Readfly sleep mode with USB power on

[WinTakeAll]

It would've been very useful if the Redfly could keep its USB ports powered even when the Redfly itself is off.

That way you could charge your phone from your Redfly's larger battery without unnecessarily draining that battery by keeping the Redfly itself on.

Another case where you want to do this is if you are using your Redfly via USB but need to temporarily use the phone's camera, a media player or some other graphics-heavy application that doesn't work well from the Redfly, but you don't want to interrupt the charging of the phone.

One suggestion on how to use this would be if a third mode was put into the F12 key toggle loop: USB-connection, Bluetooth connection and No connection. Then make the No connection mode a "Sleep" mode with the screen off and minimal Redfly power use, but the USB ports supplying power.

BTW, I think a reasonable name for such a Redfly mode would be "Sleep" because that's the term used on desktop and laptop PCs for a mode where the PC is not running but the PC's USB ports are supplying power.

 

[WinTakeAll]

Note: I've found a couple of kludgy ways to force the Redfly to have no connection to the smartphone other than power even when connected by a USB cable: for example by switching to a Bluetooth Redfly connection and then abruptly turn off Bluetooth on the smartphone. But that sure is kludgy, and it still keeps Redfly's screen unnecessarily on.

 

[RC46]

I've never tried it but there is a checkbox for "Disconnect when going to sleep" in the settings. It is checked by default. I wonder what happens when you un-check it? Would the phone continue to charge when the redfly is asleep?

 

[wodin]

I've never tried it but there is a checkbox for "Disconnect when going to sleep" in the settings. It is checked by default. I wonder what happens when you un-check it? Would the phone continue to charge when the redfly is asleep?

I think more importantly, would keeping 5v on the USB bus when the REDFLY is turned off going to slowly use up the battery when the phone is NOT plugged in? That would be a bummer for infrequent users!

 

[Ebag333]

I've never tried it but there is a checkbox for "Disconnect when going to sleep" in the settings. It is checked by default. I wonder what happens when you un-check it? Would the phone continue to charge when the redfly is asleep?

The Redfly does 'sleep' (shuts down monitor, but remains powered on), and the phone will charge. It's technically still connected so there's probably still communication going on.

That being said I have my Redfly setup this way, and use it this way all the time (with USB or Bluetooth). I hate having to reconnect my device, and it's not worth saving a bit more power if I have to reconnect it all the time (especially when I'm charging at most every three days, at least once a week).

I DO wish Celio would include a 3 minute and 5 minute dim timer for battery instead of just the 10 minute one. You can hack the registry setting and add it...but it should be in there by default. I do this and have found that even with leaving it connected the battery lasts longer, but I tend to use my Redfly often in short bursts (2-3 minutes use, 5-15 minutes not).

I think more importantly, would keeping 5v on the USB bus when the REDFLY is turned off going to slowly use up the battery when the phone is NOT plugged in? That would be a bummer for infrequent users!

No. Or rather, it'd be very very little use (only what power it "lost" by keeping that circuit hot).

Many laptops and other similar devices do this, and they have less battery life than the Redfly does.

It should be possible to hardwire the USB power directly to the power supply and bypass the switch, but...well...standard disclaimers apply.

IMHO it's far easier to just leave the Redfly connected. There's really very little battery use (relatively speaking) if the Redfly is connected but the monitor isn't on (asleep).