This post is an update of the second part of my Moto server series: https://lemmy.zip/post/72142441

Rumor has it that keeping an 8-year-old phone permanently plugged in with its equally ancient Li-ion battery might not be the greatest idea ever conceived.

Some even claimed that a phone needs a battery to work.

Very negative people.

Anyway, I removed it.

Pettyl did not care.

nginx: UP PHP-FPM: UP MariaDB: UP WordPress: UP cloudflared: UP sshd: UP

The battery is currently sitting next to the phone, contributing absolutely nothing to the project.

Pettyl is now running entirely from USB power, at around 37°C, while continuing to serve the website like this is completely normal.

There is, however, one tiny detail the haters may enjoy:

It can’t boot without the battery.

So the official Pettyl disaster recovery procedure is now:

  1. Insert battery
  2. Boot Pettyl
  3. Connect USB power
  4. Remove battery
  5. Pretend this is enterprise infrastructure

The battery is no longer a battery.

It is the starter motor.

I see no problems with this architecture.

Anyway, Part 3 is going great.

top 50 comments

sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] 3 points 4 hours ago

I should test this with my old s8

Had to toss the spicy pillow and had no clue what to do with it since

  • source
  • [–] 4 points 5 hours ago (7 children)

    Perhaps replace its aging battery with a new one. Then you have a built in UPS for ideal disaster recovery

  • source
  • hideshow 7 child comments
  • [–] [S] 2 points 4 hours ago* (6 children)

    Nah, an actual UPS with 7kg batteries is way cooler.

    But I really appreciate the feedback!

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 6 child comments
  • [–] 2 points 4 hours ago (5 children)

    Perhaps then some solar power as well. I think those ecoflow battery + solar can act as UPS too. Could power that server indefinitely 😂

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 5 child comments
  • [–] [S] 1 point 4 hours ago (4 children)

    Now we're speaking the same language!

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 4 child comments
  • [–] 2 points 4 hours ago (3 children)

    Can you get a second identical phone. Or a third? I’m thinking perhaps load balancing and failover

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 3 child comments
  • [–] [S] 2 points 4 hours ago (2 children)

    Maybe not an identical one, but I did find an interesting Note 9 for around $40...

    I guess this is foreshadowing...

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 7 points 6 hours ago (1 child)

    Well... I was obviously wrong. Sorry.

    Don't know if my knowledge was just outdated or plain wrong from the start, but good on you for still trying and respect for pulling that off.

  • source
  • hideshow 1 child comment
  • [–] [S] 4 points 4 hours ago

    You are absolutely fine!

    People here, including you, have been very respectful and thoughtful, and I am all for feedback.

    I don’t have the knowledge of the whole universe, do I? So please, by all means, I want to hear your critiques, it makes the project better and I learn along the way!

  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 14 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago) (5 children)

    Now plug the phone into a UPS so if the power goes out you're good for awhile.

  • source
  • hideshow 5 child comments
  • [–] [S] 38 points 8 hours ago (4 children)

    This is obviously ridiculous.

    So I’ll do it.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 4 child comments
  • [–] 1 point 2 hours ago*

    We are glad to inform you that your application to the USS Enterprise Engineering Department has been accepted!

    Please do not turn Admiral Archer's beagle inside-out on day one and refrain from creating perpetual energy machines, sapient missiles or sexbots until you have undegone the requisite HR training and completed your schedule of immunisations.

  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 5 points 7 hours ago* (2 children)

    I'm honoured to have my idea contributed to this project!

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 2 points 5 hours ago
    [–] 18 points 10 hours ago

    When the battery in my wall mounted android tablet swelled i had to add a 10k resistor to the sense line, inject the 5V directly into the battery port and add a few capacitors to get it to work. But at least it won't cause a fire now.

  • source
  • [–] 6 points 8 hours ago

    Well you better go catch it!

  • source
  • [–] 36 points 12 hours ago (3 children)

    Remember the days when hou could just pop the back off and take the battery out?

  • source
  • hideshow 3 child comments
  • [–] 4 points 5 hours ago

    And it would still run when you had it plugged in. I could remove the battery from my old Galaxy S2, plug it in and it would work. And if I remember correctly, the same thing went for most of the phones I had before that.

  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 2 points 5 hours ago

    That's where I am today with my Fairphone.

    I honestly held on to my old Nokia, replacing batteries and cases until Fairphone came along and then I jumped from 90's tech to modern day.

    0-->100% in 10 seconds (with a 2nd battery)

  • source
  • parent
  • load more comments (1 reply)
    [–] 8 points 9 hours ago

    DO NOT skip step 5. It is VERY IMPORTANT.

  • source
  • [–] 23 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago) (1 child)

    Anything made to be run from battery can work fine without one. Worst case scenario requires you to spoof some I²C communication to properly emulate a battery, but most devices and batteries are far dumber than that. DC is DC, and sometimes you just need to graft something on top for the other pins.

    Source: My old laptops charging circuit failed, so I soldered the charger onto the battery pins instead. Then I replaced the actual battery with an Adafruit Itsybitsy 32u4 (because that what I happened to have available) that emulated the battery status of "Charging, nothing to see here, move along" and sent it via I²C

  • source
  • hideshow 1 child comment
  • load more comments (1 reply)
    [–] 32 points 13 hours ago (20 children)

    Damn, I wish they still made phones with a removable battery

  • source
  • hideshow 20 child comments
  • load more comments (4 replies)
    [–] 4 points 8 hours ago (1 child)
  • load more comments
    view more: next ›