this post was submitted on 26 Sep 2026
691 points (99.0% liked)

Selfhosted

62626 readers
602 users here now

A place to share alternatives to popular online services that can be self-hosted without giving up privacy or locking you into a service you don't control.

Rules:

Detailed Rules Post

  1. Be civil.

  2. No spam.

  3. Posts are to be related to self-hosting.

  4. Don't duplicate the full text of your blog or readme if you're providing a link.

  5. Submission headline should match the article title.

  6. No trolling.

  7. Promotion posts require active participation, with an account that is at least 30 days old. F/LOSS without a paywall has exceptions, with requirements. See the rules link for details. Tags [CBH] or [AIP] are required, see the links in Rule 8 for details.

  8. AI-related discussions and AI-involved promotional posts have additional requirements for tagging, as noted in Rule 7 and the AI & Promotional Post Expanded Rules post, and find example disclosures here.

Resources:

Any issues on the community? Report it using the report flag.

Questions? DM the mods!

founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
ruud@lemmy.world
Loki@lemmy.world
CannaVet@lemmy.world
devve@lemmy.world
ayyy@sh.itjust.works
curbstickle@anarchist.nexus
curbstickle_lw@lemmy.world
691
Part 3: They said a phone can’t run without a battery. Unfortunately, Pettyl didn’t get the memo. (lemmy.zip)
submitted 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) by tradicije@lemmy.zip to c/selfhosted@lemmy.world
110 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

This post is an update of the second part of my Moto server series: https://lemmy.zip/post/72142441

Rumor has it that keeping an 8-year-old phone permanently plugged in with its equally ancient Li-ion battery might not be the greatest idea ever conceived.

Some even claimed that a phone needs a battery to work.

Very negative people.

Anyway, I removed it.

Pettyl did not care.

nginx: UP PHP-FPM: UP MariaDB: UP WordPress: UP cloudflared: UP sshd: UP

The battery is currently sitting next to the phone, contributing absolutely nothing to the project.

Pettyl is now running entirely from USB power, at around 37°C, while continuing to serve the website like this is completely normal.

There is, however, one tiny detail the haters may enjoy:

It can’t boot without the battery.

So the official Pettyl disaster recovery procedure is now:

  1. Insert battery
  2. Boot Pettyl
  3. Connect USB power
  4. Remove battery
  5. Pretend this is enterprise infrastructure

The battery is no longer a battery.

It is the starter motor.

I see no problems with this architecture.

Anyway, Part 3 is going great.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] moopet@sh.itjust.works 2 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Can you wire the USB power to the battery contacts...?

[–] tradicije@lemmy.zip 2 points 5 days ago

It sounds like a good idea until you remember that USB provides 5V and the battery contacts are designed for a Li-ion battery and its management circuitry.

Wiring USB directly to the battery contacts would basically be like noticing your car runs on petrol and pouring it directly into the engine instead of the fuel tank. The general concept of “engine needs fuel” is technically correct. The implementation leaves something to be desired.

The USB port and the phone's power-management circuitry exist for a reason, and bypassing them could damage the phone or make it behave in exciting new ways.

A properly regulated dummy battery, however, might actually work. Unfortunately, that means I now have another terrible idea to investigate.