LAVA STS-** Quick Start – November 22, 2015
2 Vulcan St. Toronto, ON Tel: +1.416.674.5942 www .lavalink.com 3 of 3
Canada, M9W 1L2 Fax: +1.416.674.8262 Toll Free (US & Canada): 800.241.LAVA
When is Charge-Only Mode required?
Many Samsung Tablets will not power on in SimulCharge mode if the battery has been allowed to
discharge to 0. Placing the tablet in Charge-Only mode allows the tablet to be turned on and provide a
faster charge to the battery prior to switching to SimulCharge mode.
In Simulcharge Mode, many Samsung tablets to not allow the battery to be charged at the full rate. If a
tablet with a discharged battery is turned on prior to a minimum charging, the power demands on startup
result in the tablet turning immediately back off. The tablet power demands depend on the tablet model, the
applications running, and the screen brightness.
The Samsung Tab 4 Tablets running KitKat are a special case. When these tablets are turned off, they will
not charge in SimulCharge mode. When these tablets are turned off, they cannot be powered up in
SimulCharge mode, no matter what the battery level. The STS-** button is an important recovery
mechanism for these devices.
The Samsung Tab 4 Tablets running Lollipop are another special. When turned off, some of these units will
charge in SimulCharge mode and even allow the tablet to be turned on. In some cases the tablet powers up
and is not in a charging state. Briefly changing to Charge-Only mode and back to SimulCharge corrects the
issue. The safe way to start up a Tab 4 Lollipop tablet is to enter Charge-Only mode, turn on the tablet, then
change to Simulcharge mode. The problems with the Lollipop firmware appear to have been partially
addressed in the update.
Product Type Jumper (new units only)
The units manufactured after November 20, 2015 support an internal TYPE jumper pad. This jumper pad
determines the algorithm used to switch between SimulCharge and Charge-Only mode. The earlier units
never have this jumper populated.
With no jumper installed a new switching algorithm is used, which is the manufacturing default. With the
jumper installed, the switching algorithm used by the old units is used.
The new algorithm is critical for the Samsung Tab S2 tablets. Using the old timing, results in the Tab S2
not charging poorly or not at all. Using the old algorithm results in the battery icon reporting a charging
lightning bolt, creating the illusion that a proper charge is taking place.
This jumper must be applied to allow the STS-** device to work with the Samsung Tab 4 Tablet running
Lollipop. The Samsung Tab 4 Tablet running KitKat can be run with either setting.
Figure 1: TYPE Jumper on STS-** Board
The “TYPE” jumper is a 2-pin jumper block located on the STS-** board.
A jumper is placed across the pins to enable the alternate timing.
