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Some Reversible USB-C Cables/Adapters Could Cause Irreversible Damage

Posted by timothy on from the good-time-to-go-with-the-brand-name dept.

TheRealHocusLocus writes: Three Decembers ago I lauded the impending death of the trapezoid. Celebration of the rectangle might be premature however, because in the rush-to-market an appalling number of chargers, cables and legacy adapters have been discovered to be non-compliant. There have been performance issues with bad USB implementation all along, but now — with improved conductors USB-C offers to negotiate up to 3A in addition the 900ma base, so use of a non-compliant adapter may result in damage. Google engineer and hero Benson Leung has been waging a one-man compliance campaign of Amazon reviews to warn of dodgy devices and praise the good. Reddit user bmcclure937 offers a spreadsheet summary of the reviews. It's a jungle out there, don't get fried.

4 of 136 comments (clear)

  1. Stupid design by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If you're relying on the cable having enough intelligence to prevent the two devices from hurting each other, you've already messed things up.

  2. Inexpensive reliable testers by John+Allsup · · Score: 3, Insightful

    We need inexpensive reliable testers for usb cables. Basically a box where you plug the cables in and it does the various electrical tests.

    --
    John_Chalisque
    1. Re:Inexpensive reliable testers by SeaFox · · Score: 4, Insightful

      We need inexpensive reliable testers for usb cables. Basically a box where you plug the cables in and it does the various electrical tests.

      Isn't the whole point of standard that the consumer should know that two devices are equitable in abilities?
      The problem here is the owner of the USB 3.0 spec is not releasing their legal hounds on companies manufacturing "USB 3.0" cables that don't truly support the standard.

  3. Re:Not a USB 3 problem by sexconker · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You should never be able to permanently damage a grounded device by connecting something to its ground line. The ground line should be safe for all sane voltages (all bets are obviously off with lightning). On laptops and phones and shit this is a problem because they aren't grounded and have to dump out to the case or something. Even when plugged in, many laptops aren't grounded.

    Modern motherboards advertise physical USB port protection for such bullshit precisely because it's becoming a more common issue with shitty USB devices and cables. It's not a USB 3 problem it's a USB and shitty implementations problem, but that's what happens when you commoditize so hard that all anyone ever does is buy the cheapest item listed that ships with Prime.