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[Q] charge through USB

Can the transformer charge through a usb cable connected to a computer? Every time I try it won't do it (I'm plugging it into a usb 2.0). I can only charge by using the AC adapter. Anyone see this?

Only of the screen is off or the power is off, and even then it's very very very very slow.
So for all intents and purposes, no.

Why not charge it through power adapter?
For mobility, I ordered this:
charger cable extension (to make the USB charging cable longer)
USB 3.0 A male - A Female Extension Cable (10 feet)
Not really a asus accessory but for myself I ordered this mini surge protector with dual USB ports... being in south, we get a lot of lightening storms so this is a must (for bed-side and you don't want to buy huge surge protector). Plug into wall next to a PC or something:
Belkin mini surge protector dual USB charger
Hope that helps!

dotpro said:
Why not charge it through power adapter?
For mobility, I ordered this:
charger cable extension (to make the USB charging cable longer)
USB 3.0 A male - A Female Extension Cable (10 feet)
Not really a asus accessory but for myself I ordered this mini surge protector with dual USB ports... being in south, we get a lot of lightening storms so this is a must (for bed-side and you don't want to buy huge surge protector). Plug into wall next to a PC or something:
Belkin mini surge protector dual USB charger
Hope that helps!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Let us know if that extender cable works for data and/or charging. Thanks!

it charges in 1 of 2 ways
USB [email protected]=10watts
Wall [email protected]=18watts
so, as you can see, the wall is the much more effective choice.

dotpro said:
Why not charge it through power adapter?
For mobility, I ordered this:
charger cable extension (to make the USB charging cable longer)
USB 3.0 A male - A Female Extension Cable (10 feet)
Not really a asus accessory but for myself I ordered this mini surge protector with dual USB ports... being in south, we get a lot of lightening storms so this is a must (for bed-side and you don't want to buy huge surge protector). Plug into wall next to a PC or something:
Belkin mini surge protector dual USB charger
Hope that helps!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have one of those Belkin units, they're very nice. But I can't find the specs showing the output on the USB ports. Is 15V @ 1.2amps a standard and this supports it? A bit ignorant about such things...

wynand32 said:
I have one of those Belkin units, they're very nice. But I can't find the specs showing the output on the USB ports. Is 15V @ 1.2amps a standard and this supports it? A bit ignorant about such things...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Powered USB Output
5V/500mA each port

Charging through USB 3.0 from expansion card?
Has anyone try charging TF (& Dock) through USB 3.0 available from expansion card?

I have and it doesn't work but several people have tried and it does. Seems to be hit and miss as to whether it works or not. Even same usb 3 cables have different results.

steftymo said:
Seems to be hit and miss as to whether it works or not. Even same usb 3 cables have different results.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There could be many things at fault here. First would be the usb 3 port and whether its on the mobo or card, and then i would put fault on the drivers (or not having installed them)

Why don't people want to use the charger that came with the unit? I can't imaging not using a unit with a least the same output (V & A) as the factory unit. Also, does anyone know if the pinouts track with what is coming out of a USB 2.0. It would not be too good to put power into the wrong pins.

patriotaus said:
There could be many things at fault here. First would be the usb 3 port and whether its on the mobo or card, and then i would put fault on the drivers (or not having installed them)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No I mean to say that some people, including me, are trying to extend the charging cable by inserting a usb 3 extension cable between the mains charger and the tf.
It works for some, not for others

[Q] TF Charging Indicator?

Sorry if this has already been asked and answered - the XDA Search has been down for the past couple of hours and I just want to be sure I'm not missing anything here..
From what I can see in the reviews, the TF does *not* have any sort of charging indicator / LED on it - correct? I read that there will be one on the keyboard dock - but there is not one on the tablet.
So what are you guys doing? Just plugging it in and letting it sit overnight to give it its full charge - and then going by the battery indicator when you turn it on?
I've got my new TF sitting next to me here, and I'm trying to be a good dad to it by charging it up first before using it - but not having any sort of an indicator on it - I have no idea if it's doing anything or not!!!
Screw it - I think I"m gonna unplug it and start futzing it with it! Battery be damned!!
btw - damn this charge cable is SHORT!!

No charging LED that I can see on mine, and yea, I hate this stupid charging cable, guess you can always get a USB extension cable.
pogul said:
Sorry if this has already been asked and answered - the XDA Search has been down for the past couple of hours and I just want to be sure I'm not missing anything here..
From what I can see in the reviews, the TF does *not* have any sort of charging indicator / LED on it - correct? I read that there will be one on the keyboard dock - but there is not one on the tablet.
So what are you guys doing? Just plugging it in and letting it sit overnight to give it its full charge - and then going by the battery indicator when you turn it on?
I've got my new TF sitting next to me here, and I'm trying to be a good dad to it by charging it up first before using it - but not having any sort of an indicator on it - I have no idea if it's doing anything or not!!!
Screw it - I think I"m gonna unplug it and start futzing it with it! Battery be damned!!
btw - damn this charge cable is SHORT!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Monoprice has the USB 3.0 extension cables, but they won't be in stock until tomorrow (their estimate). When they are back in stock, a 6ft extension will run you about $7-$8 shipped.

I plan to order a few cables from Monoprice with a mini hdmi to hdmi cable.

Does it need to be usb 3.0 or will usb 2.0 do the trick ?
dfin13 said:
Monoprice has the USB 3.0 extension cables, but they won't be in stock until tomorrow (their estimate). When they are back in stock, a 6ft extension will run you about $7-$8 shipped.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

USB 2 cables don't supply enough power.
It will charge, but I think it has to be off and it'd be really slow going.

But usb 2.0 extension cable will work fine with the supplied charger? Also would you not require a usb 2.0 to usb 3.0 converter ?

Asus really overlook the inclusion of an charging indicator. Or, they are trying to make more $$$ on the keyboard/dock?

jake21 said:
But usb 2.0 extension cable will work fine with the supplied charger? Also would you not require a usb 2.0 to usb 3.0 converter ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Has anyone got some definitve experience on USB2 vs USB3 for charging and/or with an extension cable. The whole charging process and adaptor are making me a little nervous in general.

there is no reason to invest in USB 3 gear when all you really need is higher amperage, wich you often get from stand-alone chargers like the one supplied or you can buy in stores (just check that the output is 1000mah or more, 2000 mah is desired for effective charging).
The reason you might want to use a usb 3 PORT (cable makes no diffrence) is that usb 3 deliver more juice then usb 2, but unless it is a dedicated charger port that can supply 2000mah+ charge the port still require you to have the pad either off or stand by and even then charging will take ages.
Consider this, the supplied charger delivers 2000mah on 5v and my HTC charger to my phone has 1000mah @ 5v. Compared to the standard 550mah on a singel non-charger adapted USB port on a computer.

The TF charger output at 15V @ 1.2A with using the supplied USB3.0 cable. If you use a USB2.0 extension cable, it will drop the charging voltage down to 5V. You will need a USB3.0 extension cable

eli.kennedy said:
Has anyone got some definitve experience on USB2 vs USB3 for charging and/or with an extension cable. The whole charging process and adaptor are making me a little nervous in general.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's a thread about this issue here. Several USB 3.0 cables have been found to work, but not for everyone. I have this one that I received today. It charged both the tab and the dock with the wall charger. I've also got a Tripp Lite that's worked for others on the way in the case the other didn't work.

it has to be USB 3.0 extension since the tablet recognizes the extra pin which is what lets it charge at the full rate.

jmkhenka said:
there is no reason to invest in USB 3 gear when all you really need is higher amperage, wich you often get from stand-alone chargers like the one supplied or you can buy in stores (just check that the output is 1000mah or more, 2000 mah is desired for effective charging).
The reason you might want to use a usb 3 PORT (cable makes no diffrence) is that usb 3 deliver more juice then usb 2, but unless it is a dedicated charger port that can supply 2000mah+ charge the port still require you to have the pad either off or stand by and even then charging will take ages.
Consider this, the supplied charger delivers 2000mah on 5v and my HTC charger to my phone has 1000mah @ 5v. Compared to the standard 550mah on a singel non-charger adapted USB port on a computer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not quite correct. The charger senses a gnd connection on pin 7 of the USB 3.0 connector and delivers 15V @2a to the TF and or Dock. There are only 4 conductors in a USB 2.0 Cable. so the charger only delivers 5V as it does not see the gnd on pin 7. For all the technical details see the thread started by DevCake where the voltages and currents have actually been measured. A 5V 20A charger will not be as good as one with 11-15V at about 2A as the charger is not a constant current charger but a power source for a charge controller ( controlling the current) in the TF.

I appreciate that it is a slightly older thread and not sure if what I'm about to post is already known by TF owners but here goes anyway.
The discussion has moved on to cables but the threqad title is about a charging indicator. I've discovered that the battery icon in the bottom RH corner has a lightning symbol through it when it is being charged.
Sorry if it's old news but I've only had my TF one week and thought other users might not be aware

Really wish they would have put in a fancy multicolor LED somewhere on the housing but we can't win them all. Even the Nook Color had an LED on the cable itself.

[Q] Transformer not charging with extension

As the cable is too short, I attached an extension cable.
However, now it does not charge. If i connect the short cable that came with the Transformer, it charges fine. Any suggestion?

The TF101 "short cable" as you call it, is a USB3 cable, what has +5 pins inside. One of these pins control the 15V charging (the tablet takes 15V from the charger instead of the usual 5V USB), if it can not send the signal through, it won't charge. You need a USB3 extension cable what's pretty expensive though.

Get this one or a similar one. As you can see, 2 reviewers vouch that this cable works.
http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-6-Fe...1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1316952334&sr=1-1

ondoy1943 said:
Get this one or a similar one. As you can see, 2 reviewers vouch that this cable works.
http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-6-Fe...1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1316952334&sr=1-1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can vouch for it, too.

Got on of this USB 3 cable while at HK and work without any problem.

Thank you guys. Will be purchasing one. I am guessing Belkin F7C008QAF Conserve Valet USB Charging Station - Energy Saving wont be working with this :/

That is correct, because the transformer looks for termination of one of the usb 3 pins, if you plug it into a usb 2.0 or lower extension/hub it just wont work. You must have a usb 3 extension/hub, or, there are many DIY chargers that are probably cheaper than a usb 3 extension cable and definately cheaper than a usb 3 hub.

Even a usb 3.0 hub or charging station will not charge it. Usb does not provide the voltage required. Only the outlet adapter will work
Sent from my mopho

Are you saying that my cigarette outlet will be the only thing that charges this?

It won't charge it all with anything unless turned off. Guess I need to make a hybrid cable
Posted on the fly with my XPLOD Evo4G

[TUT]Fast Charging via USB port MOD

Anyone wanting to know how to fast charge using the usb port on your pc/laptop?
This usually takes ages compared to charging via mains lead, the hack itself is quite simple and involves modifying the usb cable
my results are as follows (these can vary depending on what you are using your phone for, what background apps running, etc.
charging with mains lead :
4.2v
998mah
mains ac
charging with STANDARD usb lead:
422mah
3.999v
standard usb
and finally the MODIFIED usb lead hack:
4.161v
782mah
usb hack
as you can see it is a 53% increase in charging compared to standard usb charging mah, and slightly under mains ac charging mah,
as my phone is always plugged in at my work pc or home pc or laptop or whatever this works out good
TUT:
use at your own risk this is for information purposes only and I hold no responsibility to any damage that may arise
using a micro usb cable (charging cable for htc phones)
cut it using a pliers half way through the cable
using pliers again cut away the thick black wiring, the red and black small wiring, and white and green wiring
from the usb port end to the microusb connect the black and red cables together so they join
from the microusb end short out the white and green cables together
from the usb port end leave the white and green cables, do not touch these
use insulation tape/solder to clean it up and then your cable is ready
I will make a mod for car chargers also soon
see attached image showing which wires to cut and which to join up and which to leave alone, if this helped you in anyway (it should help you ) then please hit the thanks button
this mod will trick your pc/laptop/htc into thinking that it is not a pc usb cable and will allow higher currents and voltage to your phone
you can check this with current widget from market place
once this mod is done, you cannot use the same cable again for pc/usb tethering or usb disk drive, only cable can be used for charging

Care to explain how you did it? I got a spare Micro USB cable willing to try and make a tutorial with pictures.

So you forgot to put the directions for the mod...
Sent from my Sensation 4g using XDA App

directions are up with a picture

Seems awesome, but I'd be way too scared to try that on my own. >.<

First of all im not against this mod. Just want to share my experience just this morning.
I charge my phone via the stock usb cable to my pc and leave until morning approx 7hrs. What happen now my phone Menu button become unresponsive tried different method, shake google for answer , but nothing work. Worst come to worse i may return the phone to HTC for repair. So for anyone want to try this be careful, this could be a problem with HTC as it could result more problem.
HTH

Sounds dangerous and a bit risky. Why not just use a USB y cable and a micro USB adapter?
http://item.mobileweb.ebay.com.au/viewitem?itemId=370586078337

Its not dangerous nor risky in my opinion...
I am using this trick since I owned HTC TYTN2 and I`m using it now.

Hmmm...
I always thought the different voltages came from the charging adaptor..
The phone adaptors have normal charging voltages so thats why charge normal speed... however PCs have lesser voltage due to USB ports. I think the PC voltage varies on the device that's plugged in.
Thus, we can use the same cable for charging with an adaptor and also for data transfer and the phone knows what its plugged into.
Pardon me if i'm wrong... could be a misconception i had

Why go to that bother when you can just plug in the adaptor!
Sent from my Sensation using Tapatalk

thunderskain said:
Hmmm...
I always thought the different voltages came from the charging adaptor..
The phone adaptors have normal charging voltages so thats why charge normal speed... however PCs have lesser voltage due to USB ports. I think the PC voltage varies on the device that's plugged in.
Thus, we can use the same cable for charging with an adaptor and also for data transfer and the phone knows what its plugged into.
Pardon me if i'm wrong... could be a misconception i had
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's got nothing to do with the voltages, they are the same. The phone senses that the data wires are not connected together (open) and presumes that it is plugged into a pc / laptop usb port. Because of this the phone then restricts the current it draws from it's source so that it doesn't cause damage to the pc / laptop usb power supply.
Inside the phone charger the data connections will be shorted out so the phone knows it's the charger and can draw full current.
There is a chance that it could damage the pc / laptop if the usb port supply is not rated high enough

Just to update the thread, I've been using this for the last year and a half on all the HTC's I own and no issue at all,
I can connect my phone to my laptop if i dont have access to mains
I can use the cable in the car to a usb charger (which charge slow for some reason)
there are many reasons i.e. in work where I can only use a usb port and no extra plugs for a/c, it means I don't have to carry a plug around with me just a usb cable,

A good post, the issues around drawing to much power could effect older laptops
If I understand correctlly USB3 has the ability to supply more power than USB 2
Anyone any idea if this would reduce charge times without the mod?

battery will die soon enough...

you should place a 220 Ohm resistor between the data lines (green and white) if you do that, you will be able to use the where it was intended for, data
with the 200~220 Ohm resistor the phone recognizes the connection as AC-charger. i dit this with a DealExtreme carcharger
source: http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Upgradi...-current-to-HTC-Hero-and-other-devices/5172/1
If you can get to the ID-pin of the USB-connector (pin4) and connect the following resistors to GND, you get interesting USB modes
Dock-mode = 44-49 kOhms
Car-dock = 5-16 kOhms
source: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1185431

I've done this, and soldered all the cables in the right positions, now I'm testing the charge times between this and a normal usb cable on my HTC G1.
First thing I noticed was that my phone says charging via AC, instead of usb.
Will edit this with the results.
Edit : Been a while, forgot about this, so I forget the exact numbers, but my phone charged around 1 and half hours faster with this mod, and yes, it was on USB 3.0 so its quite good.

Worthless to try if you don't have USB 3.0.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium

Does this mod increase charge with main AC lead that output 2A e.g. Ipad charger head???

usb3 provides up to 900ma
so usb3 should work without any problems
this is usb specification
http://www.usr.com/education/peripherals0.asp
by default usb2 provides 500ma unless it is asked for more by the device, this is where the mod of the cable comes into play, it provides up to 1000ma with this mod

johnerz said:
If I understand correctlly USB3 has the ability to supply more power than USB 2
Anyone any idea if this would reduce charge times without the mod?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have an Notebook with USB3.0 and also Power-USB. (Power usb only works with a dockingstation).
The charging is also bad. Takes about ~4 hours from 2% - 100%.
I thought about power reducement by phone, when dataconnection is available. Now I know it for sure :-/

Charging Cables

Do the TF200/Prime/Other cables word with the Infinity?
I'm thinking about just getting a couple of spare cables here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007GJR7GS/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&smid=A1HKVQTYI2W24Y but want to make sure that they fit and work.
Also, (perhaps a separate thread?) Can we use any AC to USB converter (and cable) to charge the Infinity? The adapter bundled with mine was a bit more robust than normal adapters so I'm inclined to think no, but wanted to confirm before I get a spare one.

My cable from my prime works with the infinity....I also tried a cigarette to USB plug in my Jeep and it would not charge the Infinity

if anyone finds out if other USB charging adapters work successfully, could you please post about it?
much thanks

JMH-ESH said:
if anyone finds out if other USB charging adapters work successfully, could you please post about it?
much thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
None of them will work. The charging cable for the TF700 doesn't use any the USB pins for charging. It has additional USB3-style pins hidden up inside the connector. Also, the stock charger outputs 15V which I doubt we'd find on any standard USB charger.

DefectiveRobot said:
None of them will work. The charging cable for the TF700 doesn't use any the USB pins for charging. It has additional USB3-style pins hidden up inside the connector. Also, the stock charger outputs 15V which I doubt we'd find on any standard USB charger.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, correcting my previous post, it can charge via a USB 2.0 connection (as on a standard USB charger) but very very slowly. The current is not enough to charge it while the screen is on. The display will read, "Not Charging" but it actually does. See the following thread for more info:
forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1788055

I want to extend the charging cable. Can I use any regular USB M to F cable or do I need something specific?

Aria807 said:
I want to extend the charging cable. Can I use any regular USB M to F cable or do I need something specific?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you need a usb 3.0 extension cord to extend the cable

wolfman87 said:
Do the TF200/Prime/Other cables word with the Infinity?
I'm thinking about just getting a couple of spare cables here: but want to make sure that they fit and work.
Also, (perhaps a separate thread?) Can we use any AC to USB converter (and cable) to charge the Infinity? The adapter bundled with mine was a bit more robust than normal adapters so I'm inclined to think no, but wanted to confirm before I get a spare one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got this one and it worked for me.
off of e- bay Item number: 180937129661

DefectiveRobot said:
None of them will work. The charging cable for the TF700 doesn't use any the USB pins for charging. It has additional USB3-style pins hidden up inside the connector. Also, the stock charger outputs 15V which I doubt we'd find on any standard USB charger.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Umm... did you actually test that? I went through my charger pin by pin with a multi-meter and found 5 VDC between pins 1 and 4. Look closely at the charger, it says it can supply 5VDC @ 2A or 15VDC @ 1.2 A. The only reason for switching to 15VDC would be if they had some sort of feedback signal on pins 2 and 3 going to the plug-in adapter to signal that the battery was fully charged and tell it to switch to a higher voltage/lower current mode.

ASUS standard charging cable has 5 pins instead of 4. I'm betting the feedback you're looking for actually occurs on the 5th pin.