Re: The eternal external enclosure enquiry


zoara wrote:
> SteveH <steve@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

[USB A to A cables]

> > Excuse my ignorance, but..... how do you know which way round to plug in
> > the cable?
> >
> > I only ask as I have a DVD recorder here with a USB2 port on the front
> > and have ordered an A to A cable planning to see what happens when I
> > plug it into the PC / Laptop.....
>
> DON'T!

Okay, the reason for my outburst was that quite probably what would
happen is that you'd hear a little bang and see a little puff of smoke,
and then have a broken laptop and a broken DVD player.

USB A to A cables are illegal under the USB spec. All A-devices are
(supposed to be) hosts; peripherals should NOT use A-sockets. If you
plug two hosts together using a straight cable, you can damage them
both.

As your DVD player uses an A-socket, that implies it's either a) a host
or b) illegal according to USB spec. Whichever it is, you're taking a
risk using an against-spec cable to connect it to your computer.

References:
http://www.cablestogo.com/help/usb_faqs.asp#11
http://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-hackers/2004-December/009648.html
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/248

If it's a host, I suspect you're intended to plug in a hard drive and
use the DVD player menus to dump stuff on (or read stuff off) the
drive. If it's off-spec, then who knows? I've used off-spec A-socketed
peripherals without problems, but I was very nervous about plugging
them in for the first time.

Having said that, you *may* have a USB-on-the-go post on your DVD
drive. I know next to nothing about this spec, so you could be OK. I
don't think that the 'large' plugs are part of USB-OTG spec, though.
Try Googling.

-zoara-

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Unrecognised Portable Hard Drive
    ... The Maxtor drive is powered externally and it came with only the power cables ... and a cable to connect to the USB with the small plug to go into the Maxtor ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware)
  • Garmin to Ipaq cable wiring ?
    ... I purchased an Ipaq to USB cable, ... of making a simple Garmin GPS to Ipaq cable by cutting ... off the USB plug and wiring a 4 pin Garmin plug there ... I see 4 cables which ...
    (rec.aviation.soaring)
  • Re: The eternal external enclosure enquiry
    ... > I do NOT want the case to use a USB A-socket. ... > a USB A to A cable and I'm paranoid that someone will plug these in the ... > should use a standard B or mini-B socket, to allow me to use standard ... > USB cables. ...
    (uk.comp.sys.mac)
  • Re: The eternal external enclosure enquiry
    ... >> I do NOT want the case to use a USB A-socket. ... >> a USB A to A cable and I'm paranoid that someone will plug these in the ... >> should use a standard B or mini-B socket, to allow me to use standard ... >> USB cables. ...
    (uk.comp.sys.mac)
  • Re: 1-wire to USB converter that can use 1820s directly
    ... I'm not trying to argue that serial ports are better than USB -- only that they ... At the time there were no USB ... cables and be up and running after a total meltdown in less than 10 minutes. ... my gas mileage improve the way PC clock speeds and ...
    (comp.home.automation)