Most active commenters

    ←back to thread

    Nintendo Switch 2 Dock USB-C Compatibility

    (www.lttlabs.com)
    298 points croes | 11 comments | 31 Aug 25 23:21 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source | bottom
    Show context
    yuiegi ◴[01 Sep 25 05:23 UTC] No.45089705[source]▶
    Back in COVID times, when I had all the time in the world, my Switch got bricked after I charged it using my laptop charger. Nintendo refused to honor its warranty, citing some mumbo jumbo about proprietary USB-C hardware. Fortunately, we have pretty good consumer protection laws here in Australia By the end of an entire two month saga, they sent me a brand new Switch.

    I always did think it was odd that a USB-C cable that wasnt Nintendo could break my Switch.

    replies(6): >>45089833 #>>45089935 #>>45090096 #>>45090709 #>>45091893 #>>45092144 #
    1. wickedsight ◴[01 Sep 25 05:52 UTC] No.45089833[source]▶
    It's not that strange. USB-C is a plug, not everyone who implements the plug also implements it correctly. Some chargers with a USB-C Plug might just send a fixed voltage over the cable, rather then implementing the protocols.

    I'm not saying that's the case for you, but USB-C is a minefield and I've seen some weird things happen with USB-C plugs.

    replies(3): >>45090204 #>>45090335 #>>45090484 #
    2. stephen_g ◴[01 Sep 25 06:59 UTC] No.45090204[source]▶
    Usually a competently designed USB-C input should have over-voltage protection and short-to-VBUS protection for over 20V (25-28V). Putting out any voltage before detecting a sink is breaking the standard, but a charger putting out over 20V without any PD negotiation would be absurdly wrong and dangerous...

    So there are non-compliant plugs, but if your device breaks just because it sees a regular PD VBUS voltage (5-20V) then it means that it was designed badly - either through ineptitude or foolish cost saving.

    replies(1): >>45091171 #
    3. whatevaa ◴[01 Sep 25 07:24 UTC] No.45090335[source]▶
    No, usb-c is a protocol too. Those devices (includinf switch charger) are garbage. Worst case it should just not charge, not damage something.
    4. ShellfishMeme ◴[01 Sep 25 07:46 UTC] No.45090484[source]▶
    I've once received a USB-C charger with a portable breast milk warmer device that outputted 18V at 2A without doing PD negotiation.

    That fried another device when I plugged it in.

    This is non compliant in the EU, but when I reported it to the responsible authorities, they didn't feel like doing anything about it.

    We are talking about a charger that can fry any device and potentially cause a fire, coming with a product aimed at people with babies, that's clearly non compliant to be sold in the EU, and they are doing nothing at all. Pretty shocking if you ask me.

    replies(4): >>45090890 #>>45091254 #>>45091272 #>>45095314 #
    5. marcosscriven ◴[01 Sep 25 08:58 UTC] No.45090890[source]▶
    I got a mini PC with such a charger (Mele Quieter). I was so shocked I immediately put a label on the USB end with a stark warning not to plug into anything.
    6. cesarb ◴[01 Sep 25 09:47 UTC] No.45091171[source]▶
    > Putting out any voltage before detecting a sink is breaking the standard

    To be pedantic, I believe that only applies to USB-C sockets; AFAIK, a USB-C plug (like on a USB-A to USB-C cable) can in some cases put out 5V (but only 5V) before detecting a sink.

    > but if your device breaks just because it sees a regular PD VBUS voltage (5-20V) then it means that it was designed badly

    The standard was designed so that devices never see anything over 5V unless they ask for it, so why should a non-PD device (for instance, a mouse) care about it? In some cases (like a USB-A mouse plugged into a USB-A to USB-C adapter), the device might even have been designed and built when USB was 5V only.

    replies(1): >>45092168 #
    7. wickedsight ◴[01 Sep 25 09:59 UTC] No.45091254[source]▶
    Yeah, I'm surprised that I'm being down-voted for this comment for this exact reason. Manufacturers are adding non-compliant USB-C plugs to tons of equipment and it causes these types of issues.
    replies(1): >>45092315 #
    8. rsynnott ◴[01 Sep 25 10:02 UTC] No.45091272[source]▶
    > but when I reported it to the responsible authorities, they didn't feel like doing anything about it.

    One problem with EU regulation (or at least most regulations; a few have union-wide regulators) is that you're really quite dependent on whether your national responsible body is any good.

    For something like this (assuming it's sold union-wide and not just in your country), it might actually be useful to notify the responsible bodies on _other countries_ (once it's actually investigated and recalled the recall should be union-wide).

    9. stephen_g ◴[01 Sep 25 12:25 UTC] No.45092168{3}[source]▶
    A USB-A device obviously wouldn’t have been designed for anything more than 5V. But anything with a USB-C socket is living in a world where a faulty source could accidentally give it a higher voltage. At that point it’s just about your tolerance for risk - maybe for something worth $100 or less and not supporting PD you can skip out and if there’s a faulty charger that blows it up then whatever, but for something selling for a few hundred dollars (like the Switch, or phones, etc.) it’s worth the 50c in BOM cost for the extra protection…
    10. richrichardsson ◴[01 Sep 25 12:47 UTC] No.45092315{3}[source]▶
    It's possibly because of conflating USB-C (the connector) with the USB protocols (what goes down the wires).

    I could put a USB-C connector on a device and have it not even try to do any USB protocol over the wire. If not being careful about pinouts, it could be super easy to destroy either device if plugged into some other USB-compliant device.

    11. gia_ferrari ◴[01 Sep 25 18:30 UTC] No.45095314[source]▶
    I recently bought a really cheap Android Auto screen for my car. It had a USB-C power input. Suspicious, I opened up the supplied cigarette power adapter. The USB power pins were hooked straight to the car battery rail. On most vehicles that's connected straight back to the alternator. Hilarious. I wonder how many people fried their phones because they thought "oh, I forgot my charging cable, but I can borrow my nav screen's for a bit"...