You’re not in the EU then it seems. The EU is mandating USB-C now. I personally think it should have come earlier but at least we’re safe from port chaos with new purchases
Man I’ve nearly thrown things away because of this. Things where I would’ve been too lazy to pursue a warranty claim, but still pissed that they didn’t work.
Try multiple chargers and cables and it just won’t charge. Try USB-A brick with A to C cable and it starts charging. Fucking hell.
Those cables are cheap that it’s maybe worth a try, IMHO.
If I remember it correctly the only thing any USB-A to USB-C adaptor has to have to properly allow backwards compatibility is 2 resistors, which are stupidly cheap components (yeah, it will never be able to support things like USB PD charging - which can do all the way up to 100W - but it should still handle about 4.5W from a USB Host device and up to 15W from a dumb charger, which should be more than enough for a wireless keyboard).
I’ll have another look online. The ones I had didn’t work but it’s worth another shot I guess. I’ve got another keyboard now, but it’s useful to have a working backup.
Things like simple microcontrollers with only USB 2.0 support are still the cheapest around plus they have other upsides over the stuff supporting USB 3.0 - namelly being simpler, less powerful and hence consuming less power, so for some things they’re the best option because you don’t really need the processing power of an ARM core - and then there are all sorts of hardware single purpose integrated USB 2.0 and even USB 1.0 microchips (which implement a single, hardcoded, part of the USB protocol), so it makes some sense for the cheapest devices to not have support for USB PD charging or other USB 3.0 functionality.
From my experience with Chinese suppliers (ages ago) it’s almost the opposite of what you say: the competition over there is crazy and almost always price based, so they’ll do crazy shit to shave some cents off the price of their hardware, hence all sorts of cheap hardware from China which comes with a USB-C connector but really only supports USB 2.0 or earlier charging, hence USB-C is realy doing stuff the same way as in the USB-A times.
Also a lot of small Chinese electronics manufacturers aren’t exactly sophisticated in their in-house design capabilities, IMHO: there are a lot of cottage factories over there doing simple electronics like keyboards or mice (or even simpler) were most of the complexity is in some easy to use integrated circuits that somebody else designed (and then right next to those guys there are others designing their own Single Board Computers or Smarthphones)
Or it’s just a very cheap item. I recently bought a rechargeable disposal cannabis vape while out of town for work, I asked the dude for the cheapest dispo they had, bought it and it had a fucking micro USB on it.
Some homeless guys problem though not mine, I probably only used 50mg of the 1g cart and didn’t have to recharge it, so gave it to some homeless dude before I left.
4-5 years ago I stopped buying products that had micro-usb, lightning or any other form of port that wasn’t usb C.
Last week I was looking at a gadget and it had micro-fucking-usb and was produced in early 25! What the fuck?!
You’re not in the EU then it seems. The EU is mandating USB-C now. I personally think it should have come earlier but at least we’re safe from port chaos with new purchases
I’m in Europe, but not in a EU country. In Norway we adopt most, if not all, eu laws and mandates.
The port chaos back in the mid 2000s was a mess! We’ve come a long way since then.
Now we have one port but that one port has loads of different speeds depending on the type. Plus USB3 naming convention is a total mess.
We’ve come a long way and I’m so glad for a single interface, but USB still has plenty of room for improvement
I bought a product (2pk actually) the other day that had mini-usb ports . . .
And there’s are those gadgets that have a USB-C socket but don’t have the correct circuitry, so that they only work with a USB-A to C cable.
I’m glad I watched some video on this I vaguely recalled, as I may have accidentally thrown a shaver away because it wasn’t charging…
There is a special place in hell for those fuckers
Man I’ve nearly thrown things away because of this. Things where I would’ve been too lazy to pursue a warranty claim, but still pissed that they didn’t work.
Try multiple chargers and cables and it just won’t charge. Try USB-A brick with A to C cable and it starts charging. Fucking hell.
This is stupid. It’s around 0.3 cents worth of components to make it work properly.
I bought a cheap ish keyboard that would only charge with USB A - USB C cable that came with it. Nothing else worked.
My son lost the cable and that keyboard is now junk.
Have you tried another USB-A to USB-C cable?
Those cables are cheap that it’s maybe worth a try, IMHO.
If I remember it correctly the only thing any USB-A to USB-C adaptor has to have to properly allow backwards compatibility is 2 resistors, which are stupidly cheap components (yeah, it will never be able to support things like USB PD charging - which can do all the way up to 100W - but it should still handle about 4.5W from a USB Host device and up to 15W from a dumb charger, which should be more than enough for a wireless keyboard).
I’ll have another look online. The ones I had didn’t work but it’s worth another shot I guess. I’ve got another keyboard now, but it’s useful to have a working backup.
It is cheaper to have manufactured & is very much a “known”, but I’m right there with you. If it’s not USB-C, fuck 'em.
Yeah it’s usually a sign that there is no competition in the space since the manufacturer doesn’t want to redesign the item if they don’t have to
Things like simple microcontrollers with only USB 2.0 support are still the cheapest around plus they have other upsides over the stuff supporting USB 3.0 - namelly being simpler, less powerful and hence consuming less power, so for some things they’re the best option because you don’t really need the processing power of an ARM core - and then there are all sorts of hardware single purpose integrated USB 2.0 and even USB 1.0 microchips (which implement a single, hardcoded, part of the USB protocol), so it makes some sense for the cheapest devices to not have support for USB PD charging or other USB 3.0 functionality.
From my experience with Chinese suppliers (ages ago) it’s almost the opposite of what you say: the competition over there is crazy and almost always price based, so they’ll do crazy shit to shave some cents off the price of their hardware, hence all sorts of cheap hardware from China which comes with a USB-C connector but really only supports USB 2.0 or earlier charging, hence USB-C is realy doing stuff the same way as in the USB-A times.
Also a lot of small Chinese electronics manufacturers aren’t exactly sophisticated in their in-house design capabilities, IMHO: there are a lot of cottage factories over there doing simple electronics like keyboards or mice (or even simpler) were most of the complexity is in some easy to use integrated circuits that somebody else designed (and then right next to those guys there are others designing their own Single Board Computers or Smarthphones)
Or it’s just a very cheap item. I recently bought a rechargeable disposal cannabis vape while out of town for work, I asked the dude for the cheapest dispo they had, bought it and it had a fucking micro USB on it.
Some homeless guys problem though not mine, I probably only used 50mg of the 1g cart and didn’t have to recharge it, so gave it to some homeless dude before I left.