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Raspberry Pi admits to faulty USB-C design on the Pi 4
The Raspberry Pi 4 was announced two weeks ago as a major new upgrade to the line of cheap single-board hobbyist computers. The Pi 4 featured a faster CPU, options for up to 4GB of RAM, and a new, modern USB-C port for power delivery. The Pi 4 was the Raspberry Pi Foundation's first ever USB-C device, and, well, they screwed it up.
As detailed by Tyler Ward, the Raspberry Pi 4 has a non-compliant USB-C charging port and doesn't work with as many chargers as it should. Thanks to the open nature of Raspberry Pi (even the schematics are online!), Ward was able to discover that Raspberry Pi just didn't design its USB-C port correctly. Two "CC" pins on a USB-C port are supposed to each get their own 5.1K ohms resistor, but Raspberry Pi came up with its own circuit design that allows them to share a single resistor. This is not a compliant design and breaks compatibility with some of the more powerful USB-C chargers out there.
[...] The Pi 4 is not the first high-profile device to get the USB-C spec wrong. The Nintendo Switch also has a non-compliant USB-C port and has issues with certain USB-C cables as a result.
After reports started popping up on the Internet, Raspberry Pi cofounder Eben Upton admitted to TechRepublic that "A smart charger with an e-marked cable will incorrectly identify the Raspberry Pi 4 as an audio adapter accessory and refuse to provide power." Upton went on to say, "I expect this will be fixed in a future board revision, but for now users will need to apply one of the suggested workarounds. It's surprising this didn't show up in our (quite extensive) field testing program."
Probably not a dealbreaker (the cables that do work are cheaper), but could be annoying.
Previously: Raspberry Pi 4 Model B Launched
(Score: 3, Informative) by takyon on Wednesday July 10 2019, @06:00PM (3 children)
Wait until they put out a fixed up 8 GB version:
https://hackaday.com/2019/06/25/is-4gb-the-limit-for-the-raspberry-pi-4/ [hackaday.com]
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday July 10 2019, @06:58PM (2 children)
If I'm going to save my money to buy a 4 GB Pi 4 right now, I wonder how long I should set up that savings plan for? Once I save up the required amount, will the Raspberry Pi foundation have come out with a revised board that corrects the USB C port problems?
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday July 10 2019, @07:44PM (1 child)
IDK. Does "future board revision" mean they can push out the change to all newly manufactured units without introducing a new model? If so, it could happen sooner. But the word "future" there does not bode well for how much they care about this.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by driverless on Wednesday July 10 2019, @11:38PM
Given that they managed to make the 3B+ incompatible with the 3B (two variants in the same product series, not even a new version), I'm pretty sure "future version" will mean "incompatible version".