There is a reason for USB-C extensions not to be part of the standard. They can be bothersome in the best case and dangerous in the worst. The cable tester f...

This popped up randomly in my feed today, and I found it to be pretty interesting and informative.

tl;dw: All USB-C cables have a microchip inside them which runs a small bit of software that tells the devices its plugged into exactly what they’re capable of, such as their power rating and transfer speeds. When you plug the cable into your device, it reads the data from this chip, which then dictates how much data/power it is allowed to transmit along the cable.

The problem is that when you use a USB-C extension cable, the device you’re plugging into can only see the chip data from the first cable; the cables beyond that first one are completely invisible to your device. And if your first cable is rated for 200 watts, and your extension is only rated for 100 watts, your device will still send 200 watts down the line, without ever realizing that it’s overloading the extension cable and creating a possible fire hazard.

  • fuckwit_mcbumcrumble@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    51·
    3 days ago

    They are if you have a retimer/redriver. Most extension cables do not.

    I can’t find a picture of the inside of the module, but I guarantee you it’s not just a straight through cable. It’s got active circuitry in there.