Develop Bugs

So why is my battery draining while charging?

I've noticed this happening any time I tether via USB or use GPS navigation while plugged in. Even though I'm connected and charging, I slowly but surely discharge. This weekend I used Google Nav for 2 hours and lost 20% of my battery while charging! On Juice Plotter, I notice the green charging glow at the bottom is a more transparent shade of green (as opposed to solid green when solely charging). Any ideas what causes this or how to avoid it? It seems to be recent.

TheBiles said:
I've noticed this happening any time I tether via USB or use GPS navigation while plugged in. Even though I'm connected and charging, I slowly but surely discharge. This weekend I used Google Nav for 2 hours and lost 20% of my battery while charging! On Juice Plotter, I notice the green charging glow at the bottom is a more transparent shade of green (as opposed to solid green when solely charging). Any ideas what causes this or how to avoid it? It seems to be recent.
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Let me guess, you're charging off a USB port in your laptop, or using the data cable that came with the phone in your car charger?
Not all USB sources (or cables, for that matter) are created equally. Most PC/laptop ports put out 500mAh, half of what the Evo is designed to take (the factory AC adapter, the wall plug, is 1000mAh, aka 1amp).
Since it's only getting half the draw it can't quite keep up with how much power you're sucking away from the battery. This is usually only present when using the device heavily, such as with the screen on and GPS or WiFi/3G actively running.
The charging indicator (at least on Sense) indicates if it's getting the full "AC" charge (1amp) or if it's getting a reduced current charge. Sounds like that's what you're noticing.
My wife's Samsung Moment charger is 700mAh/0.7amp, and it can keep my Evo steady during use (it's powering it for 3G+WiFi tether right now), but it doesn't really charge fast at all, basically it just keeps it from depleting.
I've been meaning to try one of the USB Y-cables that join 2 standard USB ports to one female port for combined power of 1amp, but I'm not sure it will work as I hope. Anyway, I'll report back if I get around to it.
Otherwise, use an actual 1amp AC adapter whenever possible. Shop on eBay, chargers are stupid cheap. Just look for one that says it can do 1amp/1000mAh. If you're using the phone at work and want to have a convenient charging source, get one of the $20 docking cradles with an AC adapter on eBay. If it's in your car, any 12v USB charger should work, as long as you use a proper pass-through charging micro USB cable and not a "data cable". There's a slight difference in how the pins are wired inside. The Rocket Fish brand of micro USB cables are known to work (that's how I charge mine at full power in my car).

Way to go GT. Are you a student? I'm an ME phd student.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

sprocket87 said:
Let me guess, you're charging off a USB port in your laptop, or using the data cable that came with the phone in your car charger?
Not all USB sources (or cables, for that matter) are created equally. Most PC/laptop ports put out 500mAh, half of what the Evo is designed to take (the factory AC adapter, the wall plug, is 1000mAh, aka 1amp).
Since it's only getting half the draw it can't quite keep up with how much power you're sucking away from the battery. This is usually only present when using the device heavily, such as with the screen on and GPS or WiFi/3G actively running.
The charging indicator (at least on Sense) indicates if it's getting the full "AC" charge (1amp) or if it's getting a reduced current charge. Sounds like that's what you're noticing.
My wife's Samsung Moment charger is 700mAh/0.7amp, and it can keep my Evo steady during use (it's powering it for 3G+WiFi tether right now), but it doesn't really charge fast at all, basically it just keeps it from depleting.
I've been meaning to try one of the USB Y-cables that join 2 standard USB ports to one female port for combined power of 1amp, but I'm not sure it will work as I hope. Anyway, I'll report back if I get around to it.
Otherwise, use an actual 1amp AC adapter whenever possible. Shop on eBay, chargers are stupid cheap. Just look for one that says it can do 1amp/1000mAh. If you're using the phone at work and want to have a convenient charging source, get one of the $20 docking cradles with an AC adapter on eBay. If it's in your car, any 12v USB charger should work, as long as you use a proper pass-through charging micro USB cable and not a "data cable". There's a slight difference in how the pins are wired inside. The Rocket Fish brand of micro USB cables are known to work (that's how I charge mine at full power in my car).
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I'm using the included charging cable. Doesn't that have full capacity? I also use a standard USB adapter in the car. It seems like that would be able to output the correct amount of volts.
gtkansan said:
Way to go GT. Are you a student? I'm an ME phd student.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
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3rd year CmpE.

I had the same problem until I noticed how hot my phone was using the nav. 13 hour drive. I purchased a vent cradle for the car and so that it can stay cool while in use and charging. While the other guy may be right theoretically, its not right practically. The evo will shut off its mini usb hub once it starts getting dangerously hot so that it won't damage your phone. Long story short make sure your phone is at safe temps no need to buy another charger for your evo. keep at cool temps so that phone won't cut off power supply will even shut your phone down if its way to hot, happened to me in atlanta not fun.
"Insert Fancy Quote"

TheBiles said:
I'm using the included charging cable. Doesn't that have full capacity? I also use a standard USB adapter in the car. It seems like that would be able to output the correct amount of volts.
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When you say "included charging cable" do you mean the wall plug that came with the Evo or just the cable with a USB connector on one end and a micro USB on the other end? Because THAT cable is pinned as a data transfer cable and designed to relay only half voltage no matter what you plug it into. I know, because it only charged my Evo at slow speed when plugged into my USB car charger. Once I replaced it with the Rocket Fish cable it charged at full speed.
kwilbur3 said:
I had the same problem until I noticed how hot my phone was using the nav. 13 hour drive. I purchased a vent cradle for the car and so that it can stay cool while in use and charging. While the other guy may be right theoretically, its not right practically. The evo will shut off its mini usb hub once it starts getting dangerously hot so that it won't damage your phone. Long story short make sure your phone is at safe temps no need to buy another charger for your evo. keep at cool temps so that phone won't cut off power supply will even shut your phone down if its way to hot, happened to me in atlanta not fun.
"Insert Fancy Quote"
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See above. While I agree that heat will kill the battery and possibly trigger a shutoff, I don't think that's his problem. If you use the wrong cable or charger you will only get half charging current.

sprocket87 said:
When you say "included charging cable" do you mean the wall plug that came with the Evo or just the cable with a USB connector on one end and a micro USB on the other end? Because THAT cable is pinned as a data transfer cable and designed to relay only half voltage no matter what you plug it into. I know, because it only charged my Evo at slow speed when plugged into my USB car charger. Once I replaced it with the Rocket Fish cable it charged at full speed.
See above. While I agree that heat will kill the battery and possibly trigger a shutoff, I don't think that's his problem. If you use the wrong cable or charger you will only get half charging current.
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I mean the USB cable that comes in the box with the EVO that plugs into the AC adapter. Maybe I will look into a new cable then. Hmm.
Edit: Those Rocketfish cables that you mentioned seem to be ungodly expensive. No way in hell am I going to pay more than $5 for a USB cable. Any alternatives?

TheBiles said:
I mean the USB cable that comes in the box with the EVO that plugs into the AC adapter. Maybe I will look into a new cable then. Hmm.
Edit: Those Rocketfish cables that you mentioned seem to be ungodly expensive. No way in hell am I going to pay more than $5 for a USB cable. Any alternatives?
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This is the one I got: http://cgi.ebay.com/ROCKETFISH-MOBI...ARGING-CABLE-/350384355972?pt=PDA_Accessories
$3 shipped
And there are 2 USB cables that came with the Evo (mine anyway), a thick one that was bundled with the wall charger and a thin one that's intended just for data sync. The thin one doesn't seem to charge at full speed.
If you're using the other one and it's STILL draining then maybe there is an issue with heat or something, like the other guy said. Is the phone SUPER hot at the base, where the kickstand is, when this happens?

OP - I am having the same problem. I'm 95% sure it's caused by something wrong in CM6 regarding how it handles USB charging. Past few nightlies I have been leaving my phone on the charger doing NOTHING overnight and it goes dead.
This CANNOT be due to lack of charging strength:
#1 the same exact charger worked perfectly in the past, before I flashed a certain nightly - not sure which one exactly it started in
#2 if it was charging, but slowly why in the world would the battery drain when I have it underclocked to 245 mhz and the phone is sleeping with screen off?
On my standard charger that came with the phone it is working fine even though it's a USB that plugs into an adapter - not sure why this doesn't work with my other one that I had from another phone since it worked perfectly before. Something is definitely odd with CM6 and USB charging.

sprocket87 said:
This is the one I got: http://cgi.ebay.com/ROCKETFISH-MOBI...ARGING-CABLE-/350384355972?pt=PDA_Accessories
$3 shipped
And there are 2 USB cables that came with the Evo (mine anyway), a thick one that was bundled with the wall charger and a thin one that's intended just for data sync. The thin one doesn't seem to charge at full speed.
If you're using the other one and it's STILL draining then maybe there is an issue with heat or something, like the other guy said. Is the phone SUPER hot at the base, where the kickstand is, when this happens?
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That's odd, because my EVO only came with the one cable for the adapter. Phone stays cool.
berardi said:
OP - I am having the same problem. I'm 95% sure it's caused by something wrong in CM6 regarding how it handles USB charging. Past few nightlies I have been leaving my phone on the charger doing NOTHING overnight and it goes dead.
This CANNOT be due to lack of charging strength:
#1 the same exact charger worked perfectly in the past, before I flashed a certain nightly - not sure which one exactly it started in
#2 if it was charging, but slowly why in the world would the battery drain when I have it underclocked to 245 mhz and the phone is sleeping with screen off?
On my standard charger that came with the phone it is working fine even though it's a USB that plugs into an adapter - not sure why this doesn't work with my other one that I had from another phone since it worked perfectly before. Something is definitely odd with CM6 and USB charging.
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I've also noticed lately that my phone will charge insanely fast. Like from 30% to 90% in half an hour.

Sprocket - stupid question here... do these Rocket Fish charging cables also handle data transfer just as well as the stock micro-usb cable that came with the phone or would someone want to have one JUST for charging and keep their stock cable for data transfer purposes?

TheBiles said:
That's odd, because my EVO only came with the one cable for the adapter. Phone stays cool.
I've also noticed lately that my phone will charge insanely fast. Like from 30% to 90% in half an hour.
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Sorry I was unclear - the other cable I have that is the problem is one from another phone but the same type, and up until recently it worked perfectly.

Is there an MHL adapter that can provide enough power to charge while under load?

It seems like there are a lot of MHL adapters that are unable to supply enough power to the Galaxy S2 to keep it charged while playing back movies or intensive games.
Samsung original adapter: "It seems that the power needed to display the video over HDMI is so much that even if a charging is connected and charging. You will slowly loose battery life."
Monoprice adapter: "I have watched several shows from phone on TV and while it does charge, I was slowly losing charge... So eventually My phone would have died. I'm talking like 15+% per 40 min shows. I'm using wall power adapter."
Are there any adapters that are confirmed to charge while under heavy load (without disabling wifi or data)?

It's either a kernel problem as the kernel controls charging current input, or your charger simply isn't providing enough current.
With siyah kernel and the increased charge current (1000ma) mod, my original MHL cable + 700ma Blackberry charger charges my phone + 2000mah Extended Samsung batt fine (albeit extremely slowly).
Using a 1200ma Nokia AC10X, charging happens noticeably faster.
In both cases I'm streaming anime through WIFI which should be plenty load on the phone.
Back when I was using Ninpo's kernel it did drain though, slowly.

[Q] MHL cable not charging

So i got an MHL cable to connect my 1X to my tv to play snes games with a bluetooth controller
It works fine, plus it looks great... BUT!
The phone says it's charging.. little red light, battery info says charging, but it looses charge as i use it.
Just finished playing a snes emulator for 30 mins. I had the phone in airplane mode, plus the screen brightness on the lowest setting.
After 30 mins it went from 85% to 72%!! plus it was really warn/hot.
Is this normal? Is it because the screen is still on on the 1X?
Does the media link thingy work better? does the screen turn off on the phone when using that?
Anyone else got an MHL cable? does your phone loose charge while using it?

Under heavy use, charging in USB mode (500mA limit) will usually still see the battery level decrease. Are you putting the auxiliary charger off a USB out from your TV/console? If so this will be the case.
I have only given my MHL adapter a quick try. Not really used it in anger yet. Can't say for sure what would happen if you used a wall charger instead of a USB one. No doubt the charge wouldn't drop, but would want to keep a very close eye on the temperature!
Are you rooted?

i think the mhl adapters (mine at least) has a maximum output, to the phone, of 500ma.
This means even if you plugin a wall charger @ 1A, then it will still only provide the phone 500ma of power max.
The rest of the power goes to actually powering the cable itself, in order to get the picture on the tv.
the reason it drains, is because the consumption of the screen/cpu is greater than the 500ma of power that the mhl adapter is providing.

Thanks for the reply.
My phone is not rooted. It's just a standard out of the box 1X.
Also, when using the MHL cable the phone was plugged into the mains charger & was still loosing charge! plus it was very warm..
Maybe i'll try to find some info about those charging dock/cradle things with the HDMI out. Maybe that be better???
lawrence750 said:
i think the mhl adapters (mine at least) has a maximum output, to the phone, of 500ma.
This means even if you plugin a wall charger @ 1A, then it will still only provide the phone 500ma of power max.
The rest of the power goes to actually powering the cable itself, in order to get the picture on the tv.
the reason it drains, is because the consumption of the screen/cpu is greater than the 500ma of power that the mhl adapter is providing.
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Ah, ok.. that makes sense really.
I did think maybe there was more power being used than coming in... shame you can't turn the screen off on the 1X.

I think you have already done the sensible thing of trying airplane mode and min screen brightness. If it still heats up doing that on USB charging, then it's unlikely a different dock/adapter would see a reduction in drain & heat. I'd save your money there.
I only asked about root in case you could try Core Control to reduce heating, but never mind there.
Only thing I found that kept my phone cool when charging under heavy use (before I rooted it), was making sure I took the case off and I rest it on a granite drinks coaster I have! Draws the heat out of the phone very efficiently!

MHL not charging?

I am running rooted stock and have a new samsung S3 MHL adapter. Yes I do have it plugged in. For some reason when playing a movie to my HDTV it looses charge rather quickly. I tested it out to just charge it while hooked up to the adapter (doing nothing with the S3) and the charge goes down. My normal battery life is descent, can get about 12 hours with pretty heavy usage (browsing, pandora, email, texting, and even several calls). My S2 charged fine off the MHL adapter, the S3 seems to draw more than the adapter can give???

Is this the actual legit brand name adapter?
Sent from my SGH-I747M using xda premium

Yes it is....

Is your adapter getting power from the TV or a wall charger? If wall charger check what the Amps it outputs is. If it is only outputting 650 or less you might run into an issue.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda premium

The power source is from the wall. The phone says 'charging' when I plug it in to the adapter, and the phone mirrors to the HDTV perfectly fine. I will see if I can check the amps coming from the adapter....

Cyanogenmod Charging Issue - CM11

Just put CM11 M8 on my kindle fire hd 8.9, love it, but have one question. I notice while it's charging, the lock screen will switch between saying charging/discharging. Meaning when the screen is off, as soon as I turn it on it says charging, then 1 second later it changes to discharging and stays that way...this is all done while the screen is locked. It looks like it is charging albeit extremely slow based on the percentage increasing...but is this normal behavior?
I've already tried two different usb cables.

What are you plugging the KFHD into? I have charged mine from 1A, 1.8A, and 2.1A ports, and while I don't remember ever seeing it switch back and forth between charging/discharging. As a side note, charging from a 1.8A or 2.1A port leads to fairly swift charging (I've used the original KFHD USB cable as well as AmazonBasics 1m and 2m cables with no change in charge time).
As a side note, I am also on CM11 M8

I'm running nightly builds with the Amazon 2.1 amp charger and have not seen this problem. Perhaps try a different charger to see if it still happens, it may be the charger itself.
Sent from my SGH-T999L using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Yes, I'm having the same issue. In my case, the unit reports 'not charging' even when it clearly is. I have no idea what the problem is, but as long as it charges, it's something to ignore.

It's no issue of CM - this is normal when you use low-power charger (effect is the same when charging from PC or Notebook USB ~ 500mA).
When you turn the screen on, power consumption is increasing and charger has not enough power to deal with it.
I recommend you to buy more powerful charger.
>1,8A chargers should charge easily even when the screen is on.

as an update; it seems that as of recently (I've switched from CM11 M8 to Liquid Smooth v3.2) the charging has slowed significantly. I don't use it all that often, so as of lately I've gone >1wk between charges. Two nights ago I plugged it into a 2A charger (intended for a Galaxy Tab) at 24% at 10pm, at 5am it had only increased to 77%. Last night, while plugged into my Galaxy S5's 2A charger it took almost all night to charge about 50%, and this morning it stated "99% Discharging" while still plugged in.
This is an interesting thing...