Powershare not working when shut down

So I finally get an Iphone and finally have a device to actually use my powershare port on my laptop. The dream is to be able to leave my wall wart at home and just bring a cable with me and charge the phone even when the laptop is off.

SO first I have to buy a little cable to trick the iphone to charge:

http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/travelpower/b43f/

That cable is very awesome even if you charge with your computer on becuase it charges the phone at the high rate. During my tests if you charge directly with normal apple USB cable you get about .5% per minute. When using adapter it is just over 1% a minute!

My problem I can't seem to find a pattern but when I shut down my computer and try to plug the phone into the powershare port it sometimes work and sometimes doesn't. I tried shutting down with it in and then pulling out and re inserting no luck. Nothing in any port on shut down and then insert nothing.

The only thing I have sort of got to work is pull the battery off, put it back on start till just after post and push power. laptop shuts back off and power port is active charges great. Oh an I test too with a USB led light to make sure it wasn't just my crazy cable and that doesn't work either with the same conditions.

Just upgraded to a15 bios with no change. Me very sad...

Any ideas?

 

Powershare works fine for me on my E6400. I charge various devices but nothing Apple.

First enable it in the BIOS and select the maximum allowable battery depletion level.

Second, after shutting down the computer unplug and replug the device you want to charge. This signals to the BIOS that you want to charge the device and it is not just something that is left plugged in.

Third, there is only one USB port which has Powershare. On my E6400 it is the port above the USB / eSATA combo port.

John

 

Yep got all that and I know exactly which one is the power share port too. Did your exact process and still no go. Any idea how the bios knows something is being plugged in? IE micro switch, back feeding voltage, ect? Again I tried both the apple device and even more primitive the LED keyboard light and both do not work unless I go through my complicated process. I'm really just trying to figure out if it my particular port switch not working or another sort of known issue.

 

There must be some electronics managing the power to that port to detect if something is plugged in when the computer is off but ignores something already plugged in when the computer is powered down. I don't think it is a mechanical switch.

I've just done some more research. I've got a USB powered lamp and it also doesn't light up when plugged into a shut down computer. However, other USB devices show some signs of life (eg the LED on a mouse glows dimly). My deduction is that the computer uses the USB data lines to detect a connected device. Some attached devices (eg a light) won't have these connected.

John