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Nintendo Switch 2 Dock USB-C Compatibility

lttlabs.com

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Re: Nintendo Switch 2 Dock USB-C Compatibility

#101

Post by wickedsight »

ShellfishMeme wrote: post #65
wickedsight wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not that strange. USB-C is a plug, not everyone who implements the plug also implements it correctly. Some chargers with a USB-C Plug might just send a fixed voltage over the cable, rather then implementing the protocols. I'm not saying that's the case for you, but USB-C is a minefield and I've seen some weird things happen with USB-C plugs.

I've once received a USB-C charger with a portable breast milk warmer device that outputted 18V at 2A without doing PD negotiation. That fried another device when I plugged it in. This is non compliant in the EU, but when I reported it to the responsible authorities, they didn't feel like doing anything about it. We are talking about a charger that can fry any device and potentially cause a fire, coming with a produc…

Yeah, I'm surprised that I'm being down-voted for this comment for this exact reason. Manufacturers are adding non-compliant USB-C plugs to tons of equipment and it causes these types of issues.

Re: Nintendo Switch 2 Dock USB-C Compatibility

#102

Post by rsynnott »

ShellfishMeme wrote: post #65
wickedsight wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not that strange. USB-C is a plug, not everyone who implements the plug also implements it correctly. Some chargers with a USB-C Plug might just send a fixed voltage over the cable, rather then implementing the protocols. I'm not saying that's the case for you, but USB-C is a minefield and I've seen some weird things happen with USB-C plugs.

I've once received a USB-C charger with a portable breast milk warmer device that outputted 18V at 2A without doing PD negotiation. That fried another device when I plugged it in. This is non compliant in the EU, but when I reported it to the responsible authorities, they didn't feel like doing anything about it. We are talking about a charger that can fry any device and potentially cause a fire, coming with a produc…

> but when I reported it to the responsible authorities, they didn't feel like doing anything about it.

One problem with EU regulation (or at least most regulations; a few have union-wide regulators) is that you're really quite dependent on whether your national responsible body is any good.

For something like this (assuming it's sold union-wide and not just in your country), it might actually be useful to notify the responsible bodies on _other countries_ (once it's actually investigated and recalled the recall should be union-wide).

Re: Nintendo Switch 2 Dock USB-C Compatibility

#103

Post by alpaca128 »

pjerem wrote: post #89
alpaca128 wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would you rather have your phone refuse to charge for no apparent reason, or have it popup "slow USB charging" as it does when you connect it to a weaker charger? Nintendo unnecessarily chose to make their device partially USB-C incompatible in an intransparent way. A lot of users will rely on this working (as it already did on the Switch 1) and then it just won't, and probably the user will just assume their third-p…

Aren’t we talking about video out from the dock ? Because it wasn’t possible for Switch 1. After some time, some alternative USB-C hubs supported the Switch video output but it was basically reverse engineering and I totally remember this first "compatible" hub back in the early days of the console which happened to brick consoles. Nintendo is like Apple they : - Don’t want you tu use the Switch in unpredictable ways…

Apple devices work near flawlessly with third-party periphery in my experience, what are you talking about? They have some questionable limitations at times (like iPads supporting Thunderbolt but not being able to safely eject USB drives), but I don't buy Apple cables & adapters and that's because they're not needed. I can charge a Macbook with a random USB-C charger on my desk, I can turn on my third-party BT headphones and they're connected within two seconds, I can connect a screen with a third-party USB-C adapter and the only possible issue is that not all USB ports go up to 240Hz. I cannot say some of these things about my PC on which Bluetooth audio simply is not usable at all and some other basics need janky workarounds or ironically only work on Linux.

I have many reasons to be pissed at Apple but connectivity is not one of them.

Re: Nintendo Switch 2 Dock USB-C Compatibility

#104

Post by captainmuon »

So, as there are a couple of docks coming out that work with Switch 2 and have apparently reverse engineered the protocol... I wonder if some company could make a small dongle that just sits between the switch and my monitor, or my USB-C docking station, and fixes the communication.

For a DIY solution, protocol wise it doesn't seem too complicated, but electronically USB-C or HDMI is out of reach for most hobbyists. And I assume most USB-C interface chips you can get aren't programmable to the degree neccessary...

Re: Nintendo Switch 2 Dock USB-C Compatibility

#105

Post by viraptor »

alpaca128 wrote: post #88
iamtedd wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What? Labs is the source of all benchmark and performance data they show on the main channel productions. Labs is necessary for their content.

They had benchmarks before Labs as well and almost 100% of tech reviewers don't have this kind of equipment, so no, it's not necessary. But it definitely helps.

Now they have automated benchmarks across more test configs. This is something almost no reviewers have available. That's partially from labs investment. They also have destructive benchmarks like they did with the power supplies - again almost nobody does those in public.

Re: Nintendo Switch 2 Dock USB-C Compatibility

#106

Post by jwr »

Gigachad wrote: post #38
dagmx wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel like that’s a significant retcon. Switch 1 was released in 2017. PD 1.0 was 2013 , and display port out was 2014. Both were supported by numerous devices by the time the switch 1 was out. Granted they really wanted hdmi alt mode which was 2016 but the switch 1 doesn’t even support display port out which could have been coupled with a converter in the dock. The simpler reason is that Nintendo both cheaps out on…

Displayport would have been fairly useless. I've never once seen a TV with Displayport inputs. They really should have had 9v PD working but at least 5v worked.

> Displayport would have been fairly useless

Please do not generalize like this. DP over USB-C is essential for devices like Xreal One and One Pro — these work great with the Switch 1 and do not work at all with the Switch 2. It's a complete showstopper at the moment for people who would like to play games displaying them on those glasses.

Re: Nintendo Switch 2 Dock USB-C Compatibility

#107

Post by ACCount37 »

rowanG077 wrote: post #53

At such times I wish the USB consortium would flex their muscles. A high profile case that maliciously breaks interoperability.

USB consortium itself has written a standard for implementing DRM to restrict third party accessories. Which isn't even what Nintendo used there.

Still, don't expect anything good to come from them on that front.

Re: Nintendo Switch 2 Dock USB-C Compatibility

#108

Post by joshstrange »

I have a different random 5-letter company name version of this one [0] (the one I bought [1]) that LTT tested. I was nervous after remembering stories about Switch 1 “USB-C” shenanigans but at $28 (vs $124 for the original dock) I decided to roll the dice.

As far as working as a replacement dock for the original, it does the job very nicely while being smaller and easier to use overall (IMHO). At $28/ea I can afford to have a dock on every TV I would even consider playing my Switch on at less than the cost of 1 official dock.

[0] https://antank.net/products/s3-max

[1] https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FCF8PV2H

Re: Nintendo Switch 2 Dock USB-C Compatibility

#109

Post by mathis »

lxgr wrote: post #98

> EPR even supports up to 240 W! Plenty of power for any device you'd reasonably power with USB-C. I feel (or rather hope) we'll see more than that at some point. Being able to replace device-specific wall adapters would be a huge win. This has largely already happened for everything that needs 10 watts or less, but between that and things that actually need a lot of power (i.e. kilowatts, not watts) and/or benefit f…

The situation with chargers isn’t ideal. With a single USB-C port, everything works fine.

The problem starts when multiple ports are involved. Plugging in a second device can trigger unpredictable behavior, which is usually acceptable for battery-powered devices. But for devices that need a continuous power supply (e.g., a Raspberry Pi), multi-port chargers aren’t reliable –– connecting another device may briefly interrupt power.

Using a traditional power strip with one dedicated adapter per device avoids this issue.

For now, I’m sticking with individual USB-C adapters for non-battery-powered devices.

Re: Nintendo Switch 2 Dock USB-C Compatibility

#110

Post by alpaca128 »

viraptor wrote: post #105
alpaca128 wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They had benchmarks before Labs as well and almost 100% of tech reviewers don't have this kind of equipment, so no, it's not necessary. But it definitely helps.

Now they have automated benchmarks across more test configs. This is something almost no reviewers have available. That's partially from labs investment. They also have destructive benchmarks like they did with the power supplies - again almost nobody does those in public.

That's true and I agree this is valuable for the audience, but still it is not necessary. Most successful tech reviewers put out good content without these resources.
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