Wiz Not Charging?

[Illuminerdi]

I do not mind RMA'ing my Wiz. Why should I have to jury rig a cord or tear open my new device just so it will do what it's supposed to do right out of the box? I know it's not GP2Xstore's fault -- they didn't deliberately sell me a faulty unit. But if a product you buy doesn't work, you should be allowed to return or exchange it. GP2Xstore realizes that and they were very quick and helpful in resolving my problem. Here's hoping the replacement unit doesn't have the same flaw...

I don't disagree on that point - I simply don't want to go through the RMA process/time when I can fix it myself, especially since there is a possibility that the RMA will have the same flaw, as it sounds like there's an entire bad batch.

 

[morrissey2k7]

I don't disagree on that point - I simply don't want to go through the RMA process/time when I can fix it myself, especially since there is a possibility that the RMA will have the same flaw, as it sounds like there's an entire bad batch.

If I were as hardware savvy as you, I probably would try to fix it myself as well. I'm pretty well versed in terms of software related stuff, but I'm not that mechanically proficient. Thinking about wires and soldering and all that jazz gives me a definite feeling of unease, haha.

 

[Nekonomicron]

I don't disagree on that point - I simply don't want to go through the RMA process/time when I can fix it myself, especially since there is a possibility that the RMA will have the same flaw, as it sounds like there's an entire bad batch.

If I were as hardware savvy as you, I probably would try to fix it myself as well. I'm pretty well versed in terms of software related stuff, but I'm not that mechanically proficient. Thinking about wires and soldering and all that jazz gives me a definite feeling of unease, haha.

I just got my RMA approved, but am reluctant to ship it out, since I have a powered cord that works. It does sound like an entire bad batch is out there. It would mortify me if I get another defective unit. I wonder if GPH knows what is the exact defect, and if it is isolated on just bad USB charging. If that's the only symptom, I can live with it. I am afraid of something else cropping up in the future, though.

Also, I found an iGo tip that works fine, no modding needed - the A06 for LG phones. I checked the LG phone's pinout (http://pinouts.ru/CellularPhones-A-N/lg_common_24p_pinout.shtml), and it shares the 12-19 pin ground and 21-22 pin power. I tested it on mine, and it charged fine, but it also has a pin on #6 that is transmitting about 4.5 V of power. according to the Wiz's pinout, pin #6 is a Power_EN input (see the thread "Wiz Ext Pinout?" on "General Talk [Wiz}", posting #15). Any electrical engineers out there that can tell me what "Power_EN" does? Will it fry the Wiz if it gets voltage in? If it doesn't fry the Wiz on the long run, then the charger from an LG phones within that series should work as an alternative.

 

[mbattlecoder]

That's cool about trying to identify an off the shelf alternative charging cable. I'd be willing to try that.

I don't blame the GP2XStore for design choices or build quality, but it doesn't seem that hard for them to take it out of the box and plug it in to test it before putting it in the mail. Just put a little "tested" sticker on it and close the box. Shouldn't take more than a couple of minutes and it would save both parties a lot of wasted time in these cases.

 

[Illuminerdi]

That's cool about trying to identify an off the shelf alternative charging cable. I'd be willing to try that.

I don't blame the GP2XStore for design choices or build quality, but it doesn't seem that hard for them to take it out of the box and plug it in to test it before putting it in the mail. Just put a little "tested" sticker on it and close the box. Shouldn't take more than a couple of minutes and it would save both parties a lot of wasted time in these cases.

That's actually a lot more work than it would seem - that could seriously increase the packaging and shipping cost (since it would have to be done by hand, by a person). Imagine if it took 1 minute per Wiz. That's approximately 50-60 per hour that can be tested. Now imagine that you're trying to ship out 10,000 of these across the world. That would mean it would take 166 hours to complete - that's what, 1 week of nonstop 24/7 testing? So you can either hire a team to do this, to shorten the time, or slow your shipment rate.

Regardless, the bottom line is that it takes time and money, which increases the cost, which would probably get passed onto us, in the end.

While I don't disagree that it's very bad that they potentially shipped an entire batch with this problem, there are some pretty understandable reasons why they can't put safeguards in place for things like this. Usually what happens is they just test one or two from a batch to see if they work, but if the problem only affects 50% of a batch, that means that they might not catch the defect.

Where I DO blame GPH in this issue is the continued use of a proprietary charging cable. It's a bit absurd that they didn't just put in a USB Mini port on the thing for charging - they could accomplish just about anything with one of those, AND use a standard port so that an off-the-shelf cable can be used. But they opted to stick with their old proprietary output instead. While I can understand the necessity for this to enable TV-Out and other functions, it's still pretty silly, since USB Mini is becoming a universal standard for charging, and you can do most anything (including TV Out with some creativity) via it.

 

[morrissey2k7]

I emailed GP2Xstore last night and specifically asked if they would check my new replacement Wiz to see if it charges before sending it to me. I know this will take them a little extra time, but in the end it will make things easier for all parties involved. They haven't gotten back to me yet, so we'll see. I'm sure they'll respond soon. They've been very prompt and helpful during this whole process.

 

[buck912]

I received my Wiz last night and came across the very same problem with my USB cable. I could access the storage disks through the computer, but no charging was taking place. Thanks to this thread and following the pin configuration post in the general discussion section, I discovered the problem with the cable. The "Power In" pin (red wire) was placed in the wrong slot number. I was able to pull the pin out and push it into the #21 slot, screwed it all back together and now, it's charging like it should. In my case, all the other pins were in their proper position and once, I put the red wire pin into either #21 or #22 (it's redundant and didn't matter which one I used) I was good. I have USB file transfer functionality and charging working. Thanks for all the posts to help address this bad batch of cables that have appeared most recently.

 

[mbattlecoder]

I don't disagree on that point - I simply don't want to go through the RMA process/time when I can fix it myself, especially since there is a possibility that the RMA will have the same flaw, as it sounds like there's an entire bad batch.

If I were as hardware savvy as you, I probably would try to fix it myself as well. I'm pretty well versed in terms of software related stuff, but I'm not that mechanically proficient. Thinking about wires and soldering and all that jazz gives me a definite feeling of unease, haha.

I just got my RMA approved, but am reluctant to ship it out, since I have a powered cord that works. It does sound like an entire bad batch is out there. It would mortify me if I get another defective unit. I wonder if GPH knows what is the exact defect, and if it is isolated on just bad USB charging. If that's the only symptom, I can live with it. I am afraid of something else cropping up in the future, though.

Also, I found an iGo tip that works fine, no modding needed - the A06 for LG phones. I checked the LG phone's pinout (http://pinouts.ru/CellularPhones-A-N/lg_common_24p_pinout.shtml), and it shares the 12-19 pin ground and 21-22 pin power. I tested it on mine, and it charged fine, but it also has a pin on #6 that is transmitting about 4.5 V of power. according to the Wiz's pinout, pin #6 is a Power_EN input (see the thread "Wiz Ext Pinout?" on "General Talk [Wiz}", posting #15). Any electrical engineers out there that can tell me what "Power_EN" does? Will it fry the Wiz if it gets voltage in? If it doesn't fry the Wiz on the long run, then the charger from an LG phones within that series should work as an alternative.

Thanks for the tip. I took the easy way out and picked up the iGo at Radio Shack w/ the A06 tip.

Plugged it in and for the first time the LED turned red and after only 30 minutes I had a usable charge. Luckily they had several A06 tips and they were on sale for .97 cents so I picked up a couple. (I didn't have the iGo before though so that cost me about $50 after throwing in another tip for my BlackBerry.) The iGo feels pretty well built though and the connection feels better than the original GPH cable so I'm pleased with it.

Anyway, I'm playing Doom on the Wiz right now. What can I say. I'm impressed.

 

[thall17]

Will the AC Adpater available for the WIZ take care of the charging issue?

We bought 2 units and they won't charge either so its either RMA, the IGO or the AC adapter.....

 

[Nekonomicron]

Will the AC Adpater available for the WIZ take care of the charging issue?

We bought 2 units and they won't charge either so its either RMA, the IGO or the AC adapter.....

Check with Gp2x store if the adapter is just a AC-to-USB charger - if it uses the same USB cable that came with it, then it's not going to work. The pin configuration on the cable is the problem. If you go the iGo route, check at Radio Shack - they have the A06 tip on clearance for $1, and it's becoming a rare find. Can also check online for the compatible LG phone charger.

 

[tussery]

got mine last night,, same issue seems that the pin 16 in the unit is the problem. I received it last week and before I wrapped it for myself for Christmas I made sure to check it and it worked but I did not check the charging issue because I was unaware there was one. When I opened it last night it was dead of course so i tried to charge it and I'll be damned it wound charge. so i did the basic stuff checked the battery and opened the cable and looked around and everything seemed fine. So I started googleing and came across this forum and read around and well then I knew what had to be done. I took the cable apart and moved the red 5+ wire over to pin 21 and tada!!! it worked like a charm. Only question I have now is,,, why does my pc not recognize it through usb? I mean it charges fine but the pc wont see it as a usb device. ... any ideas??? and and i want to thank everyone here cause if it wasn't for the post here I would have not had any idea and would had been stuck waiting on a RMA.

 

[Illuminerdi]

I took the cable apart and moved the red 5+ wire over to pin 21 and tada!!! it worked like a charm. Only question I have now is,,, why does my pc not recognize it through usb? I mean it charges fine but the pc wont see it as a usb device. ... any ideas??? and and i want to thank everyone here cause if it wasn't for the post here I would have not had any idea and would had been stuck waiting on a RMA.

I'm not exactly sure why it wouldn't recognize the Wiz on USB. I'm going out on a limb, as I don't have the technical expertise of someone like MWeston (he designs circuits for a living, I make videogames ), but I think it actually has something to do with Pin 16. My cable has the USB pins cut, and the power lead soldered to Pins 16, 21, and 22. Whenever I plug my modded cable into my Wiz, my Wiz asks me onscreen what I want to mount as USB (NAND or SD). Obviously, as my USB signaling wires are literally cut, it's not actually getting or recieving USB signals.

If I had to take a (barely) educated guess, I would say the Wiz is either using Pin 16 to control power for USB, or is otherwise detecting the presence of USB based on voltage being supplied to that pin and ignoring USB if no voltage is supplied (this may even be a prerequisite of the USB spec itself, I honestly don't know) - but for whatever reason isn't passing that voltage onto the battery for charging. Assuming the original cables shipped with the previous Wiz units had all 3 power pins soldered together (MWeston supplied interior pics of his cable, which is like that), they wouldn't have actually noticed a problem with this configuration not supplying power via 16. So alas, there isn't a quick and dirty fix for the USB issue. The long fix is to obtain a replacement cable, and either hope it's soldered correctly, or make a frankenstein cable by pulling the spare pins from a backup Wiz cable or (better yet) getting one of those iGo tips mentioned earlier in this thread (all you'd actually need is the tip, which apparently is a buck or two at Radio Shack), and pulling out a pin from it, cramming it into Pin 16 on your Wiz cable, and resoldering the Red wire to it and 21 (and 22 if you're feeling enterprising).

That should fix your problem and get USB working again, giving you access to the NAND again. I haven't tried this though, so proceed with caution. It shouldn't hurt anything since having your Wiz plugged in with Pin 16 soldered thus wasn't actually hurting anything, and my Wiz has gone through several charge cycles with +5v on Pin 16 with no problems, but do be prepared, just in case.

 

[kart_racer3]

Greetings,

I am having the same problem with my Wiz being recognized via USB, but not charging. I noticed that my red wire (+5v) was improperly placed in the wrong slot, so I moved it to slot 21. But, it still doesn't work. Can someone post a diagram or picture of which pins should be placed in which slots in the USB connector? I've searched the boards but can't any relevant reference diagrams. Thanks in advance.

 

[MWeston]

Based on Illuminerdi's results, my understanding of how these chips usually work and from looking at my cable, here is my understanding of the situation:

- pin 16 is a 5V sense to the USB section of the Pollux chip. This is how it detects when a USB cable is plugged in.
- pins 21, 22 are shorted together internally on the Wiz PCB and go to the input of the charger chip. This is where 5V from your PC/adapter needs to be.

My cable came with all three pins installed and soldered together to the red wire (USB 5V). It sounds like these new Wiz cables are not coming with any extra pins so you are forced to move pin 16 to pin 21 or 22 which means you have to decide whether you want to charge or use USB transfers. I hear USB transfers are really slow and most people just stick the SD card in their PCs or into an adapter. I've never used the USB function of the Wiz, so I wouldn't miss it.

You could get an RMA and return your Wiz, but it will take months to get a new cable based on at least one user's experience and you'd have to hope they fix their assembly guide at the factory or you'll just get another bad cable. Personally, I'd just move pin 16 to 21 and be done with it.

 

[kart_racer3]

Based on Illuminerdi's results, my understanding of how these chips usually work and from looking at my cable, here is my understanding of the situation:

- pin 16 is a 5V sense to the USB section of the Pollux chip. This is how it detects when a USB cable is plugged in.
- pins 21, 22 are shorted together internally on the Wiz PCB and go to the input of the charger chip. This is where 5V from your PC/adapter needs to be.

My cable came with all three pins installed and soldered together to the red wire (USB 5V). It sounds like these new Wiz cables are not coming with any extra pins so you are forced to move pin 16 to pin 21 or 22 which means you have to decide whether you want to charge or use USB transfers. I hear USB transfers are really slow and most people just stick the SD card in their PCs or into an adapter. I've never used the USB function of the Wiz, so I wouldn't miss it.

You could get an RMA and return your Wiz, but it will take months to get a new cable based on at least one user's experience and you'd have to hope they fix their assembly guide at the factory or you'll just get another bad cable. Personally, I'd just move pin 16 to 21 and be done with it.

That's what I had just attempted. I moved the red wire to the 21 slot, but it didn't correct my charging issue. I may have made it worse, as my PC doesn't connect to my Wiz anymore. Can you give me a breakdown of what color wires I should have in which slots on the adaptor? I'm basically a noob at this and just want to make sure that all wires are in their correct slots. For clarity, I am interpreting the numbering system as:

Male Adaptor:
________________
[24-23........2-1]
(3 teeth/slots on bottom side of adaptor to ensure proper orientation)

Thank you in advance.

 

[MWeston]

Here is what my cable looks like: http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa99/MWeston_2007/wiz_cable.jpg

Hopefully it is clear enough to determine which slots the pins are in.

 

[kart_racer3]

Here is what my cable looks like: http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa99/MWeston_2007/wiz_cable.jpg

Hopefully it is clear enough to determine which slots the pins are in.

Any chance you would mind verifying the slot numbers in your photo? Right now my USB cable connector is positioned as such:

Red: 21
White: 15
Black: 13, 6
Green: 10

I haven't changed any of the pin positions, except the Red wire, everything else is how it was assembled at the factory. Do any of these need changed? They don't seem to be in the correct positions, based on what I'm reading. Any suggestions? Thank you for assisting me with this issue.

Edit: I may be reading the pin numbers incorrectly. In your link, when I compare my pin set-up with yours, I notice that my Red wire is on the opposite side of the connector as yours. I had thought mine was in slot 21, when it actually maybe in slot 4. Does this make sense?

 

[Illuminerdi]

Edit: I may be reading the pin numbers incorrectly. In your link, when I compare my pin set-up with yours, I notice that my Red wire is on the opposite side of the connector as yours. I had thought mine was in slot 21, when it actually maybe in slot 4. Does this make sense?

A good way to tell is to lay the Wiz face-up on a table, and look into the Wiz connector itself and read from Left to Right, with pin 24 being the leftmost. Then, orient your cable and extrapolate from there.

Alternatively, look down into your cable (as if you were the Wiz, with the prongs on the bottom so you know you've got it oriented correctly) and check the positioning of the metal prongs inside the cable that way. Then, just make sure the first prong is 2-3 spaces from the leftmost space.

 

[kart_racer3]

Edit: I may be reading the pin numbers incorrectly. In your link, when I compare my pin set-up with yours, I notice that my Red wire is on the opposite side of the connector as yours. I had thought mine was in slot 21, when it actually maybe in slot 4. Does this make sense?

A good way to tell is to lay the Wiz face-up on a table, and look into the Wiz connector itself and read from Left to Right, with pin 24 being the leftmost. Then, orient your cable and extrapolate from there.

Alternatively, look down into your cable (as if you were the Wiz, with the prongs on the bottom so you know you've got it oriented correctly) and check the positioning of the metal prongs inside the cable that way. Then, just make sure the first prong is 2-3 spaces from the leftmost space.

Thank you so much! I made the alterations to the cable and as soon as I plugged it into my Wiz the LED indicator changed to red. Now all I have to do is explore the forums and figure-out how to install emulators and I'll be all set!

 

[Illuminerdi]

Thank you so much! I made the alterations to the cable and as soon as I plugged it into my Wiz the LED indicator changed to red.

Excellent, glad to hear that it's working for you now. Enjoy!

Installing emus is pretty easy. my personal method is as follows:

Make a directory for the Emu, and unpack the emulator (openhandhelds.org - for all your Wiz file/emu needs!) into the folder. Assuming the emu you unzipped was just a bunch of files, it should make a few directories, and contain a file called [emu name].gpe or something similar. Install some roms (emulators aren't much good without them ) into the subdirectory "roms" that most emus create when they're unzipped.

Go into the "Launcher" menu on your Wiz, browse to the directory with the emulator, and select the .gpe file (sometimes it's a .wiz file or a .gpu, though usually it's .gpe) and run it. Voila, you should be running the emulator.

My personal recommendation is to give DrPocketSnes 6.5.0 a try. Turn on Auto frameskip, turn OFF the audio hack (in advanced hacks) as it breaks a lot of games, overclock your Wiz to around 800mhz, and enjoy some of the best portable SNES emulation I've ever experienced (until I get my hands on a Pandora some day, that is!)