Can the pinephone be powered without a battery?
#1
I'd like to be able to power a smartphone device without the battery installed. Is this possible with the pinephone? Assuming by default it won't work (no phone after the galaxy S2 ever supported this), can the presence of a battery be faked such that it will work without damaging the device?

In case you're curious why: Intended application is to have it continuously powered near the head end of my bed where I will mainly use this device as a white noise generator and an alarm clock. I have currently gone through great trouble to rig up an LG Volt to do exactly this, but it relies on a questionable LineageOS build on the software end to work, and even more questionable methods to install said OS onto the phone. All in all it's a pain, and an open platform phone would be far more preferable.
#2
(02-12-2020, 05:49 PM)stragulus Wrote: I'd like to be able to power a smartphone device without the battery installed. Is this possible with the pinephone?

Yes, see the wiki. Without any tweaks you are OK but have no modem, wifi or BT.
  • PinePhone BraveHeart now v1.2b 3/32Gb daily driver, Tow-boot with pmOS/SXMO on eMMC
  • PinePhone pmOS Community Edition 2/16Gb driving my picture frame, Tow-boot with pmOS/SXMO on eMMC
  • PinePhone Pro Explorer Edition, Tow-boot on SPI, Arch/SXMO on eMMC
  • ROCKPro64 v2.1 2GB, 16Gb eMMC retired in favour of a fruity upgrade
#3
Promising! So in order to get everything working, one has to provide 3.8V through the battery terminals with enough current?
#4
Why not just leave the battery in and have it continuously charging?
#5
(02-13-2020, 03:47 AM)Boern Wrote: Why not just leave the battery in and have it continuously charging?

I hope the charge control strategy's better than that or our battery capacity will degrade faster than necessary, but I agree with the principle. The battery gives you a built in UPS n case of a power cut or glitch.
#6
I had to try and see if it would work. As mentioned above, WiFi isn't working.

https://i.imgur.com/1R1ezMz.jpg
#7
(02-13-2020, 03:47 AM)Boern Wrote: Why not just leave the battery in and have it continuously charging?

Batteries degrade faster if you do that, but more importantly it's right next to my head at night and I'd rather not have a high-energy prone-to-failure device so close to me.

Quote:I had to try and see if it would work. As mentioned above, WiFi isn't working.
Thanks for testing, that is good to know.


Possibly Related Threads…
Thread Author Replies Views Last Post
Bug PinePhone modem keeps "disappearing" Kevin Kofler 18 14,762 Yesterday, 05:23 AM
Last Post: RobinHayes
Sad PinePhone USB-C port and audio jack failure Kevin Kofler 5 6,080 12-11-2025, 08:57 AM
Last Post: jakfish
  Recycling pinephone as home server mdk 6 866 12-01-2025, 02:57 AM
Last Post: mdk
  Battery connector dead mdk 4 2,536 12-01-2025, 02:54 AM
Last Post: mdk
  Pinephone + Keyboard for sale, little use ruemoo 11 6,167 11-30-2025, 06:29 AM
Last Post: biketool
  PinePhone, PinePhone Pro, Keyboard/Accessories for sale brb78 5 585 11-30-2025, 05:45 AM
Last Post: biketool
  Modem Issues with the Pinephone Temmie19 5 3,940 07-02-2025, 12:50 PM
Last Post: biketool
Question Third-party cheap touchscreen/LCD for the Pinephone - lost knowledge? mikeb 2 2,768 06-21-2025, 05:19 PM
Last Post: mikeb
  Pinephone not booting sd card... bruv 1 2,098 03-25-2025, 08:51 PM
Last Post: Kevin Kofler
  Pinephone - broken power button rorus 13 18,093 12-16-2024, 08:32 PM
Last Post: tllim

Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)