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#1 2009-06-26 11:53 am
- hypersapien
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- Registered: 2009-06-26
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Charging iPhone from work computer
So I'm enjoying my new iPhone 3GS, but by the end of the work day I seem to deplete at least 90% of its battery power (I'm a Pandora whore). Today I brought in a cable to charge it with at work, but when I plugged it in, I noticed the battery charge screen did NOT come up. I've thought of several reasons why this might be, and I'm hoping someone can narrow it down for me.
1) My home computer is a Mac (which the iPhone is formatted to), my work computer is a PC.
2) The work PC is running Windows 2000.
3) The cable I brought to work to charge with is from my 5th Gen. iPod (USB).
Could any one tell me which of these are preventing me from charging my iPhone? Thanks.
-Taylor
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#2 2009-06-26 11:58 am
- gd
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Re: Charging iPhone from work computer
I charge the phone with the ps3 so # 1 is out.
Unless the usb port is dead it should send power to it even if it doesn't recognize it. 2 is out.
Doesn't matter but it may be damaged. Make sure the cable works with other devices.
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#3 2009-06-26 12:02 pm
- hypersapien
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Re: Charging iPhone from work computer
Concerning #3, I used it to charge my iPod successfully up until I received my iphone last friday.
If I have some spare time today at work I may try charging it from other operating systems. I suspect that the cause is #2, since the itunes preference pane says that windows 2000 does not support iPhone. I'd still hope it would supply power through a USB socket, but who knows...
edit: I should also note that when I plug it in with the setup I described, an install wizard DOES appear in windows, asking me to locate drivers for 'iphone', though nothing happens on the phone's screen and the power does not increase.
Last edited by hypersapien (2009-06-26 12:04 pm)
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#4 2009-06-26 12:03 pm
Re: Charging iPhone from work computer
I believe in some PCs (or older PCs) The USB ports are data only (no power) I could be wrong about this.
If the USB ports do provide power, the OS has nothing to do with it.
gd is right, the cable could be damaged.
You could get a charger. These are cheap. Doesn't have to be Apple's.
http://www.google.com/products?q=iphone … &hl=en
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#5 2009-06-26 1:04 pm
- Nefarious
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Re: Charging iPhone from work computer
I have 3 chargers: living room, a relative's house and a spare in the car, plus the cord for my computer.
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#6 2009-06-26 2:56 pm
- hypersapien
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Re: Charging iPhone from work computer
update: i tried plugging it into one of my work's XP stations, and it charged fine. So it looks like I'll either have to wait until my employer updates my OS, or resort to bringing in my wall outlet adapter (though I will then have an issue with the length of the cable...).
Thanks for your input guys.
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#8 2009-06-26 9:38 pm
- hypersapien
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Re: Charging iPhone from work computer
ukimalefu wrote:
IT'S NOT THE OS!
Then do you have another hypothesis?
All I know is that running itunes in windows 2000 gives the message "iphone is not supported with windows 2000" or something. And having tried the exact same setup on a windows xp machine, it suddenly works.
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#9 2009-06-26 9:48 pm
Re: Charging iPhone from work computer
It can be the computer. Or the USB ports in said computer. I bet the other PC you tried is different from the first one.
To test this, try to charge something else there. Somebody else's iPhone, or iPod, or something else that charges over USB.
Also, exactly where did you plug the iPhone? Some devices require more power than others, and will be required to be plugged-in directly into the computer and not the keyboard nor a external hub. The Mac would pop-up a message telling you this, but I don't know about Windows PCs.
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#10 2009-06-26 9:53 pm
- hypersapien
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Re: Charging iPhone from work computer
I am familiar with the inadequate power message you describe on my mac, but neither pc gave me this information. On both I plugged it into the front-facing USB port, and on the machine that DIDN'T work I also tried the back facing ports... couldn't tell you more about the make and model of the machines though.
hyptothesis A: can't be charged on a windows 2000 machine
hypothesis B: my work machine does not have a single USB port that supplies power
Next week I'll try charging it on other (hopefully newer) machines at work running 2000 and see if I can eliminate that hyptothesis.
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#11 2009-06-26 11:04 pm
- gd
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Re: Charging iPhone from work computer
In a pc the most you can get is a bubble from the menu bar indicating that " you have plugged a high-speed usb onto a non high-speed usb port" then it says if you want to locate a high-speed usb port on the computer. This only happens if you click it. It should not state any compatibility issues with the device in this bubble.
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#12 2009-06-26 11:26 pm
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Re: Charging iPhone from work computer
gd wrote:
In a pc the most you can get is a bubble from the menu bar indicating that " you have plugged a high-speed usb onto a non high-speed usb port" then it says if you want to locate a high-speed usb port on the computer.
I get that same message when I run XP on my mac even though I can easily use that same port while booted into Leopard. Trying to locate another port does me no good.
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#13 2009-06-27 12:43 am
- gd
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Re: Charging iPhone from work computer
It has done me good on a HP Pavillion running XP and a Compaq Presario running Me.
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#14 2009-06-27 7:28 am
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Re: Charging iPhone from work computer
Look around for a Y shaped USB cable. It plugs into 2 USB ports on the computer to supply 1 USB device with adequate power.
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