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1. Foone🏳️‍⚧️ (foone@digipres.club)'s status on Sunday, 25-Feb-2024 08:50:16 JST Foone🏳️‍⚧️

   Today I'm doing a USB cable test.
   I have quite a few to go through

   • Foone🏳️‍⚧️ (foone@digipres.club)'s status on Sunday, 25-Feb-2024 08:52:35 JST Foone🏳️‍⚧️

     in reply to

     ahh, one of those famous three-wire USB cables.
     GND, VBUS, and D+ are connected, D- isn't. I'm sure that'll work fine

   • :biromantic_asexualflag::demiboy_flag::pentacon: (instereo256@realworldsunny.name)'s status on Sunday, 25-Feb-2024 08:59:45 JST :biromantic_asexualflag::demiboy_flag::pentacon:

     in reply to

     @foone@digipres.club the amount of retractable cables is scaring me

   • Foone🏳️‍⚧️ (foone@digipres.club)'s status on Sunday, 25-Feb-2024 08:59:45 JST Foone🏳️‍⚧️

     in reply to

     • :biromantic_asexualflag::demiboy_flag::pentacon:

     @instereo256 yeah I got a package of like 50 FPGAs for a project once, and each individual one came with a retractable USB cable. I ended up with all the cables

   • Foone🏳️‍⚧️ (foone@digipres.club)'s status on Sunday, 25-Feb-2024 09:03:23 JST Foone🏳️‍⚧️

     in reply to

     also this tester can tell if a USB-C cable is inserted upside down or not.
     I kinda hate having this ability

   • Foone🏳️‍⚧️ (foone@digipres.club)'s status on Sunday, 25-Feb-2024 09:09:32 JST Foone🏳️‍⚧️

     in reply to

     also I'm using this device in the CR2032-powered 3v configuration, right?

     I own at least one cable that works at 5v but doesn't at 3.3v... because it has some smarts in it, and they don't run at 3.3v

   • Foone🏳️‍⚧️ (foone@digipres.club)'s status on Sunday, 25-Feb-2024 09:19:56 JST Foone🏳️‍⚧️

     in reply to

     • Quinn9282 🖥️🌙✌️

     @Quinn9282 this amount plus another pile or so

   • Quinn9282 🖥️🌙✌️ (quinn9282@mas.to)'s status on Sunday, 25-Feb-2024 09:19:57 JST Quinn9282 🖥️🌙✌️

     in reply to

     @foone How many USB cables do you have?!

   • Foone🏳️‍⚧️ (foone@digipres.club)'s status on Sunday, 25-Feb-2024 09:27:41 JST Foone🏳️‍⚧️

     in reply to

     Huh. Does anyone know what kind of USB connector this is? I'll need an adapter I guess...

   • Stormgren (stormgren@obsidianmoon.com)'s status on Sunday, 25-Feb-2024 09:35:00 JST Stormgren

     in reply to

     @foone Where's the cable checker from?

   • Foone🏳️‍⚧️ (foone@digipres.club)'s status on Sunday, 25-Feb-2024 09:35:00 JST Foone🏳️‍⚧️

     in reply to

     • Stormgren

     @Stormgren
     here:
     https://www.amazon.com/Treedix-Cable-Checker-Charging-Type-C/dp/B0BW8ZC7YD

   • Foone🏳️‍⚧️ (foone@digipres.club)'s status on Sunday, 25-Feb-2024 09:37:19 JST Foone🏳️‍⚧️

     in reply to

     BTW the tester is this one:
     https://www.amazon.com/Treedix-Cable-Checker-Charging-Type-C/dp/B0BW8ZC7YD

   • Foone🏳️‍⚧️ (foone@digipres.club)'s status on Sunday, 25-Feb-2024 09:43:59 JST Foone🏳️‍⚧️

     in reply to

     Fun fact: Power-only USB cables are like bees, they leave their stinger behind when they sting you

   • Foone🏳️‍⚧️ (foone@digipres.club)'s status on Sunday, 25-Feb-2024 09:49:11 JST Foone🏳️‍⚧️

     in reply to

     ooh, nasty: I found a USB-C cable that consistently has a disconnected D+ in one orientation, and intermittently in the other orientation.

     So it only works <50% of the time. Nasty.

     Kuba Orlik repeated this.
   • Foone🏳️‍⚧️ (foone@digipres.club)'s status on Sunday, 25-Feb-2024 10:33:51 JST Foone🏳️‍⚧️

     in reply to

     I decided to cut out the middleman and test all my USB extender cables at once.

     Good news: all eight of them work.

   • Foone🏳️‍⚧️ (foone@digipres.club)'s status on Sunday, 25-Feb-2024 10:51:23 JST Foone🏳️‍⚧️

     in reply to

     okay all "normal" cables tested. I'm now into the realm of tricky ones this can't test directly.

     things like male-to-male micro-usb.

     why?

   • Foone🏳️‍⚧️ (foone@digipres.club)'s status on Sunday, 25-Feb-2024 10:54:14 JST Foone🏳️‍⚧️

     in reply to

     and the frankly surprising number of cables I own which have more than 2 ends.

     usually they're like usb 3.0 micro B to usb A and an additional power-only usb A, but sometimes they're like USB A to usb mini to usb A female

   • Foone🏳️‍⚧️ (foone@digipres.club)'s status on Sunday, 25-Feb-2024 10:57:49 JST Foone🏳️‍⚧️

     in reply to

     that one has all the data pins connected, so unlike the usual kind of 3-end connectors which are just there to get some extra power for external devices, this one will break a lot if you connect all three ends

   • Foone🏳️‍⚧️ (foone@digipres.club)'s status on Sunday, 25-Feb-2024 11:01:15 JST Foone🏳️‍⚧️

     in reply to

     I still need to do that for an AC power cable.

     like, people are always saying you should never make a male-to-male power cable... but no one ever said I shouldn't make a male-to-male-to-male cable!

   • Foone🏳️‍⚧️ (foone@digipres.club)'s status on Sunday, 25-Feb-2024 11:04:39 JST Foone🏳️‍⚧️

     in reply to

     how do I test a male micro to male micro cable?

   • vxo (vxo@digipres.club)'s status on Sunday, 25-Feb-2024 11:06:42 JST vxo

     in reply to

     @foone ah, my sleep paralysis demon USB

   • Foone🏳️‍⚧️ (foone@digipres.club)'s status on Sunday, 25-Feb-2024 11:08:26 JST Foone🏳️‍⚧️

     in reply to

     yeah I don't think I have any way to test this.

   • Foone🏳️‍⚧️ (foone@digipres.club)'s status on Sunday, 25-Feb-2024 11:16:26 JST Foone🏳️‍⚧️

     in reply to

     wait! I got it.

     I have a micro-usb to usb-c adapter. slip that on the end, and now it's a USB-c to micro-usb cable.

   • Foone🏳️‍⚧️ (foone@digipres.club)'s status on Sunday, 25-Feb-2024 11:32:56 JST Foone🏳️‍⚧️

     in reply to

     okay so it seems that the way this device works means that it's always going to run something like 0.5v across the cables. So no matter how I power it, cr2032 or VIN, it can't test my couple of cables that need +5v

   • Foone🏳️‍⚧️ (foone@digipres.club)'s status on Sunday, 25-Feb-2024 11:38:31 JST Foone🏳️‍⚧️

     in reply to

     For example, this micro-USB cable that has LEDs in it to show when it's connected.

   • Foone🏳️‍⚧️ (foone@digipres.club)'s status on Sunday, 25-Feb-2024 11:46:11 JST Foone🏳️‍⚧️

     in reply to

     • Rockwell Schrock

     @schrockwell nope! I think it's some bad external harddrive that used the wrong connector for some reason

   • Rockwell Schrock (schrockwell@mastodon.social)'s status on Sunday, 25-Feb-2024 11:46:12 JST Rockwell Schrock

     in reply to

     @foone Is that for OTG? E.g. connect two phones together to do…something?

   • Foone🏳️‍⚧️ (foone@digipres.club)'s status on Sunday, 25-Feb-2024 11:52:58 JST Foone🏳️‍⚧️

     in reply to

     Or these USB A to micro connectors, which are supposed to be switchable between power-only and data+power.

     ONE of them works, the other doesn't. It only does power, and windows throws up a "USB device malfunctioned" error when you try to switch it to data mode

     (unfortunately when I connected them both for the picture, I forgot which was which)

   • Foone🏳️‍⚧️ (foone@digipres.club)'s status on Sunday, 25-Feb-2024 11:59:41 JST Foone🏳️‍⚧️

     in reply to

     okay all done. Let's see the count:
     1 power-only mini-usb cable
     1 power-only USB-C cable
     4 bad cables
     3 magneticly attached cables I'm throwing away because I have lost the other half

     TWENTY FUCKING SEVEN power-only micro-USB cables.

     All have been beheaded and can now be thrown away.

   • Foone🏳️‍⚧️ (foone@digipres.club)'s status on Sunday, 25-Feb-2024 12:05:15 JST Foone🏳️‍⚧️

     in reply to

     and one cable has defeated me:

     lightning to micro-USB.

     Normally I could do the same trick I did with the micro-micro cable, but in this case, the cable is too short for that. Since I don't have any USB-C or micro extension cables, I can't make it reach

   • Foone🏳️‍⚧️ (foone@digipres.club)'s status on Sunday, 25-Feb-2024 12:09:01 JST Foone🏳️‍⚧️

     in reply to

     • eris

     @eris Many things that shouldn't exist. Welcome to USB

   • eris (eris@akkoma.meows.gay)'s status on Sunday, 25-Feb-2024 12:09:10 JST eris

     in reply to
     @foone why. what. why does that exist.
   • Foone🏳️‍⚧️ (foone@digipres.club)'s status on Sunday, 25-Feb-2024 12:11:11 JST Foone🏳️‍⚧️

     in reply to

     • Ian

     @soviut that was the case many years ago, but since then I have clearly engaged in a spurt of proactively velcroing them together so that they won't do that

   • Ian (soviut@hachyderm.io)'s status on Sunday, 25-Feb-2024 12:11:12 JST Ian

     in reply to

     @foone this photo is clearly staged. In reality, each one of these cables would be unwound and knotted with several of its neighbours such that pulling on one cable causes the entire ball to shift and tighten.

     Bonus points if at least one of the cables isn't even USB and has a big wall wart on the end.

   • Foone🏳️‍⚧️ (foone@digipres.club)'s status on Sunday, 25-Feb-2024 12:23:13 JST Foone🏳️‍⚧️

     in reply to

     • Adrian Chadd <verified.png>

     @erikarn it needs 5v over V+/gnd to run.

     I think it runs 0.5v across all pins: that's how the tester works

   • Adrian Chadd <verified.png> (erikarn@mstdn.social)'s status on Sunday, 25-Feb-2024 12:23:14 JST Adrian Chadd <verified.png>

     in reply to

     @foone across which pins? D+/D- ? V+/gnd?

   • Foone🏳️‍⚧️ (foone@digipres.club)'s status on Sunday, 25-Feb-2024 12:30:27 JST Foone🏳️‍⚧️

     in reply to

     • quixote

     @quixote I do know the meaning (and I'm not a man) of trouble, that's what I had BEFORE I added the velcro

   • quixote (quixote@mastodon.nz)'s status on Sunday, 25-Feb-2024 12:30:28 JST quixote

     in reply to

     @foone My god, man. You have each cable in that pile neatly looped with its own rubber band. You don't know the meaning of the word "trouble." The rest of us, we're just living proof of Spontaneous Knotting of Agitated String https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.0611320104

   • vxo (vxo@digipres.club)'s status on Sunday, 25-Feb-2024 12:52:31 JST vxo

     in reply to

     @foone I'm somehow glad to have never seen this nor the use case for it. Somewhere I might still have some devices that required a cursed A to A type cable which actually came with a warning label on it not to lunch the interfaces on two PCs by attempting to connect them together, but that's about as close as I've gotten

   • vxo (vxo@digipres.club)'s status on Sunday, 25-Feb-2024 12:56:07 JST vxo

     in reply to

     @foone I was just looking at the tester to see where to get one and

     Heh heh heh tree dix

   • Lothus Marque (lothus@mastodon.social)'s status on Sunday, 25-Feb-2024 13:43:18 JST Lothus Marque

     in reply to

     @foone How did you possibly come into that many power-only cables?! I've only ever run into... I think maybe five in my life, and they were all like... a foot at most and had come with some cheap chargeable device.

   • Foone🏳️‍⚧️ (foone@digipres.club)'s status on Sunday, 25-Feb-2024 13:43:18 JST Foone🏳️‍⚧️

     in reply to

     • Lothus Marque

     @lothus I don't know, but I hate them

   • Foone🏳️‍⚧️ (foone@digipres.club)'s status on Sunday, 25-Feb-2024 15:50:12 JST Foone🏳️‍⚧️

     in reply to

     • William

     @phenidone sadly my rester can't tell if wires are swapped, even if I had only one cable

   • William (phenidone@mstdn.social)'s status on Sunday, 25-Feb-2024 15:50:13 JST William

     in reply to

     @foone oh you mean an even number of them have pin-swaps?

   • Foone🏳️‍⚧️ (foone@digipres.club)'s status on Thursday, 29-Feb-2024 03:36:41 JST Foone🏳️‍⚧️

     in reply to

     my wife randomly found a cable in the bedroom, and I ran off with it to stick on the tester. Guess what? It's a USB-C charge only cable!

     We must stay ever vigilant, the threat never ends.

   • William D. Jones (cr1901@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 29-Feb-2024 04:13:32 JST William D. Jones

     in reply to

     @foone Why does the cable checker need a battery? In case both sides are dead?

   • Foone🏳️‍⚧️ (foone@digipres.club)'s status on Thursday, 29-Feb-2024 04:13:32 JST Foone🏳️‍⚧️

     in reply to

     • William D. Jones

     @cr1901 if it didn't have a battery, how would it light the LEDs? the cable is plugged into the device at both ends, there's nowhere else for it to get power

   • Foone🏳️‍⚧️ (foone@digipres.club)'s status on Thursday, 29-Feb-2024 04:24:52 JST Foone🏳️‍⚧️

     in reply to

     • Trammell Hudson

     @th nice use of the magnet with the floppy. Also that's a great way to store USB cables, I should think about doing that.

   • Trammell Hudson (th@social.v.st)'s status on Thursday, 29-Feb-2024 04:24:54 JST Trammell Hudson

     in reply to

     @foone I've managed to avoid collecting any power-only USB cables through diligence, although I still might have too many.

   • VeNT (vent@mastodon.online)'s status on Thursday, 29-Feb-2024 08:25:37 JST VeNT

     in reply to

     @foone my eyes are getting old. is that IEEE 1394 or something more exotic? I think I've an apple charger for an _old_ ipod that uses that somewhere. back when apple still thought they could make it a thing.

   • Foone🏳️‍⚧️ (foone@digipres.club)'s status on Thursday, 29-Feb-2024 08:25:37 JST Foone🏳️‍⚧️

     in reply to

     • VeNT

     @VeNT it is IEEE 1394, yeah