Over the years BlackBerry devices have needed more power and the latest BlackBerry 7 devices are the hungriest. Back in the day it used to be a matter of drivers not being installed on your PC and getting the "USB charging current is insufficient" error though sometimes those solutions work today. That error has more or less gone away but recently with the popularization of portable chargers we have been seeing more and more of the new "The Charging Source Connected To Your BlackBerry Device Cannot Charge Your Battery."
From what I have seen this message happens on BlackBerry devices (and many other devices) in one of two cases. First is if the PC does not have the BlackBerry drivers installed or mistakenly identifies the BlackBerry as a mass storage device. The other one is when a portable charger or USB wall/car charger does not know how much current to send to the BlackBerry and so it defaults to less.
For now the best solution I have found to this problem is what is called a charging only cable. (it does not work for data) Many portable chargers use this design of including a charging only cable but others like Mophie’s Juice Packs do not and thus do not charge your BlackBerry even though they can. When you don’t use a charging only cable the BlackBerry thinks it is connected to a computer and thus looks for the driver that will allow it to charge at a higher rate.
I am really hoping RIM solves this issue in BlackBerry 10 but until then you can either buy a charging only MicroUSB cable or many times you can repurpose a MiniUSB to MicroUSB converter on an older charging cable to make them data only. The best charging only cable I have found so far is from Naztech for ~$7.50 on Amazon though I have seen them cheaper on eBay. This cable works wonders with my portable battery chargers and my international travel USB charger/adaptor. It fools the BlackBerry and many Android devices into thinking they are plugged into an AC adapter by shorting the data wires and leaving the charging cables. You can do this yourself with some know how and online guides but I would not recommend it unless you have time to spare.
Let me know if you have found any other solutions to the dreaded "The Charging Source Connected To Your BlackBerry Device Cannot Charge Your Battery" error.
Clee Not Registered
Posted: September 14, 2012 at 12:27 PM EST
Will the Naztech cable allow me to charge my BB9900 with my Mophie Juice pack?
Ronen Halevy ( View Profile) - Posts: 3331
Posted: September 14, 2012 at 12:35 PM EST
Yes it worked for me when I had it. I had the Mophie you pick up from the Airport BestBuy vending machines.
clee666 ( View Profile) - Posts: 16
Posted: September 14, 2012 at 12:51 PM EST
I have the big one that can also charge an iPad.
The only way I found so far to charge my BB9900 is to use the BB charging dock with the mophie juice powerstation, but the charging dock is not very practical in my jeans pockets…
Ronen Halevy ( View Profile) - Posts: 3331
Posted: September 14, 2012 at 1:23 PM EST
It should definitely work the power dock also sports the data writes which is why it doesn’t do data
DanielH ( View Profile) - Posts: 577
Posted: September 14, 2012 at 3:16 PM EST
Just got this error message today when I plugged in my 9900 into my playbook cable. I think it had something to with the outlet though because after being plugged in all night, my playbook hadn’t charged one bit.
Corey Davis ( View Profile) - Posts: 1293
Posted: September 14, 2012 at 5:00 PM EST from my BlackBerry PlayBook | OS 2.1.0
Ronen – did you try it on a playbook?
Ronen Halevy ( View Profile) - Posts: 3331
Posted: September 16, 2012 at 9:15 AM EST
Nope not yet but I will try it for you
Charles Not Registered
Posted: September 14, 2012 at 11:33 PM EST
If anyone unlock the Blackberry Engineering screen, go to OS Enginering Screen > Battery > Battery Charging Screen. You can set to either Force USB 500 or Force AC. It will fix ALL USB charging problem @cthaddeus
Ronen Halevy ( View Profile) - Posts: 3331
Posted: September 16, 2012 at 9:05 AM EST
Interesting I have never heard of that solution. I will be trying it out shortly
geodorn Not Registered
Posted: September 27, 2012 at 2:44 PM EST
Thanks! I have set to Force AC and now I can finally use my ZNEX Power Pack to charge my Bold.
Sanket Not Registered
Posted: September 15, 2012 at 1:13 AM EST
This is really helpful article. I tried to research lot on this issue. But never found solution except mentioned above. Charging only USB cable.
Hope blackberry would notice this headache
thanx
Naeem Not Registered
Posted: September 19, 2012 at 5:51 AM EST
May i use blackberry playbook charger to charge Blackberry Bols 9900
Charles Not Registered
Posted: September 19, 2012 at 2:48 PM EST
Yes you may. No problem at all. You’ll charge faster due to higher charger OUPUT (mA) also
sinead delaney Not Registered
Posted: November 16, 2012 at 3:52 PM EST
Hi i got my blackberry in december but had issues and i ended up getting a new replacement off them. since then the usb (for my music and pics) doesnt seem to be connecting. maybe its my computer i dont know .. i have a blackberry curve 8520 and my old was v.4 and this is v.5
i brought it into the store and the man after a few attempts got it connected with the usb lead to the computer. but im at home now and it wont connect at all.
it keeps saying ‘this cannot be used as a charging source’ .. i went onto the os and tried changing things around and still nothing appearing on my computer to connect my phone. please help
Charles Not Registered
Posted: November 16, 2012 at 9:15 PM EST
Assuming nothing wrong with your computer USB port, you might just need to install the blackberry USB driver. You can get it by downloading the blackberry desktop manager.
If it still doesn’t work, you might need to access engineering screen to enable USB HighSpeed.
Jman Not Registered
Posted: November 20, 2012 at 1:35 AM EST
I just find it ridiculous that RIM builds a charger that cannot charge their own products… or gets “confused” etc.
My Bold 9900 has the same problem. As soon as I put the charger in the wall socket, it “cannot charge”. I have to disconnect-reconnect it multiple times to the ac outlet before i get “a charge”.
Not awesome.
kristle Not Registered
Posted: December 27, 2012 at 2:14 PM EST
i have the same problem. but i am not from america i’m from Suriname. And here i can’t find the all the things you mentioned. But i want to try that from charles but don’t know how to do it
Rio Rita Not Registered
Posted: December 30, 2012 at 6:56 PM EST
Your answer was very helpful, thank you for your insight! You have saved me many sleepless nights pondering the inefficiencies of charging my RIM devices!
amit patel Not Registered
Posted: March 2, 2013 at 2:33 AM EST
set is ok
Stephen Not Registered
Posted: March 12, 2013 at 2:45 PM EST
Just had the same problem, took out the battery with charger still plugged in, then re-fitted the battery and Bingo, it works. I don’t know if this is recommended but it seemed to work for me!!
Stephen Not Registered
Posted: March 12, 2013 at 2:46 PM EST
With the wall charger not USB.