+- PINE64 (https://forum.pine64.org)
+-- Forum: PinePhone (https://forum.pine64.org/forumdisplay.php?fid=120)
+--- Forum: PinePhone Hardware (https://forum.pine64.org/forumdisplay.php?fid=122)
+--- Thread: Regarding USB Power and Modem Initialization (/showthread.php?tid=14725)
Regarding USB Power and Modem Initialization - vidual - 08-21-2021
I wonder if there is a way to go sans stock battery? Not to replace the battery with a compatible alternative but to modify the phone to complement a different type of system. New to the forum, haven't really perused the place BUT-- I find it interesting that when I plug the phone to, say, a computer without a battery (though I assume off an external battery it may act similarly) two things happen:
a. It's lighter, duh. But instantly lighter in a way that is oddly exciting to me?
b. It's faster. Not that I've measured it...
I'm assuming the apps run smoother because the, as I humbly perceive, power-hungry modem necessitates the battery, and so no modem to compete with the CPU, RAM, etc. (at least using postmarketOS with sxmo). However, from reading another post on power management in /sys, the USB power settings could potentially be tweaked to power the modem? And if so, we could technically use whatever battery we want, so long as we can find a way to mount it to our bodies in a totally natural, cyborg way. jk, but no, I'm serious.
I do not understand why the board, cpu, the screen, everything gets power except the modem? To which, with space regained used once by the battery one could hypothetically mod peripherals where the battery currently lay?
But seriously, if I could get my unit to be this light and this fast and do cellular (with totally cool wrist straps that contain batteries, think about it) the phone would be instantly more usable as a daily driver and rather unique to boot.
So, my grand OP question is: can the pinephone modem be charged off an external source via USB without modding the battery pins with a dummy?
At the very least, if the setup could work with just the charge from the dock, the pinephone could be used as a neat terminal with lower latency much like that raspberry 4 keyboard, if of course, you mount keys to it (in the gap where the battery no longer needs to exist.) External battery power would make the lifetime of the thing effectively endless.
tldr: USB power without the battery powers the phone's components except for the modem. Why come and how to innovate?
RE: Regarding USB Power and Modem Initialization - wibble - 08-25-2021
The short answer is I don't think you can do that without significantly reworking the power subsystems. The modem (and the wifi IIRC) use a direct connection to the battery to more efficiently provide the high peak currents they can draw during transmission. There's quite a bit of discussion about the details of the power subsystems in the thread about pogo pin power. I think it included what could be done using USB power only.
https://forum.pine64.org/showthread.php?tid=12698&highlight=pogo+pin+power
RE: Regarding USB Power and Modem Initialization - vidual - 08-26-2021
(08-25-2021, 08:08 AM)wibble Wrote: The short answer is I don't think you can do that without significantly reworking the power subsystems. The modem (and the wifi IIRC) use a direct connection to the battery to more efficiently provide the high peak currents they can draw during transmission. There's quite a bit of discussion about the details of the power subsystems in the thread about pogo pin power. I think it included what could be done using USB power only.
https://forum.pine64.org/showthread.php?tid=12698&highlight=pogo+pin+power
Thanks for the guidance! I'll be messing with this in the near future and if I've any updates I'll be sure to post about it.