Garmin & Samsung Charger Reverse-Engineering

Ever have an issue trying to charge a device that uses a proprietary charging cable? Especially one that has a standard USB port but won't work, or works poorly, with a standard cable? And you're stuck with paying Way Too Much for an OEM replacement? If you can find one at all? Yeah, me too, and I find it extremely annoying. Fortunately, most manufacturers who use USB connectors at all don't make it too hard to reverse-engineer their products. The two devices I have personally had experience with are some Samsung tablets (micro USB) and several Garmin Nuvi GPS units. I successfully made charging cables for both of these, using nothing more than one or two resistors and standard USB connectors.

Step 1: The Garmin Problem

When I plug a standard Mini-USB cable into my Garmin Nuvi, even if it's a charge-only cable (2 wires, no data), the unit goes into "PC Sync" mode and cannot be used for navigation when connected. Well, that's great if you just want to charge the battery for bicycle or non-vehicular use, but what if your original cable is lost or damaged, or you want a cable to plug into a USB port on your car, or you just want a different kind of cable than the manufacturer's proprietary cable? Like, one that's longer, or shorter, or not coiled like so many are? Are you out of luck?

No! With just a little over a dollar's worth of parts, plus one of those dozens (Hundreds?) of spare USB cables you've got lying around, you can easily make a custom power cable for your Garmin!

Step 2: The Garmin Solution

All you need to pull off this minor miracle is:

• A standard USB cable in your choice of lengths. It can be mini, micro, or standard, as long as it has the standard plug that fits a computer on one end. You will be cutting off the other end.
• An 18K (18,000 Ohm, brown-gray-orange color code) resistor, the smaller the better. 1/8 watt if you can get it, otherwise 1/4 watt.
• A Mini-USB connector shell like this one from Adafruit. Less than a dollar.
• Soldering equipment, wire cutters and strippers, and some (fairly small) degree of soldering skill.
• Optional but highly recommended: A mini-USB breakout board so you can probe your connector and be sure what wire goes where.
• Steady hands...

A little background: A standard USB cable has four wires: Two for power (Usually red and black), and two for data (Usually white and green). Unfortunately for us, the Mini-USB and Micro-USB standards allow for Five Wires! What's that extra wire for, you might ask? It's called an "ID" pin, and it is why we need that connector shell, instead of the slightly cheaper and easier method of cutting a USB cable in half and adding inline resistors. You see, the only difference between a "stock" USB cable and a Garmin cable is the Garmin cable has an 18K resistor between the "ID" pin and Ground.

Rather than go off on a fruitless search for a 5-wire USB cable, we will install our 18K resistor in the connector shell, and hopefully, if we did the job neatly enough, we might actually be able to close the shell around it.

Step 3: The Garmin Assemblage

The reason for the recommended breakout board will now become evident for two reasons: To verify which of those minuscule pads on that connector are which, AND to test your finished cable before risking letting the smoke out of your valuable gadget.

I have run across a few cheap Chinese cables that do not use the standard color coding of:

• Red - Vcc (+ power)
• Black - Ground (- power)
• Green - Data +
• White - Data -

If you just assume, as I did (once!), that the color coding is correct, and it's not, something will smoke, so unless you are sure of the pedigree of that cable, TEST! Fortunately, I only blew up a cheap power bank, and not my GPS or my phone...

The Mini-USB connector shell has five very small solder pads. Holding the connector with the pads up and the plug pointing away from you, the pads from left to right are: Ground, ID, Data +, Data -, and Vcc (+). If you have any doubts at all, plug that connector into your breakout board and use your meter or continuity tester to be sure.

Cut one lead of the 18K resistor very short - as in about 2mm or less than 1/8". solder this lead to the ID pin, which should be the leftmost pin in the top row. Bend the other lead 180 degrees to the Ground pin, which should be the leftmost pin in the bottom row. Don't solder it yet, but cut it to a length that will just reach the ground pin.

Cut the non-computer end of your USB cable off (The small or square end). Push the USB cable through the strain relief supplied with the new connector if it will fit (mine didn't, but there's a solution to that later). Peel off about 1/2" of the outer jacket, being very careful not to nick or cut the inner wires. If there is a foil or braid shield, cut that off close to the end of the jacket. You should now have four thin wires. If it's a charge-only cable, you'll only have two wires. Strip no more than 1/8" off each.

Solder the ground (black) wire first, after bending that other resistor lead so it's touching the leftmost bottom row pin. Then work your way across, soldering the D+ (green) wire to center bottom, D- (white) to top right, and Vcc (red) to bottom right.

Before closing things up, plug your new cable into a USB power port (I don't recommend plugging it into a computer at this point), plug your new connector into your breakout board, and use your multimeter to verify +5 volts between Vcc and ground. Double-check you've got the resistor on the ID pin and not one of the data pins. Unplug from your power source and use the Ohms setting to check. It should be 18K between ID and ground; all other resistances should be infinity.

Now you can close it up and test it on your GPS! If it doesn't work, try shorting the ID pin to Ground instead of using a resistor. All I know for sure is this works on a Nuvi 1250 and a Nuvi 660.

If your strain relief didn't fit because the cable was too fat, run a bead of hot-melt glue around the cable where it exits the connector, the slip a piece of heat-shrink tubing over connector and wire. When you shrink the tubing, the glue will re-melt, filling the space within. When glue starts to seep out the end of the tubing, you know you've got a good strain relief!

Step 4: The Samsung Problem

Some Samsung tablets (and maybe phones, too) - the later ones with the Micro-USB connector - when used with a standard Micro-USB cable, will not charge at their full rated charging current of 1.3 Amps. Instead, they will charge at a lower current of .4 to .5 Amps, doubling the charge time or worse, even if used with a power source capable of the full amperage. This is indicated on the battery icon of the tablet with a red "X" across the battery. If the tablet is being used, the battery may never catch up. This is caused by Samsung's use of proprietary charging cables. Luckily, this too can be fixed (or, "hacked," if you prefer).

Step 5: The Samsung Solution

For this you need:

• One 33K resistor (orange-orange-orange)
• One 10K resistor (brown-black-orange)
• One standard micro-USB cable.

All the preceding warnings about USB color-coding apply here also. Reference the schematic in this step. Cut the cable in half at whatever point along it's length suits you. Peel back about 1/2" of the jackets on both cut ends. Strip each of the internal wires. Most of the action here happens on the "tablet" end of the cable. Begin by connecting the Data+ and Data - (white and green on a standard cable) wires together. Twist one lead each of the 10K and 33K resistors together, twist onto the white and green wires, and solder this connection.

At this point, think a bit about how you will protect the finished splice. If you're using heat-shrink tubing, don't forget to slip it on now, before re-joining the two cable ends.

Now, take the red wire from the power end, the red wire from the tablet end, and the other lead of the 33K resistor, connect all three together, and solder. Do the same with the two black wires and the other lead of the 10K resistor. You're done, except for insulating and protecting the splice. For more ideas on splicing, see this Instructable.

Be sure to test your cable as noted in step 3; You'll need a Micro-USB breakout board for this one, of course.

Note: This cable has now become a charge-only cable, since you cut off the data wires on the power end. It's a good idea to label it as such, to avoid future frustration!

Note 2: This can probably also be done with a Micro-USB connector shell, but it'll probably be harder to fit two resistors into the shell.

Reverse-engineering is fun, and can be very profitable in terms of money saved. If you have any more reverse-engineering ideas, leave a comment and you may get a free premium membership!

Comments

[ministermurphy]

If all this is too much trouble with your Garmin NUVI cable, here is a quick hack ...

1) Connect your unmodified USB mini cable to the Nuvi.
2) Wait for circa 55 seconds for the computer symbol to appear.
3) Unplug the cable.
4) When the computer symbol disappears ( i.e. nuvi wants to restart )
immediately plug the USB mini cable back in.
5) That's it - The Nuvi will now work as a GPS and it gets charged at the same time.

The only disadvantage is the extra one minute waiting period.

[maxderoswell]

Hello,
Thank you so much for this article.
I must relocate the ubs port of my garmin 2597 LMT or do a permanent extension cable which can use with the bc30 camera. Do you have an idea ?
Mathieu

[framistan]

I am working on this EXACT same problem trying to connect a data cable to make the Garmin boot up. I discovered the MINI-plug on my data cable does not even have an ID PIN at the connector!! I looked at ANOTHER mini-B cable I have... and it ONLY HAS PLUS and GROUND!!! no datapins.... no ID pins in the connector. I had to use a bright light and a big magnifier to look down into the connector end to see it. Using a "break-out" connector is essential to attempting to do this.

[tokess]

I was doing the same with a Garmin Colorado 300.But I modified the internal usb with a smd resistor.

[Nisei]

Great post, I was looking for this since I can't get my 3rd party charger to work with my Garmin Nuvi.
Just curious though, at the end of the Garmin part you're saying:
"If it doesn't work, try shorting the ID pin to Ground instead of using a resistor."
Wouldn't it make more sense to start with trying this instead of soldering a resistor?
Saves parts and time.

[gizmologist]

It might, but my philosophy is never to produce a short unless one knows exactly what will happen. I don't solder until I've done a temporary lash-up to verify operation.

[JeremieF1]

Garmin Montana 610 and a Garmin Montana 650t: I did have to short the ID signal to Ground (ie. I had to use NO resistance: I tried in vain 12K, 18K, 22K, 47K). I have heard somewhere that the value of the resistance may also set how much current may be drawn from the USB (500mA vs 1A -- which would charge faster obviously). In this case, I measured a draw of around 400mA peak but my batteries were almost full at the time.

Garmin eTrex 30x (hence eTrex10 and eTrex20 ?): now, the USB power supply cable requires a resistor of 47K between ID and Ground! Otherwise it still works, but an annoying warning pops up on the screen, which tells that an accessory is wrong or unrecognized (it then needs to be closed).

Nb: resistors in 0603 package are ideally sized for the job, as they fit also within the plug. 0805 are OK also, just bend a little the ID signal pin upwards and pre-tin the resistor end.

Garmin are really annoying with their heavily closed-source / proprietary data and accessories.
thanks & my two cents

[gizmologist]

Thanks for your detailed commentary! I never though of using SMD resistors!

[mitch343]

Many thanks to gizmologist. His clear and concise instructions were fantastic. I made two Garmin cables with no magic smoke resulting, and that's coming from someone who used to go running around his workshop trying to catch the stuff and bottle it.

[gizmologist]

Thanks for the kind words! We all produce magic smoke sometimes; the trick is to do it within one's budget!

[RobertC2]

Here's my solution to proprietary cables, chargers, and connectors.

Buy something else!

If it's proprietary it is out to get your money, plain and simple. I will not encourage these companies, ever. There are two reasons to use proprietary tech: They want to force you to buy only their stuff, or they cannot make it work within industry standards. Neither is a valid reason. If they can't build something good enough to keep your business without resorting to extortion, then they are too corrupt to deserve your money! If they can't build something without having to modify the connectors for technical reasons, then they are too dumb to deserve your money.

No compromises or restrictions! Enough of this planned obsolescence!

No expansion memory slot? - Pass!

No replaceable battery? - Pass!

Insanely over/under engineered software required to just connect it to your PC? - Pass!

Won't charge at all through a standard socket without the "special" charger? - Pass!

No standard headphone jack? - Pass!

(I'm talking about you, Apple, Samsung, Microsoft, Garmin,etc. -- Ok, mostly Apple! lol)

Lets stop pretending that these are good things... they are not.

Rant over... Carry on. ;-)

[RobertC2]

But, that being said, thank you for taking the time to share this with us... If I can't have what I want, I'll do all I can to thwart their efforts by using and propagating every hack I can find! ;-)

[gizmologist]

No expansion memory slot? - Pass!

No replaceable battery? - Pass!

Absolutely agree! That's why I get so frustrated when I shop for tech. I wish I could build a phone as easily as I built my computer.

[Shadetree Engineer]

Somebody ought to start a wikipedia page detailing every combination out there for the USB Mini-B. Assuming more people chip in with additional entries, eventually that could result in small start-ups & us DIY enthusiasts having a better idea of which layout works for what. Maybe there's good reasons to complicate the interface? Be nice to know why a voltage divider is used on the Samsung instead of a single resistor tied to ground. I have a inline USB volt/amp meter. That tool really shows some differences in what otherwise looks to be just a pile of cables. Now I'm thinking it might be nice to get that breakout board to find out more about all my OEM cables. Just purchased a $30 Garmin data/power cable for their Mini-B based devices, because nobody has any solid info on how that's wired. If I see it uses a simple circuit network, I should describe that here

[gizmologist]

As far as I can tell, the Garmin data/power cable is a plain 4 wire mini-USB cable. All of my mini-USB cables work to charge and transfer data to the Garmin.

The only time you need the special cable is when you want to power it and use it at the same time.

[Shadetree Engineer]

It has 5 wires:

Red with inline fuse (750mA 250V) goes to +8~32VDC

Black = ground

Yellow = Serial data out

White = Serial data in

Green = Serial ground

I'm hoping the serial ground can just be tied to battery ground. I'm just about to begin cutting the plastic away from the main circuit board. I will also look for any sign of a resistor inside the USB Mini-B connector on pin 4, though it could be back on the main board

[Shadetree Engineer]

ISL 4221 is a RS-232 receiver/transmitter. USB side has 5 wires to the board. I just checked all of them with a meter. Pin 1 = Red, Pin 2 = White, Pin 3 = Green, Pin 4 = Yellow, Pin 5 = Black

There appears to be a resistor directly between pins 4 & 5. Simply measuring from where the wires attach on the board I see 12.11KΩ between the yellow & black. Black wire does not connect directly to the ground plane, there's another device grey instead of black. I think it's a capacitor. Nothing to test that with

Yellow wire, pin 4, also has a trace running from that resistor to a small transistor, which in turn connects to a larger transistor that is tapped right into the red wire for a power connection. So something interesting happening there

I'm not doing much more with this, as I'd rather try bypassing the entire board for my data connection and I might even just use another voltage regulator for outboard power

The large transistor, something right next to that which disappeared, a resistor and one of the inductors are all broken off the board. Lets just call this a $30 angled USB Mini-B pigtail and just move on!

[gizmologist]

You might want to check out

http://pinoutguide.com/

There is a lot of the type of info you describe there.

[Shadetree Engineer]

13 sub pages for Garmin related pinouts, nothing that explains what I am trying to do. They have just the one page:

http://pinoutguide.com/GPS/garmin_nuvi_power_pinou...

But they do not indicate how Garmin uses the data pins, so it's an incomplete pinout. Adequate for building a charging cable

According to one source I've seen, pin 2 is RX, pin 3 is TX. Garmin has several serial port emulation modes. On my GPSMAP64, in the systems settings is a menu for the USB mode. List of choices includes 'Garmin Spanner', 'Garmin Serial', 'NMEA in/out', 'Text out', 'RTCM', 'MTP'

MTP was a new one for me. That's 'Media Transfer Protocol', a Microsoft proprietary mode as far as I know

The cable I have is meant for the NMEA mode, to connect chart plotters and other marine gear

What I'm interested in is the RTCM mode. That allows the GPS to accept DGPS correction signals. Of course Garmin, in their inscrutable wisdom, has skipped providing any details in their public documents to state just how that works. Like what message types are used by the unit? What baud rate? They only say that it's a SC-104 format, but I can't find any copies of that standard anywhere without forking over a credit card and spending the last of my money just to find out if the document even helps me

[Dragon940C]

Magellan GPS charger is priority too. To make one just short PIN 4 and PIN 5 then solder GROUND to them, then solder +5 volt to PIN 1. No resister needed (at least not for me in the last 10 years I've been using my modded charger). :)