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  • Hacker News
  • I don't buy and return products that don't charge with a single usb-c cable. How can I expect good quality from a product if the maker saves on ¢1 cent? It's 2026 yet new products still keep people from going all usb-c.
    by Congeec
  • It's much less than a cent.
    by 0x457
  • I hate my Powkiddy retro game console because of this. What's the point of a portable console if it's doesn't work with all the USB-C cable I have?

    I'm so annoyed they cheaped out that I don't even plan on buying anything from them again.

    by m-p-3
  • The Miyoo Flip has the same problem. Great device otherwise for GBA or earlier games.
    by throwaway89201
  • I've fixed this issue by using a Micro-USB to USB-C adapter
    by summermusic
  • 2 connectors and a 0.01c PCB for the price of a complete working charger.
    by megous
  • You can get five of them for less than $4 total here:

    https://a.aliexpress.com/_mtW11kT

    by rahimnathwani
  • If you need this, it's not the charger that's broken but the device you're plugging into it.
    by Ajedi32
  • Anyone in test for the domain able to attest that formal USB compliance verification would have detected the design defect that this hack resolves?
    by metaphor
  • Wonder if there are USB C cable testers that detects this.

    In practice, most if not all networking/hardware department carries a ethernet cable tester but somehow not true for USB cables.

    by 8cvor6j844qw_d6
  • It absolutely would. This is an "didn't even read a 5-paragraph AI summary of the spec" level of a design defect.

    If you need this fix, it will literally refuse to work with any spec-compliant USB-C device on the other side of a C-C cable. No way to miss it.

    by crote
  • Hagibis makes one that isn't a bare PCB. B0GLFGTLW9 on Amazon.com, for me today it's showing $6.99 for a 2-pack.
    by tbyehl
  • Oh, I made one of these not too long ago with those 4-pin solderable aliexpress USB-c pcbs. One side has the resisters, and I just joined them with headers. A few months ago I was looking for something just like this, but couldn’t find anything. I think a pack of 10 male and 10 female ports with CC resistors cost <$10, but I suppose this is a more elegant and accessible solution (plus, may actually pass more lines through).
    by The_SamminAter
  • There were some higher profile products that left this out like the original revisions of the raspberry pi 4.
    by joecool1029
  • Raspberry Pi 4 had a slightly different problem - they attempted to get away with using just one resistor instead of two, as it allowed them to simplify their voltage-sensing circuit a bit. At a cost of non-compliance and all the issues that came with it, of course, so not a great bet after all.
    by seba_dos1
  • As someone with a bunch of "USB-C" devices that do this, I'd wondered for years why nobody sold these. I recently just found them on Aliexpress in a more finished format (nice-looking case and such), so I'm hopeful they'll start to filter out into the world more. (If you're interested, do a search for "usb c resistor" and you'll find them for ~$2-$4.)
    by rufo
  • Are you sure they aren't C-to-C data blockers?
    by kevin_thibedeau
  • I have a fair number of badly designed / implemented usb-c devices with this problem (not all from fly-by-night companies, my Philips water flosser is a glaring example). I have a couple of small metal-enclosed male C to female C adapters (which don't have an exposed circuit board) that do the same thing as the Adafruit version.
    by blacksmith_tb
  • I did not know this was a thing.

    I have a couple of devices that do not charge on a usb c source. I have to use a USB A - C cable on their shitty usb-c ports.

    Now that I know the probable reason I’m more annoyed.

    by eknkc
  • While the device is ultimately to blame, many PD chargers will work anyway (by dangerously assuming 5V when there are no CC resistors). My Anker chargers do this.
    by rjh29
  • Another thing that it could be is quick charge, since that seems to conflict with some PD chargers as they'll try to negotiate, fail and then reset. My Light L16 camera has this problem so I have to use the charger it came with or find something dumb enough that it doesn't try anything special.
    by Cieric
  • I lost a good two hours the other day on an insufficiently documented device, looking for a way to flash a new firmware onto it.

    dmesg was absolutely silent about it when I plugged in or out my C-C USB cable although the device switched on when I was using a simple charger instead. I opened it up to see if there was a special switch or something to put it in firmware flashing mode, to no avail. The little documentation I had only mentioned using one of the USB port.

    In the end, out of ideas, I switched cables (even though I knew my cable was perfectly fine). As soon as I plugged in a A-C USB cables, everything worked immediately...

    by lgeorget
  • What was the device? Somebody experiencing the same problem might appreciate the tip.
    by criddell
  • The A-C cable is new the mini-usb cable. I keep a couple magic cables in the tool box with a big flag of tape on it so it doesn't disappear into the gyre.
    by genxy
  • IMO it's a huge failure of the USB-C standard that to a USB 2 only device, a C-C cable looks different to an A-C cable. It's the cause of so many issues of the kind, "it works when I use a different cable" or "it works with this power supply but not that power supply". I understand why something needs the ability to check, but when not doing anything special to detect USB-C capabilities, they should be identical.
    by mort96