Why Doesnt it Charge? 3G iPod

[Tantantiniiin]

Hi guys,

I've been having problems with regards to charging my 3G iPod.

I bought a firewire card (2 ports), Goodman is the brand, and I'm using both the standard iPod firewire cable, and the brando retractable one.

I was able to both of the cables and the card with iTunes and the files sync pretty well and fast. But It does take a couple of seconds before iTunes detects my iPod when I connect it.

My main concern though, is that it never charges the iPod whenever its connected to the FW card. That's why if I have to send files to the pod, I have to be quick about it since the battery level displayed seems to be half of the charge (if unplugged to the firewire), and it runs out pretty fast.

What do you think I should do? I tried two FW cards, BTW, and the same thing happened.

Thanks

Tantin
(Oh, sorry, forgot to mention this is still for PC, kasi Im still using iTunes for Windows )

[Kenneth]

Hi Tantin,

This is a PC with a Firewire PCI card we're talking about right? Not a PCMCIA card of a laptop.

I'm betting its the firewire card, not all firewire cards are powered me thinks. I use a Billionton firewire PCI card (3 ports) with my PC and it charges with no problems. Might want to try that brand instead.

EDIT: Another thought, you might want to look at the power management settings in your CMOS. This is just a shot in the dark, but you might just need to enable one of the options there. Just be very careful 'cause you might screw up your PC.

[Edited on 9-29-2004 by Kenneth]

[Tantantiniiin]

PCMCIA card. Goodman, and Billionton brands. Both doesnt seem to charge my iPod

[Macmon]

Tantin,
The PCMCIA cards are most likely able to only transfer and NOT charge.
I had the same problem with my PCMCIA FW card before using my Toshiba laptop.
It is the PCMCIA that has the problem.

[Kenneth]

Oh, then sorry but you're out of luck. I found this surfing

Originally posted by James C. (Berkeley, CA) on Amazon.com
The PCMCIA bus specification does not provide enough power to allow the PCMCIA cards to power external devices. Therefore, the PCMCIA Firewire cards do not provide enough power to the Firewire bus.

NO PCMCIA firewire cards can charge an ipod by itself (using the laptop's battery). PCI firewire cards (the kind for you desktop) CAN, but PCMCIA cards (the ones for you laptop) CANNOT. It is not a "feature" that this card lacks.

HOWEVER: Some PCMCIA cards come with an input for an external power adaptor, including this Startech card (as another reviewer mentioned). So basically, you plug an external adapter into the port (which you can see in the picture) and the external adapter will then power the firewire card, letting it charge your ipod. As far as I can tell, this feature isn't available on a lot of cheaper models. But you WILL have to have an external power adapter to use this feature.

So again, NO PCMCIA cards can self power an ipod while charging.

But there is hope yet, Like Firejuice.

[Tantantiniiin]

thanks Kenneth and Macmon

I thought something's wrong with either the cable or the iPod itself at first, but after a few isolation trials, I started pinning the blame on the pcmcia card.

Well, I guess that means I'd have to charge it via the cradle.

Thanks for all the info and help.

Tantin

[Edited on 9-30-2004 by Tantantiniiin]