Re: [NTLK] Battery Settings Changing in Prefs

From: Frank Gruendel (newtontalk_at_pda-soft.de)
Date: Mon Aug 30 2004 - 16:25:19 PDT


> I recently purchased some Nicad batteries (and a really cool
> recharger from http://www.ccradio.com) for my 2100.
> As the Nicad's full charge is only about 1.4, the
> standard alkaline setting won't work, so I downloaded a
> little app that allows me to switch battery settings,
> depending on what I have in there at the time.

> Lately, I've noticed that my battery prefs say I'm
> running alkalines, even though I've adjusted the setting
> to nicad the day before.

By "battery prefs" do you mean something that came with the little
app you mentioned?

> While it's not really a big deal, it is disconcerting to charge
> the nicads one day, put them in the Newton, have the battery level
> read 100% (as it should), then the next day, drop down to 60%.

The Newton will think that you have alkalines installed whenever you
do NOT have an original rechargeable pack installed. This is because
the original battery pack contains a resistor that tells the Newton
its presence via two contacts. Actually, the Newton will even think
that you have alkalines installed when no battery is installed at
all, which I always considered a bit stupid.

100% for alkalines is about 1.4 ... 1.5 Volt. A fully charged NiCad,
when in use, has hardly more than 1.3 Volt, and 1.1 Volt when discharged.
1.3 Volt for an alkaline battery, however, is around 60%, so your
Newton is perfectly correct.

Not knowing the little app you mention, I assume that what it does
is change the voltage level that triggers a battery low warning.
To the best of my knowledge there is no (software) way to trick
the Newton OS into believing there is a rechargeable pack installed.

Frank

-- Newton Software and Hardware at http://www.pda-soft.de

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