Thunderbolt to USB 2 question

[Gary75]

I"ve just upgraded from a 2010 to 2018 MBP. Tried my Belkin hub with a USB C - Mini USB adaptor cable, but none of my midi gear is being recognised although is being powered.

 

Not sure if it"s the cable I bought or if I should get a hub with a TB3 output but with a 7 port USB 2 input on the hub for my gear.

 

I"m way behind on modern stuff so I"ve no idea what hub I should get?

[Docbop]

Will if work plugged in to MBP directly no hub? Is it a powered hub? Did you try all the ports on the MBP not all ports are the same when it comes to power.

[Throbert]

Probably the cable, most likely you have a charging cable no data. Lots of people having same with this one port multi format issue.

[Gary75]

Your right, I just checked my cable purchase details and it just says charge cable.

[analogika]

Welcome to USB-C, where all the variety that used to be in the connectors has shifted to the actual cable, where it"s FUCKING INVISIBLE.

 

There is no longer any way whatsoever to tell whether a connection will support full charging, USB2, USB3, USB3.1 with full charging, full DisplayPort, USB4, Thunderbolt, any particular version of HDMI, or whatever, from looking at the hardware (or checking the system profiler for specs).

 

You actually have to try the cable and hope it works.

 

It"s the stupidest bloody thing I"ve had to deal with in thirty years of computing â the industry just completely fucked it up.

[Zalman Stern]

USB-C compatibility is amazingly screwed up. As in there isn't even a decent subsetting relationship and even for simple stuff like charging, initial quality of implementation was crap so you have cables that can actually cause damage. I have to use a different cable (with USB-C connectors on both ends) to plug the laptop into two different monitors. Neither cable will work with the other monitor. One is a higher spec Thunderbolt 3 cable. I think the other is a plain USB-C data cable, but perhaps it has some version of HDMI wired a different way. Neither is a charging cable as I have those lying around too.

 

It does seem to be the pattern of the industry these days. Ain't no guarantee things get better.

 

-Z-

[Throbert]

I saw this coming soo long ago, thinking this is going to be such a huge cluster fuc( but no one seemed to see it.

[Gary75]

I"ve bought an official Apple USB-C to female USB adaptor cable. I"ll try it later.

 

Also I notice that all the TB3 ports can provide power. I mean I don"t even know if I should be plugging in a powered hub on that basis, if the port is capable of pushing out power. It does seem hard work

[Throbert]

The backward compatibility is supposed to work for the voltages as well so you should be

good to go. You all should start labling any of your cables that have a USB-C connector or

maybe red tape to tag as charging. check the icons on the connectors, maybe there's

some differentiation indicating weather it's a charging cable or not.

[Docbop]

All this lets make one connector for multiple uses is a pain because it's not as universal as they want you to believe. First time I hit this was motherboards the front USB ports didn't have the power the rear ports did. This wouldn't be so bad if they color codes ports or labeled them but people are so into cosmetics over function these days. Give me functionality over thin and stylish I laugh at laptop reviews and people whining because a laptop weighs more than a pound or two. Oh this laptop is over a half inch thick how am I to lug this around. While they carry a cellphone to big to fit in a shirt pocket. Makes no sense.

[Gary75]

My other MBP is a mid 2010 17' weighing in at 3kg, so it was a surprise to see how far they"ve come in weight. At least I could have used it as defensive weapon, not so with the new one.

[EricBarker]

I think people are over-reacting. While it is true to a point, there really are only two standards that warrant consideration: Traditional USB, and Thunderbolt. It's pretty much an identical to the distinction between analog 1/4in cables and speaker cables. They're essentially the same (with a 1/4" TS plug), but with Thunderbolt/Speaker being able to deliver FAR more Amps. A thunderbolt cable is essentially a USB cable that can take more power. You can use a TB cable to a USB device, but you might run into problems vice a versa. Maybe the biggest problem is that they sometimes WORK, but with some dangers, so people get lulled into thinking they can work conversely (I made that mistake once).

 

USB has always been a cluster, long before USB-C. Older cheaper cables would often have lower amperage rating, some would have a bead, and others would not. For some higher-powered devices (like a Roli Seaboard at 500mA), this can be an issue, regardless of the connector type. With USB3, supposedly all cables became standardized for higher power output, as USB3 specs promised higher amperage, so using "official USB2 cables" was a crapshoot. Again, this is a pre-USB-C problem.

 

I've found that as long as you use newer cables, and know the distinction between USB vs TB cables, you'll be fine. I personally LOVE USB-C. It's physically a lot safer and more secure, and you can't beat the invertible connector. I trust it a lot more for my live rig than USB-A, which is chincy as hell. And the merging of "mini", "micro", "USB-A" and "USB-B" is a godsend, and those connector types say nothing about the power requirements anyway, so they should not be different.

 

I do kind of wish they had made TB slightly different, maybe with a notch or something.

[Joe Muscara]

I've had zero problems with USB-C on my 2017 iMac and my 2018 MBP. Admittedly, I bought a couple of USB-A to USB-C adapters from Apple so those work in all cases.

 

I do kind of wish they had made TB slightly different, maybe with a notch or something.

 

Nah, USB-C and TB3 are converging under USB4.

[analogika]

This illustrates why the connector is so fucked up. It was a chance for a unification, but instead, we have this, with NO WAY to tell which of these a particular cable is just by looking at it.

 

At least Apple gives all the PORTS the same capabilities â that"s not a given at all in the Windows world. (Yes, I"m aware of the older 13' MBP having two slower Thunderbolt ports on one side, but the basic capabilities at least are the same...)