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A comment on USB inventor explains why the connector was not designed to be reversible. Parent comment

Re:USB inventor explains why the connector was not designed ... by Ajedi32 on Monday October 09, 2023 @04:33PM (#37825149)
Yes, I have seen some products still using micro-B. I've generally just avoided them because I don't want to have to carry another type of cable, so maybe that's colored my perception a bit of how widespread USB-C usage is.

For the products you've purchased that came with an A-to-C cable, have you tried using them with a plain C-to-C cable? In my experience usually that will "just work". (Maybe there are some power banks out there that don't support outputting power through their USB-C port. If those exist I've managed to avoid them so far.)

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Re:USB inventor explains why the connector was not designed ... by Izkata on Monday October 09, 2023 @05:06PM (#37825482)
Just tried plugging my phone into one of those power banks like that: The phone recognized it was plugged into USB, but didn't start charging. The light on the power bank did turn on though, so I redid it with a USB power meter: The power bank was sucking power from my phone at about 3.4 watts.
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Re:USB inventor explains why the connector was not designed ... by cesarb on Monday October 09, 2023 @06:32PM (#37826281)
> The power bank was sucking power from my phone at about 3.4 watts.

At least on Android, there's an option to change the power direction (IIRC, it's in the same place where you choose the data connection mode). I have to use that option to switch the direction whenever I use the USB-C cable to charge my phone from my laptop, otherwise it tries to charge the laptop from the phone.

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Re:USB inventor explains why the connector was not designed ... by Izkata on Monday October 09, 2023 @07:15PM (#37826651)
I know I have that option for wireless charging, but at least for this power bank I can't switch the direction. It says on that screen that the connection is controlled by the other device and fails to switch.
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