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How many kinds of USB-C to USB-C cables are there?

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Re: How many kinds of USB-C to USB-C cables are there?

#121
It is so sad how perfect USB C could of been, and then they had to make so many variants that aren't easy to tell apart from one another not immediately obvious. I hope they do some USB3 stuff where they start coloring cables on the end that conform entirely to a given standard.

Re: How many kinds of USB-C to USB-C cables are there?

#124

This only seems to be counting USB-C to USB-C USB 3 cables The actual situation is much worse when you add in passive and active C-to-C Thunderbolt, MHL, DP, and HDMI cables, some but not all combinations of which may or may not optionally support some but not all combinations of other signals as well — eg) a passive TB3 C-to-C cable will support DP and USB3 (but not MHL or HDMI), but an active TB3 C-to-C cable will…

It's a bloody goddamned nightmare. For example, a brief review of my devices: >Phone A. Type-C port limited to USB 2 data speeds but supports HDMI out via DisplayLink. >Phone B. Type-C port that supports USB 3.1 speeds but doesn't do video out. >Tablet A. Type-C port that supports USB 3 speeds but only charges through a MicroUSB port. >Tablet B. Type-C port that supports USB 3 speeds and charging, but only charges at…

Nintendo mever advertises Switch as USB-C in any of their marketing though

Re: How many kinds of USB-C to USB-C cables are there?

#125
post #85
post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But that's most port standards that have ever existed. What can a device do with a parallel port? A serial port? A SCSI port? A Firewire port? Who knows? It's up to the device. It can certainly send signals over that port, of some kind. But what kind of signals? Up to the device. The host can hopefully probe a device-class out of the client and stand up an appropriate driver to talk to it. A CD player has a 3.5mm aud…

I think one of the things that makes USB-C particularly problematic here is that "plug it in and find out" can be harmful to devices since devices can draw 100W of power through the port.

> since devices can draw 100W of power through the port

Devices can only draw 100W of power, which is 5A at 20V, after negotiation; before negotiation (or if negotiation fails), only 5V is available, like in the older USB connector types.

Re: How many kinds of USB-C to USB-C cables are there?

#126
post #39
post #5

For anyone else who was confused by: > A USB 3.0 capable USB-B plug was physically larger than a 2.0 plug and would not fit into a USB 2.0-only receptacle. recall that it's this USB-hubby one: https://www.amazon.com/TNP-SuperSpeed-Connector-Bi-Direction...

Oh, don't forget the sort of weirdo micro-USB 3 connector: https://www.droid-life.com/2013/09/26/yes-the-galaxy-note-3-... It is admirable to try to maintain backwards compatibility, but still it is pretty strange connector for mass consumer market.

The backwards compatibility of that connector on my S5 saved my ass numerous times. I really appreciate that design.

Re: How many kinds of USB-C to USB-C cables are there?

#127
post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Out of curiosity, what USB-C dock do you have? I am in the market for one.

I (and a number of people I know) have a CalDigit TS3+ and it's worked extremely well for me: https://www.caldigit.com/ts3-plus I can't speak to what else is on the market, but there's not more I'd want from this.

Can second the recommendation. When I was looking, I think it was the only USB-C/TB3 dock that supported multiple 4k displays at 60hz (one via Displayport and one via a USB-C to Displayport adapter). Their website looked a bit fly-by-night, but I've been happy with the product.

The only issue I've had is that my Macbook sometimes flips my two displays, but I believe that's an OS problem.

Re: How many kinds of USB-C to USB-C cables are there?

#128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Per the Thunderbolt FAQ [1] > What is Thunderbolt 3? > Computer ports with Thunderbolt 3 provide 40Gbps Thunderbolt – double the speed of the previous generation, USB 3.1 10Gbps, and DisplayPort 1.2 . I'm curious: which active cable did you use that didn't support DP? [1] https://thunderbolttechnology.net/tech/faq

Note: This cable does not support native DisplayPort 1.2 or Thunderbolt 3 connections to a DisplayPort monitor. https://amazon.com/StarTech-com-Thunderbolt-Cable-40Gbps-Cha... Regular USB-C monitor is not support, USB 3.1/3.0/2.0 and USB-C is not support https://amazon.com/Thunderbolt-Certified-Nekteck-Compatible-... USB 2.0 ️[check], USB 3.0 [ ], DisplayPort [ ] https://amazon.com/Belkin-Thunderbolt-Cable-Feet-Meter…

Well shit, I stand corrected. Thanks for the links!

Re: How many kinds of USB-C to USB-C cables are there?

#129
post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With a MacBook Pro it’s not so bad, because rather than try to save a few cents Apple wired every USB-C port for everything that it supports, so there’s no real distinction between ports (but you still need to distinguish between very similar looking cables that handle, say USB 3.0 in one case and an active TB3 40 Gbps in another) It’s at the low end of the market that USB-C is an entire mess. This port on your lapto…

Except that even Apple forgot certain options in their 50$ USB-C charger and it is therefore non-compliant with specification. Apparently USB-C is hard. source: https://twitter.com/USBCGuy

On some Macbooks, the USB-C on the left and right side don't support the same max bandwidth

Re: How many kinds of USB-C to USB-C cables are there?

#130
post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why don't they give NAMES to these different types of cables? Exactly! We can call the one for small peripherals "USB", the one for monitors "VGA", the one for networking "ethernet", the one for power "AC"... I suspect most users can figure out how to manage that. Snark aside, I actually agree with you. The market powers that be completely messed this up. Basically, phones have limited port space. And for their ben…

> Exactly! We can call the one for small peripherals "USB", the one for monitors "VGA", the one for networking "ethernet", the one for power "AC"... I suspect most users can figure out how to manage that. Wrong kind of names. For these cables, all you should need to know is a speed rating. And they almost work that way, but the ball got dropped in a few places and the cables are badly labeled, so it turns into a nigh…

Also, barrel jacks don't have just one polarity. I learned that the hard way when I fried my guitar amp as a kid.
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