Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

SoylentNews is powered by your submissions, so send in your scoop. Only 15 submissions in the queue.

Raspberry Pi 4 Has a Non-Compliant USB-C Charging Port

posted by martyb on Wednesday July 10 2019, @04:04AM   Printer-friendly
from the so-much-for-port-a-bility dept.

takyon writes:

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

Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Raspberry Pi 4 Has a Non-Compliant USB-C Charging Port | Log In/Create an Account | Top | 41 comments | Search Discussion
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.

  • (Score: 2) by driverless on Wednesday July 10 2019, @11:35PM (1 child)

    by driverless (4770) on Wednesday July 10 2019, @11:35PM (#865559)

    The problem with the Pi is that there's an endless series of products build around it by people who don't realise it's a kid's toy. If it was marketed as an educational toy and stayed there I'd be fine with it, but now that there's dozens (hundreds?) of commercial products out there using this Trabi hardware, and no end in sight, it's become everyone's problem. Sort of like when "professional workstation" meant Windows 3.1.

    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  
    Total Score:   2  

  • (Score: 2) by RS3 on Thursday July 11 2019, @04:14AM

    by RS3 (6367) on Thursday July 11 2019, @04:14AM (#865671)

    The problem with the Pi Windows is that there's an endless series of products build around it by people who don't realise it's a kid's toy.

    FTFY.