What the HELL is this cable?
Moderators: Bookworm, starkruzr, MrFireDragon, PrettyPrincess, Wapsi
- AnotherFairportfan
- Posts: 6402
- Joined: Thu May 01, 2014 2:53 pm
What the HELL is this cable?
I was looking for my saddle stapler, rummaging through some stuff, and when i found it, i also found this.
At first i thought it was just a printer cable - then i looked more closely.
It was still in the original OEM bag and sitting on my printer table, so i assume it had to have come with something i own, but i'll be damned if i can figure out what kind of connector this is. (The other end appears to be a standard USB "A".)
SO - what IS it?
At first i thought it was just a printer cable - then i looked more closely.
It was still in the original OEM bag and sitting on my printer table, so i assume it had to have come with something i own, but i'll be damned if i can figure out what kind of connector this is. (The other end appears to be a standard USB "A".)
SO - what IS it?
Proof Positive the world is not flat: If it were, cats would have pushed everything off the edge by now.
Re: What the HELL is this cable?
Don't let other peoples limitations become your constraints!
My Deviant Art scribbles
The Atomic Guide to Basic GIMP Stuff
My Deviant Art scribbles
The Atomic Guide to Basic GIMP Stuff
- AnotherFairportfan
- Posts: 6402
- Joined: Thu May 01, 2014 2:53 pm
Re: What the HELL is this cable?
Yeah.
Next question - where did I get it?
Next question - where did I get it?
Proof Positive the world is not flat: If it were, cats would have pushed everything off the edge by now.
Re: What the HELL is this cable?
You have a USB 3 extension card in your comput-o-box? I've seen those upgrades for sale -- comes with a cable.
Don't let other peoples limitations become your constraints!
My Deviant Art scribbles
The Atomic Guide to Basic GIMP Stuff
My Deviant Art scribbles
The Atomic Guide to Basic GIMP Stuff
- AmriloJim
- Posts: 1190
- Joined: Sat Aug 04, 2012 10:47 pm
- Location: 35ºN 101ºW (for the GPS-challenged, that's Amarillo TX)
- Contact:
Re: What the HELL is this cable?
If I'm reading the specs correctly, the Type B female connectors will accept and function with Type A plugs. Perhaps you replaced an older device and simply reused the existing cable.
Re: What the HELL is this cable?
Well, (we're going to assume) it's a 'A' to 'B' cable, most USB A-B cables where intended to connect a single device to another device; classic examples are PC to Printer or Scanner.
Is it likely you got a bunch of stuff with a device and didn't bother using this cable (like maybe a new printer) cause you went WIFI instead?
How about an External Hard Drive/DVD-R/'something' ?
(I haven't gone out on the interwebz to support my suppositions, this is all a storm-of-the-brain here...)
Is it likely you got a bunch of stuff with a device and didn't bother using this cable (like maybe a new printer) cause you went WIFI instead?
How about an External Hard Drive/DVD-R/'something' ?
(I haven't gone out on the interwebz to support my suppositions, this is all a storm-of-the-brain here...)
Re: What the HELL is this cable?
(Oh, wait- you got it from the first...)
It's a Hell Cable. natch.
It's a Hell Cable. natch.
- AnotherFairportfan
- Posts: 6402
- Joined: Thu May 01, 2014 2:53 pm
Re: What the HELL is this cable?
I've got USB 3.0 ports on the motherboard.Atomic wrote:You have a USB 3 extension card in your comput-o-box? I've seen those upgrades for sale -- comes with a cable.
Proof Positive the world is not flat: If it were, cats would have pushed everything off the edge by now.
- AnotherFairportfan
- Posts: 6402
- Joined: Thu May 01, 2014 2:53 pm
Re: What the HELL is this cable?
I need to check the Canon printer, then. Since i have 3.0 ports on the computer, it might be worth seeing what happens.AmriloJim wrote:If I'm reading the specs correctly, the Type B female connectors will accept and function with Type A plugs. Perhaps you replaced an older device and simply reused the existing cable.
Proof Positive the world is not flat: If it were, cats would have pushed everything off the edge by now.
- Catawampus
- Posts: 2145
- Joined: Fri Jul 12, 2013 10:47 pm
Re: What the HELL is this cable?
It's obviously some fiendish sort of electronic surveillance tech. Some spies left it there for you to find. You plug it in to your computer, and it will hack into your system and transmit all of your information to the CIA or FSB or KGB or ASPCA. They're on to you!
Re: What the HELL is this cable?
Not quite. Type A and Type B are opposite ends of the same cable, or for the sockets Type A is on a controller device (such as a computer) and Type B on a controlled device.AmriloJim wrote:If I'm reading the specs correctly, the Type B female connectors will accept and function with Type A plugs. Perhaps you replaced an older device and simply reused the existing cable.
A USB3 socket will work with the same type-and-size USB1/2 plug. (USB 1 and USB2 cables and plugs are identical; there are some software changes, and there is backward compatibility.) And the standards require backward compatibility electrically and in software as well.
USB1 cables have only one version of Type B - a rather boxy thing about the size of a little finger. USB2 officially added two more: the much smaller, but still boxy, mini-b, and the even smaller and flattish (rounded) micro-B - these were UNofficially standardized under USB1, because there was a real need. USB3 has expanded versions of all three. Backward compatibility is maintained: a USB3 socket will accept, and work with, a USB1/2 plug of the same type and size designation; of course, you give up the USB3 advantages (higher speed, intelligent power management).
Then there is a special-case plug. It's the same size as a micro-B - and fits in a micro-B socket - but has pointy sides. It's designed for when a device with only such a socket - e.g. most phones and tablets - is going to be the controller device (in other words, take on the role of the computer). The other end will be a non-special-case type B plug. I think it's internally wired a bit differently from the ordinary type-B plugs.
Each major version of USB has been faster than its predecessor. USB3 includes intelligent power management for devices that want up to 2 amps of 5V power, rather than the 1 amp which was the official per-device max of USB1 and USB2. Again, recognition that there are a fair number of devices out there which want 2 amps.
(Why manufacturers make 4- and 6-port USB hubs and bundle them with power supplies that provide a maximum of 2 amps, is a mystery.)
Now I have this one weird cable that came with a device I bought. It has a mini-B connector on one end. On the other it has TWO A connectors. Nothing that came with the device explains why or shows a potential use for both at once. And the only thing the device wants from the mini-B connector is power - not data.
Re: What the HELL is this cable?
Rule of thumb: any time someone says "This makes no sense at all... why do they do it in this strange way?" there's about a 98.6% chance that the correct answer is "Money".Warrl wrote:(Why manufacturers make 4- and 6-port USB hubs and bundle them with power supplies that provide a maximum of 2 amps, is a mystery.)
That's probably so you can plug it into two Type A sockets at once, and draw power from both simultaneously. Many Type A sockets default to a limit of 500 mA of charging current, when connected to a "generic" device that doesn't implement some sort of handshaking to specify its current requirements (and this handshaking is, alas, often manufacturer-specific). Using two sockets in a "dumb" mode (no handshaking at all) lets the device charge at up to 1 ampere in many situations.Now I have this one weird cable that came with a device I bought. It has a mini-B connector on one end. On the other it has TWO A connectors. Nothing that came with the device explains why or shows a potential use for both at once. And the only thing the device wants from the mini-B connector is power - not data.
- jwhouk
- Posts: 6053
- Joined: Wed Aug 01, 2012 7:58 am
- Location: The Valley of the Sun, Arizona
- Contact:
Re: What the HELL is this cable?
As the "B" type is used more or less for powering devices, I'm suspecting that it's a USB 3.0 power device for your printer. It also may be a higher-speed connection between your printer and your computer, if you have a 3.0 connection.
"Character is what you are in the dark." - D.L. Moody
"You should never run from the voices in your head. That's how you give them power." - Jin
"You should never run from the voices in your head. That's how you give them power." - Jin
- GlytchMeister
- Posts: 3733
- Joined: Wed Oct 16, 2013 2:52 pm
- Location: Central Illinois
- Contact:
Re: What the HELL is this cable?
Moral of the story, cables need to be standardized in a way that works ffs.
He's mister GlytchMeister, he's mister code
He's mister exploiter, he's mister ones and zeros
They call me GlytchMeister, whatever I touch
Starts to glitch in my clutch!
I'm too much!
He's mister exploiter, he's mister ones and zeros
They call me GlytchMeister, whatever I touch
Starts to glitch in my clutch!
I'm too much!
Re: What the HELL is this cable?
The wonderful thing about universal standards, is that there are so very many different ones to choose from.
- GlytchMeister
- Posts: 3733
- Joined: Wed Oct 16, 2013 2:52 pm
- Location: Central Illinois
- Contact:
Re: What the HELL is this cable?
All gas stations use the same kind of pump nozzle.
Yeah, I understand computers change fast. Plan ahead. If devices only need 1 or 2.5 amps now, make a plug that can handle 15. Of devices only need 100mbps or 1gbps or whatever, make a plug that can handle 1 tbps. That won't be obsolete for at least a few years. More if the ISP's continue being idiotic and horrible companies that provide nigh medieval speeds to one of the more important countries in the world while South Korea has bottom basic internet speeds that put google fiber to shame.
Which they probably will. Ugh.
Yeah, I understand computers change fast. Plan ahead. If devices only need 1 or 2.5 amps now, make a plug that can handle 15. Of devices only need 100mbps or 1gbps or whatever, make a plug that can handle 1 tbps. That won't be obsolete for at least a few years. More if the ISP's continue being idiotic and horrible companies that provide nigh medieval speeds to one of the more important countries in the world while South Korea has bottom basic internet speeds that put google fiber to shame.
Which they probably will. Ugh.
He's mister GlytchMeister, he's mister code
He's mister exploiter, he's mister ones and zeros
They call me GlytchMeister, whatever I touch
Starts to glitch in my clutch!
I'm too much!
He's mister exploiter, he's mister ones and zeros
They call me GlytchMeister, whatever I touch
Starts to glitch in my clutch!
I'm too much!
- AmriloJim
- Posts: 1190
- Joined: Sat Aug 04, 2012 10:47 pm
- Location: 35ºN 101ºW (for the GPS-challenged, that's Amarillo TX)
- Contact:
Re: What the HELL is this cable?
Warrl, I erred... meant to say USB3.0 and USB2.0 rather than Type A and B.