We often pay little attention to the ports our smart TV has on the back: an HDMI for the console, another for the Chromecast or other similar devices, perhaps a USB for an external hard drive… and nothing else. But I will tell you one thing: the USB ports of the smart TV are used for much more and in my case, they solved my problem because I live in an old apartment with few outlets and lots of technology.
Because without going any further, a USB port can be used as a charging station, which is handy when I’m in a hotel and discover that there is a lack of sockets and which also proves useful at home, where the power strip that I have next to my television is literally at its maximum possibilities: the smart TV, the console, the lamp, an Echo Show. Yes, it is always possible to buy a larger power strip, but there was a simpler and cheaper solution: take advantage of a free USB stick from my TV to power my Chromecast with Google TV
How to Power a Google Chromecast from a TV’s USB Port
Although this resource worked for me for a Chromecast with Google TV 4K, you can apply it to other Chromecast models. However, it is important to consider that No USB port will do.because some conditions must be met:
- USB charging port must be USB 3.0 or higher, because if it is USB 2.0 with a current limit of 0.5 amps, it will not provide enough current to power the device. Note: If you have an old Chromecast, this may work.
- Al take advantage of the Chromecast’s USB-C port, it will not be possible to connect storage devices to it (unless you use a hub). For me this was not a problem, since I use it as a replacement for my smart TV services (which are quite slow), i.e. only for streaming services.
With the above, the process doesn’t have much mystery. If you have any doubts about whether or not the USB ports available on the TV are suitable, just plug it in and try. If when you insert them on the screen you see the image that appears just above these lines, then the power supply will be insufficient.
If you encounter this message, you can simply try other available ports, use a USB cable only for charging or an adapter with a built-in battery, although in my case it was a resource to avoid buying, so I didn’t like these alternatives.
If the USB port provides enough power, there is one more step: enable a developer options setting. So still with the power cable connected to an adapter and the old fashioned power supply, the first thing to do is check that the developer options are active. Quickly: in ‘Adjusted’ > ‘System’ > ‘Information’find and press five times “Building the Android OS”.
From this moment we will have access to the developers menu, available in ‘System’ > ‘Developer Options’. Now we will ‘USB Debugging’ and we activate it, since it will be the one that will allow us to power the device via USB. Once this is done, we can forget about the power adapter and replace it with the USB-A cable connected to the TV.
Cover | Google Chromecast HD analysis by Xataka
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