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ObtuseMoose
Just Posting
3 Posts |
 Posted - 05/22/2004 : 12:37:14 PM
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After not using my Neuros (20G HD, USB 1.1) for a while, I recently learned of the 2.x firmware releases. Noticing that bookmarking was now implemented, I decided to give it a try. I downloaded and installed the 2.16 beta firmware. I absolutely love the new features of the 2.x firmware.
However, there's a fly in the ointment. I'm getting MUCH shorter battery life than I used to with 1.x firmware. I used to get about 8 hours or so. Now I'm lucky to get 3 - 4 hours. I've noticed the HD running for long periods (e.g. 5 minutes) while playing. That doesn't seem right to me. (What could it be doing that it would have to run continuously for 5 minutes?) Could it be due to the fact I use a large playlist (~350 songs?)
Yesterday, I played about 2 hours on a full charge. When I tried to use it today, it wouldn't even turn on. I pluggged in the charger and after a few minutes got it to turn on. The battery voltage display showed about 3.5 volts. Full charge is about 4.13v. It seems like something drained the battery overnight even though the unit was off.
Is this a problem with the 2.16 firmware? Is my battery going bad? It hasn't had too much use, maybe 20 - 30 recharges. Or might there be something wrong with my unit?
--
Moose
...just like we knew what we were doing. |
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Schwilly
Posting Profoundly
150 Posts |
Posted - 05/22/2004 : 10:43:25 PM
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no you've got me thinking the same thing, but it could be all in my head
stealth or die |
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gjs
Just Posting
5 Posts |
Posted - 05/23/2004 : 1:34:25 PM
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| I've had this same issue on two occasions after getting 2.16 firmware. It happened to me after using it for 1.5 hrs./day for 3 days in the car. I would turn it off and leave it connected to the charger overnight. I was also listening to a long playlist (500+ songs)exclusively for those 3 days. I will try listening by artist or album over a few days to see if it's an overworked HD issue. |
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chad(at)gambit.net
Posting Profoundly
111 Posts |
Posted - 05/25/2004 : 10:49:16 AM
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Are you leaving it connected to the charger in the car overnight?
If so, you may want to check to see if your cigarette lighter actually stays on with the ignition off.
If you have the charger plugged into the Neuros, but not the wall (or the power is off at the wall) it will actually DRAIN the batteries. One of the more annoying hardware designs I've come across. |
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Crazy Redd
Likes to Post
21 Posts |
Posted - 05/25/2004 : 5:15:30 PM
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no, I've noticed the same thing, and I have a flash unit.
The battery blinks with all 3 bars filled after leaving it plugged in for over 8 hours. The i only get playback of about 4/ 4.25 hours.
Originally, i thought my battery had finally died from having too many charges, but i swapped backpacks with my sister, who has 2.11 (also flash) and she gets a full 7- 8 hours with my battery, while i still get 4 / 4.25 hours with hers.
It's seems like all i do i leave the darn thing plugged in.
'You know the drill....# 5118...128 meg something or other....' |
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ObtuseMoose
Just Posting
3 Posts |
Posted - 05/25/2004 : 10:19:01 PM
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This is an update to my original post. I've noticed a few other threads in the forums that describe similar problems. See
http://www.neurosaudio.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=783
and
http://www.neurosaudio.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=3114
The morning I noticed the "overnight power drain" problem, I had been using MyFi the day before (about 30 minutes on my commute home from work.) I have since tried (unsuccessfully) to reproduce the problem by charging the unit and letting it sit unused for about 12 hours. I've also tried using MyFi for brief periods and then letting it sit unused for about 12 hours, again with no noticable power drain. So whatever it is that happened, it doesn't happen every time.
I never leave a cord plugged into the charging jack unless I'm actually charging the unit (i.e. the charger is plugged into the wall.)
I'm currently trying to document battery life from full charge to auto-shutdown by keeping careful track of how often I use the unit.
--
Moose
...just like we knew what we were doing. |
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hal
Posting is for Closers
37 Posts |
Posted - 05/26/2004 : 05:28:04 AM
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Similar problems here with 20GB backpack a few months old. A week ago when I brought the unit in from the car to upgrade to 2.16 (from 2.15), the unit wouldn't power up. I used the AC adapter to charge overnight, then upgraded to 2.16. The day before yesterday, I disconnected it from the car to listen with headphones, and after only one song, it shutdown with a low-battery. In the car with the auto adapter, it played, but read 3.62 volts after a 30 minute trip home, so I charged it overnight. Yesterday morning, it read 4.10 volts, and after 25 minutes connected to the car adapter (the LED on the connecter was lit, and power was flowing), the Neuros was down to 3.92 volts. Several listening sessions totaling about 2 hours, the unit was down to 3.83 volts when it was again returned to the car system for the trip home. In the car, it read 3.85 volts.
It seems that the system is not charging when running as if there is only enough power to run the Neuros and FM transmitter, but nothing left over to charge the battery. My system is:
Vehicle: 1986 Mercedes, with almost new battery, electrical system completely checked within last year (new alternator).
Songs are OGG q8 (which 2.16 fw seems to play better when batteries are freshly charged) played on 102.3 MHz (although frequencies near the bottom of the spectrum are clearer .. hint, hint).
Normally, when I turn on the car key, I can hear the HD spinup in the Neuros within 30 seconds, if not, then I check the screen and manually start if the screen in blank. On shutdown, I stop the Neuros by pressing and holding the play/pause button until the sound stops from the radio (although the RF carrier continues for several seconds more), then I turn off the ignition key which kills power to the cigarette lighter socket.
Hope this helps isolate the problem so a fix can be developed.
Hal
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alecm
Posting Profoundly
117 Posts |
Posted - 05/26/2004 : 1:23:52 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by ObtuseMoose
The morning I noticed the "overnight power drain" problem, I had been using MyFi the day before (about 30 minutes on my commute home from work.) I have since tried (unsuccessfully) to reproduce the problem by charging the unit and letting it sit unused for about 12 hours. I've also tried using MyFi for brief periods and then letting it sit unused for about 12 hours, again with no noticable power drain. So whatever it is that happened, it doesn't happen every time.
In the past, I noticed that sometimes (very rarely actually), if I shut off while playing over MyFi, the unit would continue to broadcast silence over FM, which would of course continue to drain the battery. I don't think I have heard this happen with the last few firmware revisions though. As I recall, this was a consistent problem in some of the very early 2.x firmware revisions, but perhaps it is still happening in a much less repeatable way.
Another possibility is that there was/is some lint or somesuch in your power jack, making the neuros think that it has power, resulting in battery drain. |
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hal
Posting is for Closers
37 Posts |
Posted - 05/26/2004 : 5:29:33 PM
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Followup to earlier post, this morning, the Neuros was dead. It did not powerup when the ignition was turned on, so manually pressed play and activated the voltage measurement as soon as possible, just in time to see it go from 3.55 to 3.60 volts. After a 20-minute drive (playing in MyFi) the meter was up to 3.66 volts. At the end of my commute, it had accumulated enough charge to play into headphones for about four minutes. The Neuros is now charging from the AC supply for some more checks tomorrow, but at this time it definitely appears that the unit is not turning itself off completely when the auto connector is still plugged in. Tomorrow, I will run thru the same sequence as yesterday, but remove the auto plug tomorrow night and see what the voltage reads Friday morning.
In response to the lint/connection issues, there is no foreign material present, and connections are appropriately snug for the type of connector. When the unit is off and any plug (AC or auto) is inserted into the power jack, the Neuros turns on (even if only briefly when the batteries are below limits), so the internal sensor appears to be doing their thing correctly.
BTW, was there a change to the voltage monitor setting in the recent firmware releases? The voltage meter now reverts to the battery/bar indicator on every powerup and the down/lock-unlock sequence must be performed after each powerup if one wants to see the voltage display (not that I'm complaining, but I seem to recall different behavior in earlier firmware than 2.16).
Hal
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Azraak
Posting Profoundly
123 Posts |
Posted - 05/28/2004 : 03:16:37 AM
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Hal,
I know this isn't completely the issue, since it appears that some people are having power drain issues even when a power plug is *not* left connected, but you are saying that you leave your Neuros plugged into the car charger overnight. Note that the Neuros (earlier backpacks, I believe the USB 2 backpack checks voltage from what I have read here) only checks if a jack is connected to the socket; it does not check for voltage. I think the unit remains partially on while charging, even when switched off; as stated earlier in this topic:
quote:
If you have the charger plugged into the Neuros, but not the wall (or the power is off at the wall) it will actually DRAIN the batteries. One of the more
annoying hardware designs I've come across.
Jamie |
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hal
Posting is for Closers
37 Posts |
Posted - 05/28/2004 : 04:02:17 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Azraak
as stated earlier in this topic:
quote:
If you have the charger plugged into the Neuros, but not the wall (or the power is off at the wall) it will actually DRAIN the batteries. One of the more annoying hardware designs I've come across.
Jamie
And from my overnight test, I think this is true. Beginning with a full charge yesterday morning (4.09 volts indicated), a 20-minute commute broadcasting ogg q8 songs while connected to the auto charger resulted in 4.05 volts at the end. Nearly 3 hours of headphones listening during the day ended with 3.70 volts indicated. Then a 20-minute commute home ended with 3.76 volts indicated. I then stopped the Neuros by holding the play/pause button and removed the power connector. I just checked, and Neuros powered up when the plug was inserted (auto ignition off) and the indicator read 3.70 volts, so little was lost.
As a result of this, then, the procedures should probably be to plug in the Neuros when beginning the commute, listen, then stop it and REMOVE THE POWER PLUG when the commute ends if your auto plug removes power when the ignition is turned off (which is normally the case when plugged into a cigarette lighter outlet). At least this seems to be true with the original USB1 units. Can anyone verify the case with the newer USB2 backpacks? This might be reason enough to upgrade!
Hal
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ObtuseMoose
Just Posting
3 Posts |
Posted - 05/29/2004 : 12:04:34 PM
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OK, I've run my unit through 2 complete charge cycles with the 2.16 FW. After the first full charge, I played music using only the headphones. I used it like I normally would, listening for both short and long periods over a couple of days. I got 7.0 hours of play until the unit shut itself off.
On the second full charge, I used only MyFi. Again, I used a mix of short and long play sessions. I got 6.1 hours of play until the unit shut itself off.
So it would appear that at least in this sample of 2 charges, I'm getting about the battery life I would expect.
It may well be that I'm simply using the unit more because of the autoresume feature and that's leading to the general perception of shorter battery life. I used to be able to go 3 - 4 days between charges, but now I have to recharge every 1 - 2 days. Before, I'd have to turn on the unit, navigate to the playlist I wanted, and hit play. But now it's so much easier to just hit play that I'm probably doing it much more often. (It's such a little thing, but it's really changed the way I use the Neuros.)
All that having been said, the overnight battery drain was definitely not a perception problem. It followed a fresh charge and a light usage day. And the long hard disk run time still doesn't seem right to me.
--
Moose
...just like we knew what we were doing. |
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Schwilly
Posting Profoundly
150 Posts |
Posted - 05/29/2004 : 12:11:12 PM
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I've definitely lost some juice if this thing isn't plugged in over night. I don't have any documentation, but it doesn't take long for it to drop to 2 bars if it hasn't been plugged in
stealth or die |
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MCBAZ
Posting is for Closers
36 Posts |
Posted - 06/01/2004 : 12:01:01 PM
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How do you check your battery voltage?
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Schwilly
Posting Profoundly
150 Posts |
Posted - 06/02/2004 : 12:17:37 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by MCBAZ
How do you check your battery voltage?
on the 2.0 models, hold down + toggle the "hold" switch
stealth or die |
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VipFREAK
Posting Profoundly
212 Posts |
Posted - 06/08/2004 : 05:05:02 AM
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Been awhile so I don't really know what's going on around here. I've been using the 128mb backpack only for a while with 2.14(myfi better than 2.15). I noticed a bunch of things in a span of 2 days. I'm really not sure if I should be taking peoples advice about leaving the unit plugged in literally 24/7 even if it's not on because I think that might actually be contributing to shortened life??
Anyway, I had it plugged in literally for a day, then in the morning turned it on, and used myfi in the car. I'd say it lasted for about 2-3hrs. and that was it for the rest of the day. Then later on I had plugged it back into the wall without having it on, after that I unplugged it and turned it on. It stayed on for a couple of min. and shut off. It didn't turn back on whatever I did untill I plugged it in.
Then there was this weird thing where it seemed to have a "brain fart" while adding a song with NDBM where it would say no songs to play. I reformatted added 2.16 and then put the songs back on. Since then I haven't had any problems, myfi seems to be the best ever(knock on wood). I haven't tested the batt. life yet though but I've been using it on and off today plugged in. Will see how it does tomorrow on the road.
Nick  |
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FW 2.16 drains battery even when off?.
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