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.
Realized 99% of all my chargers are USB-C. This can only mean one thing. New USB bout to drop!
Submitted 1 day ago by Daft_ish@lemmy.dbzer0.com to showerthoughts@lemmy.world
Comments
COASTER1921@lemmy.ml 19 hours ago
vivalapivo@lemmy.today 18 hours ago
may not be able to charge
Or simply smoke with a wrong one
COASTER1921@lemmy.ml 17 hours 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.
towerful@programming.dev 17 hours ago
That’s it re-stoking the internal combustion engine. It’s perfectly fine
UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 8 hours 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 50 minutes 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.
rumba@lemmy.zip 1 day 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 day 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.zip 1 day 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.
kibiz0r@midwest.social 1 day ago
Yeah. It was already happening circa USB3. It’s not because of the connectors, but the broadening spectrum of requirements of client devices.
Maybe USB-C was a missed opportunity to address it, but it certainly didn’t “start the fire”.
ayyy@sh.itjust.works 1 day 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.
iii@mander.xyz 7 hours ago
One day usb-C will be able to do my taxes and walk my dog
TrickDacy@lemmy.world 1 day 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.
bogobinto57@lemmy.myserv.one 9 hours ago
Yeah I think some of my cables charge my phone at different speeds.
rumba@lemmy.zip 1 day 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.
Onomatopoeia@lemmy.cafe 1 day ago
I’ve had exacrly 5x more failures of USB C ports than I’ve had of micro that is 5, and 1), and I’ve had way more micro devices over a much longer period (and still have some). It may technically be a “better” port, but my experience doesn’t reflect that.
I have to label cables and chargers because some C devices today still don’t support all charging specs, so I have to verify a device charges on a charger to know for sure.
At what point shouldn’t a device be able to negotiate down to the lowest charge capability, instead of not charge at all? That the spec permits this to happen is a major failure.
It’s fantastic that C is the convergence standard, but let’s not act like it’s close to perfect. I have to verify with every device I use if the charger actually works for it, and not just “is the charger powerful enough”, but “does it actually charge even though I know it should because it supports all the capabilities as the device”.
legion02@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Yeah, but at least you’re not sol when you’re at an apple house with an android device at 10% battery any more. If you need a cable with very specific capabilities that’s on you to do that research imo. The alternative is making every cable more expensive when most people don’t need it.
Trainguyrom@reddthat.com 18 hours ago
I’m looking forwards to when my in-laws upgrade their phones and no longer get to use their “superior” lightning ports
HugeNerd@lemmy.ca 23 hours ago
does have a tendency to get a little dirty though
Dollar store keyboard cleaner air cans are good for this. There really should have been a little spring-loaded flap on the connector, like later SPDIF has.
rumba@lemmy.zip 22 hours ago
A mechanical cover would have been good. Hell, even a rubber dust boot attached at one end would have been useful.
I keep a little deox-it around and use wooden toothpicks dipped in it. Pocket lint, and dust seem to collect on the left and the right on the ports and make them feel like they’re loose.
I had one the other week that was really bad I ended up digging it out with a dental pick. The phone had gotten wet and it was slowly making diy concrete down in there. But yeah much better to rely on air or not conductive tools, any to scratch off the protective plating
Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 day ago
To solve the issue of identifying the capabilities of the cable: CaberQ.
Though a bit expensive for what it is.rumba@lemmy.zip 1 day ago
Would have been nice for some kind of forethought on a labeling system.
But there’s so many combinations now of power, data, audio, and video, and sup glasses of thunderbolt, display port, HDMI. Even if you put a 4-digit code on every cable listing exactly what they support people would never be able to understand and track down backward compatibility.
I’d be surprised in the next port change if we don’t end up with some fiber optic in there.
MisterD@lemmy.ca 1 day ago
caberqu.com/…/20-43-c2c-caberqu-746052578813.html… It’s not awful for price but there are more complete testers like treedix: treedix.com
What bothers me is all these testers assume you are a USB hardware wizard and know which pin combo supports which USB standard.
I want something that tells you how fast and how much power the wire can handle.
The newer cables have chips to talk to chargers to not exceed the power ratings. Why can’t these chips or testers also tell you how fast the wire can handle?
brisk@aussie.zone 1 day ago
rumba@lemmy.zip 1 day ago
I saw that one back in the day. Never seen any of it in the wild yet.
Would be nice to get TB/DP on there too.
couldhavebeenyou@lemmy.zip 1 day ago
Ikea PD-PPS charger + Ikea 100W cable = done.
rumba@lemmy.zip 1 day 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.
hbar@lemmy.ml 22 hours ago
USB C++
pelya@lemmy.world 16 hours ago
bitjunkie@lemmy.world 9 hours ago
This pic gave me an aneurysm irl
frezik@lemmy.blahaj.zone 18 hours ago
C started as B, which came from BCPL. The successor should be called “P”.
“USB P” would be easily confused with “USB PD”. The USB Implementers Forum would consider this a feature.
bitjunkie@lemmy.world 21 hours ago
Please anything but USB Objective-C
MnemonicBump@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 hours ago
Wish granted: You get USB Interactive-C
curry@programming.dev 19 hours ago
USB HolyC, now with more holes.
InvalidName2@lemmy.zip 19 hours ago
Nah, USB DeezNuts
Grizzlyboy@lemmy.zip 1 day ago
4-5 years ago I stopped buying products that had micro-usb, lightning or any other form of port that wasn’t usb C.
Last week I was looking at a gadget and it had micro-fucking-usb and was produced in early 25! What the fuck?!
bandwidthcrisis@lemmy.world 1 day ago
And there’s are those gadgets that have a USB-C socket but don’t have the correct circuitry, so that they only work with a USB-A to C cable.
frank_exchange_of_views@sh.itjust.works 1 day ago
There is a special place in hell for those fuckers
boonhet@sopuli.xyz 1 day ago
Man I’ve nearly thrown things away because of this. Things where I would’ve been too lazy to pursue a warranty claim, but still pissed that they didn’t work.
Try multiple chargers and cables and it just won’t charge. Try USB-A brick with A to C cable and it starts charging. Fucking hell.
vaionko@sopuli.xyz 1 day ago
This is stupid. It’s around 0.3 cents worth of components to make it work properly.
iamnotme@feddit.uk 1 day ago
I bought a cheap ish keyboard that would only charge with USB A - USB C cable that came with it. Nothing else worked.
My son lost the cable and that keyboard is now junk.
MisterFrog@lemmy.world 23 hours ago
I’m glad I watched some video on this I vaguely recalled, as I may have accidentally thrown a shaver away because it wasn’t charging…
4shtonButcher@discuss.tchncs.de 1 day ago
You’re not in the EU then it seems. The EU is mandating USB-C now. I personally think it should have come earlier but at least we’re safe from port chaos with new purchases
CoffeeJunkie@lemmy.cafe 1 day ago
It is cheaper to have manufactured & is very much a “known”, but I’m right there with you. If it’s not USB-C, fuck 'em.
tempest@lemmy.ca 1 day ago
Yeah it’s usually a sign that there is no competition in the space since the manufacturer doesn’t want to redesign the item if they don’t have to
psycho_driver@lemmy.world 1 day ago
I bought a product (2pk actually) the other day that had mini-usb ports . . .
cabillaud@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Image 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.
Daft_ish@lemmy.dbzer0.com 23 hours 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!
jaykrown@lemmy.world 1 day 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.
buttnugget@lemmy.world 1 day ago
USB-C is just the connector type, not a particular speed.
Jankatarch@lemmy.world 1 day 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.
trepX@sh.itjust.works 1 day ago
Wifi is generally faster though, at least from phones. They often have horrible data transfer with MTP, and use USB2.0, so maybe 20-30MB/s real-world. Wifi is much faster, I usually get double that or more on my phone. Way more fun to transfer videos etc, and you don’t need to plug it to another device to push something to network storage.
AdrianTheFrog@lemmy.world 10 hours ago
Idk about the wifi thing, my phone should technically be able to do >500 Mbps to my computer yet it still transfers files at like 10 over wifi or usb
500 would be more than good enough but 10 is not
(It’s a OnePlus 12, age is not the issue)
I would also dislike the loss but I don’t think data speed is really the issue. Mostly that I couldn’t connect peripherals like my flash drive or sd card anymore
AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Should we tell them about usb d?
SkunkWorkz@lemmy.world 22 hours 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.xyz 7 hours ago
Mandatory for how long? Can’t be stuck with this shitty spec forever I hope?
orbitz@lemmy.ca 8 hours 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.
latenightnoir@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 day ago
USB-D!😎 Shaped like a crescent moon!
lemmie689@lemmy.sdf.org 1 day ago
And they should be secured with thumb screws, like an old parallel cable.
dohpaz42@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Nope. Micro USB-C.
einlander@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Usb-barrel jack
Slovene@feddit.nl 1 day ago
USB-Č
Bebopalouie@lemmy.ca 1 day 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.
criticon@lemmy.ca 22 hours ago
Time for USB-C micro and mini!
notarobot@lemmy.zip 20 hours ago
Some phones are starting to get limited by the size of the USB C port. So maybe.
(Latest galaxy fold)
j4k3@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Not unless they want to go bigger. The USB-C pin pitch is too closely spaced for the lowest tier of printed circuit boards from all major board houses.
You might have some chargers get deprecated eventually because there are two major forms of smart charging. The first type is done in discrete larger steps like 5v, 9v, 15v, or 21v. But there is another type that is not well advertised publicly in hype marketing nonsense and is somewhat hit or miss if the PD controller actually has the mode. That mode is continuously adjustable.
The power drop losses from something like 5v to 3v3 requires a lot of overbuilding of components for heat dissipation. The required linear regular may only have a drop of 0.4-1.2 volts from input to stable output. Building for more of a drop is just waste heat. If the charge controller can monitor the input quality and request only the required voltage for the drop with a small safety margin, components can be made smaller and cheaper. The mode to support this in USB-C exists. I think it is called PPS if I recall correctly. A month or two back I watched someone build a little electronics bench power supply using this mode of USB-C PD.
TheReturnOfPEB@reddthat.com 1 day ago
USB-Cya
whotookkarl@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 day ago
No exposed hardware ports seems to be the direction it’s been moving towards
thesohoriots@lemmy.world 1 day ago
I can only dream of FireWire’s return
dinckelman@lemmy.world 1 day ago
The connector itself is perfectly fine, which is incredible, and exactly what people wanted. Plus there’s a ton of room for technological improvement under the hood, if needed. USB/Thunderbolt standards spread for a whole range of specs now, all under the Type-C connector
Flax_vert@feddit.uk 1 day ago
This implies you have at least 100 chargers and 1 isn’t USB C
don@lemmy.ca 19 hours ago
USB Chartreuse
Aussiemandeus@aussie.zone 1 day ago
Yeah the planes I’ve been flying on have had usb in seats now, the plans ate old I’m sure but it’s just in time for me to have usbc to c cables and can’t use them still haha
laserwash2000@sh.itjust.works 1 day ago
Everyone around the world is benefiting from the EU common charger law: …europa.eu/…/eu-common-charger-rules-power-all-yo…
Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Dear Europe. Please take me in. Do you have any English speaking countries? Your laws seem to be geared towards benefiting people. Not tyrants and corporations.
laserwash2000@sh.itjust.works 1 day ago
They did have one heavily English speaking country, but those guys peaced out a few years back. Now it’s just Ireland and Malta (where English is an official language).
x00z@lemmy.world 1 day ago
I think the Netherlands has the highest amount of L2 English speakers.
en.wikipedia.org/…/English_language_in_the_Nether…
AdrianTheFrog@lemmy.world 9 hours ago
The best way to learn a language is through immersion. Honestly I feel like it would be a lot of fun to learn a language in Europe since the majority of people also speak English well if you really need to fall back to that.
CatLikeLemming@lemmy.blahaj.zone 23 hours ago
There’s good and bad. Every few months the EU tries to ban encryption without backdoors again for instance, because “oh dear, think of the children!”.
Quacksalber@sh.itjust.works 1 day ago
Ireland speaks mostly English as far as I know.
ArmoredThirteen@lemmy.zip 1 day ago
I’m moving to Sweden soon, just about everyone there speaks English! And also Swedish is such a a pretty language I’m really excited to be immersed in it
Coelacanth@feddit.nu 1 day ago
Any Scandinavian country should have a population ranging from proficient to fluent in English.
Capricorn_Geriatric@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Lucky for you, you can get around with English in most places.
Ireland didn’t leave the EU, so that’s an option.
In most big cities you can get around just fine. In some you can actually live very comfortably.
As far as laws go, as an EU citizen one is entitled to communication with any public institutions one may come across in their preferred “official language”. Stuff like paying your utility bills, registering health insurance, similar bureaucratic stuff, as well as getting stopped by the police. You can insist on doing it in any one of 28 languages, including English.
Usually that’s a bit overkill, and whoever you’re dealing with will be happy to speak to you in English or find someone else who does if they don’t. I assume the same goes for non-citizens. German and French are also quite popular, but English is by far the most ubiquitous.
irelephant@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 day ago
Ireland, but housing is shite right now.