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:
- Insert battery
- Boot Pettyl
- Connect USB power
- Remove battery
- 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.



Perhaps replace its aging battery with a new one. Then you have a built in UPS for ideal disaster recovery
Nah, an actual UPS with 7kg batteries is way cooler.
But I really appreciate the feedback!
Inefficient tungsten gravity batteries are so cool tho
Perhaps then some solar power as well. I think those ecoflow battery + solar can act as UPS too. Could power that server indefinitely 😂
Now we’re speaking the same language!
Can you get a second identical phone. Or a third? I’m thinking perhaps load balancing and failover
Maybe not an identical one, but I did find an interesting Note 9 for around $40…
I guess this is foreshadowing…
Definitely take the battery out of that one
Yeah, for 40 bucks I get a phone with good specs and a free pillow!