Battery Light On When Using Ac Adaptor


browser brody

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Hello,

I've been using the Materplug adaptor (as recommended by the folks at Gamepark via email) in the configuration suggested (3v, - TIP) but after a minute or so usage, the battery light comes on and eventually the screen freezes up.

Now, this doesn't appear to happen with batteries, but I didn't know if it is simply that the adaptor is no good or something GP2X related. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I've searched for a similar thread, but couldn't see any. Apologies if there is another one around.

Thanks.
 
browser brody posted on Oct 1 2006 at 03:22 PM said:
Hello,

I've been using the Materplug adaptor (as recommended by the folks at Gamepark via email) in the configuration suggested (3v, - TIP) but after a minute or so usage, the battery light comes on and eventually the screen freezes up.

Now, this doesn't appear to happen with batteries, but I didn't know if it is simply that the adaptor is no good or something GP2X related. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I've searched for a similar thread, but couldn't see any. Apologies if there is another one around.

Thanks.

What is the ma rating of this adaptor? I think the official one is 1 or 2amps (2,000ma) (I don't have one) and if the battery light is coming on, that probably means your adaptor is not feeding the gp2x fast enough. Do you find that watching a video in saver mode works fine for a long period of time, whilst running in full causes the gp2x to die? How about overclocking emulators, does this have an effect? The chances are your gp2x will work fine when the CPU is underclocked/under little strain, but when it starts needing power, your unit is not abble to supply, so thusly it dies.
 
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The adaptor is a Masterplug Model MVA1200. Everything you said is correct in that any sort of strain on the CPU appears to make the light come on (emulators especially - I haven't used it for video yet).

So, is it a case of getting a new adaptor or possibly upping the voltage to the next setting (4.5v)?

Sorry, I am pretty clueless about this sort of thing.

Thanks for replying.
 
browser brody posted on Oct 1 2006 at 06:49 PM said:
The adaptor is a Masterplug Model MVA1200. Everything you said is correct in that any sort of strain on the CPU appears to make the light come on (emulators especially - I haven't used it for video yet).

So, is it a case of getting a new adaptor or possibly upping the voltage to the next setting (4.5v)?

Sorry, I am pretty clueless about this sort of thing.

Thanks for replying.
NO, do not increase the voltage!
It's about the mA, the gp2x needs about 700mA so you need an adaptor that can supply at least that amount of mA. (its probably written on the back or something.)
 
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I can't see any direct reference to mA anywhere on it, but I've had a check on some websites and it seems to suggest that it is 1200mA.
 
browser brody posted on Oct 1 2006 at 04:49 PM said:
The adaptor is a Masterplug Model MVA1200. Everything you said is correct in that any sort of strain on the CPU appears to make the light come on (emulators especially - I haven't used it for video yet).

So, is it a case of getting a new adaptor or possibly upping the voltage to the next setting (4.5v)?

Sorry, I am pretty clueless about this sort of thing.

Thanks for replying.
Upping the voltage is likely to damage your GP2X if anything. I think you simply need to get the official adaptor. The one you're using is not supplying enough Ampere
I've heard the official one is 2,000ma. This is probably why yours supplies enough to turn the unit on, but not enough for it to run at its full capacity.
 
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Thanks, if the official website ever has adaptors back in stock, I'll pick one up.

Thanks to everyone for their help.
 
my gp2x works on 3.5 V setting on the AC adaptor but not on 3V. But I wouldn't try 4.5 V
 
browser brody posted on Oct 1 2006 at 07:44 PM said:
Thanks, if the official website ever has adaptors back in stock, I'll pick one up.

Thanks to everyone for their help.
1200mA should really be more than enough.
But if it doesn't work, you'll be sure it will when you get the original one...
 
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OK, some facts about the GP2X power supply:

1. The stepdown converter chip inside the gp2x is rated for up to 4,7V. That means, you can switch your (REGULATED!!!!!!!) AC adapter to 4.5V without fear of damaging your GP2X. However there´s no reason anyone should do that, and there´s still the risk of a cheaply made AC adapter outputtting more than it should.

2. The GP2X has the highest current consumption for about one second after it is being switched on, its power consumption even surpasses 2A for a few milliseconds. Batteries have no problems supplying that kind of power for a short time, but some (unregulated) AC adaptors do, so you can´t start your GP2X up with those.

I´ve measured the GP2X current consumption with an oscilloscope, and can tell that even overclocked to 290 MHz running GNGEO consumed more than 600mA.

If your AC adaptor can start up your GP2X, there should be no problems with its current output

So at the end of al this techbabble, i can not tell whether your GP2X or your mains adapter is faulty. There´s nothing wrong with the specs of your adaptor, that´s for sure.
In your situation, i would measure the power output of your mains adapter to see if there are any irregularitys, but i fear you don´t have the means and/or skills, so maybe just try another adaptor?
 
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