Help GS4 charging issue

[Adara]

Boot with it plugged in. Works fine.

I already noted this upthread (and I think someone else did, too, but that might be another thread) -- although I'm glad you mentioned it again, because it raises the issue of what the hell is going on here.

Because it's more than just that. My Samsung supplied charger (with Amazon extension) absolutely will charge without having to reboot. 100%. No problem. It will pick up that charger on the fly.

It will also pick up an Amazon Kindle 9W charger on the fly. (A discovery I made by accident.)

I have two Motorola charges which used to work with the phone all the time. After 4.3, it will sometimes pick up one of them on the fly but not the other; although it will charge with either one if I reboot while plugged in. (I see no difference in the specs of these chargers, although the one it likes less seems to have a slightly thinner cable.)

So, yeah, there's something in 4.3 which makes it more picky about what it will charge with, but the problem does not occur if you reboot while plugged in.

That's messed up.

 

[Goodspike]

I'm not understanding what you're saying. Will it charge okay after you reboot only once while plugged in, or do you have to reboot while plugged in repeatedly to get it to charge?

Stated differently, will have have to reboot every time I plug it into my car charger with a non-Samsung cable?

 

[Adara]

In my personal experience, if I want the phone to charge with one of the problematic chargers, I MUST reboot the phone while it is plugged in EVERY TIME.

Doing it once does not fix the problem forever; it is a just-this-time-only solution.

 

[Goodspike]

Thanks. That could be good to know in a pinch!

 

[bltserv]

Something not right. Why would the OS care about the charger on the fly. But let it work at boot. It should kick it if that's really the issue. I got a feeling we will have a flood of these complaints as the rollout moves forward. Pain in the azz to reboot every time. I gave my new charging cable to GF for her S3. Hers broke. So I can't test. But all 3 of my aftermarket and my expensive car/ac charger I got from sprint with my Evo4G don't work on the fly. Got a feeling somebody will write an app to get around this little bug. Otherwise happy with 4.3. So far.

 

[bltserv]

I think it's a driver issue. The morre reading I do this seems Widespread with 4.3 across the board hardware wise.

 

[bltserv]

It's seems Samsung is using the latest specs in the mini HDMI connector. Trick is to plug the cable into the phone. Then plug itinto your AC or DC and it usually will work without reboot. If you try a bunch of times it won't work. But do it right the first time and your good. Otherwise quick reboot and your good.

 

[Adara]

It's seems Samsung is using the latest specs in the mini HDMI connector. Trick is to plug the cable into the phone. Then plug itinto your AC or DC and it usually will work without reboot.

Good to know, but not very helpful when you have to crawl under the desk to reach the outlet. (I'd rather reboot.)

 

[Goodspike]

This USB cable seems to work:

Amazon.com: Monoprice 3-Feet USB 2.0 A Male to Micro B 5pin Male 28/24AWG Cable with Ferrite Core: Computers & Accessories

$5 if you have Amazon prime.

I'm using it in conjunction with this car adapter:

Amazon.com: PNY P-P-DC-UF-K01-GE 12 Volt 2.1 Amp Rapid USB Car Charger - Black: Electronics

 

[Adara]

I'm waiting to hear if the new update will eliminate the need for buying more cables.

 

[Goodspike]

I'm waiting to hear if the new update will eliminate the need for buying more cables.

I joked in another thread that Verizon will push that update the same day that my new cables arrive.

Seriously though, with better cables most likely comes faster charging, and since I don't tend to stay in the car for that long, faster charging could be useful in some situations (particularly since I don't always plug in the phone while navigating, which does drain the battery.)

 

[Goodspike]

Yesterday I grabbed a USB cable to use to tether a Netbook. I didn't expect it to charge the phone when connected, because it doesn't work in the car, but it did. What's odd though is that there was a message in the pull down notifications to switch the cable to get faster charging!

So there are apparently three possible situations with the cable:

1. Too low of voltage to charge at all (and no warning).
2. Low voltage with a slow charge warning.
3. Proper voltage with fast charging.

Update: Yesterday I was tethered with a good cable and it charged with no warning. So clearly the cable is important.

 

[bltserv]

I had a update last night. To MK2.
Looks like the charger issue went away.
It's working normal again with all my chargers.

 

[Funderbolt]

I had a update last night. To MK2.
Looks like the charger issue went away.
It's working normal again with all my chargers.

Who's your provider (not listed)? I tried updating, and it says I'm up to date (MJ7).

When I plug into my HTC wall charger with USB it charges everytime, even with cable I use in the car. In the car with new changer that they gave me with the phone it won't charge.

 

[TrueMetalGeek]

Is this recent? Like really recent?

My phone stopped recognizing when it was plugged in to the charger with the 4.3 update.

That's when mine started to freak out.

And the sad thing is I drove to Verizon and the dang thing worked when I took it inside.

From what I've observed is that it wont recognize to charge at least 50% of the time I plug on the charger be it wall charger, car charger or the PC cable.
If you unplug and plug it in repeatedly it will eventually go into charge mode. (For those doing the reboot, try this instead).
Once it recognizes charge mode it charges fine.

I think it is definitely something to do with the 4.3 Update I got.

 

[TrueMetalGeek]

I had a update last night. To MK2.
Looks like the charger issue went away.
It's working normal again with all my chargers.

What's MK2? Is that a ROM thing or a legit update?

I'm on Verizon. Not rooted.

 

[Goodspike]

From what I've observed is that it wont recognize to charge at least 50% of the time I plug on the charger be it wall charger, car charger or the PC cable.

Are you using the same USB cable for all those methods? That's very odd that it would be so consistent. I find that most things either work or don't work, but that there are some combinations that work some of the time or for a short time (and then stop charging).

Now that I have good USB cables I've not had a single problem for weeks (except that one tethering issue I mentioned where I wasn't using a good cable).

 

[Funderbolt]

I tried plugging cable into phone first then charger in my truck, and it worked.

 

[speedlever]

What's MK2? Is that a ROM thing or a legit update?

I'm on Verizon. Not rooted.

MK2 is the AT&T version of 4.3. Maybe TMo too, I'm not sure about that.

 

[bltserv]

MK2 will show on your build no. I am Sprint.
4.3 implementation used new mini HDMI spec. It would charge if you plugged in cable to phone. Then plug to AC or DC. I never played with USB. You could not plug phone in on the fly as before. Or Reboot worked. Or on the fly worked if phone was off. The MK2 seemed to fix the 4.3 driver bug. It works as before at 4.22. Stock ROM

 

[Adara]

I updated to MK2 yesterday on VZW.
(I didn't get the alert notifying me to update, but I searched for it and it was there.)

Last night, plugged it into one of the chargers it had been been rejecting, and it immediately started charging -- first try, no problem.