[Lancaster] I hope this is a dumb question, but I fear it is!

[andy baxter]

Wayne Ward wrote:
> Yes i dont see why not?
>
> Wayne
>   
I just talked to a friend of mine about this, who has looked into it, 
and apparently it's not as simple as it might seem. The usb 2.0 standard 
defines a 'unit load' as 100mA; this is the default amount of current 
provided to a single device. A device can request more current than 
this, but this has to be done in software - e.g. in windows by 
installing a driver for whatever device you are trying to charge.

This means that your phone may charge very slowly compared to what it 
should be able to manage with proper configuration. You are very 
unlikely to damage either the laptop or your phone though, so maybe just 
give it a try and see if it charges quickly enough for your needs.

I'm not sure what you need to do in linux to tell the usb port to go 
into high current mode, but a very quick look on google suggests it may 
be a question of writing the correct udev rules.

Posting the output of 'lsusb' to the list might help as well.

andy
> red wrote:
>   
>> Can I charge my Nokia phone up on my laptop via usb?
>>
>>   
>>     
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>
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