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

[andy baxter]

andy baxter wrote:
> 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.
>   

P.S. maybe try asking this question on the ubuntu users email list?

andy