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Why aren't motherboards mostly USB-C by now? (2021)

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Re: Why aren't motherboards mostly USB-C by now? (2021)

#121

Post by vluft »

3np wrote: post #75

USB-C aside, I find that *TX motherboard manufacturers have been too unimaginative when it comes to I/O and haven't evolved for the past ~10y to serve growing demand in new and evolving segments. My pet-peeve: If you want more than a single NIC in an AMD-based small form factor, your options are extremely limited. Even if you're open for importing and paying >$300 for just the board or going a couple of generations b…

something that might be useful to you for that; you can get m.2 slot network adapters which you could use on (some) ITX boards. there's at least 1 & 10gbe ones available.

Re: Why aren't motherboards mostly USB-C by now? (2021)

#122

Post by treyd »

themerone wrote: post #33
korginator wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

USB-C is simply more convenient to use, and you get it right 100% of the time, instead of your orientation being wrong 50% of the time with USB-A.

My pixel slate has a USB-C port that will only charge in one orientation.

I had a similar issue on my old phone and I'm pretty sure it was because of something wrong with the connector on the phone's side.

Re: Why aren't motherboards mostly USB-C by now? (2021)

#123

Post by davegirdy2 »

crote wrote: post #81
anakaine wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This said, USB-C needs to have its standards updated, and standardised. Eg all cables must support a minimum of USB 3.1 with power and data, with appropriate shielding. Stop yielding so many concessions. I'm already in a spot where I have a number of USB-C to C cable varieties that all look basically the same, but have very different characteristics. One cable basically refuses to charge anything. Another has no data…

A big part of this is that a lot of manufacturers are just completely ignoring the standards. The standards specify a rather limited set of cables, and it specifies clear ways to label them which make it extremely obvious to consumers what the cable is capable of. But manufacturers just... can't be bothered to actually follow the standard . The main reason why there isn't one cable is that it has mutually-incompatibl…

[flagged]

Re: Why aren't motherboards mostly USB-C by now? (2021)

#124

Post by TylerE »

lxgr wrote: post #89
crote wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just don't accidentally stick USB-C into a USB-A port. It will fit and it will short the port, causing the machine to crash. Speaking from experience...

Sometimes I look at USB-C plugs and US power outlets and wonder if there’s a shock hazard there…

Would need a complete circuit. So unless you’re sticking in both ends of one cable to the same outlet…

Re: Why aren't motherboards mostly USB-C by now? (2021)

#125

Post by 3np »

vluft wrote: post #121
3np wrote: post #75

USB-C aside, I find that *TX motherboard manufacturers have been too unimaginative when it comes to I/O and haven't evolved for the past ~10y to serve growing demand in new and evolving segments. My pet-peeve: If you want more than a single NIC in an AMD-based small form factor, your options are extremely limited. Even if you're open for importing and paying >$300 for just the board or going a couple of generations b…

something that might be useful to you for that; you can get m.2 slot network adapters which you could use on (some) ITX boards. there's at least 1 & 10gbe ones available.

Sure. But if you want to actually have two m.2 drives to either mirror your root filesystem or use one as a secondary? It gets tangly quickly.

inb4: CPUs as well as commonly used chipsets have enough lanes, it's not that.

Re: Why aren't motherboards mostly USB-C by now? (2021)

#126

Post by bxparks »

chungy wrote: post #5

I don't even have any devices that use USB-C. Not a single one. The only USB-C cables I have are for charging phones.

Yup, I don't own a single device that uses USB-C either: laptops, tablets, phones, keyboards, mouses, flash drives, network storage devices, routers, wifi access points, printers, scanners, kindles, microcontroller boards, calculators, rechargeable battery chargers, wireless temperature monitors, etc. Everything is USB-A (to micro-B, sometimes mini-B).

Still mad at Apple for removing USB-A. I understand adding USB-C. Why remove them??

Re: Why aren't motherboards mostly USB-C by now? (2021)

#127

Post by jorvi »

Retr0id wrote: post #109
abhinavk wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Weirdly, the port on a cheap mechanical keyboard I have is USB-C but the cable they packaged is USB-C -> USB-A instead. They likely didn't package C->C because of the chicken and egg problem. Not everyone has enough Type-C ports.

Type-C hubs are annoyingly expensive, because they all assume you want all the USB 3.x speed and/or power delivery bells and whistles - but for connecting simple peripherals none of that is necessary. I built my own based on a USB 2.0 hub IC, but I never got around to publishing the design files. I should get on that! Even building a single prototype unit cost me about the same as a single off-the-shelf type-C hub, b…

> Type-C hubs are annoyingly expensive, because they all assume you want all the USB 3.x speed and/or power delivery bells and whistles - but for connecting simple peripherals none of that is necessary.

Meanwhile the most frequent complaint I read about USB-C is trickster/confusing cables or hubs because they don’t support everything

Re: Why aren't motherboards mostly USB-C by now? (2021)

#128

Post by dylan604 »

layer8 wrote: post #17
fnordpiglet wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Almost every device I’ve bought in 2023 is usb-c now, even low end stuff, and keyboards and mice. By 2025 I’d expect it’ll be rare and unusual to see a micro port on any new device. USB A is definitely legacy.

PCs still come with half a dozen or more USB-A ports and only a single USB-C port (if you're lucky). Dongles, flash drives, webcams and the like are still prominently USB-A. Logitech's lineup is still mostly USB-A. I'm not sure that there will even be a full transition to USB-C, but if so, it will take quite a while.

I just bought a new device that came with a USB-A to USB-B cable!!!! the horror!! Makes sense, as it pretty much functions like a printer, only subtractive instead of additive process. Then it has Bluetooth instead of WiFi for wireless!?!?

Re: Why aren't motherboards mostly USB-C by now? (2021)

#129

Post by treyd »

lxgr wrote: post #99
amelius wrote: post #90

No matter what devices I use, USB seems to give me a bit error every few terabytes or so, over cheap cables >1ft. This makes me wonder: how do I find good (certified) cables, and why isn't there forward error correction in the USB protocol such that cheap cables simply work?

USB does use error detection (CRC), but if you transfer enough data over anything, you'll eventually see undetected errors.

Presumably if it's a mass storage device with block-addressible storage then the host's fs driver should be able to (if it has its own file checksums) transparently identify the corruption and re-read the block, right? Or at least bubble up to the user and fail the operation instead of allowing silent data corruption.

Re: Why aren't motherboards mostly USB-C by now? (2021)

#130

Post by dylan604 »

crote wrote: post #66
cassianoleal wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

More likely they mean micro-USB. USB-B is anything but micro.

If we're being pedantic, it's USB Micro-B - more specifically the High-Speed variant. There's also USB Micro-A and USB Micro-AB, and all three have SuperSpeed variants which are twice the size.

Thanks for the reminder on just how bad the USB working group is at naming things.
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