I have this problem in practice plugging my Pixel 5 phone into my car for Android Auto. The cable only works in one orientation. Android Auto is notorious for being very finicky about connections; no one's really figured it out but it seems to work better with shorter cables and of course higher quality cables. I've assumed my particular problem was some quirk of the connector fit, but now I'm wondering if it could be related to the asymmetry in the data pin design.