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Can't get iPad to charge while audio interface connected
I've tried three different USB powered hubs including the Kingston Nucleum that someone recommended and two different UGreen hubs. I'm connecting a Scarlett 4i4 to the hub (powered) then from there into the iPad Pro. Every time I connect things up, this happens - I plug the power into the hub, then plug the hub into the iPad - iPad starts to charge and will keep going to 100%. So far so good. But as soon as I plug the Scarlett into the hub the iPad stops charging. It's very frustrating. Is this something I just have to get used to or is there a way to keep the iPad charging after the audio interface is connected? I wondered if the problem was down at the power brick but I've now tried a high powered brick with the same result (except that the iPad charged more quickly until I plugged in the Scarlett).
Comments
I have had that problem and in my case it was 2 things that fixed the problem.
1 - Flipping the usb-c cable. USB-C cables seem to be reversible but when it comes to charching they are not. I found the right side and marked it with a black marker.
2 - I have to plug the power last after plugging everything else.
I'm amazed! That worked! Thank you so much - I have been tearing my hair out trying to get that sorted. Who would have guessed that USB-C is not reversible for charging... Thanks again - made my day!
Although usb-c is reversible not all cables are created equal. It’s a frustrating problem I’ve encountered elsewhere, but unfortunately usb-c cables are not labeled appropriately, and there should be some kind of regulation on that, cause it borders on false advertising
As @ecou suggested, I've now marked the correct side so that I get it right every time. You're right though - it does sound like they should be more fairly labelled.
They should be labeled and the functionality made clear from the start, so you don’t waste money on something that won’t work. I totally agree with you but it should be on the manufacturers to label them honestly. What’s the point of having a standardized usb port when then you have to buy several cables hoping one will work the way it should?
How many watts does your adapter deliver?
How many watts can your hub handle?
How many watts does your audio device need?
I immediately thought of failure to deliver the required power, but it may as well be the cable, I dunno
Hi Alfred and Pedro - I took @ecou's advice and it's working fine now! Thanks
Great but my point was we shouldn’t have to follow the (valuable) advice @ecou gave. Great it solved it for you but we should be able to hot plug usb-c, whichever way up, and have it working as advertised
I couldn't agree more
If you get Apple USB-C cables, they charge no matter which side. If you get a no-name cable, I could see how they might want to save a fraction of a penny to make their product cheaper.
Good to know
As a side note, many USB-C power supplies re-negotiate power distribution when a new device is plugged in. This can lead to interruptions in power and temporary disconnection or reset of some devices.
That's why plugging the power supply in last is sometimes necessary. Trying that with the cable plugged in the "wrong" way to see if the iPad charges might be worth trying just to understand things better.
Poopingheimer. I was hoping this trick would work for me too, but it didn’t.
In my case, i have usb-c hub with PD, and a high capacity power bank.
If I go straight from power bank to the iPad, it charges. But when i incorporate the USB-C hub’s PD port, the ipad will make the charge connection sound and the lighting bolt icon appears on the ipad battery icon, but only for about a second. I’m using the ipad’s original cable in both instances.
Sounds like there is some faulty hardware involved. It can be a hassle to troubleshoot as it could the power supply/power bank, cables or the hub. In my tech support work, I have come across a few people whose problem turned out to be not providing enough power to the hub. But flaky cables or hubs are also pretty common. Make sure the powerbank provides enough wattage.
Glad to be of help. I first saw the solution it in a Haq attaq video.
This is precisely what i was afraid of. Before i had finalized my purchase, i was indecisive between the Anker powerbank, which had the sufficient wattage specified, or the noname one, which had everything but the wattage specified, but the Voltage and milliamps were the same and or slightly exceeded the Anker. The siren call of the flash sale ending in less than one hour and saving me almost $10 ultimately lured me into the shady looking van parked in the dimly lit street.
When you say milliamps, do you mean milliamp-hours? If so, that tells you how much charge it holds but not the wattage it can supply. That might not be the issue. Do flip the cable orientation in case that is the issue.
Yeah, mAh. Oh, ok thanks for explaining that. And yes, I had already tried the cable flip orientation early on.
I did manage to get the iPad charging using everything I already had. This is my first time with this kind of set up, and there seems to be a few combination of ways to connect everything. In other words, I thought I had exhausted them all, but thought of something as I was sitting on the can.
Thing is, now my peripheral – the launchpad X, won’t power up. So here’s what I’ll try next: I noticed that the power bank also has USB ports in Lieu of the USB-C PD port. I’ll order a USB-A to A cable, and also run that from the power bank to the hub. I think I’ll get the extra volts that way. At least, if I’m gonna start throwing money at it for troubleshooting, this is the least expensive thing to try first.
Hmm... You won't be able to power the hub through a USB-A port on the hub. Those ports just output power to peripherals. If it's an old-style powered USB hub, it will have a barrel connector (shiny cylinder with center pin) to connect a power brick. If it's a newer hub with USB-C PD, it will derive its power from the PD port, passing the rest on to the iPad. And these USB-C hubs (docks really) can take significant power (10-15W), depending on their features.
Do you know the watts rating of the power bank USB-C output, and maybe what the output voltage options are? Could you identify the power bank and the hub here, so we can investigate their specs?
Sure @uncledave , i appreciate it.
Yes, it’s a newer hub with usb-c PD.
100W PD.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B096LV7W9D?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title
Here is the power bank.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07XQ94ZL9?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title
There is no information in the specs for Watts. Only mAh and Volts. I had foolishly assumed that since those two specs met what i required, that the Watts naturally would fall in line. But, ecou schooled me earlier in the thread what the different specs mean.
1) The power bank straight to the iPad charges it.
2) The hub straight into the power bank’s PD port, then the hub’s PD to the ipad also charges ipad, but launchpad won’t power on. I’m pretty sure this connection is wrong anyway.
3) If i plug hub straight into ipad, then the hub’s PD port to the power bank PD port, the launchpad powers up and tranfers data, but the ipad only charges for a second then drops out, but still transfers data. However, i can still charge my phone off the usb port of the bank. This tells me the powerbank is actually powering the Launchpad, not the ipad powering the LP.
A good test would be to try a power source with a known wattage of at least 25W rather than the power bank. I'm fairly certain the power bank is just not putting out enough watts. If you think about it, it makes sense for a battery bank to minimize the output to what they think most people would need, in order to maximize run-time. Musicians powering multiple devices probably don't fall into that category.
I forgot to mention, with regards to scenario #3 above, if i disconnect the LP, it changes nothing. iPad still won’t hold change.
Ok, I’m looking for something. Good idea.
@Blipsford_Baubie have you tried plugging both the LP and the iPad directly into the Power Bank without the hub in the middle? Just to see if they both get charged this way.
Hi @Blipsford_Baubie . OK, there are a couple of problems here.
First, the power bank you linked is a conventional USB one; it doesn't support USB-C PD. USB-C PD negotiates with the power source to agree on a higher voltage (than 5 V) and hence power level. That's how you can pass up to 100 W through these tiny wires. The maximum output from that power bank is 2.1 A @5 V, or 10.5 W. That may be enough to charge the iPad (slowly), but certainly not enough for anything else. That's why your method (3) fails, though it is the only correct one.
Second, the pictures for your hub suggests that it may require 15 W, just to run the hub. That's likely only when it's running video and maybe a disc drive. So the hub may only take 5-10 W in your case. Still, your 10.5 W power bank is not strong enough to power the hub and charge the iPad, as you have observed.
On the Amazon page you linked for the power bank, there is a link to a 22.5 W USB-C power bank. That's more in the range of interest. Your iPad USB-C charger is probably at least 20 W, maybe more if your iPad has a big screen. That 22.5 W power bank might be enough, but I would try to find something closer to 30 W, to ensure there's enough power for the hub and LaunchPad, while keeping the iPad charged.
And, of course, you'll want to figure out how long the power bank will supply this level of power.
Edit: I guess that, when these ads say 50000 mAh, they mean at 5 V, so 50000 mAh is 50 Ah @ 5V, or 250 Wh, so that's 12.5 hours @ 20W, assuming no losses of course. That explains why the ad says it would take 12 hours to recharge at 20 W. Depending on how long you want to run on battery, you might not require 50000 mAh. But you do need a power bank with USB-C PD.
Yes, I had already done so 👍. The iPad charges and the LPX lights up, but stays in sleep mode. It’s already known that that behavior can be a result of insufficient power, bit I’m also wondering if in this case we cannot rule out that maybe a real host is required, cause if i unplug the iPad from the power bank, the LPX still behaves the same.
@wim, good thinking, unfortunately the 20W charger that came with my new iPad is the only usb-c wall plug that i have.
Thought you might have, but I had to put it out there.
I would think that the Launchpad is probably not going to do much if it’s not connected to anything “intelligent” like an app.
@Blipsford_Baubie . Have you tried your 20 W Apple charger with the full configuration: charger to hub PD port, LaunchPad to hub USB, hub to iPad host? That will tell you whether 20 W is enough, or whether you need a higher-rated power bank. Try it with the iPad fully charged, and with an intermediate charge level. The iPad will require less power when it's already charged, just enough to run it.
No i haven’t tried, until now with a 90%+ charged iPad. So with the full setup as described above, it is behaving almost exactly the same way as it was when the powerbank was connected to the PD of the hub. As in, Launchpad is fine, but the ipad only charges for a moment, then drops out–even if LPX is disconnected.
The difference being, with the power bank, the charging only lasts less than a second.
But with the mains replacing the powerbank, the charge lasts a good 5 seconds until the power drops out. The same cable was used in both scenarios (Apple usb-c to c.) Also, flipping the cable orientation doesn’t help in my case.
I’m still glad you mentioned it, cause initially i thought the LPX was fine cause it simply lit up in sleep mode. But then i thought back to a couple years ago when i first received the LPX and connected it straight to an older lightening device via CCK. It powers on in sleep mode only. That’s when i learned i needed a powered usb hub. (A different hub than the one we’ve been discussing).
I also just tested to verify that the LPX doesn’t need an app to be open. One can enable “Note” or “Session” mode with no apps open. But it seems it does need to be connected to a proper host. Cause the power bank direct to ipad charges. So i imagine the same cable from powerbank to LPX is delivering more than enough power, yet it remains in sleep mode.
OK. So that says you're looking for a PD power bank with at least 30 W output to power the hub and charge the iPad. Your present power bank only provides 10.5 W, so no surprise that it performs worse. A couple of further thoughts:
Your iPad will run for a few hours on its battery, so charging while playing is not essential. Depends of course on how long you'll be without mains power.
Do you really need the hub (really a dock) with its many features? It probably contains a serious computer processor to support all that, especially the video output (it has to decode the video data stream and drive the HDMI pins). One of the many USB-C adapters with a single USB port and PD would do the job and use a lot less power. That might let you get away with a smaller power bank.