Battery Replacements After The Apocalypse

[Tor]

Let's assume you can get a 5V battery supply of some kind, and that the Pandora can run without a battery (as with most things, this has not been confirmed or denied definitively by OpenPandora and is STILL up in the air at present).

I'd really like a definite confirmation, if it works or not. Last thing I know, before I was away for a few months, is that one of the board revisions specifically removed the necessity of a battery to be present. A recent comment of Wizardstan(which I trust, because he usually has a good memory regarding that stuff) suggested that a battery has to be present.

I agree, we'll need an update of this. I too remember that the requirement for presence of a battery was removed at one point, and that indeed one ore more of the earlier demo videos of the Pandora was running without any battery present. But then again Wizardstan remember something else. Maybe this has been changed more than one time. The N900 definitely needs a battery (and can't flip into reflash mode if the battery is discharged) and this has been creating grief for myself and some others.

 

[mindlord]

This is the last quote that I can find from MWeston regarding Mains Power only, no battery. I can't seem to locate any updated information, and this quote is very old. FWIW.

Currently, the design requires the battery to be connected for the system to come alive. It isn't a design error but a function of the power management chip coupled to the OMAP processor. The very first time I powered up the Pandora board with a DC jack, I thought I screwed up and the design didn't work. It turned out that I had to attach a battery for the PMIC to acknowledge a "battery OK" condition before starting the regulators.

I have been trying to ask some TI engineers on whether there is an alternative hook up possible to keep the system up when the battery is removed but so far no response on that. Since this chipset was designed with mobile phones in mind, this is likely how it will stay.

 

[Tor]

I'm certain I've seen more on this topic from MWeston, somewhen between the order taking and mid-summer last year.

 

[mali]

One of the latest board revisions(if not the last) addressed it. It was before mid February 09.

 

[mindlord]

I'm certain I've seen more on this topic from MWeston, somewhen between the order taking and mid-summer last year.

Something more current:

Here's a good one: Can I run the system without a battery?

Unfortunately that answer has returned to a big fat NO. I think there is an errata issue with the non battery mode (called CVM). It runs without a battery if the LCD and Wifi are off (power drain is low) but then it won't charge the battery properly (takes about 30 hours!). No CVM and everything runs fine but you can't yank the battery.

 

[mali]

So that is it then

 

[WizardStan]

So that is it then

It's not necessarily a problem. All it probably needs is something to act as a 3.7 volt buffer (or whatever). A resistor/capacitor combo across the contacts could function the exact same way, enough for it to think there's a battery present anyway. Don't ask me to design such a thing though, it would probably just explode.

 

[Poem58]

Why Doesn't someone just PM Notaz? His new pics showed the Pandora next to a PSP, maybe he can just yank the battery and plug in his PSP adapter and then we can have a definite answer as to if the battery has to be there or not!? I'm really surprised that this late in the game there are still not definite answers to something like this.
I remember reading that if the battery was unable to charge that was OK, but it had to be there for the AC to function. So in less than a minute Notaz could solve the issue once and for all. I would ask him myslef but my internet access is temporarily out and I can only catch a nearby access point for a few moments at a time. Here's hoping THIS goes through to the router on the next block!

 

[mali]

Notaz made it work without battery
http://www.gp32x.de/board/index.php?/topic/51654-notaz-and-his-pandora/page__view__findpost__p__806714

 

[Monk]

Notaz made it work without battery
http://www.gp32x.de/board/index.php?/topic/51654-notaz-and-his-pandora/page__view__findpost__p__806714

Intesresting! Who do we prod to update:

http://pandorawiki.org/FAQ#Will_it_be_able_to_run_from_the_AC_Adaptor_alone.2C_without_a_battery_connected.3F

?

 

[mali]

Chip, I think.

 

[mindlord]

Nice... I'm glad to be proven wrong here.

 

[Poem58]

Chip, I think.

Cool, I'm glad to see my suggestion helped, in 2 threads no less :lol:
And thanks to Notaz and then ED for wrapping this one up!

Still would like to have another battery though, but I will wait for some US distributor as those shipping and payment charges would make the battery mighty expensive!

 

[Monk]

Aparently anyone is free to edit the Wikki, as long as you're willing to set up yet another bleeping account and don't fall foul of stupid error messages like:

Login error:Your password is invalid or too short. It must have at least 0 characters and be different from your username.

:rollseyes

 

[neomaster321365]

Up until quite recently I stood corrected, because I was very wrong. I'm glad that that's finally cleared up! Thanks Notaz for going through the effort to make the Pandora Post-Apocalypse-Safe. This totally opens up the possibility of simply taking the battery out when you have an AC plug available. Then there's no need to even fuss about the battery.

 

[hosant]

Is is technically possible to make a AA to pandora adapter?

 

[Tom`]

Is is technically possible to make a AA to pandora adapter?

Sure - there are already AA to USB power adapters, and the Pandora can be charged from USB. They probably exist for the PSP too, and you could use those with the regular DC jack. You'd probably need a lot of AAs to equal the capacity of the original battery, though.

Edit: there are things like this, but I don't know how long that would last - the Pandora probably draws quite a bit more power than a PSP.

 

[gruso]

^ I love how it's called an emergency battery.

"We've lost three crew, we're out of rations and we're surrounded by bears. If only we could fire up Patapon!"

 

[fischju2000]

Is is technically possible to make a AA to pandora adapter?

Sure - there are already AA to USB power adapters, and the Pandora can be charged from USB. They probably exist for the PSP too, and you could use those with the regular DC jack. You'd probably need a lot of AAs to equal the capacity of the original battery, though.

Edit: there are things like this, but I don't know how long that would last - the Pandora probably draws quite a bit more power than a PSP.

http://www.amazon.com/Tekkeon-TekCharge-Mobile-Battery-Charger/dp/B0014KLX9C
This is a better device, has a straight USB plug on it. I use one with rechargeable batteries to add a couple hours to my Archos 605's battery life.
You can also get a DIY two AA kit: http://www.adafruit.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=10&zenid=ef98e65add2f358dd2421283817e8af8

 

[Poem58]

Is is technically possible to make a AA to pandora adapter?

Sure - there are already AA to USB power adapters, and the Pandora can be charged from USB. They probably exist for the PSP too, and you could use those with the regular DC jack. You'd probably need a lot of AAs to equal the capacity of the original battery, though.

Edit: there are things like this, but I don't know how long that would last - the Pandora probably draws quite a bit more power than a PSP.

http://www.amazon.co...r/dp/B0014KLX9C
This is a better device, has a straight USB plug on it. I use one with rechargeable batteries to add a couple hours to my Archos 605's battery life.
You can also get a DIY two AA kit: http://www.adafruit....2421283817e8af8

For a true post apocalyptic power solution I will be trying a gift I received for Christmas.
http://www.radioshac...oductId=2858044

A Midland Weather Radio that truly seems useful when there are no alternatives. It has a USB port for charging, runs on AA's, a replaceable rechargable NIMH battery (Home phone type 3.8v) and a crank that can be used to charge the NIMH. I have to test to see if all sources power the USB or just the NIMH, but the manual said only the crank could charge through USB (AC adapter too, but that seemed stupid as if you could plug in the radio you could probably plug in your phone to charge it)

The battery seems to run the radio forever at this point as I have used it alot since the inital Christmas charge including the flashlight,USB etc. So I do think it should hold up to charging the Pandora at least once, maybe more if off AA's too. I would NOT crank it for hours to charge the Pandora unless it was really post apocalypse! (the manual says to charge your cell phone, to crank twice a second for as long as needed...HAHAHAHAHA right! Crank your arm right off, then how are you gonna dial when you can't move your arm for that 2 minutes of call you finally got enough charge for after 30 minutes of cranking!? LOL) That's why I was relieved when I saw the battery provided the power!