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Comment on Realized 99% of all my chargers are USB-C. This can only mean one thing. New USB bout to drop!

rumba@lemmy.zip ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ 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.

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onslaught545@lemmy.zip ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
It’s not a failure to default to a safe level if it can’t negotiate properly. That’s a feature.

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- rumba@lemmy.zip ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
  That’s if the manufacturer doesn’t just install a max wattage chip in every cable.
  
  Unfortunately this is not uncommon.
  
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  - onslaught545@lemmy.zip ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
    I n6ot extremely familiar with the USB-C handshake, but isn’t it between the device and power supply?
    
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    rumba@lemmy.zip ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
    It used to be that simple. You could put a certain value of resistor between two pins and that was that.
    
    This guy covered it quite well
    
    superuser.com/…/what-can-a-program-find-out-about…
    
    In brief, Type-C cable specs are nearly independent from USB data and USB Power Delivery (Type-C can support anything).
    
    By specs, Type-C connector/cable provides two methods of self-identification.
    
    First one is by combination of resistor pulls-up and pulls-down on both sides of CC wires. Since there are two CC pins in Type-C connectors, and several analog levels, many combinations are available. Other than connect function itself and basic determination of source-sink roles and power capacity, several “alternate” functions are defined, as Display Port, Audio, and Debug mode.
    
    The second amendment to Type-C is the mandatory embedding of e-markers into every C-C cable. >The information in e-marker contains name of manufacturer and current carrying capability of particular cable.
    
    The state of CC1/CC2 pins is usually acquired by a special CC-controller chip. The CC-controller communicates with main system by I2C interface. The register-based interface is standardized in Intel document USB Type-C Connector System Software Interface Specification
    
    So, many manufacturers are including markers with maximum settings that exceed the wires’/cables’ capability.
    
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TrickDacy@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
But it’s not really a failure of the cable. 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.

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- rumba@lemmy.zip ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  Admittedly, i’ve only had a couple cable problems and one of those would have likely been labeled wrong as they were cheap cables with max wattage programmed.
  
  One of my users came to me with a C-C phone cable that had used between a MacBook pro and a Mac charger. “This got really hot and started to stink when I used it”
  
  uhh, crap, here have this handed them a 6 foot 100w cable and please throw that old one away I’ll give you a new phone cable too.
  
  My other problem is with QC on random cables. I have some 6’ that won’t pass 25w. I have a Klein tester that will enumerate wattage. I throw away cables that won’t at least support fast charging.
  
  I also have a couple Samsung trio wireless multi-device chargers, they insonsistent. If I use the 45 watt Samsung brick that came with it it works fine. If I use any other brick, it refuses to use anything but a full on 65 watt charger. I don’t know if they ignore the spec, or enumerate differently, maybe they give a different output on 9v than others, but we need to have this overall issue with compatibility and semi-functional usage that just feels janky.
  
  I hope that eventually with GaN and other tech that everything will just do 100w or maybe all devices will go down to only needing 45 watt. It would be super nice if everything just played well together.
  
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  - brbposting@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    
    won’t pass 25w
    
    Reminded of what looked to be a great deal on USB-C cables from a major manufacturer (Anker I think).
    
    Fine print: not for MacBook Pro yaddayadda! Yeah the things can’t hang for it. Gotta spend way more.
    
    I wonder what the best cable labeling solution is for new cables purchased with known specs. Bet a handful of well-resourced geeks do their own printing right on them.
    
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    rumba@lemmy.zip ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
    For a business, it’s buy analyzer and pick a minimum spec.
    
    For a home, pray the reviews are right.
    
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- tyler@programming.dev ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ 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.
  
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  - TrickDacy@lemmy.world ⁨12⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    I have used them as data cables, such as for migrating Android phones. Don’t remember having any issues.
    
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