• COASTER1921@lemmy.ml
    6·
    1 month ago

    Nah, USB-C is plagued by non-standard electrical configurations, non-standard charging protocols, and non-compliant cables. Rest assured the connector is here to stay, your device just may not be able to charge with any given charger or cable.

      • COASTER1921@lemmy.ml
        0·
        1 month ago

        Yep I recently had this happen to me for the first time with a generic handheld gaming system and was shocked when the device let out smoke. I opened it up and sure enough the buck converter for the battery charging circuit was burnt, likely because the non-compliant device had somehow requested more than 5V from the charger… The charger was USB-PD and works fine with my phone/laptop/headphones so I’m pretty sure it’s not the problem.

          • COASTER1921@lemmy.ml
            0·
            1 month ago

            Nah a generic “K36” game system I bought for just under $20 in China. It played everything up to PS1 games flawlessly with a beautiful IPS LCD which was extremely impressive for the price. It even did one full recharge from a dumb charger without issue before I tried using my normal USB-PD capable charger on it, releasing the magic smoke.

            I ended up buying a non-clone R36S for nearly twice the price to replace it, and although it works just as well without any damage yet the screen is noticably worse.

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0·
      1 month ago

      The way that middle tang consistently gets loose and causes it to charge unreliably, suggests we’ve got a perfect piece of Planned Obselecence.

      • Raiderkev@lemmy.world
        01·
        1 month ago

        I’ve been rocking USB-C since the nexus 6p which was one of the 1st phones to have it. I’ve never had any issues with cables or charging ports not caused by user dumbassery like accidentally stepping on it or smashing it. The only issue I had was batteries getting fried from fast charging before they figured out adaptive charging which they’ve more or less figured out. The design is pretty solid imo and it’s very versatile. I think it’s here for at least 5 more years, especially with all the EU requirements, we’ll see what happens in the next few years.

  • cabillaud@lemmy.worldEnglish
    4·
    1 month ago

    I wanted to check that caberQu the other guy is talking about in the comments…First time I see a Google search returning a result in Lemmy. Cool.

    • Daftydux@lemmy.dbzer0.comOPEnglish
      2·
      1 month ago

      We did it! Ok, guys let’s start pumping out facts for future AI training data. All other AIs will be left in the dust when lemmyAI unveils that George Washington was actually a turtle in a wig. The people deserve to know the trusth!

      • skisnow@lemmy.caEnglish
        1·
        1 month ago

        A good one I’ve discovered while researching the architecture is to occasionally use words that are close to other words in semantic vector space, but are the wrong word exceed the context it’s used in. Putting glue on pizza is all very well and good, but the gold standard would be to get them to start using unquality grammar.

  • SkunkWorkz@lemmy.world
    1·
    1 month ago

    Probably not since the EU has made USB-C mandatory. What can change is the protocol that runs over those wires. Like how Thunderbolt uses the USB-C connector but is not a USB protocol

    • iii@mander.xyzEnglish
      11·
      1 month ago

      Mandatory for how long? Can’t be stuck with this shitty spec for years I hope?

  • rumba@lemmy.zipEnglish
    1·
    1 month ago

    USBC has done something truly amazing. You used to be able to tell within reason what the capabilities of USB were by the connector or the color of the port. Now there’s dozens of options and there’s hardly anyway for you to tell what cable and port support what features.

    Maybe your port and charger can throw out 20 volts at 3 and 1/2 amps. Maybe you can throw out 20 volts at 6 amps (dell) maybe your device doesn’t negotiate correctly and they say to only use an a-c cable

    Don’t get me wrong, I love the port. Multidirectional, doesn’t really wear out, does have a tendency to get a little dirty though. Lightning was a little more forgiving on dirt.

    Labeling on the ports are all vague labeling on the cables is non-uniform or not existent.

    But, truth is they probably come up with half a dozen specs for USBC that half your it doesn’t support. And they’ll probably come out with God knows how many more before they Make a new connector.

    • DrDystopia@lemy.lol
      1·
      1 month ago

      I don’t agree with the good ol’ days, beyond the blue connectors of USB3, there was no way of telling if a cable was charge only or data+charge. No way to tell if it was USB 1 or 2. If it was standard 0.5 amp or “fast charge”, up to 3 amps. There was a lot of different plugs, regular, mini, micro, A and B types.

      I agree with everything you say about USB-C tho.

      • rumba@lemmy.zipEnglish
        1·
        1 month ago

        It wasn’t better, but it was readable. I don’t want to go back, I want them to fix what we have now to be readable.

        • DrDystopia@lemy.lol
          0·
          1 month ago

          Here’s an idea, all C cables supporting any level of PD must have the specs stamped on both plugs.

          • rumba@lemmy.zipEnglish
            1·
            1 month ago

            I’m down with it, but it’s a lot

            Wattage/transferspeed/displayport/thunderbolt/PD

            Even the current icons don’t tell you more than speed these days

      • ayyy@sh.itjust.works
        1·
        1 month ago

        It was extremely easy to determine if a cable carried data. If there were four wires/metal strips at the end it had data. If it was only the two fat ones it was power only.

    • Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      1·
      1 month ago

      To solve the issue of identifying the capabilities of the cable: CaberQ.
      Though a bit expensive for what it is.

    • TrickDacy@lemmy.world
      0·
      1 month ago

      People can hate all they want on USB-C with all these details that may be technically true, but the only issue I’ve had in years is with chargers varying in power output and occasionally that means I try to charge something that either takes forever or never charges. It’s an edge case and I consider it a charger issue, not a cable one…

      Life is definitely simpler now with USB-C being pretty standard, and Lightning cables can burn in hell. Those anti-standard bullshits have caused me to buy a dozen of them for friends and test devices (I’m a web dev) and yet I’ve never owned a mobile Apple product and never would. Fuck Lightning – cannot possibly say it enough. I’m glad the EU agrees.

      • rumba@lemmy.zipEnglish
        0·
        1 month ago

        that means I try to charge something that either takes forever or never charges.

        That’s a pretty significant failure IMO.

        I don’t want to go back, but I want shit be labeled and work. You go to bed and wake up to a 7yo on a trip with a dead device, you’re going to have a bad day.

        • TrickDacy@lemmy.world
          0·
          1 month ago

          But it’s not really a failure of the cable (typically, I know there are edge cases but I don’t think I’ve run into them recently). In a perfect world, it possibly plugging in means it works as expected I guess, but I think it’s a better tradeoff to expect users to know that some devices require a bit more power, and have a plug that still works universally. “This charger doesn’t have enough power” is easy enough to be understood by a 90 yo I would think.

          Chargers should be labelled with the output they provide (mine are), but you are right, devices probably should be labelled better with what they require.

          • tyler@programming.dev
            1·
            1 month ago

            Did you know that USB C cables can be unidirectional? As in, they only work plugged in in one direction. You know how I know that? Cause I’ve soldered usb-c cables myself. I own one that only plugs in in one direction (and works)! I’m honestly very surprised you’ve only had issues with charging, do you not need them for data? So many of my cables are charging only, they literally do not function for data at all. It’s a nightmare.

      • rumba@lemmy.zipEnglish
        1·
        1 month ago

        Well, that covers my phone, but then 45 watts won’t run my laptop, and if I plug in my phone and my laptop, they only get 22 watts each.

        Then the cable: Can it be used for data transmission? What speeds does it cover? Will it transmit data through a DisplayPort or HDMI? If I unplug it from the power and plug it into the USB-C on my monitor, will I get video?

        There are so many features, and it’s not like you can just go ohh I’ll get this USB-4_g cable and know what it does. Even the webpage for the Rundhult has no mention of what features are supported other than 100w.

        The whole spec is complicated AF. You could spend $100 on a brick/cable that can do either 100W or high speed, but if you only need part of the equation, you can spend $30 on a brick and cable. What they support is almost never enumerated, even on the packaging.

        • couldhavebeenyou@lemmy.zip
          0·
          1 month ago

          Your laptop will charge at 22 or 45W. Easy!

          Cable will work for data at usb 2.0, as it says on the packaging. So it won´t work for video alt modes. Easy!

          My monitor has an input cable that allows for maximum video resolution and maximum power delivery. I never need to take it out. Easy!

            • couldhavebeenyou@lemmy.zip
              0·
              1 month ago

              The one that came with my monitor. Easy!

              If I ever need a new one for such an extremely specific task, I´ll make sure to spend a few minutes to make sure I buy the right one. Takes a minute, but easy!

              The Ikea one says it only supports 480Mbps, so that´s a no-no for video. Sad, but easy!

              • tyler@programming.dev
                0·
                1 month ago

                lol, no it’s not easy. You saying “easy” doesn’t mean it is in any sense of the word. Like the person you’ve been responding to before said, usb c can support many things and not support others. For example, USB C cables can literally be unidirectional! That sure isn’t listed because it’s assumed to work bidirectionally, but it’s not a requirement. I literally have a unidirectional usb c cable in fact.

                Just cause it says 480 doesn’t mean jack when

                1. You weren’t talking about this cable originally, you were making a claim about a cable that literally wasn’t mentioned in the article. I gave an example of a cable that directly disproved your comment in a facetious manner.

                2. No consumer should be expected to know usb c standards (that’s literally the point of this conversation)

                3. 480 Mbps has nothing to do with supporting video. This Reddit thread explains it way better than I can, but support for a feature in the cable has absolutely nothing to do with data transfer rate. https://www.reddit.com/r/UsbCHardware/comments/ji87mc/usb_32_gen_2_typec_monitor_compatibility/j5dohy5/

                • couldhavebeenyou@lemmy.zip
                  01·
                  1 month ago

                  1. I was the one that mentioned the 100W Ikea cable as a cheap example to combine with that charger

                  2. Too bad if someone doesn´t want to know the tiniest bit about standards. They´ll have to get help if they don´t want to read the packaging or symbology. Meanwhile the rest of us can enjoy hooking up our phones to our laptop chargers or monitors without having to waste resources on unnecessarily complex cables

                  3. If you want to do something fancy like hooking up to your monitor, you´ll have to use the unusually sturdy cable that came with it or take 2 minutes to read about which cable you need

  • BeBopALouie@lemmy.caEnglish
    0·
    1 month ago

    I spent 40 years in the computer industry. I learned one thing very early on.

    The only standard in the computer industry is that there isn’t one.

    • MotoAsh@lemmy.world
      0·
      1 month ago

      No way, it’s a MASSIVE pile of standards. The entire internet and networking in general only functions because of standards. HTML5’s main benefit was standardizing a ton of BS everyone was playing around with.

      What isn’t standard are the few higher level frameworks and BS people are playing around with, but saying that’s all of the computer industry is like that old meme of Homer getting pulled most of the way up the mountain by sherpas in a sleeping bag…

      • GreenCrunch@lemmy.todayEnglish
        0·
        1 month ago

        Even USB-C is a nightmare. There’s 3.0, 3.1, and 3.2, which were rebranded as “3.2 Gen X” with some stupid stuff there as far as what speed it supports.

        Then it can do DisplayPort as well. There used to be an HDMI alt mode too!

        An Intel computer might have Thunderbolt over the same cable, and can send PCIe signals over the cable to plug in a graphics card or other devices.

        Then there’s USB 4 which works like Thunderbolt but isn’t restricted to Intel devices.

        Then there’s the extended power profile which lets you push 240 W through a USB C port.

        For a while, the USB-C connector was on graphics cards as Virtualink, which was supposed to be a one-cable standardized solution to plugging in VR headsets. Except that no headsets used it.

        Then there’s Nintendo. The Switch has a Type-C port, but does its own stupid thing for video, so it can’t work with a normal dock because it’s a freak.

        So you pick up a random USB C cable and have no information on what it may be capable of, plug it into a port where you again don’t know the capabilities. Its speed may be anywhere between 1.5 MBit/s (USB 1.0 low speed) and 80 GBit/s (USB 4 2.0) and it may provide between 5 and 240 W of power.

        Every charger has a different power output, and sometimes it leads to a stupid situation like the Dell 130 W laptop charger. In theory, 130 W is way more than what most phones will charge at. But it only offers that at I think 20 V, which my phone can’t take. So in practice, your phone will charge at the base 5W over it.

        Dell also has a laptop dock for one of their laptops that uses TWO Type-C ports, for more gooderness or something, I don’t know. Meaning it will only fit that laptop with ports exactly that far apart.

        The USB chaos does lead to fun discoveries, such as when I plugged a Chromecast with Google TV’s power port into a laptop dock and discovered that it actually supports USB inputs, which is cool.

        And Logitech still can’t make a USB-C dongle for their mouse.

        At least it’s not a bunch of proprietary barrel chargers. My parents have a whole box of orphaned chargers with oddly specific voltages from random devices.

        • Trainguyrom@reddthat.comEnglish
          1·
          1 month ago

          But it only offers that at I think 20 V, which my phone can’t take

          This is actually a big part of many of the high speed charging standards that phones use, is it will actually charge at a higher voltage to lower the amperage. I don’t know off the top of my head if USB-PD does this on phones but I know the old Qualcomm Quick Charge standard did it a lot. I think it went as high as 24V if I remember correctly

          Then of course for a while lots of phones supported competing standards of quick charging and nobody allowed anyone else to use the same branding so identifying compatible chargers for your phone’s specific type of quick charge was a royal pain in the butt

  • orbitz@lemmy.ca
    11·
    1 month ago

    Heh at my age (and growing up with computers since the 90s well earlier but I didn’t know cables well) I assume there’s a new one next time I blink. Also at my age I don’t realize I blink as often as I do. So just shrug buy the cables your devices need and not worry too much. Mean it sucks yeah, I got tons of USB cables I never use anymore, but it’s how it goes. Much slower than it used to at least so less issue to complain. If they ever settled on some port that’d work for over 10 years I’d prefer that of course.

  • jaykrown@lemmy.world
    0·
    1 month ago

    USB-C will be around for a long time, it’s a strong standard. Wireless inductive charging won’t take over for a long time because it’s limited in speed, and WiFi/Bluetooth are much slower for data transfer.

    • Jankatarch@lemmy.world
      0·
      1 month ago

      Is there any actual benefit for wireless charging? You still need to plug the charger somewhere and just feels like more expensive way that’s prone to more problems.

      I am all for “research for the sake of research is enough and needs no further justification.” But I still feel like I am missing something here. Why are companies producing and selling it? Am I dumb?

      Only scenario it seems useful is that you can replace your phone’s USB hardware with a small badUSB and rely on wireless charger while cops wonder why they can’t investigate your files on their device.

      • Tomato666@lemmy.sdf.org
        1·
        1 month ago

        I’ve had several phone where the USB socket stops working reliably. At that point it’s easier to use a wireless charger.

        Yes, it’s usually pocket fluff in the socket and it can be picked out, but it takes some time and care to avoid damaging the socket.

        My latest case (Otter) also has a cover that is awkward to open to plug in the lead, so there’s that too.

        As a bonus the charger works with Apple and Android so very convenient as my kids are Macolytes.

      • JustARegularNerd@aussie.zoneEnglish
        1·
        1 month ago

        I guess from a consumer perspective, it can be more convenient (e.g. wireless charging in a car)

        For me, I see it as a way to reduce wear on a charging port, or as an alternative if the port does fail.

        I like it for the latter as I don’t like my devices to be inefficient but it makes me feel better that should the USB-C fail on my phone, it’s not game over for my phone.