Re:USB inventor explains why the connector was not designed ...
by nucleardog on Monday October 09, 2023 @08:43PM
(#37827296)
Could they not have done… something else besides make everything visually identical? At least give us a fighting chance?
In a perfect world require every port to have the supported modes displayed beside it, and every cable to have the supported modes etched on the metal connector or something? Lightning bolt for PD, little screen icon for video, something?
It will fall apart as soon as cheap unlicensed electronics hit the market, but at least in general use “hook this brand name laptop up to this brand name monitor with this brand name cable” would not be a seemingly completely inscrutable trial-and-error problem.
Re:USB inventor explains why the connector was not designed ...
by IshKebab on Tuesday October 10, 2023 @02:13AM
(#37829018)
They do try to get manufacturers to print symbols next to the ports, but that isn't really a full solution anyway. There are too many modes, and you have things like hubs to deal with.
I suspect the real answer is better software support to tell you why something isn't working.
Re:USB inventor explains why the connector was not designed ...
by crote on Tuesday October 10, 2023 @06:59AM
(#37830573)
> In a perfect world require every port to have the supported modes displayed beside it, and every cable to have the supported modes etched on the metal connector or something? Lightning bolt for PD, little screen icon for video, something?
Guess what? That's already the case! Manufacturers just choose to completely ignore that part of the specification.
Kind of hilarious. It's the only example I've ever seen though so not a real problem IMO.
The cables issue is real, but I don't really see the alternative. Would everyone really be happier if all USB-C cables had to be expensive thick 40 Gb/s 100W cables? No.