[Oleg_I]

Hi, everyone! I've been using my new Nokia N8 for about a week, and found some strange things.

First, about alarm. For example, I've woke up 5 minutes before the alarm - there is no way to just turn the signal off. I don't want to delete it, and keep setting new signal the next evening. Why I cannot just turn the alarm signal off, like I did on 5230?

Second, USB-charging. How can I disable the damn thing? I don't ever need to charge from PC or notebook, it's bad for battery (every Li-Ion battery has a limited number of charge times). On the other side, I need the USB connection frequently, Bluetooth is too slow. Again, my previous 5230 didn't have usb-charging (and I thought to myself - thank God, that ugly USB-charging is gone, it's not popular anymore to ruin the battery for no reason)

Third. Music Player. I just don't understand, why it has to be so complicated. For example, I have tranfered 1 folder with music files from my PC to N8. 1 artist, but songs from different albums. This Player will tear my folder apart, there will be 3 or 5 or 7 "albums" with 1 or 2 tracks in each. So I have to make "playlist", name it and gather the songs in it - a lot of operations. What for, if I already had gathered the selected songs on PC? Why should I repeat the same thing again on my handset? Ain't it stupid?

Another thing about music player - why there is no option to view the songs by artist, not albums. For example, I want to listen to all songs of selected artist in random order. On 5230 I had just selected the artist - and that was it. On N8, I have to make "playlist", name it and gather the songs in it - again, a lot of operations, what for?

I wish they fix it in next software update, I hope someone from Nokia software team would read it. Or maybe there are ways to solve my problems with existing soft?

[emceedjcd]

I can't help you with everything, but I can help you with your alarm problem.  Simply go into the clock app, and touch and hold the alarm time, and options will pop up to disable or delete the alarm.  Just remember to enable it later!

Other folks have complained about the music player not having an option to list about the album.  No resolution for that yet.

[deso1315]

Music problem 1 - Use a tag editor such as TagScanner (free), open the music folder you want to copy to your phone, and make sure you select all tracks in the folder (there's a little icon/button to select all). On the right hand side of the window you can edit the album name, artist, comments, genre etc. For example, in artist name, type "various" and in album name, type "pop" and personally I just delete all the other fields, then click Save. Next, simply drag and drop the folder to N8 (no need to use OviSuite) and if you've done it correctly then ALL the tracks should be in one folder/album called "Pop" by the artist  "Various" but the actual track names of the MP3 files in the folder will be the same as they were on your PC.  It's sounds more complicated than it is, but it only takes a minute or so once you've got the hang of it and it's a lot quicker than fannying about making playlists.

[chanchan05]

You cannot disable USB charging, and it will not ruin your battery IMO. gone are the days when batteries will be ruined by overcharging and such. Although you do need to completely drain your battery every now and then.

You could always use a replacement music player app from ovi store if there is one that fits your needs.

[petrib]

---

chanchan05 wrote:
gone are the days when batteries will be ruined by overcharging and such.

---

As long as you are using proper batteries with the required electronics. Some cheap copy/pirate battery pack manufactuers might leave out (for cost reasons, and because they don't care) required components and the result can be unsafe batteries that, e.g., don't stop charging when they should, overheat, etc.

With the N8 it isn't probably a big problem, because the battery is not user-replaceable (of course, it can be replaced, but it can't be done without tools, so most people won't).

[93tid]

---

chanchan05 wrote:
Although you do need to completely drain your battery every now and then.

---

Now that is completely wrong and will almost certainly kill your battery. Do NOT do that under any circumstances. Modern batteries have built-in electronic charge management and will simply NOT start charging if run down to zero.

[chanchan05]

@93tid - Its called calibrating a battery. Well maybe I worded it wrong, but even big laptop manufacturers have this in their user guides and forums (even the HP PC helper program advises this). A battery must be used from full charge til the unit turns off due to discharge every once in a while. An electronic device will turn off one a battery is discharged. An li-on battery is good for about 600 full complete charge and discharge cycles before it starts to wear down (depending on manufacturer but this is average).

Note that this procedure does not completely discharge the battery to zero, rather it discharges a battery to "empty" levels which is not enough to power a device, but is still above the minimum critical charge level you describe. Even Nokia battery monitor advises this to be done to ensure optimal battery level readings. This is due to the fact that continuous topping up of the battery may cause the sensors to have percentage errors in the readings of battery lifespan. If you continuously top up your battery whenever it reaches 50% charge, the sensors will start reading 50% as nearly empty.

I think you have a case of a little knowledge can do a bit of harm.

[93tid]

---

chanchan05 wrote:

@93tid - Its called calibrating a battery. Well maybe I worded it wrong, but even big laptop manufacturers have this in their user guides and forums (even the HP PC helper program advises this). A battery must be used from full charge til the unit turns off due to discharge every once in a while. An electronic device will turn off one a battery is discharged. An li-on battery is good for about 600 full complete charge and discharge cycles before it starts to wear down (depending on manufacturer but this is average).

Note that this procedure does not completely discharge the battery to zero, rather it discharges a battery to "empty" levels which is not enough to power a device, but is still above the minimum critical charge level you describe. Even Nokia battery monitor advises this to be done to ensure optimal battery level readings. This is due to the fact that continuous topping up of the battery may cause the sensors to have percentage errors in the readings of battery lifespan. If you continuously top up your battery whenever it reaches 50% charge, the sensors will start reading 50% as nearly empty.

I think you have a case of a little knowledge can do a bit of harm.

---

I did that "calibration" twice and lost two batteries in 3 months (one N8 and one C7, the second one simply because I was stupid enough to think "No, this is not right, it's not supposed to happen like that). I also observed last week the death of my boss' Blackberry battery after letting it run down to switching off.

I learned my lesson by paying through the nose for it and am happy for other members to make their own decisions based on the information we both have placed at their disposal.

[chanchan05]

I must admit that if I had the same experience as you did, I would probably think the same way about calibration. As I cant see what I could be doing wrong if I had been calibrating batteries on 3 laptops, and 5 different cellphones of 3 different brands in the past 7 years, and all of their batteries worked well for at least a year and a half. And considering the abuse I use my phones for (to paint a picture, my primary phones when set up dont usually last for more than 10-12hrs on a single charge due to usage), it would be surprising that they actually went over the 1 year expected useable lifespans of batteries with 600 charge discharge cycles. Heck there are times I drain a fully charged battery in 3-4hrs due to usage. And those batteries still work. I keep them around as backup batteries in case I run out of juice while on the go, although of course they hold less charge than the new batteries due to wear and tear. Normally a battery under moderate usage should keep the same capacity as bought for about 10-12months, before max capacity starts to deteriorate. Anyway, we have two very much opposing experiences and I guess it would be up to the reader to decide which to follow.

[j444lh]

Interesting, I've done the calibration (run flat) on my N8 several times, some deliberately and others by accident.

From 93's experience it leads me to wonder if a lot of the  problems with the N8 shutting down and not re-starting were Battery related and not Mother board.

[cataholic]

I am not familiar with the charge and discharge algorithms of the N8 but would be surprised if they did not follow the normal practice which for Li-ion (and Li-polymer batteries such as in the N8) is -

Typically when in use the device or internal charge control of the battery will turn off the device when the battery voltage falls to around 3.0v (from the around 3.7v, depending on the exact cell chemistry, full charge voltage; and approx 3.6v nominal voltage). This is not the fully discharged state and the battery will be fine. The charge rate will be current controlled so unless there is a fault it is quite accurate.

Where a problem can occur is if the battery is discharged to that approx. 3.0v level but then left in a discharged state. Self discharge of the battery will continue to drop slowly the voltage over time and if that is allowed to happen then when the voltage falls to around 2.7v the battery will become difficult or impossible to recharge.

If the voltage is allowed to fall even further again due to self discharge then in the end the battery is likely to internally short due to copper precipitating and causing permanent internal short circuits rendering the battery useless.

So discharges until the phone turns itself off are fine, just don't leave the battery discharged for too long (like days) afterwards.

I do not know if the N8 battery charge level indicator becomes inaccurate from only partial discharges but I would not be surprised if it did. As has been said the fix for that is a full charge to discharge cycle. However, the battery charge level indicators on devices are generally not very accurate anyway.

The batteries are always internally or device protected against overcharge too, one reason being the risk of lithium metal being precipitated from an overcharge and metallic lithium is dangerous (it is likely to self ignite).

[deso1315]

This thread seems to have been hijacked by arguments about the merits of fully discharging your battery before recharging or not which isn't addressing any of the questions posed.  Take it outside boys!

[cataholic]

---

deso1315 wrote:

This thread seems to have been hijacked by arguments about the merits of fully discharging your battery before recharging or not which isn't addressing any of the questions posed.  Take it outside boys!

---

Before you start playing self appointed  newly arrived on this forum policeman I suggest that you read the original poster's post where he states and asks -

"Second, USB-charging. How can I disable the damn thing? I don't ever need to charge from PC or notebook, it's bad for battery (every Li-Ion battery has a limited number of charge times). On the other side, I need the USB connection frequently,"

One assumes that he was expecting an answer to that.

[deso1315]

Before you start playing self appointed "I've made lost of posts on this forum so you must do as I decree great dictator" I suggest you read the answers and perhaps work on your grasp of English.  The question was "how do I disable.." and the answer was "you cant"  The rest of the paragraph was not a question, and the ensuing debate was not an answer, merely an exchange of opinions. 

[chanchan05]

Please, dont be too arrogant. Even if it was indeed an exchange of opinions, it was related, as the OP also thought that it was bad for his battery (continuous charging) when it is not.

Furthermore, this board encourages healthy debate and exchange of opinions from its members. This is a user to user board, and us with specially colored names arent Nokia employees (except the green ones, as they are actual employees).

[mikwag]

---

deso1315 wrote:

The question was "how do I disable.." and the answer was "you cant" 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"you cant" means "you speak hypocritically" or "you speak in the whining or singsong tone of a beggar". Perhaps you meant "you can't". (you started it .... we can all nitpick ....)

I periodically run my N8 down until it switches off (about once a month), but always charge it to full straight after, and have done so since I first got it 10 months ago. Had  no problems with charging during that time.

[deso1315]

Yes, very well spotted, well done. Since you decided it was worth pointing out, in my deep humiliation I feel the need to explain myself.  Yes, I admit it, I meant to type "can't" but unfortunately I missed the apostrophe key on the keyboard.  I offer my most sincere apologies.  Then again you're only half as clever as you thought because you missed the fact that I also typed "lost" instead of "lots".  That was a bit sloppy on your part!  Between you and me, I've spotted lots of obvious typing errors on this forum as well as some appalling grammatical and spelling mistakes.  Some of them are quite funny.  Would you like me to send you a few dozen links so you can have a look and maybe highlight them to the relevant posters?  Either way, thank you for your fascinating contribution.  By the way, a one character space would have been sufficient between the words "Had" and "no".  Two spaces are normally only used following the end of a sentence.  Now that's nitpicking!

Anyway, to get back to what is apparently the point of this thread, I periodically let my N8 run down (as opposed to run my N8 down) just like you do.

[mikwag]

No need to explain yourself - your posts say it all ....