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Don't let anyone take away your big box of cables

blog.jim-nielsen.com

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Re: Don't let anyone take away your big box of cables

#101

Post by sixothree »

programmarchy wrote: post #90
booty wrote: post #24

Key for me is to "group" cables. For example, I have a bag of USB-C cables, a bag of USB-A cables, etc. Grouping them is key to deduplicating. It's easy to look at a single legacy USB A-to-B "printer" cable in isolation and think "I might need this someday!" Because you really might need it someday. However, if you group them you might see that you have ten of them. And then you can get rid of... maybe 8 of them. I a…

Welcome to the OCD lounge. I also put my cables into bags, which helps me sleep better at night.

Stackable bins work too. Need various sizes as backup as you accumulate though.

Re: Don't let anyone take away your big box of cables

#102

Post by pdpi »

smw wrote: post #91
BeetleB wrote: post #66

I'm terrified of not being able to find old USB cables. My D2A converter I use to route TV audio to a small amplifier died. It was cheap, but decent. I wanted another cheap one. I had trouble finding any. Finally, I snagged a pair on Amazon/eBay, but it used ancient USB connections. Luckily, I had old USB cables, so I'm good. But what will I do if the USB cable stops working?

What are ancient usb connections? Type A? B?

Mini-B cables can be somewhat hard to find.

Re: Don't let anyone take away your big box of cables

#105

Post by moron4hire »

criddell wrote: post #67
asah wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

+1000 did _exactly_ this right down to the ziploc. Also a bag for audio, HDMI, old apple cables, and "random" cables. These days, I store the ziplocs in a pelican-type case and that goes in a stack with cases for power cords, camera gear, SBC gear,etc - and the stacks all go on furniture dollies, so I can roll them out.

What bag does a cable with HDMI on one end and USB C on the other end go into?

Either create a 2-dimensional categorization system or create a priority hierarchy.

Re: Don't let anyone take away your big box of cables

#106

Post by SmasherEpilepti »

Recently, I was screwed by my big box of cables, when I pulled out a SATA power connector for my modular power supply, and learned very quickly that though the ports universally fit across modular PSUs, the pinouts are not actually intercompatible, and you can and will fry your hard drives.

I didn't know this; I had foolishly assumed that SATA power connectors were standardized on both ends.

Re: Don't let anyone take away your big box of cables

#108

Post by darkwater »

booty wrote: post #24

Key for me is to "group" cables. For example, I have a bag of USB-C cables, a bag of USB-A cables, etc. Grouping them is key to deduplicating. It's easy to look at a single legacy USB A-to-B "printer" cable in isolation and think "I might need this someday!" Because you really might need it someday. However, if you group them you might see that you have ten of them. And then you can get rid of... maybe 8 of them. I a…

I'll pay the price to sound like your average redditor but... thanks, Internet stranger, for this advice. I will follow it from now on - especially for the "prevent tangles" part.
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