Develop Bugs

Motorola Car Dock, battery drains?

my atrix is running 1.5.7 update and is rooted...
phone starts at around 90-100%
when i dock the phone the car app starts no problem, battery shows as charging also...
i click on default location button, and it brings my google maps and then asks for destination, i select one from my stared places and click on directions... it brings up the time/distance, and turn by turn text directions... (still shows as charging)
i then click on the navigation button and it opens up google navigator and gives driections (still shows as charging)
after lets say a 1-2 hrs trip, i exit out of the programs using the back button all the way to the default dock screen, then undock the phone, all the time the charging indicator is showing on the phone... when undocked the phone temp reads around 115-120F... the outside temp was around 70ish, and i still had the AC running in the car (i like it cold), and the battery % shows around 40-50%???
i have never had a car dock not actually charge the phone while plugged in... are all the clicks actually opening multiple programs and the processor drawing that much power that the charger just cant handle it? and why oh why is it getting that hot?
not the whole phone, or even the battery, just the bottom portion of the phones where the sim and sd card would go....
to test this theory on other trips, when the car app opens i close it (while docked) and browse directly to the navigation app, open it and set starting and ending points and drive... same length of trips, same weather and temp conditions, the battery charging indicator still shws as charging...
when i exit and undock, the temp is still getting up to the 120F mark, but it is actaully fully charged when i reach my destination...
i can be the only one, can i?
*note i have the dock and charger bought directly in the motorola packaging with the usb power adapter included, not the one in the ATT box w/o usb power adapter
should that tell me something? did att know the motorola adapter couldnt handle it, so it didnt include it, thus giving them an out when complaints started bout losing power? we must be using a bad usb adapter?
maybe its something to do with the special usb/audio cord? i know when i plug the special cord into the usb power connector directly intothe phone, the phone doesnt register it... maybe i should try a reg usb cord to the dock? i dont have an aux port so i would never use the audio cord, at least not in my car...

Hi,
I've got the car dock as well, and use the included usb/audio cable to charge.
I have not noticed the battery drain you speak of. And i'm running navigation + power amp on my trips.
The battery charges, but slowly (500mA on the usb). I have not lost charge nor has my phone gone over 120F/48C.
Do you have some other cpu intensive program running in the background? You can check the battery status to see whats been using the battery the most.
D

I used to have the same situation with my milestone, if I used gps and had the car charger it would slowly drain. I just chalked it up to the fact that the gps, screen and processing power required equaled more then what the charger was giving.
I have not noticed the drain as bad with the atrix but my new work truck also has an usb port that outputs up to 2.1 amps.

I have experienced exactly what you are talking about. I do a lot of long drives, and have had the phone on the verge of death by the time I reached my destination.
My solution: I used to have the dock attached to my windshield on the left side of my car; I now have the dock attached to the drivers side window, right in front of my a/c vent. The phone never reaches 80° now, and actually completely charges my phone.
The drawback: I can't roll down my window at the spur of the moment.
Here is a screenshot I took while driving of the overheat.
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I'm doing a paste of my other post just to inject some data onto this thread. I hope you find this of use.
I believe that there is an issue with charging performance in the Atrix car dock. I'm using the OEM Motorola ECOMOTO Rapid Rate vehicle power adapter (850 mAH) with dual USB ports. You can tell this USB charger is a good product just by the weight of the thing! A test charge in the Atrix car dock began at 7:45 AM and the phone's charge was 20%. At 9 AM 30% and 10:30 AM 40%. This is obviously nothing like the wall charger so it made me believe that the phone was powered by the charger while docked but only receiving a trickle charge. Connecting the phone directly to the USB car charger (without the car dock) using a stock USB to micro USB charging cable, at 8:00 AM the phone was at 20%, 8:20 AM 40%, 9:00 AM 70% and 10:00 AM 100%. What a contrast!! So it appears that there is an issue with charging performance while in the car dock. I've reported this to Motorola and hope that they can reproduce and address.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

i have 3 usb car chargers and they all have different charge rates on my atrix. two of them would slowly drain with gps and maps on, the other ones charges the phone well even in use. i think that one is rated for around 700mah output. sounds like teh car dock is only putting out 500mah or less. thats kinda lame for an official motorola product that cost $60.

Knowing about the trickle charge bug while docked, I sat in my car today and browsed the web. When I was done the Atrix was at 30%. So the phone wasn't even being powered, let alone charged while being docked. I will continue to call Motorola to report this issue until I get a tech who is able to provide some two way communication in the issue. I digest everyone else do the same please.
Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk

Mine works fine - I am using the Moto branded dock and bundled charger (not AT&T).
Keep in mind it is easily possible to discharge faster then charge - this is true of ALL smart phones. If you are using Data, GPS, screen, and a bunch of apps, you can use more power then the charger supplies.
This is NOT a bad thing. The phone has circuitry that limits charging rate to make sure the battery is not damaged. You can't always charge faster then discharge, and if the phone gets very hot (sitting in the sun) then the charging rate may be throttled back.
If my phone is in the dock, doing NAV with push email in the back, it charges faster then it discharges.

Not sure if you read my notes on test charge cycles. The car dock is an issue.
Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk

I spoke with Motorola Support today regarding the care dock charging issue and there response was "we have escalated to the engineering department but do not have any feedback at this time."

I purchased the car charger from Verizon.. It also has an additional usb plugin slot on top of the charger so 2 things can charge at the same time..
It works great and I don't see the discharge issue.. The phone is warm when I take if off but not bad even after 2hr ride..

my experience as well.

I have run into it as well, but I admit that I run with trapster, 3 email accounts and slacker running most of the time. But this isn't the first device I have done this with. And I have had similar problems with them. I am just disappointed that Moto designed such a set up, and did not anticipate this kind of use and given us enough amps!
I wonder about maybe plugging it into one of those 1.2A usb iphone chargers.....

doaneramma said:
I have run into it as well, but I admit that I run with trapster, 3 email accounts and slacker running most of the time. But this isn't the first device I have done this with. And I have had similar problems with them. I am just disappointed that Moto designed such a set up, and did not anticipate this kind of use and given us enough amps!
I wonder about maybe plugging it into one of those 1.2A usb iphone chargers.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you charge in yiur car with a stock usb to micro usb cable without the dock, the charge speed is like the wall charger. There is a problem. I've measured this and reported to Motorola.
Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk

This kind of happens with my multimedia dock - When using it in webtop mode, it will charge for about 10 or so percent, then it starts to drain, even though everything shows that it is still charging. Im using the power adapter that came with the dock and its plugged into the wall.

I see this from time to time as well, but not always. I am using a 1000ma charger in my car, and sometimes I find the battery drained at the end of a drive. My program use is almost always the same (google maps, trapster, music player)

GatorRuss said:
I have experienced exactly what you are talking about. I do a lot of long drives, and have had the phone on the verge of death by the time I reached my destination.
My solution: I used to have the dock attached to my windshield on the left side of my car; I now have the dock attached to the drivers side window, right in front of my a/c vent. The phone never reaches 80° now, and actually completely charges my phone.
The drawback: I can't roll down my window at the spur of the moment.
Here is a screenshot I took while driving of the overheat.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is, from my experience, absolutely the correct answer. When your battery temp gets too high, it will stop charging as a safety precaution. Once it stops, it doesn't seem to start back up until the temp goes back down. But if you are running navi/trapster/email/etc., it's not going to cool down on its own. Putting in front of an AC vent is the best solution. I like Gator's creative approach of using his side window. I still keep my dock mounted to the windshield, but what I do is run my AC through my defroster setting, so the cool air is coming out onto the windshield and on my feet. For a long drive it still keeps the ambiant temp comfortable, and provides a flow of cool air to the back side of the phone and dock.

csyrell said:
This is, from my experience, absolutely the correct answer. When your battery temp gets too high, it will stop charging as a safety precaution. Once it stops, it doesn't seem to start back up until the temp goes back down. But if you are running navi/trapster/email/etc., it's not going to cool down on its own. Putting in front of an AC vent is the best solution. I like Gator's creative approach of using his side window. I still keep my dock mounted to the windshield, but what I do is run my AC through my defroster setting, so the cool air is coming out onto the windshield and on my feet. For a long drive it still keeps the ambiant temp comfortable, and provides a flow of cool air to the back side of the phone and dock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm buying the explanation.... I really am.
(pause for effect) ... but I tested with everything disabled... gps BT data sync,etc. It would not charge more than 10% per hour in the car dock. The exact same test 24s later connected with a stock USB to micro USB cable in th car and the result was astounding. 40% per hour from what I remember. (Test results posted earlier in this thread)
So why is it getting so hot in the dock with nothing running? Mine is in the top corner of the windshield.
Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk

Btw the explanation on heat is probably hitting the nail right on the head.
Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk

jjwatmyself said:
I'm buying the explanation.... I really am.
(pause for effect) ... but I tested with everything disabled... gps BT data sync,etc. It would not charge more than 10% per hour in the car dock. The exact same test 24s later connected with a stock USB to micro USB cable in th car and the result was astounding. 40% per hour from what I remember. (Test results posted earlier in this thread)
So why is it getting so hot in the dock with nothing running? Mine is in the top corner of the windshield.
Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do agree that it seems to charge VERY SLOWLY when docked. I was only commenting on the question about it stopping it's charge, and my thoughts about temp being the culprit. I'm wondering if the docking programs are chewing up RAM or something, causing it to charge very slowly??? Something about the doc is causing a slow charge.

Otterbox Beltclip Modded into Car Mount -learn with me

I couldn't find a mount for my otterbox. I built a car mount and painted it black. I ended up making it from the belt clip on my otterbox and an old garmin window-mounted GPS. Here's some pictures of the build process.
My first attempt was to try to fiberglass the outside of the otterbox to make a mount....
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This ended up being too much work and I came up with a better idea.
1 remove belt clip portion from otterbox
2. Saw down Otterbox beltclip so that the unit can be slid into place with USB cable
3. slide phone into otterbox case and insert USB.
4. first superglue USB in proper position, then epoxy for extra hard durability
5. saw back part off of old window mounted unit
6. superglue back plate in place
7. epoxy backplate in place
Ok... so now for power... I used a USB port and a regulator... This was an epic failure because pins 2 and 3 on the USB port should have been pulled HIGH to represent this is a charging device. I left them open and the unit appeared to go into USB Powered device mode where my phone was supplying 5V to the charger..... Anyways... this would have worked if I had read up on USB standards first but I ended up going with a 12V adapter stuck into a 12V socket in my ceiling.
Circuit made (should have added a resistor from 5V to the middle two pins)
Covered with non-conductive, flexible glue to keep everything in place and make sure it would not be able to short circuit.
Finally I painted the entire thing black. It looks great now. Everything is wonderful. After 3 days of drying it was able to be used.

I forgot to add finished photos.
The unit separates so the suction cup mount can be adjusted easily.
You can see on the back, it's not too bad once it's painted
This large cutout allows the otterbox cable cover to be opened and just slide right in.
Now, if I had this to do over again, I would have applied a 619Kohm resistor between pins 4 and 5 on the mini-usb. This would have enabled car mode. Car mode automatically brings up car home. As it is, this is simply a car-charger circuit.
Overall, this project is awesome!. This allows me to have my phone mounted above eye-level which is great for GPS

http://cgi.ebay.com/SlipGrip-Car-Ho...658168?pt=PDA_Accessories&hash=item5d2cdd48f8

please dont spam that ebay crap. this is a homemade-how-to!

That thing is big, and has no charging capability.
If you took the belt clip off and put on suction cup instead, that's what you get from that Ebay link. There's no charging capability there. Mine has about 2-3 inches of exposed cable. The rest is tucked neatly into the headboards of the car.

TRusselo said:
please dont spam that ebay crap. this is a homemade-how-to!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm im not spamming anything. He stated that he couldn't find a car mount for the outterbox case. Was just posting it for reference. Just giving my 2cent's or w/e they call them up north. No need to get nasty.
I appreciate what he's done and for the walkthru. Everyone has their own opinions and if someone happens upon this post in the future and in interested in a carmount for a otterbox they can follow OP's wonderful how-to and they will have more options...
Just trying to be helpful to be honest.

How easily does the phone slide in and connect with the usb? I've been thinking of how to make a dock that you slide in similar to yours, but been worried how quickly/simply it works (i often have a difficult time plugging it in even after owning it for half a year!).
I also kinda wanted to make the usb mount adjustable in case I took the phone's case off or used a different case all together. Any ideas on that, or is the permanent epoxy mount the way to go?
Nice job and thanks for posting it!
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

I slides in easy. The phone must just be against the back of the dock and slid into place. It's one hand operation unlike using a USB cable.
Just super glue the connector in place and let it dry. Once it dries, it will always be in the right position. Then you can remove the phone and apply epoxy to really strengthen the connector.
I don't know how you'd make the mount adjustable. I really just made this because there's no car dock available for the Otter Box.
Again, for full dock capability, use a 619Kohm resistor on the back side of the micro usb connection, between pins 4 and 5.

Thanks for the help

AdamOutler said:
Ok... so now for power... I used a USB port and a regulator... This was an epic failure because pins 2 and 3 on the USB port should have been pulled HIGH to represent this is a charging device. I left them open and the unit appeared to go into USB Powered device mode where my phone was supplying 5V to the charger..... Anyways... this would have worked if I had read up on USB standards first but I ended up going with a 12V adapter stuck into a 12V socket in my ceiling.
Circuit made (should have added a resistor from 5V to the middle two pins)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
pins on usb should have been "pulled high"? care to clearify, ive never heard of that term..
with the middle 2 pins open wouldn;t it be the same as powering by USB thru aftermarket charger? I modded my aftermarket charger, pins 2-3 were open, i closed them ( no resistor ) and now it thinks its AC (oem charger).
why would yours output 5v to the cable?
just asking not criticizing...

TRusselo said:
pins on usb should have been "pulled high"? care to clearify, ive never heard of that term..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, I do electronics for a living, I use jargon without explaining alot and it looses people.
Pulling a pin high means to apply 5V behind a resistor. It's a digital logic term. Digital logic has only 2 states, high and low (sometimes a 3rd state is Open). In order to maintain a high state on a pin, you use a pull-up resistor. If you've got voltage without current flow, then ohms law does not apply and 5V behind a resistor will be 5V on the other side of the resistor. The reason for the resistor is because if for some reason the pin is pulled low (ground is applied) then there is not a short between 5V and ground.
with the middle 2 pins open wouldn;t it be the same as powering by USB thru aftermarket charger? I modded my aftermarket charger, pins 2-3 were open, i closed them ( no resistor ) and now it thinks its AC (oem charger).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here's an excerpt from a good page on USB. http://www.beyondlogic.org/usbnutshell/usb2.shtml
A USB device must indicate its speed by pulling either the D+ or D- line high to 3.3 volts. A full speed device, pictured below will use a pull up resistor attached to D+ to specify itself as a full speed device. These pull up resistors at the device end will also be used by the host or hub to detect the presence of a device connected to its port. Without a pull up resistor, USB assumes there is nothing connected to the bus. Some devices have this resistor built into its silicon, which can be turned on and off under firmware control, others require an external resistor.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
why would yours output 5v to the cable?
just asking not criticizing...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I really couldn't tell you. I just know I did a search and found out that my charger violated USB standards. Also, when unplugged from wall power, I was receiving 5V on the charger which was illuminating an LED. Don't just leave those pins open. Pull them high.

why would you have to set device speed for a charging circuit?
the usb standards seemed to be assuming a data device (whether it be a mouse or hdd), not just something charging...
and why not close the pins, and enable (poorly worded) "AC" charging mode, for rapid charging?
or add the resistor between the 2 to enable car dock mode automatically?

In Battery Charging Specification, [40] new powering modes are added to the USB specification. A host or hub Charging Downstream Port can supply a maximum of 1.5 A when communicating at low-bandwidth or full-bandwidth, a maximum of 900 mA when communicating at high-bandwidth, and as much current as the connector will safely handle when no communication is taking place; USB 2.0 standard-A connectors are rated at 1500 mA by default. A Dedicated Charging Port can supply a maximum of 1.8 A of current at 5.25 V. A portable device can draw up to 1.8 A from a Dedicated Charging Port. The Dedicated Charging Port shorts the D+ and D- pins with a resistance of at most 200 Ω. The short disables data transfer, but allows devices to detect the Dedicated Charging Port and allows very simple, high current chargers to be manufactured. The increased current (faster, 9 W charging) will occur once both the host/hub and devices support the new charging specification.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Source: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Serial_Bus
I've personally done this to all manner of chargers, including external batteries, car chargers, wall chargers, even made a small make to female dongle that shorts the data pins. All that matters is that the pins being shorted indicates to the phone that it may draw > 500ma, I believe the most this particular device will draw is around 750ma. Note that if this is done, the phone will always indicate ac charging, even if the actual charger is supplying less current.
Also, the desk/car mode resistor goes between pins 4 and 5, not 3 and 4 for those who are wondering
Forgot to mention, nice mod. I have some spare otterbox holsters (they sent me three when my clip broke) so I've got some plans for them, including a car dock.
Sent from my SGH-I897 using XDA Premium App

TRusselo said:
why would you have to set device speed for a charging circuit?
the usb standards seemed to be assuming a data device (whether it be a mouse or hdd), not just something charging...
and why not close the pins, and enable (poorly worded) "AC" charging mode, for rapid charging?
or add the resistor between the 2 to enable car dock mode automatically?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yep. makes sense.
The 6 to 24V regulator would handle a maximum of 1A, which is what you can expect out of most wall chargers and well above the expected input of the device. I just trashed my regulator/USB project when it started powering my 12V bench power supply LED for fear it may damage the phone. If anyone wants to recreate this, the 5V regulator is available at Radio Shack and you'll have to either tear apart a charger/computer/other device or order a USB port. I installed a 12V port near the sunroof in the headliner of my car, then I installed a generic USB car charger and ran a USB cable out of it to my dock.

Cool project. Good to seem someone else using torque. Have you had any success in the 0-60 timing? If i don't dog it, I can get a reading. Once the tires slip, tc kicks in, it is a nogo. (Noticed some updates to the program and t was a complaint on his forum, so I should try again to be fair.)

DIY docks & hacking docks tripping dock mode & AC charging mode

Update: Desk dock resistor value found & additional connector sources found thanks to mikejr83
I went through all of this with my Captivate a year or 2 ago, and figured it might be nice for Galaxy S 3 owners as well. You can see the history at http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=12169590
Dock mode
Samsung phones will trip their dock mode when they sense a resistor of a particular value between the ID (pin 4) & Ground (pin 5) pins on the micro USB connector
Car mode - 619k ohm (Validate on my Galaxy S 1 & Galaxy S 3)
Desk mode - 365k ohm (confirmed finally thanks to mikejr83 cracking open the SGS3 dock his wife got him. 1k ohm for SGS1 & 1k or 365k for the SGS2)
Parts
The only appropriate solution I was able to find (a year or 2 ago messing with my old Captivate) was a USB MicroB Plug Breakout Board which was pretty decent at $4 + shipping.
mikejr83 found some slightly different micro USB connectors at Digi-Key ($0.66 each + reasonable shipping, $2 is the minimum Digi-Key order) and on E-bay (10 for $4 + $1 shipping) as well.
The Zenis SGS2 dock fits the SGS3 reasonably well & runs about $10 on Ebay (free shipping, but it takes about 2 weeks to come over from asia), It does not trip dock mode & just has micro USB passthrough connectors. According to this XDA thread it's easy to pull appart & looks to be very hackable.
Chopping up a micro USB connector will not work, they only have 4 wires & the pin #4 you need access to is buried inside the connector at the end so far you have to destroy the whole connector to get to it
I have a roll of maybe a couple hundred 619k resistors I picked up from a local electronics recycler in my Captivate days. I might start packaging em up and selling them off after I get back from DEFcon if anybody is interested & having a hard time finding them.
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For just dock mode & no other usefulness (like actually charging), you can see what doing a poor job of jamming the resistor in there on the Spark Fun breakout board for testing gets us (photo of my old Galaxy S1 because I'm to lazy to get dig it up and transfer the photos if I take any of my Galaxy S 3 showing the same thing).
AC charging
In order to get "AC charging" which goes up to 750ma instead of "USB charging" which only goes up to 500ma, you merely need to short out the 2 data pins (pin 2/white & pin 3/green) on a normal USB cable. Most people find it easy to short them (the center 2) on the big flat rectangular end (Type A) of a normal USB cable. Given my approach with the breakout board I just soldered a jumper across the 2 data pins on the board.
For my first (and only properly documented) dock build I used Friendly Plastic. Technically called Polycaprolactone it's really easy to work with and melts at around 60 degrees Celsius (140 F), also known as almost the temperature of the dash of my grey truck on a 70-80 degree day.... Oops. It would make a good desk dock, but not a car dock.
Commercial docks & potential mods for them
Given the dirt cheap Infuse dock I picked up I probably won't be working on another car dock unless I decide to put a case on my phone making it not fit in the dock. I have some oven bake modeling clay I'll probably try for that.
At $10-15 it's hard to beat the Zenis dock. On the 2nd page somebody cracked it open and the micro-USB plug looks very similar to the SparkFun one. I don't believe it trips any dock mode, but soldering in the appropriate resistor would be pretty easy. I hope to find the value to trip Desk or Media center dock mode & use Tasker to turn off E-mail and other non-essential noise during the night so as to not roust the wife.
Further information needed
If anybody has any more resistor values for various dock modes or other information to add, let me know.

Can you do both car mode and AC mode at the same time? And any idea if that would be a bad idea off a USB port that's built into a car?

KeithLM said:
Can you do both car mode and AC mode at the same time? And any idea if that would be a bad idea off a USB port that's built into a car?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Standard USB is rated up to 500ma.
AC mode is rated up to 750ma.
You need to make sure your power supply is rated to at least 750ma to safely trigger AC mode. You will have to check with the manufacturers specs on what that USB port is rated for. You can trigger AC mode and any of the dock modes at the same time (verified on my old SGS1 Captivate and I'm 99% sure the SGS3 is the same), they don't use the same pins.
If you are plugging into anything that actually expects data (USB port on a stereo as opposed to just a USB charger) I would disconnect the data (center 2) pins from that end, leave them shorted at the phone end.

Thanks for the info. My car reportedly has an extra USB port behind the dash I was hoping to use, but I can't locate it. So I might have to resort to using a power adapter. If I do that I'll use the 2.1A model from monoprice.com. So I'll use the power option based on which port I end up using.

Let me make sure I'm getting this straight: Using the two values for resistance you have you were only able to get the S3 to trigger into car dock mode, correct? There could possibly be another value which triggers desk dock mode.
My thought would be to get a rheostat and chop up a micro USB cable and adjust the level of resistance till the effect was achieved. Obviously I may have to get more than just a rheostat to achieve the correct range of resistance to try, but eh...
Once I figured out the resistance level I could then make a "desktop dock cable" by placing the resister inline in the micro USB cable. That would be a great solution for me. Thoughts?

mikejr83 said:
Let me make sure I'm getting this straight: Using the two values for resistance you have you were only able to get the S3 to trigger into car dock mode, correct? There could possibly be another value which triggers desk dock mode.
My thought would be to get a rheostat and chop up a micro USB cable and adjust the level of resistance till the effect was achieved. Obviously I may have to get more than just a rheostat to achieve the correct range of resistance to try, but eh...
Once I figured out the resistance level I could then make a "desktop dock cable" by placing the resister inline in the micro USB cable. That would be a great solution for me. Thoughts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The SGS1 resistor value for car dock worked on the SGS3, no luck with the desk dock resistor.
Resistors are used in that location for non dock stuff too... Jigs to trigger bootloader and recovery mode, etc. I wouldn't try the rhestotat thing personally. Previous values were found in Samsung or the CPU vendors documentation somewhere. I'd start there or use an OHM meter on a dock we know trips desk or media mode.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

Fallon said:
Resistors are used in that location for non dock stuff too... Jigs to trigger bootloader and recovery mode, etc. I wouldn't try the rhestotat thing personally.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the heads up! :good: I got out my breadboard last night. Had a bit of down time at work and was just getting ready to call a few RadioShacks around town to see if they had some pots in stock (didn't expect them to, but they list a few on their website) so I could hack up a cable this weekend.
One question though, if I had the phone powered on and was to start with a linear taper pot and go from 0 to say 1M ohms (found one that would cover the entire range without me having to add resisters in there) I could possibly trip the phone into bootloader or recovery mode?
It would seem to me that in essence what I would be "doing" is plugging in various USB cables which had a different resistance in that location. It seem odd to be able to take a powered on (even screen unlocked) phone and have it just dump to recovery or bootloader with the plugging in of a cable (assuming that I had the real version of the cable/dock/jig).
That said, I'm glad you gave me a heads up as I might want to do a bit more research on this before I just sit around with my multimeter and a pot going through various resistances just to see what happens. I suppose what "happens" might be something I really, really do not want! Or, maybe I end up finding a way to unlock a VZW phone by accident! Yea, like that'd ever happen!
EDIT:
This new phone has me not writing code and doing more searching around the internets for information! I found this post http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=20710266&postcount=14 The poster shows that they use a 365k resistor for car dock. Preceeding posts indicate this was for a S2. I still have to go through my resistor "collection" to see what I have sitting around. I may still hack up a cable this weekend.

Ok. So I got a pot and was setting up a test bed when I cut the end of a mini USB cable. I realized it only has 4 pins. My thought was to use one of the dozens of mini USB cables instead of my limited amount of micro ones for my first tests. Basically I was going to take the A side and plug it into the charger to power my breadboard.
When I saw that there were only 4 pins on the mini B side and hence four wires inside the shielding it got me thinking about the micro B end. Both the micro's and mini's A side have 4 pins. If the micro B side has 5 pins where does that 5th id pin go? Does a micro cable have 5 conductors the length of the wire which the id conductor terminates to ground at the A side?
Now I'm confused on how the accessories are manufactured so as to make the phone go from USB charge mode to A/C mode. I'd really like to sit around now that I have this pot to test various resistances in order to see the outcome. Quick Googling hasn't found any negative side effects (yet...).
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

Micro USB has 5 pins with the new 5th pin only existing on one end to use as an ID pin for what end of the cable it is. Makes it easy for the resistors that Samsung uses to trip the various modes.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda premium

I was just looking into what all the pins do because I planned to make a small board with A and B connectors and wire the resistor in there. Now I see that's pointless. I figured the shielding on other connectors was equivalent to the 5th pin.
I'm going to have to strip down a micro USB cable and see what I find in there.

I'd recommend looking at that breakout board from Spark Fun I linked up top.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda premium

http://forums.androidcentral.com/epic-4g-accessories/64959-what-triggers-car-dock-mode.html#anb
Mentions 365k as well as 1k to trigger desk dock. will try it when I get a chance.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk 2

I've stripped down a micro-USB connector on one of my monoprice.com cables. I've found that the pin is there on the backside of the connector and just not connected to anything. Unfortunately I did too much damage in the process to try and reuse it. I think if I can strip another and be more careful I can expose just the one pin I need, then expose some of the wiring further from the connector and very carefully slice open the ground and connect the two with the resistor. It's also possible the shielding is connected to ground, so I might be able to attach it directly to that. Unfortunately my voltmeter is out of commission so I can't check that at the moment.

KeithLM said:
I've stripped down a micro-USB connector on one of my monoprice.com cables. I've found that the pin is there on the backside of the connector and just not connected to anything. Unfortunately I did too much damage in the process to try and reuse it. I think if I can strip another and be more careful I can expose just the one pin I need, then expose some of the wiring further from the connector and very carefully slice open the ground and connect the two with the resistor. It's also possible the shielding is connected to ground, so I might be able to attach it directly to that. Unfortunately my voltmeter is out of commission so I can't check that at the moment.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok. To clarify, the ID pin doesn't have a wire/conductor that runs the length of the wire?
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

mikejr83 said:
Ok. To clarify, the ID pin doesn't have a wire/conductor that runs the length of the wire?
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Definitely not in the cable I pulled apart. I've looked around for a micro-USB extension cable, but haven't found one so far. Potentially such a cable would have the fifth wire.

Straight from the land of the rising sun! Straight from China! http://www.ebay.com/itm/10Pcs-USB-T...ltDomain_0&hash=item20c49dfc46#ht_2925wt_1163
DIY Micro 5pin male USB connector! $4 for 10 of them. I just ordered a set. Once I get these it should be easy to build a test connector that will run through my pot so we can try different resistances.
This is what I was hoping of finding. I wanted to take a 1.5-3ft USB cable and put an end on it that would put the phone into desk dock mode. That way I could connect the cable to my keyboard and set my phone in a cradle that I previously purchased.
EDIT:
Shipping is a $1. Total paypal amount was $4.99
EDIT 2:
I'm a tard. Also got shipping confirmation. Could take up to 30 days . Hopefully it's on the shorter side of their estimate of 7 days. I guess that gives me some time to put together a monoprice order for some cables.

mikejr83 said:
Straight from the land of the rising sun! http://www.ebay.com/itm/10Pcs-USB-T...ltDomain_0&hash=item20c49dfc46#ht_2925wt_1163
DIY Micro 5pin male USB connector! $4 for 10 of them. I just ordered a set. Once I get these it should be easy to build a test connector that will run through my pot so we can try different resistances.
This is what I was hoping of finding. I wanted to take a 1.5-3ft USB cable and put an end on it that would put the phone into desk dock mode. That way I could connect the cable to my keyboard and set my phone in a cradle that I previously purchased.
EDIT:
Shipping is a $1. Total paypal amount was $4.99
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Japan is the land of rising sun but otherwise great find

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Serial_Bus#section_4
USB 1.x/2.0 Mini/Micro pinout
Pin Name Cable color Description
1 VBUS Red +5 V
2 D− White Data −
3 D+ Green Data +
4 ID None Permits distinction of host connection from slave connection
* host: connected to Signal ground
* slave: not connected
5 GND Black Signal ground
So definitely only 4 wires in a standards compliant cable, not 5. Pin gets left free or shorted directly to ground (or shorted via a resistor in Samsung's case for dock mode)
Nice find on the cheap micro USB connectors.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk 2

Now that I'm at work and doing nothing really important I've had time to dig through digikey for a similar part. I just don't think I can wait that long to get those other pieces!
The only thing I've been able to find that is close is this:
http://www.digikey.com/scripts/dksearch/dksus.dll?lang=en&mpart=10104109-0001LF&vendor=609&cur=USD
I ordered 3 and had them shipped USPS First Class. That will give me something to test with hopefully by the end of the week.
BTW, it's been such a long time since I ordered anything from digikey that I didn't realize they dropped their minimum order size requirement. It's awesome that they'll ship a $2 order!

Check GPS USB cables... they have all 5 leads
The USB extension cable is common for GPS units. My car radio has garmin built in, and when I added the fm traffic antenna, I needed a Mini USB (not micro) cable and quickly found out that "standard" off the shelf cables only have 4 wires, when the mini and micro usb ends actually have a 5th pin, but it either gnd or n/a at all - the standard extension cables off the shelf are extremely cheap, but useless for an application where the 5th pin is needed. BUT when I search for a GPS cable, it has all 5 pins. Its also about 5x more expension - When I bought mine it was like $25 or something online, but I can't remember where... it was from a GPS outlet place I found online. Just posting my limited experience for those to consider, and maybe prices have changed since then?
GOOD LUCK
(btw: I love this thread, I love building stuff too....)

Not charging anywhere near 1A using official SGS3 charger according to my ammeter?!

Using the official SGS3 Samsung charger & micro usb cable that came with my SGS3, I plugged a male to female USB cable that I had spliced so I could check current, voltage, etc of various usb devices. Anyway, I put my ammeter in series with the + power (red) line and I'm only seeing around 200-250ma on my meter! What is going on here? I've tried this with another meter (with the same result) so it doesn't seem to be anything wrong with my ammeters. Also, my phone was at 37% battery last time I tried this.
Here's a picture of how I have it setup...charger on the left, usb cable going to phone on right, ammeter is attached to the alligator clips.
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Any help is greatly appreciated! Thanks!

I had same problem and it was just the longer USB cable I used that couldn't handle the full 1A current, so just try another.

your setup is wrong.
you are seeing what the charger is supplying, MINUS what the phone is taking.

scarrmrcc said:
your setup is wrong.
you are seeing what the charger is supplying, MINUS what the phone is taking.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Huh? How so? My ammeter is in series between the charger and the phone. Any current drawn from the charger would pass through the ammeter, no? The phone is drawing the current from the charger, if the phone isn't "taking" all the current, then what could possibly be drawing this additional current you speak of, from the charger?

Geordie Lad said:
I had same problem and it was just the longer USB cable I used that couldn't handle the full 1A current, so just try another.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm using a pretty short cable already, but I've also tried it with another set of plugs with no change in result.

scarrmrcc said:
your setup is wrong.
you are seeing what the charger is supplying, MINUS what the phone is taking.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
umm.. please pardon my outrage, but did you spend the few milliseconds required to read his post before replying?
If he's running his meter inline on the USB +5v wire, it's only measuring the current flowing across that wire - regardless of what that current is being used for.
On the other hand, I do think there's a typo in his message: probably should be 200-250mA - not maH... maH would be a capacity, not a current.
To the OP:
You should be seeing around 900-950mA in the case of the stock wall charger. Can you try the same test using a standard computer USB port? Does your kernel support showing charging current either in kmsg or via a sysfs interface? If so, it'd be interesting to see that. I have seen cases where the kernel THINKS it's charging at one rate, but it's actually pulling quite a bit less current from the wire (on other devices.)
It's possible that the USB cable your using is flawed. I realize that your post claims to be using the stock USB cable, but your photo is showing a white USB plug when the stock cable is black.
If the kernel can show charging current, it'd be useful to log that, and then try a different USB cable and see if the kernel see's a different current then. If so, it'd point to a USB cable flaw.
Another thought: When your charging, go into settings->battery. It should show that it's charging... does it dispaly charging via (USB) or (AC)?

salils said:
Using the official SGS3 Samsung charger & micro usb cable that came with my SGS3, I plugged a male to female USB cable that I had spliced so I could check current, voltage, etc of various usb devices. Anyway, I put my ammeter in series with the + power (red) line and I'm only seeing around 200-250maH on my meter! What is going on here? I've tried this with another meter (with the same result) so it doesn't seem to be anything wrong with my ammeters. Also, my phone was at 37% battery last time I tried this.
Here's a picture of how I have it setup...charger on the left, usb cable going to phone on right, ammeter is attached to the alligator clips.
Any help is greatly appreciated! Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You may need to short the white and green data wires together which should tell the S3 to charge at FAST rate. I am guessing the S3 thinks it is seeing a PC USB rate. I know this for a fact with my HD2 but probably our S3's are the same. Good you mentioned 37% because we also know that the charge rate will slow down the closer the battery gets to full charge...which means we cannot do these tests once battery is over 80% or so.

I can confirm the need to short white & green.
Disclaimer: That's is just what I knew about my old Captivate. Shorting those two wires on that setup could blow up your phone, so make sure you setup a video camera to catch the the explosion if you try this.

try using your original cable, different cable do get different results.

garyd9 said:
umm.. please pardon my outrage, but did you spend the few milliseconds required to read his post before replying?
If he's running his meter inline on the USB +5v wire, it's only measuring the current flowing across that wire - regardless of what that current is being used for.
On the other hand, I do think there's a typo in his message: probably should be 200-250mA - not maH... maH would be a capacity, not a current.
To the OP:
You should be seeing around 900-950mA in the case of the stock wall charger. Can you try the same test using a standard computer USB port? Does your kernel support showing charging current either in kmsg or via a sysfs interface? If so, it'd be interesting to see that. I have seen cases where the kernel THINKS it's charging at one rate, but it's actually pulling quite a bit less current from the wire (on other devices.)
It's possible that the USB cable your using is flawed. I realize that your post claims to be using the stock USB cable, but your photo is showing a white USB plug when the stock cable is black.
If the kernel can show charging current, it'd be useful to log that, and then try a different USB cable and see if the kernel see's a different current then. If so, it'd point to a USB cable flaw.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I doubt my kernal supports that...just running stock except I rooted it. Do you know if the stock rom supports this? Haven't had time to look into all the stuff needed custom roms, tweaks, etc. Another reason to start researching that stuff...arg
The reason for the white usb cable: I didn't want to splice up the stock cable...My setup is Stock Charger>Male USB plug>Female USB plug>Stock SGS3 Micro USB cable---Essentially a very short M-F usb A extension that I use for testing purposes. I also tried some different physical plugs with the same result. Also tried at different battery % levels with the same result. No problems as far as charging times are concerned using the stock charger/cable. Not sure I'm ready to rip open the charger and stock cable and show it to one of my EE friends, because I might be selling off this phone not too far into the future if the new Nexus is good enough for me...
Another thought: When your charging, go into settings->battery. It should show that it's charging... does it dispaly charging via (USB) or (AC)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I checked this, it says AC...strangely, it also says AC when I plug into an Apple charger, which as you might know carries specific voltages on the data lines as opposed to having the data lines shorted. Just to check that it wasn't detecting everything as an AC source, I plugged my my SGS3 into my Macbook Pro and it did recognize it as USB source, not AC.
Thanks, for the heads up on the typo.
FYI: My phone seems to be charging reasonably fast in practice - about 3 hours for around a full charge (haven't been able to do this perfect 0-100% because I use my phone so much so 3 hrs is a bit of an estimate) using stock charger/cable/battery (2,100mAh). I haven't really tested it much on other chargers but I recall it being very slow when I used a USB extension cable once (everything else stock). Also, last night I was using my SGS3 while plugged in and it was charging very slow as per my observation (not measured)...I was using it for close to 2 hours for web browsing, youtube videos, google play store, text editing, etc (no games) and my battery was basically at the same place below 5%, sometimes it even dropped to 2%. I checked the OS task manager and there didn't seem to be anything that would be draining the battery especially. I restarted my phone and it started charging fast again (while using). I wasn't able to bust out my ammeter during that time unfortunately because of where I was.

whosy said:
I can confirm the need to short white & green.
Disclaimer: That's is just what I knew about my old Captivate. Shorting those two wires on that setup could blow up your phone, so make sure you setup a video camera to catch the the explosion if you try this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've tried this, but according to what I've read and via testing, the stock charger already has the data lines shorted-this is how it signals the SGS3 to draw more than 500mA. Data lines don't really carry much of any current so blowing up or damaging a phone seems highly unlikely...though if you shorted the data lines on an Apple charger it could be bad for the charger since they carry specific voltages on Apple wall chargers.

salils said:
I've tried this, but according to what I've read and via testing, the stock charger already has the data lines shorted. Data lines don't really carry any current so blowing up or damaging a phone seems highly unlikely...though if you shorted the data lines on an Apple charger it could be bad for the charger since they carry voltage on Apple chargers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed.
Also, the last CONNECTION in the chain....I mean the one that physically plugs into the S3....needs to either see or have the data wires connected/shorted to each other. Example: the charger has white/green data wires shorted...it's plugged into a desktop cradle...but the cradle is wired to bypass the white/green data wires....then the S3 will not get the message to fast charge.
UPDATE: all the above possibly depending on Kernel? I say this because I am using a charger and cable that has NO data pin wires 2 and 3, but I still measure fast/full charge rate.

salils said:
I doubt my kernal supports that...just running stock except I rooted it. Do you know if the stock rom supports this? Haven't had time to look into all the stuff needed custom roms, tweaks, etc. Another reason to start researching that stuff...arg
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try this to see if it works: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.manor.currentwidget (current widget.) If your kernel shows charging current, this widget will show it (CurrentWidget.) I don't know which type of SGS3 you have (i9300 or a North American version?) If you have the i9300, almost all the custom kernels support showing the current. For the Qualcomm based ones, I have no idea. (My wife won't let me hack her AT&T SGS3.)
salils said:
Yes, I checked this, it says AC...strangely, it also says AC when I plug into an Apple charger, which as you might know carries specific voltages on the data lines as opposed to having the data lines shorted. Just to check that it wasn't detecting everything as an AC source, I plugged my my SGS3 into my Macbook Pro and it did recognize it as USB source, not AC.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Then the kernel should be kicking the phone into higher current charging mode. Odd... (I never actually measured the current on the USB wire myself, so no idea what THAT might be showing..)

Has anyone figured out what the deal is with the S3's strange charging rates? I've seen some other people report similar issues of their ammeter showing under 300mA rates on the stock charger even when the battery was awfully depleted (one would assume a faster charger when the battery isn't very full).

Have you tested the charging time while charging through that setup? I bet it takes longer than without it. If it does... Try cleaning and soldering the wires together. I don't know what they've been exposed to or for how long, but even slightly corroded wires twisted together with oily/salty fingers could cause power loss and more corrosion. Then you factor in the alligator clips, the unknown quality wiring attached to them and the other alligator clips clipped onto you multimeter.... Could explain it all right there. Drain it to a known batt percent (say 40) and charge it up... Then do the same with your testing setup. Leave the meter powered on the whole time if it's batteries can take it for a real test of your setup. Then report your findings.
Sent from my SGH-T999

Your setup might also introduce considerable resistance with your ammeter cables and all additional connections made to messure. There can easily be extra 2meters of wire + at least 6 extra connections (usb --> aligator clip --> wire --> ammeter --> wire --> aligator clip --> usb).
But that should not account for 600+mA.

Anyone uncover this mystery yet? Any leads? I lost my official Samsung charger, so I'm starting to get desperate again.

resistance
Twisting the wires together is probably interfering with the detection of the charger capabilities. Try soldering the connections instead of just twisting them. Take a look at the specs on how charger ICs detect the charger and apply the appropriate power: http://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/bq24392.pdf

Ammeter
I agree the resistance you've accumulated between the bad connections, alligator clips and the ammeter itself might be showing the phone enough resistance that it lowers the charge rate. I just finished building a little analog inline ammeter and I am reading just a fraction under 1 amp. I got the 5 amp meter from amazon and split the red on a 2.5 foot oem (knock off) cable. I wanted a short cable to eliminate any added resistance. All connections are also soldered.
Hope this helps mate

Mod for sony liveview stock watchband to facilitate charging

Hi,
I have here a simple mod for the stock sony liveview watch band to facilitate charging without taking out the liveview at its retaining base. I would just like to share this simple mod so that anyone with a broken tabs that clips the liveview in place can use their stock watchband again (Mine broke the other day ,the engineer who design this thing must be fired) or for those anybody that would like to use their stock watchband and was tired of constantly taking out their liveview for charging. This mod will allow the liveview to be charged still attached to the stock watchband. (Caution; Pics are very huge....sorry). Liveview app has a recently updated so it improves connectivity but no auto connect yet. Otherwise I'm enjoying it more now on jellybean than previously where it stays more of its time inside my desk unused, so for now will be using it more frequently.
Materials needed are the following:
a. Long nose flier (preferred as it allow small length bending of the paper clip)
b. paper clip
c. super glue (for those with broken tabs)
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http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd501/gorgycuads/IMG_20121008_105705.jpg?t=1349708425
Steps:
1. Cut, measure and shape the paper clip according to the image shown. Remember to measure the lenght of the clips and its bending in proportion where the retaining pin is attached to the watch base. ( I would not explain further as a picture is worth a thousand words)
http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd501/gorgycuads/IMG_20121008_105715.jpg?t=1349708412
2. when done, remove the stock retaining pin from the watchband. You will have to enlarge the hole where the retaining pin is attached to the base of your live view by using the extra paper clip and heating the tip of it using a gas stove, a candle or anything at your own convenience. (Be careful with this procedure, take extra caution). While the tip of the paper clip is still red hot immediately insert it to the hole and take it out afterwards and do the opposite side.
3. Now that the hole is larger, and your modded paper clip pin is ready to be inserted to the notch. Now replace the stock retaining pin with your modded paper clip retaining pin and place it back. Put your liveview back. For those with broken tabs super glue on the back of your liveview and put it back allow the glue to dry for several minutes.
Here are some pics in action: You still retain factory look and gain some convenience charging with the port without removing anything( except for the rubber cover which you will still have to open). Enjoy (Sorry if I have made some grammatical error or did not explain properly as english is not my primary language).
http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd501/gorgycuads/IMG_20121004_184024.jpg?t=1349708444
http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd501/gorgycuads/IMG_20121004_184101.jpg?t=1349708435
http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd501/gorgycuads/IMG_20121008_110238.jpg?t=1349708665
http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd501/gorgycuads/IMG_20121008_110338.jpg?t=1349708656

nice idea... i'll try how to think how to do it on my watch strap

Good Job. I have to look for a technician to do it for me .

superb job! i am doing this right away! wish me luck
---------- Post added at 03:17 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:43 AM ----------
wooaahhh done! great idea... and quite easily achievable

Thank You!
Thank you so much for this tip,
without it i would have to struggle to remove the watch from its strap everyday as on my one it is way to stiff,i found i didn't have to make enlarge the hole for the paperclip and is quite sturdy :good:

just did this and I didn't had to enlarge the hole

Could use some advice.
This thing has a TINY battery and doesn't use that much power.
As a watch mode it's in the light all the time. What if we never had to plug it in to charge it again... but instead kept it plugged in the whole time to a solar watch strap?
ebay has these (which, two, in series relation might work)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/PowerFilm-F...00918136469?pt=UK_Gadgets&hash=item2ec7a77695
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Thin-Film-F...489?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a81313771
and my favorite (one of these might work... don't think their calculation can be right: e.g. 2V *420mA = .84W
So if we .84W / 5V = .168 = 168ma that's more than standard usb @ 100ma and should give enough juice over 8 hours of office and sunlight right? Plus this thing is waterproof and looks sick (they even have a black one now too).
for dirt cheap that puts out decent charge ... anyone have any ideas how to fashion one of these (or two) into a watchstrap?
Perhaps solder on a male micro usb that will couple to liveview on that side and then a regular watch pin on the other side.
Wouldn't this generate enough energy to never have to plug in and allow unlimited use?
50ma * 8hours a day??? for a 100mah ish battery?
Am I missing something here?
The only issue I see is the voltage... usb needs 5V +/- .25ish?
Would one use a voltage regulator?
Any input greatly appreciated. I'm more software than EE.
Thanks,
Frank

FYI: Liveview mn800 Sony $18 free shipping! Just wanted to pass it along.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sony-Ericss...er_Cell_Phone_Accessories&hash=item589938963b

Nice idea

IT WORKS! IT'S ACTUALLY CHARGING!
Just need to clean it up a bit and do some testing. But it is indeed charging.

How did you do that???
willfck4beer said:
IT WORKS! IT'S ACTUALLY CHARGING! View attachment 2015449
View attachment 2015450
Just need to clean it up a bit and do some testing. But it is indeed charging.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice!
Just ordered a liveview the otherday for $20 from amazon. Can't wait for it to get here! How did you get the solar strip to charge it, that's a great idea?

Just need to get a solar band to be about 5v. Ebay has cheap voltage converters with usb outputs. I'm soldering on a male micro usb and removing female full size usb port. I cut the end of the charger that came with the live view off... only two cables inside. Having some weird results though. Will report more after some more tinkering.

Goddamnit. I cant figure it out. It doesn't seem to be working. The charging indicator light comes on and the screen charging icon indicator shows charging. But even when the device is off and left on the charger... no charge seems to accumulate in the battery.
Not sure if the voltage regulator efficiency is to blame resulting in sub 100ma output??? (This seems to be the case as my phone doesn't report charging). But why would liveview report charging but never charge?
The other possibility is that I need to incorporate a diode, like an led, inline to keep current flowing back from liveview to boost converter when a cloud goes over? Oddly, if I disconnect solar cell... liveview seems to illuminate an led built into regulator. Odd!
This morning I charged for about twenty minutes and when I disconnected, the charging light stayed illuminated for several minutes and liveview would not respond.
Anyone have any ideas?
I'm hoping I don't have to incorporate a tiny rechargeable coin battery intermediate to liveview and the solar cell.

I don't know much about electrical setups but it sounds like the current is flowing into the liveview, then back to the converter and is circulating in and out. Basically, the solar strip is charging the liveview, and at the same time the liveview is powering the converter. This would explain the led staying on after it had been disconnected as the remaining charge in the battery was sent to the voltage converter. Did you try disconnecting everything (usb cable and all) after charging it?

Not yet. Been busy at work. But dying to try. I agree with your assessment. Wish I had an extra led to isolate so there was no backwards flow.

I'm hitting 59.6milliamps on an overcast day with a portion of the panel covered.
Usb provides 100ma max non-negotiated. I'm seeing the liveview pulling 74ma from a usb computer outlet. Getting close!
There seems to be some accumulation. I'm thinking of incorporating a tiny rechargeable nimh coincell to balance everything out and provide more current. I don't see any negative current flowing from live view beyond the voltage converter to the ammeter. Successfully charged my bt headset. Getting there.
I've got, what I hope, is a more efficient converter on the way.

Never run out of battery again on liveview:
Charge from your phone!!!
Otg male micro to micro usb will charge the live view from note2 usb.
3300mah note2 battery at about 100ma to live view's 100ish... while liveview provides an awesome second screen! And remote control/ game D pad plus select. Sick!!! Fxuck yeah
Phone remote.
My note 2 is so big... I need a remote.
In the hood don't even need to whip out note2. There's some serious benefits here.
Schematic attached for my idea of male to male plug to charge liveview from phone:
*Data (D+/D-) generally green and white wires not needed.
*Depending on the orientation of your phone port and whether you want second screen face up (as I do) then there's this difficult twist.
Use the shield to send GND and maybe a conductive ink pen to draw a trace from 1 to 5.
*4 and 5 on OTG side must be coupled for phone to detect OTG.
*Not sure how the phone will react to seeing pins 2/3 D+/D- as open. Hope this works. I think it will.
My phone charges the liveview using a 2 conductor cable... so they should show open anyway.
*if your phone connector is reversed or you don't care about the orientation (which might be nice in some configs)... this is a **** ton easier. Only need to couple two male micro-b to male micro-b with all connectors going straight through. (and couple 4 and 5).
Schematic up just FYI FWIW.
ONE CAVEAT to this. Without the data cables you can't negotiate for higher current above 100mA. But for bluetooth peripherals and liveview... this should be quite sufficient.

Solar charger wrist band working on smartwatch1! They are going to have to build their own for smart watch 2 as I believe it's proprietary connection.
Best news ever just hit... Sony OPENS up dev on smartwatches; home brew friendly behavior? Hell yeah sony! This is such a relief, if this is the new Sony, I'm getting ps4 *****es! The boycott is over! I'm totally getting smarter watch 2 when it comes down to a reasonable price...Cannot wait for full multitouch.
Does anyone have specs fir smart watch 2 plug? Its not microusb is it?

OR - the really easy way if you don't need structural coupling:
$5
http://hakshop.myshopify.com/products/micro-to-micro-otg
Male to male
micro-b to micro-b
with OTG (on the go) enabled.
Already all the work is done... great cable to charge liveview directly from phone!
Also works with your bluetooth headset, mouse, keyboard, and the like.
One improvement on this would be to couple in a resistor across the data lines to allow charging the phone while derivatively charging the liveview.
I'll leave that to the other threads.

Direct phone to liveview charging. 100ma @ 5v
Usb micro to usb micro
Micro-b
$5 from hackify