3 ms·

This. Nintendo comes to mind; charging the Switch (the earlier models IIRC) with a third-party adapter was a lottery, and the losing prize was a fried console.

This. Nintendo comes to mind; charging the Switch (the earlier models IIRC) with a third-party adapter was a lottery, and the losing prize was a fried console. They've been guilty of this practice for as long as they've been making electronics - I think it was the NES or the SNES that used a standard barrel jack and voltage, but reversed the polarity, with no circuit to protect the console. Also - using Ethernet ports/cables for serial console access is not even evil, it's just stupid. Granted the switches/routers that do this are not exactly SOHO equipment, but you need to let students in a lab near that, and it's just asking for trouble.

duskwuff 3y ago
> Nintendo comes to mind; charging the Switch (the earlier models IIRC) with a third-party adapter was a lottery, and the losing prize was a fried console. The problem you're thinking of was caused by a Nyko third-party docking station with a faulty hardware implementation of USB-PD. While Nintendo's software implementation of USB-PD was flawed in some ways, it didn't cause this problem. > I think it was the NES or the SNES that used a standard barrel jack and voltage, but reversed the polarity, with no circuit to protect the console There is, sadly, no "standard" polarity for barrel power jacks. Center-positive and center-negative are both fairly common.
- rollcat 3y ago
  > While Nintendo's software implementation of USB-PD was flawed in some ways, it didn't cause this problem. I stand corrected. The dock however, still rejects non-Nintendo chargers. I have an MBP, a Thinkpad, an iPad, and a Switch - every device works with each other's (and third-party) chargers, except the Switch, when docked.
  - sleepybrett 3y ago
    I think these usb-c pd (and other) issues were corrected in the oled switches and the docks that come with them but the fixes might not have been total. This comment, specifically about some of the technical details of the video out stuff points to at least some changes were done in the new generation: https://www.reddit.com/r/UsbCHardware/comments/171c3mj/comment/k3q0we2/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3 https://www.reddit.com/r/UsbCHardware/comments/171c3mj/comme... Someone can correct me on this as well. I've noticed that my switch will charge properly and quickly on their provided charger and a few other usb-c chargers I have but not certain other ones where it charges much slower. My theory has been that not all usb-c chargers are compatible with all voltages and that perhaps the switch's 'preferred fast-charge voltage' is somewhat uncommon (i think it's 17v?). Can anyone confirm this is how these things work? I just assume there is a negotiation where the charger says 'I can supply these voltages, and perhaps at these max amps, and the device choses one or none of them depending on it's needs.
    - sleepybrett 3y ago
      Turns out I seem to be right about the negotiation: https://acroname.com/sites/default/files/shared/blog-basic-power-negotation.png https://acroname.com/sites/default/files/shared/blog-basic-p...
    - rollcat 3y ago
      > I think these usb-c pd (and other) issues were corrected in the oled switches and the docks that come with them but the fixes might not have been total. I have the OLED model, and the accompanying dock refuses every single non-Nintendo charger I've tried. It literally tells me so on the screen. > My theory has been that not all usb-c chargers are compatible with all voltages [...]. Correct. Both devices present eachother with a list of supported modes, and negotiate the optimal one. If you try a fancy charger/powerbank with a screen, it will even present per-port current/voltage stats. Fun to observe the changing power draw on different devices. Also if you plug another device to the same charger, it will trigger a re-negotiation, possibly end up in a different mode. LTT had a whole video on modding ancient consoles to use USB-PD, and the possible resulting issues. https://linustechtips.com/topic/1470228-how-to-put-usb-c-power-on-anything-almost/ https://linustechtips.com/topic/1470228-how-to-put-usb-c-pow...
tivert 3y ago
> They've been guilty of this practice for as long as they've been making electronics - I think it was the NES or the SNES that used a standard barrel jack and voltage, but reversed the polarity, with no circuit to protect the console. Is there actually a standard about that? IIRC, recently things have drifted towards "center positive" as customary, but most adapters and devices have the little diagram about how they're wired for a reason.
- epakai 3y ago
  Audio and audio adjacent gear is nearly all center negative. Everything else is probably center positive, but you still have to check. No standards.
- extraduder_ire 3y ago
  I think everything I've seen that sony makes is centre negative. For their consoles, this only mattered for the psone and slim ps2. Always seemed dumb to me, since you'd want the "ground" side to make contact first when inserting.

duskwuff 3y ago

> Nintendo comes to mind; charging the Switch (the earlier models IIRC) with a third-party adapter was a lottery, and the losing prize was a fried console. The problem you're thinking of was caused by a Nyko third-party docking station with a faulty hardware implementation of USB-PD. While Nintendo's software implementation of USB-PD was flawed in some ways, it didn't cause this problem. > I think it was the NES or the SNES that used a standard barrel jack and voltage, but reversed the polarity, with no circuit to protect the console There is, sadly, no "standard" polarity for barrel power jacks. Center-positive and center-negative are both fairly common.

rollcat 3y ago
> While Nintendo's software implementation of USB-PD was flawed in some ways, it didn't cause this problem. I stand corrected. The dock however, still rejects non-Nintendo chargers. I have an MBP, a Thinkpad, an iPad, and a Switch - every device works with each other's (and third-party) chargers, except the Switch, when docked.
- sleepybrett 3y ago
  I think these usb-c pd (and other) issues were corrected in the oled switches and the docks that come with them but the fixes might not have been total. This comment, specifically about some of the technical details of the video out stuff points to at least some changes were done in the new generation: https://www.reddit.com/r/UsbCHardware/comments/171c3mj/comment/k3q0we2/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3 https://www.reddit.com/r/UsbCHardware/comments/171c3mj/comme... Someone can correct me on this as well. I've noticed that my switch will charge properly and quickly on their provided charger and a few other usb-c chargers I have but not certain other ones where it charges much slower. My theory has been that not all usb-c chargers are compatible with all voltages and that perhaps the switch's 'preferred fast-charge voltage' is somewhat uncommon (i think it's 17v?). Can anyone confirm this is how these things work? I just assume there is a negotiation where the charger says 'I can supply these voltages, and perhaps at these max amps, and the device choses one or none of them depending on it's needs.
  - sleepybrett 3y ago
    Turns out I seem to be right about the negotiation: https://acroname.com/sites/default/files/shared/blog-basic-power-negotation.png https://acroname.com/sites/default/files/shared/blog-basic-p...
  - rollcat 3y ago
    > I think these usb-c pd (and other) issues were corrected in the oled switches and the docks that come with them but the fixes might not have been total. I have the OLED model, and the accompanying dock refuses every single non-Nintendo charger I've tried. It literally tells me so on the screen. > My theory has been that not all usb-c chargers are compatible with all voltages [...]. Correct. Both devices present eachother with a list of supported modes, and negotiate the optimal one. If you try a fancy charger/powerbank with a screen, it will even present per-port current/voltage stats. Fun to observe the changing power draw on different devices. Also if you plug another device to the same charger, it will trigger a re-negotiation, possibly end up in a different mode. LTT had a whole video on modding ancient consoles to use USB-PD, and the possible resulting issues. https://linustechtips.com/topic/1470228-how-to-put-usb-c-power-on-anything-almost/ https://linustechtips.com/topic/1470228-how-to-put-usb-c-pow...

tivert 3y ago

> They've been guilty of this practice for as long as they've been making electronics - I think it was the NES or the SNES that used a standard barrel jack and voltage, but reversed the polarity, with no circuit to protect the console. Is there actually a standard about that? IIRC, recently things have drifted towards "center positive" as customary, but most adapters and devices have the little diagram about how they're wired for a reason.

epakai 3y ago
Audio and audio adjacent gear is nearly all center negative. Everything else is probably center positive, but you still have to check. No standards.
extraduder_ire 3y ago
I think everything I've seen that sony makes is centre negative. For their consoles, this only mattered for the psone and slim ps2. Always seemed dumb to me, since you'd want the "ground" side to make contact first when inserting.