Nebula Solar Portable

#1

Hello! First post but I have just bought a Nebula Solar Portable and had some questions.

I am struggling with a key feature of the projector for me - being able to play mp4s/m4vs direct from a USB drive (I do not want to cast/stream). I use my projector when I go camping (in the UK), where there is no phone signal so its really important that I can use a USB with movie files on it as my primary use.

None of my USB drives/sticks appear to be compatible with the Nebula, although they are FAT32. So I tried a work around and put a blank USB into the Nebula and then formatted it through the projector. Result was that USB drive is then not readable either on my OSX Mac or my Windows 10 PC to copy files onto - slightly annoying! My drives are all around 32/64/128GB in size, could that be the issue and I need to only use 4/8/16GB drives?

Can anyone also advise the software to browse the USB - at the moment all I can do is highlight the notifications to access the drive, which only gives me the options of Browse, Eject and Format (note Browse does not allow me to see the contents of the USB).

In another thread I saw someone recommend ES File Explorer - as far as I can see that is not available on the UK Play Store. Is there an alternative?

Finally, is it possible to copy movie files directly onto the projector - I think it has a small amount of storage internally? I did try Android File Transfer to do this but it didn’t want to connect.

Sorry for so many questions, but I need to use my projector “off grid” mostly. Not really interested in casting or streaming. Any help much appreciated!

#2

Someone had luck formatting on an Android phone.

#3

Update! Bottom line is I am a dummy. So my previous portable projector was an Artlii Mana, which had a really simple OS, if you can call it that, allowing you to browse a USB directly from the OS. I thought the Nebula might have something similar but it is because of the decent Android OS that it doesn’t.

So all I needed to do was to download a file manager or movie viewer, in this case VLC. With that installed I could then browse all my USBs which were indeed FAT32 format. So all sorted!

I do have a follow up question - has anyone had any luck with a power bank to charge/power the Nebula portable? I did buy a cheap 65W power bank but it doesn’t appear to charge it. Now I did read that you need to make sure the USB C cable is also rated at that wattage, which is sometimes not the case? Has anyone got any suggestions for powerbanks that have been proven to power the Nebula?

Thanks!

#4

It’s possible but you need to do some digging.

The charger supplied with, what does it say is its voltage and current? The voltage matters most.

Next, if the voltage is 20V, or 15V, 9V, then it’s possible to use a “sink” dongle which takes the USB PD source and output the above. No DC-DC conversion, just doing the negotiations for PD and output the selected DC.

Next, if you’re lucky the current is sufficient to charge, but more likely to just slow the discharge so you get extended battery life

A good high resolution photos off the charger helps.

If you needed only 5V then say a 26800 which does 3A may work, if you needed 9V then a 20000 PD gives 2A, if you needed 15V then a Powercore 45W would work, but if needed 20V you’re probably talking an expensive Powercore.

I think a Solar Portable teardown showed 7.8V cells (two cells in parallel) so a 9V is my guess of what it needs.

Forget Watts, that’s irrelevant. Voltage determines a works or doesn’t work, then Amps determines how well it works if the voltage is right. Watts is Volts X Amps and the Watts (Amps determines) determines if there is sufficient current to keep up with projector needs or just slows the discharge.