Charging Cell Phone from Computer

I regularly charge my Motorola phones from both my Toshiba laptop and my
Dell desktop computers. Recently my daughter noticed me doing this and
said she had tried repeatedly to charge her phone (Motorola) the same
way without success. I wondered if this is one of the unmentioned
advantages on Motorola Phone Tools, in that I have MPT loaded and
updated on both my computers and she does not. If so, is there any
reason that she should not download one of the free versions (ver 4.04)
from the internet?

Thanks--
Big John

---

› See More: Charging Cell Phone from Computer

On Tue, 05 Feb 2008 19:37:09 GMT, Big John
<[email protected]> wrote in
<[email protected]>:

>I regularly charge my Motorola phones from both my Toshiba laptop and my
>Dell desktop computers. Recently my daughter noticed me doing this and
>said she had tried repeatedly to charge her phone (Motorola) the same
>way without success. I wondered if this is one of the unmentioned
>advantages on Motorola Phone Tools, in that I have MPT loaded and
>updated on both my computers and she does not. If so, is there any
>reason that she should not download one of the free versions (ver 4.04)
>from the internet?

That would of course by a violation of copyright and a bad lesson for
her. Instead just download the legitimate Motorola driver from
<http://developer.motorola.com/docstools/USB_Drivers/Handset_USB_Driver/>
(registration required but free).

--
Best regards, MOTOROLA WIKI:
John Navas <http://cell.wikia.com/wiki/Motorola>

[email protected] (Big John) wrote in
news:[email protected]:

> I regularly charge my Motorola phones from both my Toshiba laptop
> and my Dell desktop computers. Recently my daughter noticed me doing
> this and said she had tried repeatedly to charge her phone
> (Motorola) the same way without success. I wondered if this is one
> of the unmentioned advantages on Motorola Phone Tools, in that I
> have MPT loaded and updated on both my computers and she does not.
> If so, is there any reason that she should not download one of the
> free versions (ver 4.04) from the internet?

Motorola phones won't charge from a PC via a USB port unless the
Motorola USB drivers are installed on the PC. The drivers are
installed as part of the MPT installation, but they're available on
their own from

http://direct.motorola.com/hellomoto...rsNplugins.asp

Select the "USB Drivers".

--
Bert Hyman | St. Paul, MN | [email protected]

Big John <[email protected]> writes:

> I regularly charge my Motorola phones from both my Toshiba laptop and
> my Dell desktop computers. Recently my daughter noticed me doing this
> and said she had tried repeatedly to charge her phone (Motorola) the
> same way without success. I wondered if this is one of the unmentioned
> advantages on Motorola Phone Tools, in that I have MPT loaded and
> updated on both my computers and she does not. If so, is there any
> reason that she should not download one of the free versions (ver
> 4.04) from the internet?

Motorola is very annoying this way. On some Windows machines, a driver
is actually required to do the charging. John Navas has posted a link
to the driver though.

On Macs, it just seems to work

"Free" software is actually pirated, and god knows what else is
included as a "free" bonus.

--
--
Todd H.
http://toddh.net/

On 05 Feb 2008 19:51:38 GMT, Bert Hyman <[email protected]> wrote in
<[email protected]>:

>[email protected] (Big John) wrote in
>news:[email protected]:
>
>> I regularly charge my Motorola phones from both my Toshiba laptop
>> and my Dell desktop computers. Recently my daughter noticed me doing
>> this and said she had tried repeatedly to charge her phone
>> (Motorola) the same way without success. I wondered if this is one
>> of the unmentioned advantages on Motorola Phone Tools, in that I
>> have MPT loaded and updated on both my computers and she does not.
>> If so, is there any reason that she should not download one of the
>> free versions (ver 4.04) from the internet?
>
>Motorola phones won't charge from a PC via a USB port unless the
>Motorola USB drivers are installed on the PC. The drivers are
>installed as part of the MPT installation, but they're available on
>their own from
>
>http://direct.motorola.com/hellomoto...rsNplugins.asp
>
>Select the "USB Drivers".

That driver is (currently) version 3.2.0
The driver on the Developer site (link I posted) is more current, 3.4.0

--
Best regards, MOTOROLA WIKI:
John Navas <http://cell.wikia.com/wiki/Motorola>

[email protected] (John Navas) wrote in
news:[email protected]:

> On 05 Feb 2008 19:51:38 GMT, Bert Hyman <[email protected]> wrote in
><[email protected]>:
>
>>[email protected] (Big John) wrote in
>>news:[email protected]:
>>
>>> I regularly charge my Motorola phones from both my Toshiba laptop
>>> and my Dell desktop computers. Recently my daughter noticed me
>>> doing this and said she had tried repeatedly to charge her phone
>>> (Motorola) the same way without success. I wondered if this is one
>>> of the unmentioned advantages on Motorola Phone Tools, in that I
>>> have MPT loaded and updated on both my computers and she does
>>> not. If so, is there any reason that she should not download one
>>> of the free versions (ver 4.04) from the internet?
>>
>>Motorola phones won't charge from a PC via a USB port unless the
>>Motorola USB drivers are installed on the PC. The drivers are
>>installed as part of the MPT installation, but they're available on
>>their own from
>>
>>http://direct.motorola.com/hellomoto...rsNplugins.asp
>>
>>Select the "USB Drivers".
>
> That driver is (currently) version 3.2.0
> The driver on the Developer site (link I posted) is more current,
> 3.4.0

Downloading from the developer site requires registration.

Since the OP is only interested in enabling charging, v3.2 will likely
be more than good enough.

--
Bert Hyman | St. Paul, MN | [email protected]

On 05 Feb 2008 20:33:59 GMT, Bert Hyman <[email protected]> wrote in
<[email protected]>:

>[email protected] (John Navas) wrote in
>news:[email protected]:
>
>> On 05 Feb 2008 19:51:38 GMT, Bert Hyman <[email protected]> wrote in
>><[email protected]>:
>>
>>>[email protected] (Big John) wrote in
>>>news:[email protected]:
>>>
>>>> I regularly charge my Motorola phones from both my Toshiba laptop
>>>> and my Dell desktop computers. Recently my daughter noticed me
>>>> doing this and said she had tried repeatedly to charge her phone
>>>> (Motorola) the same way without success. I wondered if this is one
>>>> of the unmentioned advantages on Motorola Phone Tools, in that I
>>>> have MPT loaded and updated on both my computers and she does
>>>> not. If so, is there any reason that she should not download one
>>>> of the free versions (ver 4.04) from the internet?
>>>
>>>Motorola phones won't charge from a PC via a USB port unless the
>>>Motorola USB drivers are installed on the PC. The drivers are
>>>installed as part of the MPT installation, but they're available on
>>>their own from
>>>
>>>http://direct.motorola.com/hellomoto...rsNplugins.asp
>>>
>>>Select the "USB Drivers".
>>
>> That driver is (currently) version 3.2.0
>> The driver on the Developer site (link I posted) is more current,
>> 3.4.0
>
>Downloading from the developer site requires registration.

True, but it's free and can be done anonymously if you prefer.

>Since the OP is only interested in enabling charging, v3.2 will likely
>be more than good enough.

Perhaps, but drivers can have serious bugs even in that limited role.
While I know of nothing wrong with 3.2.0, there's another version of
this driver that will crash the computer on Resume from Standby if the
handset is disconnected from computer charging while in Standby. This
is why it makes sense to get the latest version available.

--
Best regards, MOTOROLA WIKI:
John Navas <http://cell.wikia.com/wiki/Motorola>

On 2008-02-05, Todd H. <[email protected]> wrote:
> Big John <[email protected]> writes:
>
>> I regularly charge my Motorola phones from both my Toshiba laptop and
>> my Dell desktop computers. Recently my daughter noticed me doing this
>> and said she had tried repeatedly to charge her phone (Motorola) the
>> same way without success. I wondered if this is one of the unmentioned
>> advantages on Motorola Phone Tools, in that I have MPT loaded and
>> updated on both my computers and she does not. If so, is there any
>> reason that she should not download one of the free versions (ver
>> 4.04) from the internet?
>
> Motorola is very annoying this way. On some Windows machines, a driver
> is actually required to do the charging. John Navas has posted a link
> to the driver though.
>
> On Macs, it just seems to work

I don't this is Motorola's fault, I think this is a Windows thing.
Windows seems to like to turn the power off on the USB port when
it doesn't recognize the device attached to it (which it won't
if it doesn't have a driver), while Macs leave the power on regardless.

Someone told me that this was a Windows power management thing,
and that you could maybe get it to leave the power on if you
turned off power management for the USB port. I no longer have
a windows machine to try this on, however, so I have no idea if
that's true.

Dennis Ferguson

In message <[email protected]> Dennis Ferguson
<[email protected]> wrote:

>I don't this is Motorola's fault, I think this is a Windows thing.

No -- It's neither's "fault", it's simply a matter of how USB works.

The USB specification requires that devices connect in a low-power mode
(100 mA maximum) and state how much current they need, before switching,
with the host's permission, into high-power mode.

Since charging the battery draws more then 100mA, Motorola would be in
violation of the spec if the phone assumed it could draw as much power
as it wanted without permission.

In order to ask for permission, you need a valid driver installed.

In article <[email protected]>, Todd H. <[email protected]> wrote:

> Motorola is very annoying this way. On some Windows machines, a driver
> is actually required to do the charging. John Navas has posted a link
> to the driver though.
>
> On Macs, it just seems to work

Yet another reason I try to avoid any version of Windows.

On Wed, 06 Feb 2008 08:28:23 -0800, "Mr. Strat"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>In article <[email protected]>, Todd H. <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> Motorola is very annoying this way. On some Windows machines, a driver
>> is actually required to do the charging. John Navas has posted a link
>> to the driver though.
>>
>> On Macs, it just seems to work
>
>Yet another reason I try to avoid any version of Windows.

You could always go back to DOS or APPLESOFT and avoid all those nasty
graphical user interfaces. Think how much fun it is to program in
basic.

--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

On Tue, 05 Feb 2008 22:09:13 -0700, DevilsPGD
<[email protected]> wrote in
<[email protected]>:

>In message <[email protected]> Dennis Ferguson
><[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>I don't this is Motorola's fault, I think this is a Windows thing.
>
>No -- It's neither's "fault", it's simply a matter of how USB works.
>
>The USB specification requires that devices connect in a low-power mode
>(100 mA maximum) and state how much current they need, before switching,
>with the host's permission, into high-power mode.
>
>Since charging the battery draws more then 100mA, Motorola would be in
>violation of the spec if the phone assumed it could draw as much power
>as it wanted without permission.
>
>In order to ask for permission, you need a valid driver installed.

There's nothing to prevent the phone from slow charging at 100 mA if
unable to switch into a higher power mode, and bus power may be limited
by other devices and/or the host, so I personally think this is at least
in part a Motorola handset implementation issue.

--
Best regards, MOTOROLA WIKI:
John Navas <http://cell.wikia.com/wiki/Motorola>

John Navas <[email protected]> writes:

> On Tue, 05 Feb 2008 22:09:13 -0700, DevilsPGD
> <[email protected]> wrote in
> <[email protected]>:
>
> >In message <[email protected]> Dennis Ferguson
> ><[email protected]> wrote:
> >
> >>I don't this is Motorola's fault, I think this is a Windows thing.
> >
> >No -- It's neither's "fault", it's simply a matter of how USB works.
> >
> >The USB specification requires that devices connect in a low-power mode
> >(100 mA maximum) and state how much current they need, before switching,
> >with the host's permission, into high-power mode.
> >
> >Since charging the battery draws more then 100mA, Motorola would be in
> >violation of the spec if the phone assumed it could draw as much power
> >as it wanted without permission.
> >
> >In order to ask for permission, you need a valid driver installed.
>
> There's nothing to prevent the phone from slow charging at 100 mA if
> unable to switch into a higher power mode, and bus power may be limited
> by other devices and/or the host, so I personally think this is at least
> in part a Motorola handset implementation issue.

Agreed. When I briefly looked into this, I vaguely recall something
about the wiring of that connector that kept usb on windows from just
working. I'm afraid I don't have time to chase that down, but I
believe this discussion took place here or in the cingular newsgroup.

Windows must be also partly to blame as well because when I plug my
Krzr or Razr into my mac iBook dual USB.... it starts charging. No
driver required. I got the tip from another Mac user who wondered
what the problem was when I reported my troubles charging on a Windows
PC.

--
Todd H.
http://toddh.net/

On 06 Feb 2008 10:58:13 -0600, [email protected] (Todd H.) wrote in
<[email protected]>:

>John Navas <[email protected]> writes:

>> There's nothing to prevent the phone from slow charging at 100 mA if
>> unable to switch into a higher power mode, and bus power may be limited
>> by other devices and/or the host, so I personally think this is at least
>> in part a Motorola handset implementation issue.
>
>Agreed. When I briefly looked into this, I vaguely recall something
>about the wiring of that connector that kept usb on windows from just
>working. I'm afraid I don't have time to chase that down, but I
>believe this discussion took place here or in the cingular newsgroup.

The problem is that not all Standard-A to Mini-B USB cables are the same
-- there are both 5-connection cables and 4-connection cables, and only
proper 5-connector cables will work without a special USB driver.

<http://pinouts.ru/CellularPhones-A-N/razrv3_charger_pinout.shtml>

Standard USB has only 4 connections. Mini USB has 5 connections, the
extra connection being the ID pin.

<http://pinouts.ru/Slots/USB_pinout.shtml>
<http://pinouts.ru/Devices/mini-USB_pinout.shtml>

>Windows must be also partly to blame as well because when I plug my
>Krzr or Razr into my mac iBook dual USB.... it starts charging. No
>driver required. I got the tip from another Mac user who wondered
>what the problem was when I reported my troubles charging on a Windows
>PC.

If anyone is to blame, I'd say it's Motorola for not getting its USB
Modem driver into the standard Windows Update process. Consider grief
and confusion could have been avoided that way.

--
Best regards, MOTOROLA WIKI:
John Navas <http://cell.wikia.com/wiki/Motorola>

On 06 Feb 2008 10:58:13 -0600, Todd H. <[email protected]> wrote:
>John Navas <[email protected]> writes:
>>
>> There's nothing to prevent the phone from slow charging at 100 mA if
>> unable to switch into a higher power mode, and bus power may be limited
>> by other devices and/or the host, so I personally think this is at least
>> in part a Motorola handset implementation issue.
>
>Agreed. When I briefly looked into this, I vaguely recall something
>about the wiring of that connector that kept usb on windows from just
>working. I'm afraid I don't have time to chase that down, but I
>believe this discussion took place here or in the cingular newsgroup.
>
>Windows must be also partly to blame as well because when I plug my
>Krzr or Razr into my mac iBook dual USB.... it starts charging. No
>driver required. I got the tip from another Mac user who wondered
>what the problem was when I reported my troubles charging on a Windows
>PC.

Recent-ish Linux versions also work just fine, as when you plug in the
phone the kernel will auto-load the cdc-acm driver and give you a virtual
serial device to use the phone as a modem while you're at it.

Depending on the OP's particular phone, you might be able to switch the
handset into memory card mode for the USB (The L7 can do this). With
this, Windows will see the phone as a generic mass storage device like a
memory stick so you won't need any special drivers at all, unless you're
using Windows 98.

--
-- Michael "Soruk" McConnell Eridani Star System
MailStripper - http://www.MailStripper.eu/ - SMTP spam filter
Second Number - http://secondnumber.matrixnetwork.co.uk/