Is it possible to make a cable that can be used to transfer only data? I'm trying to avoid reaching 100% battery SOC on a connected device, but would like to keep the data transfer alive. If it's not possible to prevent charging, is it possible to limit the current flowing through the cable by hacking it and adding some passive/active components?
Thanks!
We've quickly amassed a dozen different USB-C cables and devices around the house this month due to phone upgrades, charger upgrades and laptop changes.
Is there a foolproof way to determine whether a USB-C cable is data-compatible or not? I've been reading that some of the 100w USB-C cables (I now have 3) are not compatible to use when transferring data, whilst some other websites say they're limited to 480MBit.
We also have loads of normal USB-C cables for charging phones slowly which work as data cables, and some shorter cables which I use for data only between SSDs and laptops. Finally we have USB-C 65w laptop chargers which we know are for power only
How can one easily know as the cable ports themselves look identical, and once all the branding etches off the cables we'll be left with lots of similar looking cables. Some are clearly thicker and braided, but I have some old slow charging cables that look identical that I know can't handle 100w
The kind of cable you mean is missing the D+ and D- data lines. It simply doesn't have those wires inside the cable.
You can test for continuity or resistance using a multimeter. Probe between the corresponding data pins: D+ on one side to D+ on the other, or D- to D-. The D+/D- lines are the middle two pins of a USB connector. Just select one on one side of the cable, and test continuity to both of the middle pins on the other side.
You will see no continuity or a high/"infinite" resistance on your meter if the cable is missing data wires and is a "charge only cable".
Technically USB requires the data lines to request more power from a host device, so a cable missing these connections would, in theory, only let devices charge very slowly. In practice most USB hosts will not enforce such a limit. It is also possible that some phones will refuse to charge without data lines in the cable.
Look for something on cable like: (some number)AWG/1P. If it does exist then you have shielded twisted pair of conductor denoted by P above. And they use for data transmission.
Here: (some number)AWG/1Pdenotes
- some number = number of wire gauge
- AWG = American Wire Gauge?
- 1 = Number of pairs
- P = shielded twisted pair of conductor
Looking for a 240w capable usb c to usb c cable without data transfer capability.. anything for sale? I don’t want to bring multiple cables for my phone and iPad on travel but scared that in desperate times of need that random usb “charging” ports might steal my information or inject bad things into my phone or iPad out in public… am i just being paranoid? is this kind of thing a thing that’s normally sold?
Broadly speaking, if you have a "USB" cable that only connects pins 1 & 4 then you will get power and no data (Best Buy was selling cables like that as Universal USB Charging Cables a while back, not sure if they still do). Likewise, if you have a cable with only 2 & 3, you will get data but no power. If you're curious, here's a Wikipedia page with the standard USB Pinout.
Note: Micro uses the same pinout as USB A.
As devnul3 says, a power-only cable is a USB cable where the data pins are not connected. The main reason they exist is because they can be made ever so slightly cheaper by virtue of only needing 2 connections instead of 4 (and also because you don't need to worry about preserving the quality of the very high frequency signals on the data lines).
This said, there are cases where a power-only cable is preferable to a "fully featured" USB cable: when you want to charge your device from some random USB connector somewhere. As is becoming more widely known, a USB connector can be used for many things besides the ones the user expects, so if you use a "normal" USB cable, you may end up unwittingly providing priviledged access to your device.
IOW when you're charging from a USB connector that you have no reason to trust, a power-only cable is not only ever-so-slightly cheaper, but it's also a bit safer.
I'm getting a new phone soon. In my car I want to connect this phone with Android Auto. Unfortunately, this is not possible (integrated) wirelessly. My car only has a USB-C connection. So I need to buy a cable that goes from USB-C to USB-C. That's not a problem in itself.
However, I don't want to charge my phone unnecessarily, because every time I connect it, it charges. Now I've been told that there are data-only cables. These block charging but only allow data to pass through, which is necessary for using Android Auto. However, I can't find this specific product anywhere.
Anyone have an idea?