From: Mike Holden <rockbox_at_mikeholden.uklinux.net>
Date: Fri, 4 Apr 2003 09:08:13 +0100 (BST)

spidermagnet said:
> Gentle people,
>
> I'm the proud owner of an FM recorder, not quite 2 months old. I've been
> tracking the daily snapshots a couple of times a week--although doesn't
> seem anything has changed in that code anyway. I would be grateful for
> your kind assistance on the powering of this device.
>
> Symptom is that it doesn't seem to charge fully:
>
> - I put it to charge, it hits 100%, i turn it off and unplug it.
> - I immediately turn it back on, and the power is at 76%. I plug it back
> in to charge it up, after a time it hits 100%, i turn it off and unplug
> it.
> - I immediately turn it back on, and the power is at 83%. I plug it back
> in to charge it up, after a time it hits 100%, i turn it off and unplug
> it.
> - I immediately turn it back on, and the power is at 86%. I plug it back
> in to charge it up, after a time it hits 100%, i turn it off and unplug
> it.
> - I get sick of this exercise and listen to some music. The battery
> gauge drops quickly into the upper 60%s.
>
> The power will creep up to 92 or 93 if i never play any music. I
> understand that the battery measurement algo is imperfect, just want to
> know how to behave for the best battery life.
>
> Also, I haven't seemed to be able to identify the location of the "deep
> discharge on" and "trickle charge off" options mentioned in the FAQ.
> Please assume I am stupid. Do these exist on this build?

The battery measurement algorythm IS perfect. We simply read what the
hardware tells us it is. Nothing more, nothing less. It really is that
simple!

As others have said already, we do not control charging on Rockbox FM (the
hardware does it for itself), so trickle and deep are not available as
options.

The numbers do go up and down a bit during use, and this is normal. Disk
access for example takes a hit on the value, but once the disk stops
spinning, it tends to recover again. I'm sure the same happens on the
Archos firmware as well, but they don't supply a numeric charge meter so
you don't notice it!

My advice would be to fully charge the unit (overnight or whatever), and
then simply use it! You know it makes sense ;-)

-- 
Mike Holden

Received on 2003-04-04