Charging in Rockbox

Eldorado · #1 (**permalink**) March 2nd, 2007, 08:52 PM

Why can't you turn off your h3xx when it is plugged in and running rockbox? I don't want to leave the player on all the time when it is charging. I can turn it off I guess, but if I am using it plugged in to a/c and want to leave it to charge overnight I want to be able to turn it off without unplugging it. Is leaving it on while it charges even a problem?

Thanks,

Eldorado

Denny · #2 (**permalink**) March 3rd, 2007, 09:46 AM

I think its like that at the moment because of the bootloader (same reason as it goes to the iriver charging screen when you plug in the AC adaptor when its turned off). For now it looks like you'll just have to unplug it, turn it off and plug it in again.

I have left it charging in rockbox. Just stop or pause the player and leave it. Not sure if this is damaging or not though.

Eldorado · #3 (**permalink**) March 3rd, 2007, 10:56 AM

Thanks Denny,

Does anyone know for sure if leaving it on while charging is damaging? I mean if the harddrive is just sitting there it will be spun down, so theoretically wont it be in the same state as charging while off with the original firmware charging screen lit up?

Denny · #4 (**permalink**) March 3rd, 2007, 11:07 AM

No problem. That's what I thought too. Especially if you stop the player instead of pausing.

*edit* yay 1000th post

Danfried · #5 (**permalink**) March 3rd, 2007, 11:50 AM

What worries me about the Rockbox charging routine is that -- unlike the iRiver firmware -- it never indicates FULL. For safety reasons, it is usually essential that lithium battery chargers don't overcharge.

For me, the Rockbox charging routine just seems to keep on going and going... It also seems to send the battery to a higher voltage state than the stock firmware for me. After charging with the stock firmware until I get the FULL message, rebooting under Rockbox and allowing the voltage level to stabilize only gives me a reading of 4.10 - 4.12 volts. With the Rockbox firmware, once I unplug the charger, I can get a reading of above 4.12 volts -- I think I've seen over 4.15.

Earlier, I even thought this might be what was causing the battery ballooning problems for many people. Though with my last battery, I used only the iRiver firmware for charging, and it still ballooned...

Llorean · #6 (**permalink**) March 3rd, 2007, 12:49 PM

The charging itself is performed by hardware. Rockbox itself doesn't actually have control over it, just the ability to monitor and report.

gearheadE34 · #7 (**permalink**) March 3rd, 2007, 05:48 PM

^^which is to say that it isn't a problem to leave the player on charge in rockbox. I don't know how it works, but I accidentally left my H320 on charge in rockbox for 2 days. Still works fine, so I doubt there is any danger of damage

TripleJ85 · #8 (**permalink**) March 3rd, 2007, 07:05 PM

I'm fairly sure charging is done in hardware. If you ever have a good look at the battery, it has inbuilt charging circuitry as well. I used to charge in rockbox all the time with my stock battery and it was fine.

Danfried · #9 (**permalink**) March 3rd, 2007, 08:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Llorean

The charging itself is performed by hardware. Rockbox itself doesn't actually have control over it, just the ability to monitor and report.

That's good to know, and I should have figured that out myself, since I've read what's on Battery University several times (that LiIon batteries have their own charging circuit).

But I'm still baffled as to why Rockbox never reports "Complete" or "Full", and why it seems to charge my battery to higher voltages than the stock firmware.

Denny · #10 (**permalink**) March 4th, 2007, 05:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Danfried

That's good to know, and I should have figured that out myself, since I've read what's on Battery University several times (that LiIon batteries have their own charging circuit).

But I'm still baffled as to why Rockbox never reports "Complete" or "Full", and why it seems to charge my battery to higher voltages than the stock firmware.

Rockbox should report full, at least, it does on my player. Is it not reporting full in the wps, because that's likely to be a problem with the wps code. i.e. the creator did not consider setting up a display for when the player is fully charged and plugged in.

Didgeridoohan · #11 (**permalink**) March 4th, 2007, 05:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Danfried

But I'm still baffled as to why Rockbox never reports "Complete" or "Full", and why it seems to charge my battery to higher voltages than the stock firmware.

As Denny suggested, it might be the code for your wps that doesn't show full... Is it the wps or the statusbar that never shows full, and also what build are you running?

Talking about higher voltages, my player always shows full between 4.17 and 4.20V, and if you have been checking up Battery University you should know that 4.20V is perfectly safe. Iriver might have chosen a lower voltage for their "full" so that the battery can have a longer service life (but with less capacity).

Cheers!

Danfried · #12 (**permalink**) March 4th, 2007, 07:02 AM

Well, I never get a battery reading of 100%. When you say your player shows "Full", do you mean you get a PERCENTAGE reading of 100%?

For the last few months I've been using Norbusan's builds, trying out almost every update, right up to the latest one, and i"ve never had the battery read 100% after disconnecting the charger. (The percentage readings are meaningless while the charger is connected, if you haven't noticed.)

It doesn't matter which WPS I use -- usually MyPodHD or 1007 -- because I check the readings from the Info menu (both Rockbox Info and the Debug/View Battery options).

Under View Battery, I can also see the voltage never gets above about 4.17 volts.

Under Batterybench, I was also getting 16 hrs with the stock battery after about a year and a half. My newer 1450 mAh-rated battery gets about the same amount of time.

Denny · #13 (**permalink**) March 4th, 2007, 07:14 AM

Does rockbox report around 70% when you turn it on after charging it? This is common and I don't know why it happens. Usually the percentage increases up to near 100% after a short time. I get the complete icon, and a percentage of 100% when I charge my iriver whilst rockbox is running / the player is turned on.

Didgeridoohan · #14 (**permalink**) March 6th, 2007, 01:28 AM

Well, maybe it's got something to do with Norbusan's build... I always use the official builds and I always get a percentage reading of 100% after charging. It even stays that way after turning off and then on again (if not left to long).

Danfried · #15 (**permalink**) March 6th, 2007, 08:15 PM

Denny -- yes, when I power it back on after a "Complete" charge under the iRiver firmware, it doesn't read 100% -- usually something like 80%. If I start playing a track, and wait a while after the buffer fills, the reading climbs slightly -- but never up to 100%.

I think I'll also try a Daily Build and see if that makes a difference.

BTW, I've taken a look at the graphics for a few WPS, and there doesn't seem to be an icon for a "full charge while playing" status. I'm not talking about an icon with the full number of bars, but a completely separate graphic -- the way it is done with the iRiver firmware.

In case you hadn't noticed, if you play songs while recharging under the iRiver firmware, eventually you get a separate icon (not the 4-bar one) that shows charging has stopped. I can't find something similar with Rockbox WPSs, so I'm not sure what you guys are talking about when you say that a Rockbox WPS can show a full charge.

Denny · #16 (**permalink**) March 7th, 2007, 12:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Danfried

BTW, I've taken a look at the graphics for a few WPS, and there doesn't seem to be an icon for a "full charge while playing" status. I'm not talking about an icon with the full number of bars, but a completely separate graphic -- the way it is done with the iRiver firmware.

In case you hadn't noticed, if you play songs while recharging under the iRiver firmware, eventually you get a separate icon (not the 4-bar one) that shows charging has stopped. I can't find something similar with Rockbox WPSs, so I'm not sure what you guys are talking about when you say that a Rockbox WPS can show a full charge.

It is possible to show a different icon when fully charged but some wps's dont have this so it looks like they are always charging. I know my wps for one does it and I'm sure some of the more developed ones would too. Icatcher is one that defiantly has it. It shows the bars increasing repeatedly when charging and then a battery with a lightning bolt when fully charged (like the iriver firmware). There's also the text display as well.

gearheadE34 · #17 (**permalink**) March 7th, 2007, 04:29 PM

My original battery would only ever charge to 94%, but now that I have a new 1700mah battery, it will fill all the way up to 100%.

All of the Hipods as well as the jblackglass themes have a full icon, and happen to be my favorites. Thanks whoever made them!!

Danfried · #18 (**permalink**) March 11th, 2007, 01:49 AM

I finally went back to a Daily Build (the March 9 build, and later the 10th), and the same "problem". The maximum voltage reached while charging is 4.15 V, and the percentage never gets close to 100%.

I'm not really concerned, but it is puzzling. And one thing that hasn't changed with all of the versions of Rockbox I've used -- the estimated Time Remaining is always way too low unless I enter a battery capacity that is much higher than the actual rating.

Didgeridoohan · #19 (**permalink**) March 11th, 2007, 03:55 AM

Then my guess is that it has something to do with your player, probably the battery...

The estimated time remaining has not, if I remember correctly, been calibrated, so it cannot be trusted...

Danfried · #20 (**permalink**) March 11th, 2007, 04:25 AM

Too bad. Since I'm getting about 16 hrs anyway, I guess it's not so bad. I wonder if I could have damaged something during battery replacements -- but then I would expect to get nothing at all.

I just bought a "brand new" H340 a few days ago here in China, so I'll check out the charging on that one too once I install Rockbox on it. If the H340 is OK, I should be able to find out if the problem is with the H320's battery or something on the mainboard -- assuming the H340's mainboard is OK!

metal_slugX · #21 (**permalink**) March 13th, 2007, 10:32 AM

hey i just recently bought a 2200 battery.. opened up the my h320
changed the polarity on the battery.. plugged it all in.

now heres the problem. when i plugged in my h320 with the power adapter... the screen just shows white.
after a few hours of charing... same thing. i can hear the hard drive spinning but my screen is still all white... i cant see anything.
what could be the problem?

weatherman · #22 (**permalink**) March 15th, 2007, 03:00 PM

I reckon it is simply the contrast, or the background colours.

Try connecting to pc, then open your config.cfg, or startup.cfg. Edit the colours of your background and font, make sure contrast is high, and see if that works?
Good luck
Jim

weatherman · #23 (**permalink**) March 15th, 2007, 03:05 PM

I am using latest CVS build. is it actually possible to start RB, then plug it into the mains and it charges while playing? Or are we not able to do that?

I have it so it will charge via USB, but I'd like to charge it through themains whilst playing, if possible.
Jim