Thinkpads Forum

Hi all - first time poster here.

Recently got a new(used) W530 and have been putting it through its paces to ensure everything is functional before my return window is up.
After battling through some issues I believe everything checks out and I just loaded Windows 10 and began configuring it for my setup.

One thing that I just can't get working right is the "rapid charging" and Always On USB configuration.

Here is my understanding to frame the issue (please correct me where I'm wrong):

1) The W530 has a yellow USB port in the back that is supposed to be capable of "rapid charging"
2) The W530 has the ability to be configured with "always on usb charging" if properly configured in the BIOS.

So I've got the 2 settings in the BIOS enabled that should allow always on. Lenovo Vantage software also confirms this is enabled.

And...things actually work. That is to say when my computer is in sleep, standby, or totally off.
Additionally, when plugged into the yellow USB port my android phone shows as "rapid charge" on it's lock screen.

The problem is when the computer is actually awake. The minute it leaves one of the standby/off modes the phone falls back to slow charging.
It looks like someone had a similar issue here but no real answers.

I've played around with all the power management settings I could think of:
- Disabled in devices "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power"
- In power plan disabled "selective suspend" on USB
- In power plan disabled "link state power management"

Nothing seems to make it charge faster when the computer is on.

I'm concerned that the issue may be with the Intel 7 Series C216 USB chipset in the W530. While Lenovo offers Windows 10 drivers for the W530, there are no Intel released drivers for this chipset for Windows 10. The host controllers use the built-in Microsoft drivers from 2006. I'm not sure if this could be the issue, but would like to hear from others on Windows 10 and other OSes if similar issues are experienced.

Thanks!

If that USB is "always on", it will eat battery even if switched off and nothing is attached.
If the laptop is off, and you want to charge through that USB-port, then the full "whack" is available at that port (probably 1 Amp)
You'd need to measure the available output in Amp or milliAmp (mA).
But if you switch the laptop on, that (yellow) USB-port will most likely go back to standard 500mA.

See also viewtopic.php?f=68&t=119355

Yeah...all that was pretty much covered in my OP (including the link you provided).

My guess is that the port is falling to only .5 amp when Windows is running.

I don't see why it will eat battery if "always on" is enabled if nothing is attached. No more than a wall-wart draws power when nothing is attached, it should be negligible.

The point is that the yellow USB ports are meant to be rapid charge ports. The fact that they rapid charge ONLY when the system is off seems incredible dumb.
If a standard USB is .5 amp, then what is really the point of making a point of the yellow ports? If they don't also rapid charge when the system is on then they are basically useless (beyond a standard port) as the majority of people probably don't use "always on".

So, perhaps a more pointed question to ignore all the other fluff:

Why does the yellow port only charge slowly when the system is on? Isn't the point of the yellow point to be a fast charge/1 AMP port always?