I own a Samsung Galaxy S3 (US version). I also own a 2013 Hyundai Sonata GLS (US version - with no electronics-related optional items). I like both. Both serve me well. And they seem mostly compatible with each other, but not quite 100% so.
The Sonata comes with Bluetooth standard. My S3 pairs with the car's Bluetooth without any problem. I have TuneIn Pro on my S3, and can listen to the output through my car's speakers, via Bluetooth. I can get turn-by-turn directions through my car's speakers, if I use the S3 for GPS navigation. And I can make and receive phone calls just fine, using voice commands. So all of that's great.
The Sonata has an AUX jack, a USB port, and 2 cigarette lighter sockets. Since I'd rather not run the S3 off its battery if I'm going to be using it on a long drive, I'll plug it into the USB port. And that's when I run into a problem -
Once I plug the phone into the car's USB port, "Connected as a media device" shows up as a notification. And it seems to cycle on and off several times per second. Very annoying!
If I time it just right, I can tap that notification, and go to a screen which gives me a choice between "Media Device (MTP)" and "Camera (PTP)." Even if I switch from the former to the latter, the "Connected as a media device" notification continues to cycle.
The phone still seems to work just fine, via its Bluetooth connection to the car, mind you.
Question #1: Is there some ridiculously simple way to get the phone to stop with the "Connected as a media device" notification cycling?
Question #2: Would it be reasonable to conclude that having this cycle on and off every split second might be bad, somehow, for the phone? Does it put extra strain on the CPU and cause things to run hotter and/or drain the battery faster (faster than the USB port's ability to keep the phone charged, perhaps)?
So, I turned my powerful intellect to finding a solution for this problem. Just before getting to the point where I was going to drink sapho juice and recite the Mentat's chant, an idea occurred to me - what if instead of trying to keep the S3 charged by pluging it into the car's USB port, I instead plugged it into one of the cigarette lighter sockets?
I mean, I assume it's entirely possible to charge the S3 by plugging it into a cigarette lighter socket. Heck, it might even charge better that way than it would from a USB port, since getting 1000 - 2000 mA out of a cigarette lighter socket is probably easy, whereas many USB ports presumably struggle to manage even a fraction of that.
Sure, a cigarette lighter connection is a "dumb" connection, as opposed to a USB (a "smart" connection). You can't transfer data between phone and car using a cigarette lighter socket, the way you can using a USB port. But that's perfect! All I need the connection for is to keep the phone charged. I can't see how the car could know that the device plugged into the cigarette lighter socket is an S3, much less worry about "Media device" issues.
Question #3: Do you agree? Is it likely that I could solve the problem by charging via the cigarette lighter socket, as opposed to plugging into the USB port?
Question #4: If so, is there anything I ought to look out for, in choosing a cigarette lighter adapter? I'm leaning toward buying a small, low profile, no "bells and whistles," black one, for about $4, off of eBay. Should I worry about overcharging, or shorting something out, or anything like that?
I'd appreciate some feedback on my plan (or on some even simpler way of addressing the matter).
--
Michael
The Sonata comes with Bluetooth standard. My S3 pairs with the car's Bluetooth without any problem. I have TuneIn Pro on my S3, and can listen to the output through my car's speakers, via Bluetooth. I can get turn-by-turn directions through my car's speakers, if I use the S3 for GPS navigation. And I can make and receive phone calls just fine, using voice commands. So all of that's great.
The Sonata has an AUX jack, a USB port, and 2 cigarette lighter sockets. Since I'd rather not run the S3 off its battery if I'm going to be using it on a long drive, I'll plug it into the USB port. And that's when I run into a problem -
Once I plug the phone into the car's USB port, "Connected as a media device" shows up as a notification. And it seems to cycle on and off several times per second. Very annoying!
If I time it just right, I can tap that notification, and go to a screen which gives me a choice between "Media Device (MTP)" and "Camera (PTP)." Even if I switch from the former to the latter, the "Connected as a media device" notification continues to cycle.
The phone still seems to work just fine, via its Bluetooth connection to the car, mind you.
Question #1: Is there some ridiculously simple way to get the phone to stop with the "Connected as a media device" notification cycling?
Question #2: Would it be reasonable to conclude that having this cycle on and off every split second might be bad, somehow, for the phone? Does it put extra strain on the CPU and cause things to run hotter and/or drain the battery faster (faster than the USB port's ability to keep the phone charged, perhaps)?
So, I turned my powerful intellect to finding a solution for this problem. Just before getting to the point where I was going to drink sapho juice and recite the Mentat's chant, an idea occurred to me - what if instead of trying to keep the S3 charged by pluging it into the car's USB port, I instead plugged it into one of the cigarette lighter sockets?
I mean, I assume it's entirely possible to charge the S3 by plugging it into a cigarette lighter socket. Heck, it might even charge better that way than it would from a USB port, since getting 1000 - 2000 mA out of a cigarette lighter socket is probably easy, whereas many USB ports presumably struggle to manage even a fraction of that.
Sure, a cigarette lighter connection is a "dumb" connection, as opposed to a USB (a "smart" connection). You can't transfer data between phone and car using a cigarette lighter socket, the way you can using a USB port. But that's perfect! All I need the connection for is to keep the phone charged. I can't see how the car could know that the device plugged into the cigarette lighter socket is an S3, much less worry about "Media device" issues.
Question #3: Do you agree? Is it likely that I could solve the problem by charging via the cigarette lighter socket, as opposed to plugging into the USB port?
Question #4: If so, is there anything I ought to look out for, in choosing a cigarette lighter adapter? I'm leaning toward buying a small, low profile, no "bells and whistles," black one, for about $4, off of eBay. Should I worry about overcharging, or shorting something out, or anything like that?
I'd appreciate some feedback on my plan (or on some even simpler way of addressing the matter).
--
Michael
