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Chromecast hacking: SD card slot for power
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Moderator  Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: San Jose, CA
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I ordered Chromecast in the first few hours after it was announced, so I hope I get the Netflix deal. In any case, I do not have USB on my TV. However, right next to the HDMI connector I never use on the side of the TV (Panasonic Viera) is an SD card slot. Maybe I could use it to power my Chromecast through an SD card adapter...
Well, before I even finish typing this, I looked at Wikipedia and learned that SD is 3.3 V and USB is 5 V, which means I would need a boost circuit, a little more complicated than I was expecting. A little Googling didn't find any hacks like this either. Hmm. Well, just one more cable I'll need to hook up.
Steve
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Celebrating 10 years and 4000 posts on MacNN!
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Moderator Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: Gothenburg, Sweden
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Can't you just put a powered hub somewhere behind the TV?
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The new Mac Pro has up to 30 MB of cache inside the processor itself. That's more than the HD in my first Mac. Somehow I'm still running out of space.
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Moderator Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: San Jose, CA
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The whole point is that I don't want to go to my power strip, either with the included adapter or through a hub. I've actually found a few boost converters on ready made little circuit boards that could probably do the job, though since I don't have my Chromecast yet, I don't know what its power requirements are and if the power from a standard SD card slot is enough (probably not).
Steve
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Celebrating 10 years and 4000 posts on MacNN!
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Clinically Insane
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Chicago, Bang! Bang!
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I think SD card slots max out at 10-15mA at 3.3v vs. 100mA at 5v for USB.
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Moderator Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: San Jose, CA
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Originally Posted by subego 
I think SD card slots max out at 10-15mA at 3.3v vs. 100mA at 5v for USB.
Yeah, I just got my Chromecast and the power adapter included is rated at 850 mA at 5 V. That doesn't necessarily mean Chromecast uses that much, but I'm pretty sure at this point my idea is dead in the water.
Steve
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Celebrating 10 years and 4000 posts on MacNN!
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Addicted to MacNN
Join Date: Aug 2006
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If you wanted to get fancy, you could make something that sits between your TV and your TV's power cable (assuming your TV uses a standard power cable) that outputs 5V 1A DC over a USB port for plugging in the Chromecast. It wouldn't be terribly hard to do, especially since you can get tiny-ass USB power adapters now.
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Sell or send me your vintage Mac things if you don't want them.
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Posting Junkie
Join Date: Oct 2005
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If you want to get hacky you can probably find a low voltage DC line inside the TV somewhere...
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