PinePhone Keyboard Doesn't charge?

[jabadahut91]

I received my pinephone keyboard a few days ago and I've never been able to get it to charge. I have mobian installed, they keyboard works, but the battery doesn't charge. After enough time it completely kills the phone and I have to disconnect the phone in order to charge it. Any Ideas? They keyboard does not work with my brand new pinephone pro at all.. I tried pushing the back in like some users have said to do, this does not fix my issues.

I though i saw something that said we needed to install a firmware update on the keyboards because they didn't come with it, but I haven't been able to find it? Am I mistaken?

[bcnaz]

I have not seen any available firmware 'updates' for the keyboard yet, --> BUT I did mention the keyboard "Needing a firmware update" in another thread.

I have got limited use of the keyboard on a PMOS Convergent (Revision 1.2a) phone with Mobian/Phosh recent release w/updates on an sd card.

To get it to charge ---> I plug it in first to the charger, then turn off the phone. ---> if you connect or disconnect the charger, it will cause the phone to turn-on.

(( I do find the phone charges faster when I use the Pinephone Convergence Dock in-line with the charger. Power app shows it is charging @ up to 5.5+ watts
when using the Pine docking bar.))

*** Although the phone needs to be turned off for the keyboard to actually "Charge" ! (for now)

So while the new keyboard is "fun to play with", ---> I would NOT recommend using it on your daily use phone.......Yet.

Just my experience, Your experience could vary.

[FrozenPine]

I received my pinephone keyboard a few days ago and I've never been able to get it to charge. I have mobian installed, they keyboard works, but the battery doesn't charge. After enough time it completely kills the phone and I have to disconnect the phone in order to charge it. Any Ideas? They keyboard does not work with my brand new pinephone pro at all.. I tried pushing the back in like some users have said to do, this does not fix my issues.

I though i saw something that said we needed to install a firmware update on the keyboards because they didn't come with it, but I haven't been able to find it? Am I mistaken?

I have the keyboard and it charges my PinePhone Community Edition just fine, but when I plug the PinePhone Pro Explorer Edition into it, it does not charge the phone at all.

[grump_fiddle_reinstall]

I am typing on a keyboard showing 100% charge. I put it on charge yesterday and then shut the phone down and left it to charge. Mine phone just seems to discharge at something similar to the normal rate when the charger is plugged into the keyboard. Even though the battery icon is showing the charging symbol. So a similar situation as described by bcnaz. I installed the mobian weekly build dated 16.1. It is almost as if plugging the charger in causes the phone/keyboard battery to discharge.

Ah after 15 minutes of uptime the battery is still showing 100% but the battery charging symbol has appeared in the battery level icon.

[bcnaz]

The 'Power Supply' app. - " thinks the charger is plugged in" when the keyboard battery is feeding the phone battery... or so it seems ?

[grump_fiddle_reinstall]

Hmmm. The battery indicator is still showing 100%. I have been using the PinePhone in hotspot mode, general light browsing, streaming music, running Skype in a browser (which usually chomps through the battery charge)... I am curious to see how long it lasts.

If the charging behaviour is as it seems, that is, charging possible only with the phone off, then i can live with that if the keyboard battery means that the phone lasts a whole day on one charge.

---

The 'Power Supply' app.  -  " thinks the charger is plugged in"  when the keyboard battery is feeding the phone battery...  or so it seems  ?

So it would seem to me.

[grump_fiddle_reinstall]

Still showing 99%. The charging symbol in the battery icon has just reappeared.

---

OK the charge now seems to be dropping at a more normal PinePhone speed. In the last half hour it has dropped to 87%. Still running the hotspot, and in use as earlier in the day. The PinePhone has been on for around 5 hours.

I will try charging it later leaving the phone on and using  what I think is the best charger I have.

[grump_fiddle_reinstall]

After about 6 hours of use the charge shows 53%. I have left the phone on and started charging the keyboard. I will check it in an hour or so.

Hotspot still on browser open but I have stopped streaming music in VLC.

[jabadahut91]

I have not seen any available firmware 'updates' for the keyboard yet, -->  BUT I did mention the keyboard "Needing a firmware update" in another thread.

I have got limited use of the keyboard on a PMOS Convergent (Revision 1.2a) phone with Mobian/Phosh recent release w/updates on an sd card.

To get it to charge  --->  I plug it in first to the charger, then turn off the phone.  ---> if you connect or disconnect the charger, it will cause the phone to turn-on.

(( I do find the phone charges faster when I use the Pinephone Convergence Dock in-line with the charger.  Power app shows it is charging @ up to 5.5+ watts
when using the Pine docking bar.))

  ***  Although the phone needs to be turned off for the keyboard to actually "Charge"  !  (for now)

So while the new keyboard is "fun to play with", --->  I would NOT recommend using it on your daily use phone.......Yet.

Just my experience,  Your experience could vary.

I noticed the phone being off was charging it when I first got the keyboard. I have tried many times to get it to charge this way but it doesn't actually charge the battery. I left it plugged in all night and when I awoke the battery was still dead. Any ideas? I just tried this again, because as you said if you power it off and then plug it in it should power up. This is not the case unless I remove the keyboard and then plug directly into the phone.

---

The 'Power Supply' app.  -  " thinks the charger is plugged in"  when the keyboard battery is feeding the phone battery...  or so it seems  ?

Yea it's like a powerbank, except on my keyboard it doesn't work. It doesn't charge, or turn on. I tried turning it off by holding the button for 15 seconds then turning it on by pressing it for the 3 seconds. Nothing happens it no longer charges. I assume that the battery in the keyboard is not charging since no charging indication ever comes on when plugged into the keyboard no matter how long I wait. Not sure if it's hardware or a firmware issue.

---

After about 6 hours of use the charge shows 53%. I have left the phone on and started charging the keyboard. I will check it in an hour or so.

Hotspot still on browser open but I have stopped streaming music in VLC.

When I first received the keyboard these were the same results I was having. It was awesome then now it makes the pinephone unusable since it doesn't charge. If I charge the phone separately at least the keyboard still works.

[grump_fiddle_reinstall]

After an hour or so connected to the USB-A port on a PD+QC charger it shows 25%.
 
Ah, right the USB-A port is only rated at 2A. The PD+QC port at 3A. Switching to another charger.