On Sun, 02 Dec 2012 16:21:15 -0800, SMS <[email protected]>
wrote:

>On 12/1/2012 5:09 PM, Randy S wrote:
>> Wife and I each have a Motorola V195...ancient phones, I know, but
>> they work well for us. We used to be able to plug a USB cable into any
>> PC and charge the phones, but that recently stopped working and we'd
>> like to know why.
>
>In order for a Motorola V195 phone to charge from a computer's USB port
>(or from a non-Motorola charger) you need a little adapter:
>
><http://dx.com/p/mini-usb-5-pin-charger-adapter-for-moto-v9-32597> but
>no longer available. This adds a resistor across two pins of the
>Mini-USB connector and fools the phone into thinking it's plugged into a
>Motorola charger), it accomplishes what you see at
><http://pinoutsguide.com/CellularPhones-A-N/razrv3_charger_pinout.shtml>.

Good to know, thanks! I never had that adapter, nor did I have special
USB cable, so those solutions aren't how I was doing it before, but
still it's good to know and may help me (or others) in the future.

>The alternative for a PC is to install Motorola Phone Tools. This will
>install the USB driver for the phone and it will charge from the USB
>port of the computer. You used to be able to find this for almost
>nothing (less than $3, with a cable) but no longer. If you used to be
>able to charge the phone from the PC then somehow the USB drivers for
>the Motorola phone were on your PC.

Bingo! Until a few months ago, both computers here at home were
running XP and had Motorola Phone Tools (MPT) installed because we
thought we'd like to sync contacts between Outlook and the phones. We
did an initial sync, then never again, so when we upgraded to Windows
7 we skipped the installation of MPT on the new PCs.

So just now, I installed a copy of the Motorola driver and bam!
Charging works, and it didn't even require a reboot.

Thanks for the info!

On 12/1/2012 5:09 PM, Randy S wrote:
> Wife and I each have a Motorola V195...ancient phones, I know, but
> they work well for us. We used to be able to plug a USB cable into any
> PC and charge the phones, but that recently stopped working and we'd
> like to know why.

In order for a Motorola V195 phone to charge from a computer's USB port
(or from a non-Motorola charger) you need a little adapter:

<http://dx.com/p/mini-usb-5-pin-charger-adapter-for-moto-v9-32597> but
no longer available. This adds a resistor across two pins of the
Mini-USB connector and fools the phone into thinking it's plugged into a
Motorola charger), it accomplishes what you see at
<http://pinoutsguide.com/CellularPhones-A-N/razrv3_charger_pinout.shtml>.

The alternative for a PC is to install Motorola Phone Tools. This will
install the USB driver for the phone and it will charge from the USB
port of the computer. You used to be able to find this for almost
nothing (less than $3, with a cable) but no longer. If you used to be
able to charge the phone from the PC then somehow the USB drivers for
the Motorola phone were on your PC.

You might also try
<https://motorola-global-portal.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/83049/p_country_code/US>
even though the V195 isn't listed it still may work.

Unless you do one of these too things, you'll likely see "Unauthorized
Charger" on the phone. I have two of the V195S phones that I use for
traveling to other countries since they are quad band. I bring along the
little Mini-USB to Mini-USB adapter that adds in the proper resistor so
I can use any USB charger.

Wife and I each have a Motorola V195...ancient phones, I know, but
they work well for us. We used to be able to plug a USB cable into any
PC and charge the phones, but that recently stopped working and we'd
like to know why.

We've tried 3 different USB cables and at least half a dozen different
PC's at home and at our respective workplaces. Both V195's 'wake up'
when the USB cable is plugged in, but neither phone actually begins to
charge.

We also have two AC chargers, both of which continue to work
perfectly, but we'd sure like to regain the capability to charge via
USB. Any ideas?