4 is not approved?

On a USB Cable, ground pins 4 and 5, and it'll charge.

Edited February 24, 2005 by xenophobe

[Guest stunno]

Microsoft W2000 Service Pack 4 is not approved?

On a USB Cable, ground pins 4 and 5, and it'll charge.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Not on NT :?: Not even on the machines with W2000 on them!! We have some real muppets in charge of our IT department, NT had been out for a good few years before we were allowed any version of Windows on a machine at all, prior to that it was OS2 or DOS!!

Thanks for the tip on the cabling, now to try and fins a cheap one on Fleabay to mess about with!

[Guest xenophobe]

You should be able to find a cheap one just at any computer store... you can probably find one cheaper locally, with not have to pay shipping...

[Guest richard_hogg]

The reason your colleague's MP3 player charges is that it doesn't have the 'silly' signal thing that the C500 uses to signify charging using ActiveSync and the MP3 player doesn't need it.

The USB ports will be powered on by the BIOS, so as already mentioned, the cheap USB cable shorted will do the trick.

Oh, and has anyone tried this for use with a Car-USB charger? I've got one for my PDA and woudl like to use this unit for my C500.

[Guest jporch316]

to answer your question - you can charge your phone without active sync being present - sometimes you can use the mini usb leads off digi cameras etc which although wont let you sync - they still carry a charge. Have a look around the office for one or if your mates mp3 uses a mini usb lead plug it in there and try

[Guest xenophobe]

There is no difference to the miniUSB cable that comes with the C500 and one that would happen to come with a camera or something. I've used my miniUSB cable that came with my Canon with my SMT 5600, and the other way around. The phone needs to be detected as a device for it to get a charge, if I remember correctly.

[Guest stunno]

Won't it be the other way round? That the phone needs to detect a data connection before the phone will allow charging?

[Guest furby]

If there's power coming out of the usb port I can't see why you'd need activesync installed. I charged my C500 on a linux machine the other day. Maybe they're not connected on your machine? have you tried any other usb device to check

Edited February 25, 2005 by Furby™

[Guest stunno]

Yes, I plugged it into the same port that the mp3 player was plugged into, with no success. I have even tried plugging it into my xp pc without activesync running and that didn't work either!

Cheapest mini usb cable locally is £4.99 :lol:

[Guest jporch316]

It definately charges on machines without active sync - active sync only creates the partnership - it does not control the electrical charge.

[Guest jporch316]

I WAS WRONG - i use to have a mpx200 which could be charged without active sync - I just tried my c500 in someone elses PC and it didnt charge.

my apologies

[Guest stunno]

Thank God for that!

I thought it was me!!

Thanks jporch316, most people would have kept quiet and pretended they hadn't said anything

Apologies accepted, and MUCH respect heading your way!!!

If only all Internet board members were as honourable it would save a lot of misleading posts from becoming fact!

thanks again