You’d have to reconfigure MAX17055. Not a rocket science, battery parameters are given to it by the kernel driver from the device tree.
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Rephrasing for clarity: It did not charge the Librem 5.
Maybe I’ll get the other HyperGear power bank, once I switch over to the L5 full-time. The model I have charges my main phone (degoogled Android) from USB-A, even with a -C adapter on one end, so I’m covered in that respect.
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That PD 3.0 @irvinewade mentioned is important with L5 and is C specific (it’s not just about the size and shape of it)
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Yep. I figured out it wasn’t delivering enough juice somehow. I thought it might register something at least, either in the Power Statistics app, or the notifications area.
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If you want to investigate then
cat /sys/class/power_supply/tps6598x-source-psy-0-003f/uevent
will show you how the negotiations panned out. As an example, when I connect my Librem 5 with a USB-C cable to a USB-A port on my computer via an adapter, it negotiates to 500mA and not PD - which may just be enough to run the device but with little or nothing left over for charging the battery.
Two differences that may exist, in this scenario, between the Librem 5 and a spyphone:
- The spyphone may be more energy efficient such that a bit more is left over for charging the battery even if only 500 mA is available.
- The spyphone may support power protocols that the Librem 5 does not, such that higher current can be used even on a vanilla USB-A port. (As always, that is the beauty of standards. There are so many to choose from.)
So you would need to confirm with the manufacturer that the powerbank supports PD 3.0 on the USB-C output - or get a loan unit - or get one on a returnable basis - or test in store if buying f2f.
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Connected to HyperGear Power Bank:
~$ cat /sys/class/power_supply/tps6598x-source-psy-0-003f/uevent
POWER_SUPPLY_NAME=tps6598x-source-psy-0-003f
POWER_SUPPLY_TYPE=USB
POWER_SUPPLY_ONLINE=0
POWER_SUPPLY_PRESENT=0
POWER_SUPPLY_CURRENT_MAX=500000
POWER_SUPPLY_VOLTAGE_MAX=5000000
Not connected to HyperGear Power Bank:
~$ cat /sys/class/power_supply/tps6598x-source-psy-0-003f/uevent
POWER_SUPPLY_NAME=tps6598x-source-psy-0-003f
POWER_SUPPLY_TYPE=USB
POWER_SUPPLY_ONLINE=0
POWER_SUPPLY_PRESENT=0
POWER_SUPPLY_CURRENT_MAX=500000
POWER_SUPPLY_VOLTAGE_MAX=5000000
When plugged into electric outlet (power-off required to make charging LED illuminate; then power-on again. Due to this ongoing issue.):
~$ cat /sys/class/power_supply/tps6598x-source-psy-0-003f/uevent
POWER_SUPPLY_NAME=tps6598x-source-psy-0-003f
POWER_SUPPLY_TYPE=USB
POWER_SUPPLY_USB_TYPE=SDP DCP CDP C [PD]
POWER_SUPPLY_ONLINE=1
POWER_SUPPLY_PRESENT=1
POWER_SUPPLY_CURRENT_MAX=1500000
POWER_SUPPLY_VOLTAGE_MAX=12000000
Disconnected from electric outlet:
~$ cat /sys/class/power_supply/tps6598x-source-psy-0-003f/uevent
POWER_SUPPLY_NAME=tps6598x-source-psy-0-003f
POWER_SUPPLY_TYPE=USB
POWER_SUPPLY_USB_TYPE=SDP [DCP] CDP C PD
POWER_SUPPLY_ONLINE=0
POWER_SUPPLY_PRESENT=1
POWER_SUPPLY_CURRENT_MAX=1500000
POWER_SUPPLY_VOLTAGE_MAX=5000000
When connected to electric outlet, but without the aforementioned power-off-then power-on trick to force charging to start; no charging LED illuminated):
~$ cat /sys/class/power_supply/tps6598x-source-psy-0-003f/uevent
POWER_SUPPLY_NAME=tps6598x-source-psy-0-003f
POWER_SUPPLY_TYPE=USB
POWER_SUPPLY_USB_TYPE=SDP DCP CDP [C] PD
POWER_SUPPLY_ONLINE=1
POWER_SUPPLY_PRESENT=1
POWER_SUPPLY_CURRENT_MAX=3000000
POWER_SUPPLY_VOLTAGE_MAX=5000000
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I noticed today that a place where I frequently shop sells solar power banks (from a different brand), so maybe I’ll pick one up soon and report back here.
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OK, so that looks like complete failure to interoperate, right? No difference at all when you then disconnect the powerbank, right?
I’m assuming that you are using a USB-A to USB-C cable. I guess you should try the USB-C end in both orientations. (If using a USB-A to USB-C adapter with a USB-C to USB-C cable then same challenge but 4 orientations.)
Unfortunately I don’t have a powerbank in order to illustrate what it should say and/or confirm that it can work. Maybe someone else does.
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Oh wow…
The first time around I was using the USB-A to micro-USB cable that came with the power bank, plus an adapter to USB-C, which yielded the result above (output 1).
I just tried again, testing two different orientations, and this time the charging light and charging notification icon both came on immediately:
~$ cat /sys/class/power_supply/tps6598x-source-psy-0-003f/uevent
POWER_SUPPLY_NAME=tps6598x-source-psy-0-003f
POWER_SUPPLY_TYPE=USB
POWER_SUPPLY_USB_TYPE=SDP DCP CDP [C] PD
POWER_SUPPLY_ONLINE=1
POWER_SUPPLY_PRESENT=1
POWER_SUPPLY_CURRENT_MAX=1500000
POWER_SUPPLY_VOLTAGE_MAX=5000000
State is shown as “Charging” in the Power Statistics app.
And with my Sony Android cable (no adapter required) in either orientation, I get the charging light, but not the charging notification:
~$ cat /sys/class/power_supply/tps6598x-source-psy-0-003f/uevent
POWER_SUPPLY_NAME=tps6598x-source-psy-0-003f
POWER_SUPPLY_TYPE=USB
POWER_SUPPLY_ONLINE=1
POWER_SUPPLY_PRESENT=1
POWER_SUPPLY_CURRENT_MAX=500000
POWER_SUPPLY_VOLTAGE_MAX=5000000
State is shown as “Discharging” in the Power Statistics app.
When I first tried the power bank today, I left the cable somewhat coiled and bound with a rubber band, rather than stretching it out to connect, so possibly that was an issue. Either that, or my phone is just temperamental. (Entirely possible, given several issues I’ve had with it, as described in other posts.)
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So, rejoice, all… I’m charging my L5 from a solar power bank, using the energy stored from earlier sun exposure, and currently from a lamp in my living room.
Let’s go camping with our L5s, eh?
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That’s small progress then! That (1.5A @ 5V) should be more than enough to run the Librem 5 while leaving some for battery charging.
This would still say that, if starting from scratch, you would buy a powerbank that supports USB PD 3.0. (For example, “me” 
, since I don’t own a powerbank.)
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How to interpet it, actually?
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Enjoy your first walkabout with the L5! 
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I’m not sure what your question means but if it refers to the formatting of the output for POWER_SUPPLY_USB_TYPE then I agree that it is not very user friendly. Basically the square brackets enclose the actual option that is being used. So regardless of what options are listed, you want to see [PD] among the options but that will never happen unless both ends support USB PD and they successfully negotiate it. Instead you are just getting vanilla power via USB port (which it is referring to as [C] because the phone has a USB-C port but really it applies to any USB port going all the way back to much earlier standards).
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@irvinewade and @dos
What I find interesting, though, is that connecting to the power bank when the phone is powered on, immediately initiates charging.
Conversely, when I connect the powered-on L5 to an electric outlet, charging simply will not start unless and until I power down. And it has been that way for many months.
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It seems to me like the best way to accomplish this would be to mount everything to a printed circuit board. One side of the board could be the regular Librem 5 battery glued tightly to the PCB. Very thin film contactors could go down in to the battery cavity, to deliver a power connection to the top side of the PCB. The top side of the PCB could include a small area to mount a handfull of small electronic components to act as the battery management system, and to boost the charging voltage as high as needed, to satisfy the additional battery’s charging voltage requirements. Most of the top side of the board would be to host battery clips mounted on to the board to snap in individual lithium-ion batteries to. With the control circuitry and additional batteries all mounted on to a PCB, the phone’s access to power would only be limited by how much additional thickness you want to add to the phone. If using a 18650 battery size, you could get a lot more than 10000 mAh added by adding about three quarters of an inch to the thickness of the phone. Each 18650 battery can store 3500 mAh of power and is about the size of an AA battery. You might get eight or more batteries mounted to the board. Someone would need to print a case to enclose everything on the back side of the phone.
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I went on a trip earlier this year where I brought 4 batteries fully charged to a cabin with no electricity. Was fine, at the end of 4 days I still had like 2 batteries to go. I made a web page from the cabin and sent it to friends. It was great.
But, I think a custom back that itself had slots intended for replaceable batteries might add a lot of user comfort, hence the topic.
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By this you mean to the Purism-supplied charger?
Have you tried taking the battery out for a cold start of everything? Or the long reset (longest reset)?
It’s probably one for @dos though.
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On further observation, the L5, connected to the power bank and placed directly under a lamp, stopped charging after a while. I imagine this means that the stored energy from earlier sun exposure became depleted, and the light from the lamp wasn’t enough to continue charging, and the L5 started draining again.
A more “powerful” solar power bank might perform better, and/or accumulate more stored energy, I suppose. In any case, daytime direct sunlight exposure is likely enough to ensure charging. Will test tomorrow.
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Yes, of course.
Everything I could think of.
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