this post was submitted on 22 Jan 2025
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Yesterday, I plugged a usb A memory stick into my phone using a USB-C OTG adapter. I had used it before and knew it worked, but this time, it said that it was charging my phone, and I couldn't figure out how to make the flash drive be recognised as storage.
I spent a while troubleshooting and then saw a suggestion to unplug the adapter and rotate it (i.e. do the thing that you do when you try to plug in a USB A but it's the wrong way round (except this was obviously usb C)). It worked. I was nonplussed but happy it worked.
This post reminded me of that
wow. I'm honestly super curious as to why that happened. the USB c was designed to be quite symmetrical so it doesn't make a difference in how you plug it in, each connector is still touching the same type of pin. I wonder if it something with the adapter itself and the fact that it has to translate from USB a? glad you got it figured out but damn that's an interesting technical gremlin
Yeah, it's a bit baffling. The person who suggested it said that the adapter they were using was a cheap eBay thing, and they blamed that for it. My adapter is the Samsung branded one that came with my phone. Thinking about that again has got me wondering if it'll be reproducible; I don't know whether it would be more or less baffling if it were reproducible
found this decently relevant stack exchange on USB c symmetry: https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/685358/why-does-this-usb-c-connection-only-work-in-one-connector-orientation
based on my (non electrical engineer) read of the top response, it seems like the pins that connect for power delivery communication (how the device tells how to treat the device that's being plugged in) aren't symmetrical and can sometimes misbehave, but again, I don't really know what I'm talking about lol
fun rabbit hole tho, thanks!
That's tremendously relatable and made me smile, so thanks in turn
I don’t know if it’s a build thing depending on the cable brand or maybe an issue going from A like you suggest but the gf and I both use A to C cables in our cars, I have an iPhone and her a Samsung and we’ve both noticed cables having a ‘favorite’ side which they’re not supposed to.