for whatever stupid reason it wanted the oem cable. it wasn't happy with my generic micro usb cable. so whatevs. anyway it's working just fine now.
also i'm picking up one of these. it'll be great as an extra charging port for passengers or for popping in a flash drive with a movie for the tablet!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Scion-xB-Toy...-/171146568819