yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] chad0989:
Compliant USB devices are allowed to draw up to 500mA. That's why its limited to 500mA draw when detected as usb, for compliance. That doesn't mean with modification it can't pull more than 500mA if the board will allow. Which is exactly what this does. If your board physically doesn't allow more than 500mA draw, then you will not get an increase in charging rate. However, many boards are fused at 1A or greater and you can pull more current. A device that pulls more than 500mA is just no longer considered compliant.

Believe me, I pull between 700-1000mA depending on which computer in my house I plug in to. It depends entirely on how the board is configured. Like I said, many have a 1A fuse shared between 2 ports on the same header and don't limit the current for each individual port, just for the two together.

If you pull more than the fuse allows, the regulator on the board will cut power to the offending device. The chances of actual damage to either the phone or the board are actually very minimal since these fail safes are designed to prevent damage from malfunctioning devices that suddenly try to pull excessive current.

Are you taking a risk by pulling more current then specification if your board allows? Yes, but the risk is overestimated. That's why by default the mod is off and if you want to use it, you must toggle it on. That way, the end user is taking the risk. If you don't wan't to do it, then don't turn it on. The mod was/is originally intended for car chargers etc that can easily handle 1A+ but are unfortunately detected as USB. However, lots of people, with many different devices, have successfully used it to charge faster off of their computer with no ill effects. But like I said, nobody is forcing anyone to use it, the user must turn it on.

EDIT: I might also add my observations of being able to pull the excess current are based on the inc and the rezound. On those devices, the mod is a bit different because of hardware differences. It allows USB data along with fast charging. The Galaxy Nexus may not be able to negotiate extra current from the mobo at all since USB data is disabled when the mod is active. However you will still benefit from being able to pull the extra current from a car charger / charging through the pogo pins. I'm still working on MHL, if its possible.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] blulite:
Me too, how are you measuring current?
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] cmstlist:
I'm looking into getting an MHL cable as well for HDMI output.

Just a quick question: if you dim the screen severely, might that reduce the power draw to a sustainable level? The app RootDim can drop brightness far below the standard system settings. Maybe if you set it on a 1 or 2, the 500 mA charge would suffice?
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] jnutz:
I didn't think of that but I will give it a try and see how that works. I am worried about the screen being on for very long periods of time and lowering the brightness doesn't actually turn it off. I just wish there was an option to turn the screen off while using the MHL because I am sure that would help the power issue greatly and would prolong the life of the screen. It seems silly to me that the default is to leave the screen on when an external display is connected.

By the way I am using the Logitech DiNovo Mini with my phone and it works very well. This keyboard with the MHL is a good setup IMO.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] rquellet:
I'm using a bluetooth keyboard with an Apple Magic Trackpad with an MHL adapter plugged into my TV. The Magic Trackpad is cool, because it works as a multi-touch input device for the Galaxy Nexus. Pinch-zoom, two finger swiping and more are all working great. It's a really nice setup!

If only we could get the Galaxy Nexus to charge faster over MHL...
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] jnutz:
From what I understand the limitation is imposed because the MHL adapter does connect in USB mode regardless of what power adapter you have plugged into the MHL adapter. I am not sure if you can make the phone switch to AC mode without losing the USB connection to the MHL adapter. I know a few people are working on it so in time we will see. In the meantime I am going to switch my focus to turning off the screen while using the MHL because I think that may alleviate the problem a little too. Both will be needed for the MHL cable to provide functionality for extended periods of time.

It is too bad this is so half baked because it is such a cool feature to be able to use it like a desktop. They should have advertised and refined that capability a little more because I think a lot of people would be interested.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] bunklung:
Battery Monitor Widget.

Also. In my limited experience, I have found that there is no accurate means in android to monitor overall draw of the phone AND battery charging or discharging at the same time.

This single value, either + or - ma's, seem to be estimated based on the voltage of the battery. Over long periods of averages and estamtes, you can get a good picture of how much current is being charged/discharged. But this does not tell you how much current the phone is consuming. You just guess that based on the charger you are using and the average of the current estimates. You can get better accuracy when using an amp meter.

Maybe an expert can chime in on this. I think if these was such a system call, Battery Monitor Widget, would not say "estimate". Secondly, maybe these is a system call or API in ICS, but it just hasn't been written yet.

---------- Post added at 07:52 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:27 AM ----------

Just to give everyone an update here...

We were able to get AC charging to report while MHL was working!

The slightly bad news is that my MHL adapter, and I would assume every MHL adapter, seems to only supply the difference of 500ma that goes into the adapter. So after consuming, say 300ma from a wall charger, the MHL adapter sends off the remaining 200ma to the phone and that most certainly doesn't help with this mod. I have had slightly different results when using a charge only cable, but that's TMI.

The really good news is that I was able to mod my MHL adapter and remove this paltry charge current and replace it with 1A. The results is fantastic, as I was able to charge the phone to around 850ma with the screen on and MHL still functioning! With the screen on and streaming a netflix movie, my running avg was about 700ma. Very nice.

Still need to do some more testing with my MHL hardware mod and the fast charge mod that chad is churning away.

I also have some more testing to do with POGO pin charging. I don't really have a hardware mod for this, but I would like to hack something together and see if we can get 1A fast charging there too. I *think* it should work too.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] chad0989:
I had someone test the pogos also. He reported it recognized as AC and pulled 1A+. :D
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] dano272:
I've done the touchstone mod and would like to test out this hack.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] chad0989:
Just have to put the final touches on it and it will be released in the next couple days.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Blackcobra95:
Your solution to AC charging over the MHL cable will require a hardware mod to the mhl adapter itself? Or could this possibly be solved on the GNex side of this issue?
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] bunklung:
It requires both a software solution on the Gnex AND a hardware mod of the MHL adapter or revision from the manufacturer.

*I have not tested all available MHL adapters nor do I have a MHL TV*

But my best guess is that the current generation of MHL adapters will not provide more than 500ma to the phone and in some cases less because it shares this current with the adapter.

The MHL spec states that 500ma is the minimum. This is just my personal opinion and observation, but I think the current generation of MHL adapters share the 500ma current with the adapter and phone. Which makes these adapters out of spec.

Having said that, if the MHL adapters are not providing more than 500ma, then this mod will have zero benefit to you. If you purchased a TV that is MHL and the provider supplies 1A, you will not be able to get more than 500ma UNLESS you use this mod. The Gnex will not pull more than 500ma when it detects USB. Thats not to say Google may patch this in the future.

These are your options (some hypothetical):

1. buy an MHL adapter which provides 1A AND use this fast charge mod (I don't think these exist)

2. buy a MHL tv which provides 1A AND use this fast charge mod (I don't think you can buy MHL tvs yet AND good luck reading a review or spec sheet that has this listed)

3. modify a MHL adapter and splice in a 1A charger AND use this mod.

4. buy a pogo pin charger ($90 samsung), connect your MHL adapter AND use this fast charge mod (untested, but should work)
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] ohiomoto:
Awesome! I'm looking forward to testing this with the Touchstone MOD.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] thereddog:
I don’t understand, as long as the Touchstone is used with the paired Palm wall charger, the phone should charge at 1A already.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] ohiomoto:
The current is injected into the motherboard at the POGO pins and it's being limited to USB charging.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Natolx:
The mod works with the touchstone mod. I'm eagerly awaiting he plugin so I can use it with Francokernel!
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] ohiomoto:
Thanks. I can't wait to try it.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] vypurr:
I also want this for my Touchstone mod! This is huge!
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Pranksta02:
Can't wait for this, my charger which had the data pins joined ha speed working and my laptop is taking forever to charge my phone!
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] DDRFAN:
Can't wait for this either. Thank you to Chad for coming out and creating this patch for us!
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] chad0989:
Posted the patch in the dev section. Should be coming to a kernel near you.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Pranksta02:
Awesome, is their any way we can do it now or do we need to wait?
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] nosit1:
We need someone to bake it into a kernel.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Pranksta02:
Can we make a flashable zip file for it?
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] chad0989:
Have to wait.

Nope, sorry.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] thereddog:
Very cool, thanks.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Pranksta02:
No worries thanks anyway!
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Pranksta02:
has this been included in any kernels yet? very keen to get it running!
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] anton2009:
It's included in Popcorn Kernel and Franco Kernel Milestone 1 AFAIK...
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Pranksta02:
I'm running the Franco milestone, how do I activate it?
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] EKnofsky:
You don't activate it, if you have the kernel installed then if you plug into something that says USB Charging in your phone, if it can output more power your phone will charge faster.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Natolx:
You have to activate it in his kernel app under optiona
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] maisi:
You need to activate it in the app stated somewhere in this thread. After you enabled the fast charge mod it shouldn't say USB charging anymore but AC charging -> the phone tries to get as much juice as possible instead of limiting at 500mA.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] ellesshoo:
You can activate it via terminal:

echo 1 > /sys/kernel/fast_charge/force_fast_charge

To turn off:

echo 0 > /sys/kernel/fast_charge/force_fast_charge
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] evidenc3:
Keep in mind when you have the fast charge enabled the phone is tricked into believing its on AC, so none of the USB features are made available. Luckily you don't have to reboot though, just switch off fast charge via franco app or above method and unplug/replug and it will be picked up as USB and be browsable etc.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] thorn11166:
Touchstone mod always stops after enabling fast charging
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] mistashaap:
Is there a way to tell the mA that the phone is getting? Like, to tell what the usb port is putting out?
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] anton2009:
Let's say for example your phone is a stock 1750mAh (milliampere-hours) or 1.75Ah (ampere-hour) battery. A full charge will carry 1750mAh (1.75Ah). So 1% of 1.75Ah = 0.0175Ah. If you time how long it takes for you battery to charge 1% (i.e. start timing from the second you see it change and stop timing when you see it change again), and turn that many seconds into hours (i.e. x seconds * 1 minute/60 seconds * 1 hour/60 minutes), you can divide 0.0175Ah by that time "x hours," then you will have your charger estimate.

For example, I just timed myself on my stock charger. (Also I have the 2100mAh extended battery).

Took 50 seconds to charge 1% (went from 5% to 6%). So 50 seconds * 1 minute/60 seconds * 1 hour/60 minutes = 0.013888 hours.

0.021Ah/0.013888h = 1.512A or 1512mA, thus my phone is taking 1512mA from my charger.

***Note*** This will not be ENTIRELY accurate as you have the screen on to time how long it takes to charge 1%, and thus will counteract the charger. Also, this will work best when you have a battery percentage lower than 50%.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] jprakes:
I used Chad's kernel on my Incredible. LOVED it. Chad is an outstanding dev.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] mistashaap:
Thanks, this is great. I'm glad my phone is giving me the opportunity to use my atrophying math skills. I feel like someone could make an app that does this pretty easy.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] anton2009:
Yeah, sure, no problem! :D I feel an app like this already exists, but the name slips my mind at the moment...
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] internot:
There is an app, Chads own Incredicontrol. You need to get the latest version 1.5 beta 3 from his webpage. The version in the market is too old.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Pranksta02:
incredicontrol works well, been using it all day
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] mistashaap:
I checked out that app but I don't see anywhere that it gives a readout of the charging amperage. Am I just missing it?

I did a bunch of trials using the diy method...

with auto bright and data i got 420mA, min bright almost the same, airplane mode 525mA. These are leading me to believe my usb port just aint puttin out. :(
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] eventnick:
I want to thank Chad for his work here and report back some of my technical data I have been able gather while testing. This was gathered with electrical test equipment and is accurate unlike the current widgets.

For the Touchstone Mod users:

Prior to Chad's kernel modification the Galaxy Nexus was only able to draw ~430 mA through the Touchstone. For some power users, this was not enough to keep up with heavy usage that included Navigation, 4G, and streaming music simultaneously. Reports had the phone either just barely maintaining its charge % or even slowly losing a couple % points per hour.

After applying Chad's kernel modification the Galaxy Nexus is drawing ~650 mA. An improvement of ~50%! Now the bad news: 650 mA is not as much as you can get from an appropriate wall charger. The limitation at 650 mA appears, in my opinion, to be the Touchstone itself. The Touchstone's supply voltage drops to 4.5V when drawing ~650 mA and the phone stops trying to pull more. This is a limitation of the amount of energy the Touchstone was designed to transfer.

The real question, is if 650 mA is enough to charge the device under the power user conditions I described earlier. Hopefully it is. I do not live in a 4G area so I hope you will all test and report back here.

Thanks again Chad!

For everyone else as well:

To everybody unfamiliar, unless there some undocumented functions to directly read charging current there is no accurate way to read current from apps or widgets. They all make estimates that are only at best, ball park good and only when looking at a long enough time period. Seriously, you won't get within 300 mA. The only way to accurately measure charging current currently (to the best of my knowledge) is to make physical measurements using test equipment such as a multimeter with an ammeter. The current you actually pull from any source will likely fluctuate depending on the limit of current the source is rated for ( and even then, the actual numbers will probably be quite different) and the voltage the source can maintain while supplying that rated current. Do us a favor and don't post the currents your widgets and apps are reporting... they are not accurate and provide little to no information. They may let you see that you are in fact drawing more current than you used to on "USB mode" but that is about it.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] eventnick:
You are assuming (1) the charging curve is linear and (2) the percentages are accordingly assigned linearly. Do you have any information to back up these assumptions?

Your method may not be valid unless you are certain about these assumptions. For example, most gas gauges in cars are not linear like you would expect them to be either.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] anton2009:
Yes, please refer to this post. This is why I said it will be most accurate below 50%, as you can see the graph is linear below 58%.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] eventnick:
Great! Thanks for your reply.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] mistashaap:
Now if we could only figure out a way to track percentage changes with the screen off...
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] eventnick:
It's called a multimeter ;)
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] imompero:
I am using the franco kernel app from the market(paid to support the dev) and I am not able to see the touchstone charge at AC, it only charges at USB. Is there something I am missing?
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] eventnick:
Did you enable FFC by entering a terminal screen and entering "FFC" ? Your plea for help is a little sparse on details my friend.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] imompero:
FFC? Seriously...don't recall seeing that anywhere in the thread but what the heck I tried it, got an error.

More details. I am running stock Android 4.04 on the SGN, I installed the Franco Kernel updater, verified, my kernel is currently set to 3.0.8-g21f62ao. I also performed the touchstone mode....when charging it only goes at usb speed not AC.

In the Franco Kernel updater app I checked the fast usb charge box but my phone still charges at usb not AC... I am using the charger that came with the phone so I know that it can charge at higher the 500ma...thanks in advance for any help in this.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Bisazz:
You need to flash Francokernel first, it should list your current kernel as 3.0.8-franco.Kernel-MS1 or nightly, depending on what you chose. Right now it looks like you're running the stock kernel.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] imompero:
Ok figured what my issue was, appearantly when I upgraded to 4.04 I lost root...didn't even think about it. I had assumed I was still rooted. After that was resolved using the franco kernel updater it just auto flashed the kernel. I could have manually did it but the app makes it so much easier. Thanks for the help in advance guys
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] cmstlist:
Just wanted to report - I obtained an MHL cable this week and tested it out (with a 1 A micro USB charger) yesterday playing a 22 minute episode. I disabled auto brightness, and used RootDim to drop the brightness down to "2". Under these conditions, the battery level remained more or less constant. At higher brightness levels the battery went down when playing video. So it does seem that dropping the brightness could be enough to prevent depletion.

I haven't tried any mods but I'll consider it :)
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] NinjaMic:
I'll keep this thread handy.....charging for 3 hours is a bit too long for me.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] EnIXmA:
would love to see a mod that can increase the battery charging speed :)
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] CNLiberal:
So how do we do it?

Ok, so how can we modify our MHL adapters to accept 1A? Thanks to you and Chad for your efforts in making this phone amazing.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] bunklung:
You have to cut out the battery lead from the MHL adapter. You then splice in the battery lead from a separate USB cable.

In my situation I had a double outlet USB charger so the ground was common. I suspect if you did not have a common charger that you should also cut the ground out of the MHL adapter and splice that in with your separate USB cable. This combination is untested on my part. Again, it should work.

You can then dead end the leads entering the MHL adapter, battery and ground only.

Red is battery and black is ground. In the end you will plug in a USB charge cable into a wall charger. The other end goes right into the MHL female micro USB port. This powers the MHL adapter. The modified USB cable is then plugged into the wall charger too. Since this cable is spliced into the leads which enter your phone, you get full AC charging with this mod. Just remember the the leads that enter the MHL adapter are dead ended.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] CNLiberal:
Almost sounds like it'd be easier to create a separate charging cable with USB pass through. That way you don't harm the MHL adapter. As long as the charging pass through cable had all 5 wires, you should be good to go.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] bunklung:
Good idea, but I don't think it would work because a USB cable isn't designed for MHL signaling. I think the 5th pin/lead/host-pin is not always present or shielded correctly. If you could buy a official MHL cable that is USB ended, then yes. From my picture you can see this USB 2.0 data cable does not have a 5th lead.

Image link.
[Galaxy S I9000 General] revthanki:
0. Our Devs. Rather awesome. The Epic/Vibrant/Cappy/Fascinate devs. Pretty cool too. And the Nexus S devs. We couldn't have done this without you.

1. Wolfson DAC + Voodoo Sound - the sound output on my Galaxy S is better than my MacBook Pro 13"

2. Screen - 4 inches is perfect and I can't be without Super Amoled now.

3. Dock - love the home dock, a phone without won't be anywhere near as good

4. Stock ICS - the Galaxy S is running stock ICS almost perfectly, I'd hate to be stuck with a manufacturer skin with a new phone - even if only for a while...

Anyone suffering a similar dilemma?
[Galaxy S I9000 General] maremma:
add a big deleveloper comunity.. maybe the largest one ATM
[Galaxy S I9000 General] revthanki:
True that. You can see how Samsung has got to the top of the Android pile. If only they'd used nicer materials in the casing I could see this easily laying me another twelve to eighteen months...
[Galaxy S I9000 General] moses992:
For me the number one reason its hard to leave my SGS is the HUGE dev community supporting it. Sound output comes in second(which actually takes us back to the first point, Voodoo!).

The AMOLED screen sure did spoil me and thats why my next phone will be a Samsung, so I cant exactly say ill be missing that.
[Galaxy S I9000 General] maremma:
nice != from best... plastic cannot be the cooler material but :

- is light

- is a bit elastic and in case of fall it drain some energy

i had a samsung omnia II before this with sylicon cover .. falled endless times...

stil not a single scratch on it ;)
[Galaxy S I9000 General] revthanki:
No I absolutely understand what you're saying :D I had a HTC Desire before which was metal. Therefore it dented and allowed dust in. Not cool.

I think the SII has an excellent, near perfect build quality, light but dense plastic, nice hyperskin back cover. My only issues with the S are that it's a bit too creaky and the design is dating (if someone could refit it for me into a polycarbonate hyperskinned case...)
[Galaxy S I9000 General] maremma:
maybe is due to my poor english...

what i was trying to say is taht metal has a good look but imo is not the best material to build phone. plastic can ben.. metal no so if phone fall plastic material will absorb some falling damage often leaving the phone undamaged...

metal is rigid so falling damage is full transferd to phone
[Galaxy S I9000 General] _breez_:
almost 2 years old now, and it can still handle the newest games & ICS :)

WolfsonMicro audio, 720p recording (ok, it's not 1080p, but HD Ready is good :p), amoled screen, good graphics performance, ...

The only thing that sometimes bothers me is 512MB ram but oh well, ...

Maybe i'll leave my Galaxy S when the S4 comes out :D