Re: Is a USB cable for data, or only power; how to tell without testing it?

nospam <[email protected]>
Newsgroups alt.comp.os.windows-10,alt.comp.hardware,comp.mobile.android
Organization A noiseless patient Spider
Message-ID <021220212135039201%[email protected]>
In article <[email protected]>, micky
<[email protected]> wrote:

> Short of testing a cable, is there a way to tell by looking if a USB
> cable is data/power or power only? 
> 
> Is there a logo or a mark on the plug or wire?   

anything with an official usb logo has power and data, since that's
required by the spec. 

there is no such thing as a usb power-only cable because it's in
violation of the spec. the amount of current must be negotiated over
the data lines, so a 'power-only' cable' that has no data lines will be
unable to negotiate and end up at the default 100ma.

counterfeit cables might use the logo without authorization, so a logo
is not a guarantee. 

> If not, why not?  Do they want to drive us crazy? 

because some companies want to sell crap. 

some devices are non-compliant and might work with non-compliant
cables, so they sorta work. sometimes.

> Sort of separately, I found a cable on the street, white, good condition
> everywhere, USB-A to USB-C, well-made, and on the USB-A end is written 
> PISIGMA. 

usb-c cables vary, making it difficult to impossible to tell by looking
at it what its specs are.
lmpx.com only provides a reader for public news (NNTP) servers. It is not affiliated with the servers or forums shown here and is not responsible for the content of articles, which is written by their respective authors.