USB/Wireless charging

[mg4mc]

We got home the other day and my wife reported her phone had lost all its charge. She had plugged into the front USB-C port. So, I just checked (using the Ampere app - so not totally accurate but a good guide). These were the maximum charge rates I observed...

Front USB-A = 850 mA
Front USB-C = 0 mA
Wireless = 550 mA
Rear USB-A = 1300 mA

So, in the front the charging situation is pretty poor - time to buy yet another car charger - would it have been so hard to give at least 1 A on both the front ports and the wireless? Why no power at all on the USB-C port

 

[Diggsy]

I’m no expert, but no power at all sounds like a fault to me. Surely it should provide some power, otherwise how would it function?

 

[Rolfe]

I think that's a fault.

 

[mg4mc]

You're right, I was thinking of plugging a phone in with its own power source, but of course it needs to support USB drives. I confirmed, the phone sees nothing from the car, and the car does not detect anything plugging into the port.

It doesn't appear to be easy to get to the back of the sockets, so back to dealer - again!

And now I cannot get the wireless charging to work at all. Grrrr!

 

[Rolfe]

You're not having much luck!

 

[Expat Ever]

I Have Android Auto via a neat wireless dongle that occupies the main USB port and soon found out that leaving my phone in the wireless charging tray wasn't sufficient to retain the charge during even moderate trips. I've just had my dashcam hardwired into the 12v supply and use the lighter socket to charge camera batteries and the phone when necessary. Seems to have worked well so far.

 

[Norfunk]

My front usb c port is also not working.

 

[mg4mc]

My front usb c port is also not working.

Oh dear! Maybe other people could check it as well?

 

[Diggsy]

Works perfectly for me. Obviously only provides power, no connection to the infotainment system, but that’s the way MG designed it to work.

 

[drivethru]

We got home the other day and my wife reported her phone had lost all its charge. She had plugged into the front USB-C port. So, I just checked (using the Ampere app - so not totally accurate but a good guide). These were the maximum charge rates I observed...

Front USB-A = 850 mA
Front USB-C = 0 mA
Wireless = 550 mA
Rear USB-A = 1300 mA

So, in the front the charging situation is pretty poor - time to buy yet another car charger - would it have been so hard to give at least 1 A on both the front ports and the wireless? Why no power at all on the USB-C port

I never use car USB plugs because of this issue. A powerful cigarette lighter with USB C charges my iPhone much quicker on my trophy.

 

[siteguru]

The USB A port charges up my phone OK (whilst also enabling Android Auto).

Closing the phone screen helps further.

 

[Rolfe]

Can someone tell me what the function of the USB C port is in the car? To me, that's the port in the device where I plug in the USB A charging cable. What would you use the one in the car for, since you're obviously not charging up the car from it!

 

[Diggsy]

Can someone tell me what the function of the USB C port is in the car? To me, that's the port in the device where I plug in the USB A charging cable. What would you use the one in the car for, since you're obviously not charging up the car from it!

That’ll be another socket for charging, or for data transfer - music/video etc from a storage device (usb memory stick for example). It just doesn’t work for AA or CarPlay.

Edit - some devices have USB C as their standard connection now

 

[Rolfe]

I've only seen that connection in relation to putting charge into my phone, my Kindle, my CO2 meter, my torch, the batteries in my cat's GPS collar, you name it. I must look out for other applications.

 

[Diggsy]

I've only seen that connection in relation to putting charge into my phone, my Kindle, my CO2 meter, my torch, the batteries in my cat's GPS collar, you name it. I must look out for other applications.

It’s becoming increasingly common now. I think because it can take a lot more power across it for one, and there are more data possibilities too…as far as I know anyway!

 

[Rolfe]

That's interesting, I had no idea! I thought it was a simple charging port.

On a related note, can you or anyone tell me how to safely eject a USB stick from the car USB-A port? I'm currently messing around trying to figure the best way to format CD transfers so that the tracks will be read in the right order by the car software, and I think I currently have iTunes beaten into submission. I've been going back and forward to the car to check my work, and every single time (except the time I forgot to take the stick with me and locked the car with it still in the port), when I get it back into the house my computer says it has detected errors and needs to scan and fix the drive. It hasn't caused any issues, but I'm guessing this is happening because I'm not doing an eject routine on the stick before pulling it out of the port.

 

[Diggsy]

That's interesting, I had no idea! I thought it was a simple charging port.

On a related note, can you or anyone tell me how to safely eject a USB stick from the car USB-A port? I'm currently messing around trying to figure the best way to format CD transfers so that the tracks will be read in the right order by the car software, and I think I currently have iTunes beaten into submission. I've been going back and forward to the car to check my work, and every single time (except the time I forgot to take the stick with me and locked the car with it still in the port), when I get it back into the house my computer says it has detected errors and needs to scan and fix the drive. It hasn't caused any issues, but I'm guessing this is happening because I'm not doing an eject routine on the stick before pulling it out of the port.

I would maybe change from USB music to radio and give it a few seconds before removing the USB, or perhaps shut the car down from the infotainment screen before removing it.

If you’re still on USB music, chances are that the system will still be accessing the device even when it’s not playing, which could be why you’re seeing the errors.

 

[Rolfe]

I tried everything up to and including powering down the car while I was in the driver's seat. I thought I tried switching back to radio but I'll give that a go next time just in case I didn't. The only thing that seemed to work was forgetting the stick and locking the car, then going back and snatching it out of the port as soon as I opened the door!

The stick hasn't become corrupted or anything, and it wouldn't really matter because all the files are still on my PC in any case, but it's slightly worrying to get that message every time.

 

[Diggsy]

I tried everything up to and including powering down the car while I was in the driver's seat. I thought I tried switching back to radio but I'll give that a go next time just in case I didn't. The only thing that seemed to work was forgetting the stick and locking the car, then going back and snatching it out of the port as soon as I opened the door!

The stick hasn't become corrupted or anything, and it wouldn't really matter because all the files are still on my PC in any case, but it's slightly worrying to get that message every time.

The car must still be accessing the stick apart from the time you snatched it. It’s generally only when a stick is being accessed as it’s removed that you get these errors. It’s a pity it doesn’t have a ‘safely remove’ option like you would have on a computer, as that would stop this happening.

 

[Rolfe]

Yes, that's what I was wondering about. You don't know of such an option? Oh well. If the stick did get corrupted I could just copy the files back on I suppose. Or get out, lock the car, then unlock it again and grab the stick immediately!